Obama courts Jewish vote with UN speech
Ynet: US president’s aides advise Jewish leaders on his pro-Israel address prior to General Assembly speech in order to ensure ‘message is received’.
Obama gets a kosher seal of approval
Haaretz: In the eyes of his Israeli audience, including Netanyahu and Lieberman, Obama’s speech was nearly faultless, an assessment subsequently confirmed by the harsh criticism leveled at it by Arab and Palestinian officials.
Obama Rebuffed as Palestinians Pursue U.N. Seat
New York Times: The extraordinary tableau Wednesday at the United Nations underscored a stark new reality: the United States is facing the prospect of having to share, or even cede, its decades-long role as the architect of Middle East peacemaking.
Obama calls for peace talks but reaffirms US support for Israel
Independent: Warning that there was “no shortcut” to a Middle East peace settlement, President Barack Obama sought yesterday to persuade Israeli and Palestinian leaders to re-start direct negotiations – and thus blunt the Palestinian bid for full United Nations membership that Washington has vowed to veto.
And more news from Today in Palestine:
U.S. President Obama appeals to Palestinian President Abbas at meeting on sidelines of UN General Assembly; Palestinian envoy says Obama ‘reiterated commitment’ to Palestinian state during meeting.
Although the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank said it is determined to go ahead with its full UN Membership Bid, it has decided not to push for an immediate Security Council vote on the issue.
http://www.imemc.org/article/62082
Reuters – U.S. President Barack Obama told the United Nations on Wednesday there was no short cut to Middle East peace but Palestinians said they would press on with a request for U.N. recognition of their nascent state.
Palestinians protest Obama UN speech
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have joined rallies in support of the bid for full UN membership. Al Jazeera’s Cal Perry reports from Ramallah.
‘Gabon will abstain from UN vote’
Son of former ambassador to Israel believes Gabon ‘will abstain from voting’ on PA’a statehood bid. African nation at center of Israeli efforts to prevent UN recognition of Palestine.
Senior Hamas official Salah al-Bardawil has revealed that the step to limit demonstrations both for and against the UN bid in the Gaza Strip was done in agreement by leaders of both Hamas and Fatah.
AP – Furiously scrambling to head off a U.N. showdown, the United States warned world leaders Wednesday that trying to create a Palestinian nation by simple decree instead of through hard negotiations was bound to fail as a shortcut to peace with Israel. Europeans worked to defuse the dispute, too, France urging new talks within a month.
In West Coast leg of a three-day tour to Canada, Avigdor Lieberman says a Palestinian state would resemble Arab countries currently experiencing tumultuous changes and lack of security.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israel-s-fm-tells-canadians-palestinians-not-ready-for-statehood-1.385665?localLinksEnabled=false
http://www.imemc.org/article/62079
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz on Tuesday threatened severe financial ramifications if Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas makes good on a plan to request U.N. membership for a Palestinian state this week. Steinitz, a close ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said his government could stop collecting the 40 percent of the Palestinian Authority’s budget through value added, excise and customs taxes.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/20/israel-says-may-hold-pale_n_972928.html
Peru Supports Palestinian Bid to UN
LIMA, September 22, 2011 (WAFA) – Peru supports Palestine and the Palestinian bid to the United Nations Security Council, said President of Peruvian Parliament, Daniel Aboughattas, in a festival held in the Peruvian parliament headquarters on Thursday. During the festival, Second Peruvian Deputy, Omar Shihadeh, said Palestine has the right to be state number 194 in the UN council. Other Peruvian officials expressed their support for an independent Palestinian state based on 1967 borders and East Jerusalem as its capital.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=17466
Around 2,000 rally in Beirut for Palestinian statehood
An elderly Palestinian refugee wearing a traditional outfit takes part in the Beirut rally.
