Week against the Apartheid Wall, November 9 – 16
At the beginning of this year the people in the Arab world rose up, took to the streets and squares and made crucial steps on the long road towards a just and free Middle East. The Palestinian Intifada has become Arab; the walls of fear from dictatorship have been torn down. People in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Syria, and beyond have inspired the world with their courage. They have shown that people, determined and united, can make a difference. Spring turned into summer, summer to fall, and as we look still ahead to winter, the world witnesses the uprisings continuing in full force. We are not tired! Prolonged, popular struggle, however, comes at a high cost. Mass killings, large scale arrests, and torture have been used by the regimes to protect their power. Now it is time for the world, the movements, organizations and people of conscience to stand up and support the Arab and Palestinian people by pressuring their governments, institutions, and corporations to withdraw their protection and support of Israeli apartheid, colonialism, and occupation because Palestine is the heart of the Arab world and without a solution to the Palestinian issue there will be no lasting peace and justice!
And more news from Today in Palestine:
Settlers / Land, Property, Resource Theft & Destruction / Ethnic Cleansing
Thousands protest Israel plan to uproot Negev Bedouins
BEERSHEBA, Israel (AFP) — Thousands of Bedouins demonstrated in the southern city of Beersheba on Thursday to protest against a government project they say will displace tens of thousands of people from their land. The demonstrators rallied in the city center shouting: “This land is ours, we are staying here!” and holding up signs reading: “No to the Praver plan” and “Social justice for all!” an AFP correspondent said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=426941
Jaffa family to sue for excessive force in house eviction
Video taken at scene shows YASSAM police kicking, punching father of squatter family as he lays on ground; family do not appear to resist. An Israeli-Arab family from Jaffa said Thursday they plan to file a lawsuit against the police, after officers used what appears to be excessive force to evict them from a south Tel Aviv house they were squatting in on Tuesday. In an amateur video taken at the scene, a group of YASSAM riot police can be seen wrestling with Sameer Kassem, 34, as he holds his four-year-old daughter in his hands.
http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=240834
Israel Demolishes Palestinian Properties in Jordan Valley
WEST BANK, October 6, 2011 (WAFA) – Israeli forces early Thursday demolished houses, barns and barracks belonging to Palestinian shepherds in Wadi Al-Maleh and Al-Hamma areas north of the Jordan Valley, according to head of Al-Maleh village council, Aref Daraghmeh. He said Israeli bulldozers, under the protection of Israeli soldiers, demolished houses and barns built of canvas and tin in several areas in the Jordon Valley, pointing out this happened suddenly as shepherds were preparing to head towards the fields. In a related matter, Israeli soldiers stormed the town of Beit Kahil northwest of Hebron in the southern West Bank, imposed a tight military cordon on the area and surrounded a Palestinian house before demolishing it, firing tear gas bombs at residents who tried to stop them, according to witnesses. The owner of the house told WAFA he was handed a demolition notice several months ago by Israeli soldiers which he appealed at Israeli court that was still looking into the matter. Soldiers, during the house demolition, destroyed a number of olive trees, the nearby road and a number of adjacent walls.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=17668
Jerusalem mayor slams Gilo construction critics
Nir Barkat defends plan to build 1,100 housing units in Gilo, claims government motivated by international pressure.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4131204,00.html
Restriction of Movement
Army Closes West Bank And Border Crossings, Halts Public Transport And Aviation
For the Israeli “Yom Kippur” holiday, the Israeli military fully closed the West Bank for 48 hours., from midnight Thursday till midnight Saturday. Arabs48 News Agency reported.
http://www.imemc.org/article/62218
IOF impose restrictions on W.B. worshippers’ entry to the Aqsa Mosque
Israel Occupation Forces imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers from the West Bank to the Aqsa Mosque on Friday.
link to Palestine Information Center
High Court rejects Vanunu’s petition
Judges rule convicted spy cannot enter West Bank; say ‘petitioner proved repeatedly he cannot be trusted and does not respect letter of the law’.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4132397,00.html
Israeli Regime Violence
The Israeli government is directly responsible for the ongoing harm inflicted on the residents of Qusra
This morning (6.10.2011), Palestinian farmers from the village of Qusra, south of Nablus, discovered that approximately 200 of their olive and fig trees were completely destroyed or uprooted. The vandalism occurred south of the village, in an area adjacent to the location of several outposts of the Shilo settlement. Some of the olive trees bore fruit, which the owners intended to pick in the coming days. Residents told B’Tselem that they tended their land yesterday, so the damage was clearly done last night. There were no witnesses but past experience raises well-grounded suspicions that the act was carried out by settlers. The attack occurred in an open area with excellent visibility. Last month, the army established a military post on a hill overlooking the valley between the Esh-Kodesh outpost and Qusra. Even if soldiers aren’t present there at all times, the security forces maintain an ongoing presence in the area. In spite of this, it is suspected that settlers managed to vandalize 200 trees unhindered by the soldiers. Regardless of whether the soldiers noticed the settlers and chose to ignore them or whether they weren’t present in the area, this is a particularly severe case where the security forces violated their obligation to protect the Palestinian residents and their property. In spite of repeated complaints by the residents of Qusra and other villages in the area – Duma, Qaryut and Jalud – and by human rights organizations, the law enforcement authorities routinely violate their obligation to protect local residents from settler attacks. B’Tselem demands that the authorities put a stop to these attacks and take all necessary measures to hold the perpetrators accountable, while guaranteeing their rights to due process. The Israeli authorities must stop abandoning Palestinian residents in this area and in other flash points of settler violence the West Bank.