Demonstration in Denmark in Support of UN Bid
COPENHAGEN, September 22, 2011 (WAFA) – Hundreds of Arab and Danish activists Thursday demonstrated in front of the Danish Parliament building in Copenhagen in support of a Palestinian state membership in the United Nations. A number of Danish lawmakers and senior members in their parties participated in the demonstration calling for an end to Israeli occupation and recognition of a Palestinian state in the UN. Participants flew 194 balloons with the colors of the Palestinian flag marking Palestine as state number 194 in the UN. Palestine ambassador to Denmark, Amr al-Hourani, said the Palestinians are expecting Denmark to recognize the Palestinian state. “This recognition will enhance Danish-Arab relations and will reflect support of the Danish people for the Palestinian bid to UN,” he said.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=17471
French Jewish Leaders Support Bid to UN
RAMALLAH, September 22, 2011 (WAFA) – Two leaders of the Jewish community in France expressed their support of the Palestinian bid to the United Nations and President Mahmoud Abbas’ strategy to achieve freedom and independence. European Parliament Member, Daniel Cohen-Bandit, said during a press conference that he will visit Palestine to support the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to get full recognition of a Palestinian state in the UN. Cohen-Bandit said that the Palestinian bid is a great step, and declining it will lead to a catastrophe in the Middle East.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=17468
The Israeli occupation authority has forced Basem Hizaji to demolish part of his home in Abbasiya suburb in Silwan town to the south of the Aqsa Mosque.
link to Palestine Information Center
Report: Israeli settlers give women weapons training
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli settlers began a weapons training program for women in the settlements on Wednesday, Israeli media said. The training started with a five hour course on the use of guns and M16 rifles for six women from Pnei Kedem, a Jewish-only settlement in the West Bank district of Hebron, according to Hebrew language daily Maariv.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=422472
Settler attack on activist
Hebrew with English towards the end
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF5CYgQXPBw&feature=share
Jewish settlers pelted homes in the West Bank village of Asira al-Qibliyya in a dangerous outbreak of racial attacks coinciding with a bid by Palestinian politicians to get full membership in the UN.
[Popular Struggle] The popular committees will inaugurate the Refusing to Die in Silence project to allow for quick intervention in cases of settler attacks on Palestinians. In light of the recent augmentation in settler attacks on Palestinian body and property, the popular committees will initiate a volunteer-based campaign, in which several cars will patrol the West Bank to quickly respond to cases of settler attacks.
A fighter from the Popular Resistance Committees’ military wing Al-Nasser Salaheddin Brigades was shot and injured Wednesday morning in an attack by Israel naval forces.
Israeli Army Raids Villages around Jenin
JENIN, September 22, 2011 (WAFA) – The Israeli army at dawn Thursday raided Arqa village and Borqeen town west of Jenin, in the northern West Bank, as well as spreading a unit of soldiers in the olive groves in Jenin. Security sources said the Israeli army raided Arqa and Borqeen and moved its army vehicles in the streets and alleyways in a provocative manner. The army also spread its soldiers on foot among olive groves in various areas of Jenin and intensified its presence in residential areas of Jenin governorate. In addition, Jewish settlers from Mevo Dotan settlement were heavily present in the surroundings of Yabad town and the village of Bartaa al-Sharqiyya, both in Jenin governorate.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=17463
[Popular Struggle] Ibrahim Srour, a resident of Nil’in, has been imprisoned by Israel for nearly two years for participating in local protests. He will be released from prison on October 2nd, if the immense 12,000 NIS (3,250 USD) fine placed by a military court judge is raised in time.