http://www.btselem.org/press_releases/20111006_qusra
PCHR Weekly Report: 4 civilians, including a child, wounded by Israeli troops this week
In its Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories for the week of 29 Sep. – 05 Oct. 2011, 3 Palestinians, including a child, were wounded by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip. A Palestinian was wounded when Israeli forces attacked a non-violent protest in the West Bank.
http://www.imemc.org/article/62217
Injuries and Threats to Close Access to Nabi Saleh Weekly Protest
Occupation forces suppressed the weekly protest in Nabi Saleh village, which came under the title of “Loyalty for Our Prisoners” in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners strike currently being held in occupation prisons. Many of these prisoners were incarcerated arbitrarily for their political actions against the occupation. Protesters were shot by metal bullets covered with rubber, which injured 4 protesters. They were also shot by tear gas canisters, causing dozens of suffocation cases among the protesters. The occupation forces shot tear gas bombs and rubber bullets towards houses in the village and announced that Nabi Saleh and surrounding villages are now closed military areas. This closing will prevent outsiders such as Palestinians, international activists, journalists, and medical staff from reaching Nabi Saleh’s weekly protest.
http://www.stopthewall.org/2011/10/04/injuries-and-threats-close-access-nabi-saleh-weekly-protest
Settler Terrorism and Violence
Settlers Burn Dozens of Olive Trees North Of Jerusalem
A group of armed extremist Israeli settlers of the Ramat Shlomo illegal settlement installed on lands that belong to residents of Shu’fat, north of Jerusalem, set ablaze dozens of olive trees that belong to two Palestinian families, the Palestine News Network reported.
Kristallnacht=Price Tag
“In 1930s Germany when they burned synagogues they called it ‘Kristallnacht.’ Here [in Israel] we’ve moved to the language of capitalism: ‘price tag.’”
Settlers vow to resist future evictions
As State gears to execute High Court order, raze West Bank outposts, settlers pledge to mount ‘tsunami of resistance’.
Smuggling tunnel collapses in Rafah
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma’an) — A smuggling tunnel under the border of Egypt and the Gaza Strip collapsed on Friday, Egyptian security sources said. Security officials told Ma’an that a truck was unloading construction materials near the site of the collapse and overturned into the tunnel, in the cross-border town of Rafah. Police attended the scene but the smugglers escaped, Egyptian sources said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=426945
Haniyya Meets Former Netherlands Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the Hamas-led government in Gaza, Ismail Haniyya, met with the Netherlands Prime Minister, Andries van Agt, and a number of former ministers, ambassadors, and officials.
Energy authority: Egypt to increase Gaza electricity
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The Egyptian energy minister has approved a request from authorities in Gaza to increase the amount of electricity to meet the needs of villages near the border. Hassan Younes will allow an increase from 17 to 22 megawatts, according to to the energy authority in Gaza, which praised the initiative as a first step in solving the energy crisis. The authority also warned that shortages of up to 70 megawatts have occurred in the past, so there is more work to be done. But it thanked the Egyptian government and people for the increase.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=426849
Kuwaiti activists in Gaza for aid distribution, siege-breaking
GAZA, Oct 6 (KUNA) — A number of Kuwaiti activists have entered the Israeli-besieged Gaza Strip to distribute aid and help break the Israeli siege on the populous Palestinian territory. “This new convoy has come to deliver a message of solidarity to Palestinians and to confirm we have not forgotten our people in Gaza,” Kuwaiti activist Mubarak Al-Mutawa said in a press conference upon arrival.