A human rights researcher has claimed that the Israeli authorities have escalated their crackdown on Palestinian journalists order to “hide the truth about Israel’s crimes”. Abdel Nasser Ferwana said that the crackdown includes “assaults on journalists, arrests and detentions”. Mr. Ferwana is a researcher specialising in prisoners’ issues. He has accused the Israelis of detaining a number of journalists without charge or any form of due process. He cited as evidence the arrests of Al Jazeera television’s Afghanistan bureau director Samer Allaw, who is a Palestinian; Al Quds TV programme coordinator Nawwaf Amer; Shehab news agency’s correspondent Amr Abu Arafa; Al Aqsa TV’s Asid Amarna; and Mohamed Bosharat from the governorate of Tobas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0WKVhIpgr4&feature=player_embedded
JENIN (Ma’an) — Israeli protesters prevented Palestinian families from visiting their relatives in an Israeli prison on Thursday, Palestinian Authority officials said. The PA Ministry of Detainees said that a group of Israelis chanted slogans and halted the passage of buses to the Negev prison. Israeli forces in the area did not intervene to prevent the assault on the visiting families, who had traveled from the the northern West Bank city of Jenin to see their imprisoned relatives.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=422491
Many international activists, organizations and movements are faced with doubts regarding the current debate regarding the initiative for membership of a Palestinian state at the UN and ways forward. Stop the Wall gives answers to some of the most asked questions.
Three campus activists talk to The Electronic Intifada about the upcoming national Students for Justice in Palestine meeting, the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement on US campuses and the challenges activists face from Zionist groups and school administrations.
A Jewish human rights activist who stood up to challenge the Israeli Prime Minister’s address to the US Congress this spring and call for equal rights for Palestinians has filed charges against four security officers who she says tackled and injured her.
Join the US Campaign this week for two opportunities to learn more about Palestine’s UN membership bid. Tonight, Wednesday, September 21, 8-9pm join us at Georgetown University for a panel discussion with National Advocacy Director Josh Ruebner, Noura Erakat, and Mouin Rabbani, sponsored by Students for Justice in Palestine and the Lecture Fund.
AHAVA closes London store over threats
The company’s link to Israel, however, became the greatest difficulty AHAVA has been forced to deal with in the past two years. Dozens of pro-Palestinian activists have been gathering outside the London flagship store every Saturday in the past few months, calling on British residents to boycott the company’s products. The shop’s location – at Covent Garden, one of the British capital’s most popular shopping districts – has exposed the organized protest against AHAVA to masses of British residents and tourists. The reason for the uproar is that the company’s headquarters are in Mitzpe Shalem, which is defined by the pro-Palestinian organizations as “an illegal and criminal settlement in the occupied territories.” The fact that AHAVA’s product originate in the Dead Sea, which is also considered a disputed area among the activists, has caused even greater anger among the boycotters. The protestors have reportedly been stopping shoppers outside the store and handing out leaflets explaining that the occupation is a “human crime”. Some have even clashed with the shop’s employees.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4125530,00.html
Obama urges Erdogan to resolve crisis with Israel
US president meets with Turkish PM on sidelines of UN General Assembly, asks him to find a way to end crisis with Israel for sake of regional stability.
Israel embassy officials leave Cairo again
CAIRO: Four officials from the Israeli embassy in Cairo returned to Israel on Thursday, after a short trip to assess damage at the mission headquarters after it was attacked by protesters, a report said. The consul and three other officials have left Cairo for Tel Aviv “after a three-day visit to assess the premises of the embassy following the events that took place around two weeks ago,” the official MENA news agency reported. The Sept. 9-10 attack on the Israeli embassy in Cairo forced the evacuation of staff including ambassador Yitzhak Levanon. Crowds smashed through an external security wall, tossed embassy papers from balconies and tore down the Israeli flag. It was the worst incident since Israel set up its mission in Egypt, the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with the Jewish state in 1979. It was also the latest episode in worsening relations between Egypt and Israel since the killing of six Egyptian policemen on their common border as Israel hunted militants after a deadly attack last month. Three people were killed and more than 1,000 wounded, including 300 policemen, during clashes between protesters and the security forces outside the embassy and the nearby security directorate.
A top Palestine Liberation Organization official responded to Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s scathing criticisms of the PLO on Tuesday by telling The Cable that Perry’s comments were “discriminatory and racist.” Perry hosted a pro-Israel rally in New York on Tuesday morning, during which he repeatedly accused President Barack Obama of “appeasement” of the Palestinians and of bungling three years of Middle East diplomacy. He also called for the closing of the PLO mission in Washington, and the cutting off of U.S. aid to the Palestinian leadership as punishment for their drive to seek member-state status at the United Nations.
Arguing this case Tuesday to reporters at an event featuring family members of the assassinated victims, Iranian IAEA envoy Ali Asghar Soltanieh said his country would not retaliate against the “ugly phenomenon of assassinating … nuclear scientists to stop Iran’s nuclear progress.” Blaming Israel for assassinating its nuclear scientists, Iran said Tuesday it would not retaliate for the “ugly phenomenon” but would seek more international support against such killings. Instead, he said, Tehran will push for greater international condemnation of such practices, adding he is “very sure about the support of almost all member states” of the 151-nation IAEA. Mansoureh Karami, the widow of assassinated scientist Masoud Ali Mohammadi, blamed the “Zionist regime” for the killings. In an indirect poke at the United States and its allies, she said nations who “falsely claim human rights share these crimes.” The Iranian delegation also showed a film featuring Majid Jamali Fashi – who Iran says is the killer of one of the scientists – asserting that he was recruited by the Zionist entity.
http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?fromval=1&cid=23&frid=23&eid=28566
That fact poses serious challenges to be faced by the Lebanese cabinet and Parliament, responsible for ensuring an internal consensus as soon as possible to prevent any foreign attack against the country’s resources. Lebanon stands today in the middle of the dispute over maritime resources, where Lebanese waters contain the largest oil reserves compared to the neighboring countries. Cyprus announced Monday that it has commenced oil and gas exploration in the Mediterranean, an announcement that pushed Turkey to start exploration in the Turkish-Cypriot waters next week.
Bahrain protesters hold traffic demonstration
Demonstrators block traffic in centre of capital Manama in bid to pressure government ahead of weekend by-elections.
(New York) – Yemeni security forces used excessive force when they opened fire on anti-government protesters in Sanaa on September 18, 2011, and in Taizz on September 19, killing at least 27 and wounding hundreds, Human Rights Watch said today.
AP – Iran was praised and Israel criticized Wednesday at a 151-nation meeting, with Cuba and Venezuela defending Tehran’s right to run a nuclear program and Syria saying the Jewish state’s undeclared nuclear arsenal is a threat to world peace.
U.S. Special Operations Forces have been increasingly aiming their nighttime raids, which have been the primary cause of Afghan anger at the U.S. military presence, at civilian noncombatants in order to exploit their possible intelligence value, according to a new study published by the Open Society Foundation and the Liaison Office.
US executes death row prisoner Troy Davis
Death row prisoner Troy Davis has been executed in the state of Georgia despite serious doubts surrounding his conviction. Amnesty International has condemned the decision by authorities in the state of Georgia to execute death row prisoner Troy Davis. Troy Davis, 42, who had been on death row since 1991, was executed by lethal injection at the Georgia state prison in Jackson on Wednesday, despite serious doubts surrounding his conviction.
Government urged to establish an immediate moratorium on executions in the kingdom after a Sudanese national was put to death this week. Saudi Arabia’s government should establish an immediate moratorium on executions in the kingdom, Amnesty International said today after a Sudanese man convicted of “sorcery” was put to death.
First French fines for veiled women a ‘travesty of justice’
A court in Meaux near Paris fined Hind Ahmas €120 and Najate Naït Ali €80 for wearing the niqab, a full face veil, in public. The first fines issued in France today against two Muslim women wearing full-face veils in public are a violation of their rights to freedom of expression and religion, Amnesty International said today.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/first-french-fines-veiled-women-%E2%80%98travesty-justice%E2%80%99-2011-09-22
As Palestine’s bid for statehood at the UN looms closer, the world is waiting for Israel’s next move. Former Israeli intelligence head Ami Ayalon believes the solution to peace in the region is creating a new reality – of two states. Ami Ayalon believes that the recognition of Palestine in the UN would not necessarily be a “step forward on the road to state solution,” but definitely will change perception of the situation by the international community, which may lead to some economic and diplomatic sanctions.