Al-Mutawa stressed the need for more “work to lift Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip and open crossings permanently and without any obstacles to enable the Palestinians to get their needs.” Palestinian security source at Rafah border terminal told KUNA that the Kuwaitis were among more than 78 international activities who participate in the “Miles Of Smiles 6” aid convoy which arrived here Thursday.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2194856&Language=en
Political Arrests & Detainees
PA Prisoners’ Family Committee Chairman Arrested in Jerusalem
On Friday Israeli forces arrested Amjad Abu Asab, head of the PA Prisoners’ Families Committee, at his house in al-Suwaneh neighborhood of Jerusalem. The police also issued a signed order from the Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai to Abu Asab’s brother, Yacoub Abu Asab, forbidding him from travel abroad within the period of September 4, 2011 to May 4, 2012, under the pretext of danger on the Israeli security. Yacoub Abu Asab told PNN that Israeli Special Forces and Shin Bet security service teams attacked their house “viciously.”
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10730&Itemid=64
Three Palestinians Detained in Beit Omar
The Israeli army arrested three Palestinian youths from Beit Omar north of Hebron after a series of home invasions and searches. Mohammed Ayyad, spokesman of the Beit Omar Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, reported that the Israeli army invaded the town at 3 a.m. and arrested 17-year-old Allan Awad, 15-year-old Sabri Awad, and 16-year-old Malek Sleibi. The Israeli army posts soldiers at the entrances of Beit Omar and the nearby al-Aroub refugee camp, as well as at the Nabi Younes junction at near the Halhoul bridge north of the city.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10726&Itemid=64
Israeli Army Kidnaps Five Residents in Qalqilia
On Wednesday morning the Israeli army kidnapped five residents from Kufor Qaddom village in the eastern part of the West Bank city of Qalqilia, moving them to an unknown destination , Ma’an News Agency reported.
http://www.imemc.org/article/62189
Continuing Detention In Tuba Zingerah, Upper Galilee
Israeli police continue to detain citizens of the village of Tuba Zingerah in the Upper Galilee, Israel, who were arrested during demonstrations protesting the burning of the village mosque several days ago, the Palestinian News Agency (WAFA) reported.
http://www.imemc.org/article/62220
Israeli court extends remand of 15 citizens for protesting mosque burning
An Israeli court in Safad on Wednesday evening extended the remand of 15 Arab citizens charged with involvement in protest incidents that followed the burning of a mosque in Tuba village.
link to Palestine Information Center
Prisoners’ Strike
Israeli Soldiers Repress Peaceful Sit-in Supporting Prisoners
RAMALLAH, October 5, 2011 (WAFA) – A number of Palestinians suffered Wednesday severe suffocation cases, including two reporters due to Israeli repression of the peaceful sit-in in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners in Ofer prison, west of Ramallah, according to WAFA’s correspondent. Witnesses said that Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and stun grenades at the participants, injuring a number of them, among them two journalists. Palestinians held a sit-in today close to Ofer prison in solidarity with the prisoners, who are on a hunger strike for the ninth day in a row, protesting the arbitrary Israeli measures against them and calling to meet their rightful demands.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=17662
PFLP Urges European Council To Save Lives Of Striking Prisoners
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine urged the European Council to send legal, medical, and media missions to help the prisoners on hunger strike, and to monitor closely the conditions of the prisoners and their families, Arabs48 News Agency reported.
http://www.imemc.org/article/62203
Doyen of Palestinian prisoners says strike will continue until “demands or martyrdom” are achieved
As Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails approach the second week of their hunger strike, the doyen of the detainees has said that they will continue with the strike “until we achieve our demands or martyrdom”. Nael Barghouti, 54, said that the prisoners are insisting on their “rights, not favours”, from the Zionist authorities. He is the world’s longest-serving political prisoner, having been sentenced in April 1978.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2904-doyen-of-palestinian-prisoners-says-strike-will-continue-until-qdemands-or-martyrdomq-are-achieved
PCHR Condemns Collective Penalties against Palestinian Prisoners in Israeli Jails
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemns collective punishment measures being taken by the Israeli prison authorities against Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails who have organized a hunger strike in protest to their deteriorating detention conditions.
http://www.imemc.org/article/62207
A Palestinian political prisoner’s take on Israel’s protest movement, Ameer Makhoul
By not dealing with the root causes of the unjust system in Israel, the Israeli social movement wishes to make things less unjust rather than to change the system and the regime.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/palestinian-political-prisoners-take-israels-protest-movement/10455?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29#.To4euHIRSBM
Yom Kippur fast in solidarity with political prisoners to take place at Occupy Wall Street this Friday
As we welcome the Jewish new year, we look back at the year behind us to address our complicity in the many injustices of our time by recommitting to our collective responsibility for justice and humanity. In particular, we reflect on the common plight and struggle of political prisoners and the many people across the world whose dignity is denied and liberty is threatened by mass incarceration and military blockades.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/10/yom-kippur-fast-in-solidarity-with-political-prisoners-to-take-place-at-occupy-wall-street-this-friday.html
In solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners, Shahd Abusalama
I haven’t been getting enough sleep lately. Last night I was exhausted, in body and mind, but tried to keep my eyes open to follow updates on the Palestinian prisoners’ conditions. My heart and mind were with them completely, in every corner of the horrible Israeli prisons where our heroes continue with persistence, steadfastness, and struggle. Deciding to rebel against the torturous conditions they could no longer endure, the prisoners started a hunger strike on 27 September. [Ed: For more on the hunger strike see here, here and here.]