Jewish neo-con joins Palestinian neo-con to expose those pesky Arabs
Let’s be clear. Here we have a fusion between a Zionist fundamentalist, Pipes, and a Palestinian journalist with the pro-settler Jerusalem Post, Abu Toameh, helping to “expose” the supposedly existential threat of Arabs inside Israel. Abu Toameh was recently in Australia as a guest of the Zionist lobby.
Harper’s undermining of UN bid goes against Canadian public opinion
Canada is so pro-Israel that it will vote in the United Nations against recognizing a Palestinian state on only half the land that Canadian diplomats promised Palestine sixty years ago.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/harpers-undermining-un-bid-goes-against-canadian-public-opinion/10411?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
Interview with Jadaliyya Co-Editor Mouin Rabbani on Palestinian Statehood
With the United Nations set to debate Palestinian statehood on 20 September, Jadaliyya Co-EditorMouin Rabbani, a Middle East-based expert on Palestine and Visiting Senior Fellow at the Institute for Palestine Studies, discusses the background to and implications of this development. He will be in the U.S. 15 September through 10 October for media appearances and public events.
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/2675/interview-with-jadaliyya-co-editor-mouin-rabbani-o
Al-Jazeera Interview with Jadaliyya Co-Editor Noura Erakat on PLO/PA Strategy at the UN
New York - Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas (Abu-Mazen) and the sizeable delegation accompanying him to New York have yet to decide on how to proceed with the Palestinian application for admission as a UN member-state. The bid is to be submitted to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon after Abbas addresses the General Assembly on Friday. During a meeting on Monday between Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and representatives of Western donor states, also attended by Danny Ayalon, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Ayalon made clear that Israel would exact economic retribution if the Palestinians went ahead with their UN membership bid. Ayalon warned that “future assistance and cooperation could be severely and irreparably compromised.” The chairman of the meeting, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gare Store, for his part emerged with the message “that there is an urgent need, as we donors see it, that political negotiations resume.” This was read as a sign that the European donors, while committed in theory to a Palestinian state, are searching for justifications to defer to Israel and the US over the UN bid.
Biggest Losers in Palestine Veto? The American People, Philip Giraldi
If the Palestinian application for United Nations full membership actually takes place Friday and the United States uses its Security Council veto to stop the process, it will be the final step in a predictable and preventable tragedy playing out.
US President Barack Obama’s decision to use the US’ veto prerogative if the United Nations votes to recognise a Palestinian state will constitute a blow to those seeking peace in the Middle East. His administration’s claim that peace can only be achieved through dialogue and consent rather than through unilateral moves ignores the complex power relations that constitute peace-making between Israelis and Palestinians. History teaches that peace is achieved only when the conflicting sides believe that they have too much to lose by sustaining the conflict. And, at this point in history, the price Israel is paying for continuing the occupation is extremely small.
Perry’s Faith-Based Foreign Policy Directive, Justin Raimondo
If Rick Perry makes it to the White House, what will American foreign policy in the Middle East look like? We got a clear indication of that, recently, when he stated: “As a Christian I have a clear directive to support Israel, from my perspective its pretty easy both as an American and a Christian.
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2011/09/20/perrys-faith-based-foreign-policy-directive/
A year ago, President Obama addressed the UNGA where he told world leaders that “when we come back here next year, we can have an agreement that will lead to a new member of the United Nations – an independent, sovereign state of Palestine, living in peace with Israel.” He was back today but there was no agreement. The Palestinians and the Israelis have signed an interim agreement on September 13, 1993 in Washington DC known as the Oslo Accords. The document stipulated that this arrangement is temporary, and that the two parties should negotiate and produce a permanent agreement and that the negotiations must start no later than May 1996. It is now September 21, 2012. Nearly 20 years since signing that accord and there is no permanent agreement, no negotiations. Consequently, the head of the Palestinian Authority decided to ask the world community to end the deadlock by recognizing a Palestinians state over the 1967 borders. The Israelis are opposed and they are asking the US to use its veto to deny the Palestinians statehood.
Surprisingly, as the U.S. threatens to veto in the U.N. Security Council a resolution for Palestinian statehood, President Barack Obama faces plunging poll numbers with Jewish Americans. Obama’s sinking poll numbers in the Jewish community (dropping from 80 percent in 2008 to 60 percent in July 2011), usually an extremely loyal bedrock of support for […]
Seven months after the fall of Hosni Mubarak, the popular debate on what constitutes a genuine change and revolution in Egypt rages on. The decapitated hydra of Mubarak’s regime lives on under a different guise, but average citizens seem more determined than ever to not let any special interests steal their hard-won revolution: not the military, not the neo-liberals, and not Islamists. Khalil Bendib spoke with activist and blogger Hossam el-Hamlawy in Cairo.
Maximilian C. Forte, “Al Jazeera and U.S. Foreign Policy: What WikiLeaks’ U.S. Embassy Cables Reveal about U.S. Pressure and Propaganda”
The U.S. Embassy cables published by WikiLeaks present numerous very interesting stories about how Al Jazeera was brought to heel by the U.S. Government. The U.S. Embassy in Doha, and officials from Washington, used a variety of direct and indirect methods of ensuring a greater degree of compliance on the part of Al Jazeera. These methods included placing speakers on Al Jazeera news programs; supplying information approved by the U.S. Government; providing U.S. training for Al Jazeera’s journalists; demanding editorial distortion of aired programs; securing Al Jazeera’s agreement to check first with U.S. officials before airing “sensitive” programs; monitoring of Al Jazeera in minute detail, ranging from its news coverage to its internal structure and policies; lodging complaints with Qatari government ministers; constant, personal visits to Al Jazeera’s headquarters; developing familiarity and close personal contacts with Al Jazeera staff; and going over the head of the Managing Director of Al Jazeera to ensure that “objectionable content” was removed and never repeated. Mainstreaming, professionalism, balance, and objectivity emerge as the chosen tropes for a journalism that favors U.S. foreign policy.
At our local anti-occupation activist meeting we talked a bit about Troy Davis. We’d gotten an update from someone attending a different social justice meeting that indicated they were staying his execution, but apparently that didn’t actually happen.
This is heart-breaking. I can’t speak about how the rest of the world will feel about this, but here at home a LOT of people are devastated. And angry.
There are a lot of people who are committed to making a BIG issue about capital punishment and we’re not going to let the Democratic Party off the hook for their complicity in this.
While I was moved and learned a great deal about this individual last night on MSNBC. From 7 pm to 11 they focused on this execution. The questions around this execution were serious and substantive and hopefully the Board of parole who did not stop this execution will be investigated.
But it stood out that MSNBC etc did not spend any time educating the public by having guest who could address the I/P facts. Complicit in keeping the American public uninformed about this critical issue that undermines US national security
another dark chapter in american history, expect it is being lived at present… one can look back at the civil rights movement and how folks lived a sad reality in the past, but getting many of the folks today to recognize how these same injustices are going on as we speak seems difficult… many people see it, but not enough to put an end to capital punishment or the attitudes like “jews are better then arabs”… one wonders how long it will take for the usa to wake up… the usa is definitely not a leader on issues like these…
“the world watches as the US executes an innocent man”
That just about sums it up on this blog. You guys know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, whilst every one else is some Jewish-Israeli-Zionist-hasbarist scumbag or idiot who knows nothing about facts or history.
You have every right to oppose capital punishment, but to know better than about 4 or 5 different law courts or committees who reviewed the evidence over and over and had no doubt as to the accused’s guilt is pure “chutzpah”. Maybe only you should be allowed to sit on juries as only you are wise enough to weigh up the facts?
If this is how you determine “facts” then you jeapodise all you say about the I/P conflict as equally unsatisfactory and false and not to be taken seriously. (For instance UN decisions and committee findings and the ICC decisions are false and blaming the innocent for crimes they never committed – why? Because I say so! Etc.)
seham, thanks so much for this video. i really appreciate it. yesterday was a dark day for our country.