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/10/in-solidarity-with-the-palestinian-prisoners.html
Threat: Palestinian Prisoners in Israel, Laleh Khalili
There are many harrowing passages in the excellent new edited volume by Abeer Baker and Anat Matar on the processes of administrative detention and imprisonment of Palestinians in Israel; some of them are even in the book’s academic chapters. But the most harrowing, and paradoxically the most hopeful, is the account Osama Barham gives of his endless arrests, detentions, and interrogations. These began in 1979—when he was detained for flying the colors of Palestine in a flag partially made of his mother’s blouse—and ended in 2008, when he was released after a five-year sentence. In the interim, he has been held in detention or in prison (and the distinction is important, as I will describe below) for anything from eighteen days to seven years on separate occasions.
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/2808/threat_palestinian-prisoners-in-israel
Racism and Discrimination
“Our identity is under attack;” Palestinian youth activist interviewed
Sawsan Khalife’ is a young woman activist and a Palestinian citizen of Israel. The daily discrimination she encounters in Jerusalem and the tragic killing by Israeli forces of a school friend have been determining factors for her work.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/our-identity-under-attack-palestinian-youth-activist-interviewed/10456?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29#.To4e8XIRSBM
http://972mag.com/israels-same-sex-funerals-fall-outside-scope-of-general-activism/24705/
Week against the Apartheid Wall, November 9 – 16
At the beginning of this year the people in the Arab world rose up, took to the streets and squares and made crucial steps on the long road towards a just and free Middle East. The Palestinian Intifada has become Arab; the walls of fear from dictatorship have been torn down. People in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Syria, and beyond have inspired the world with their courage. They have shown that people, determined and united, can make a difference. Spring turned into summer, summer to fall, and as we look still ahead to winter, the world witnesses the uprisings continuing in full force. We are not tired! Prolonged, popular struggle, however, comes at a high cost. Mass killings, large scale arrests, and torture have been used by the regimes to protect their power. Now it is time for the world, the movements, organizations and people of conscience to stand up and support the Arab and Palestinian people by pressuring their governments, institutions, and corporations to withdraw their protection and support of Israeli apartheid, colonialism, and occupation because Palestine is the heart of the Arab world and without a solution to the Palestinian issue there will be no lasting peace and justice!
http://www.stopthewall.org/week-against-apartheid-wall
Why I am Donating to the National SJP Conference, Max Ajl
This October 14th through 16th, hundreds of students from around the nation – including me – will meet in New York for the first National Students for Justice in Palestine Conference. This conference will be dedicated to building our movement in two ways. Student activists will learn from each other, gain skills, and coordinate strategies so that we can return to our campuses more informed and ready to do better work. In addition, we will work to create a national SJP structure to coordinate strategy and actions across SJP chapters.
http://www.maxajl.com/why-i-am-donating-to-the-national-sjp-conference/
French Group visited Beit Ommar
This week a group of visitors from a catholic organization in France visited Beit Ommar and Center for Freedom and Justice. PSP arranged a guided tour and showed their interessted guests all the illegal settlements that surround the beautiful city of Beit Ommar.
http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2011/10/06/french-group-visited-beit-ommar/
Anti-BDS
Pro-Israel Civil Rights Complaint Filed Against Columbia University, Richard Silverstein
Kenneth Marcus, the pro-Israel scourge of U.S. academia, has just filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights against Columbia University. Electronic Intifada reports on the story. Though I haven’t read the complaint yet, I have read EI’s portrayal of it and I have to say it’s been a long time since I’ve seen such nonsense on a university campus.
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2011/10/05/pro-israel-civil-rights-complaint-filed-against-columbia-university/
US launches “civil rights” probe at Columbia University as Zionist censorship, smears intensify, Ali Abunimah
A complaint by a professor at Columbia University who co-founded the anti-Palestinian Zionist group “Scholars for Peace in the Middle East” has resulted in the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) opening an investigation into the university.
http://electronicintifada.net/blog/ali-abunimah/us-launches-civil-rights-probe-columbia-university-zionist-censorship-smears
Political Developments & Other News
Experts to meet Friday on Palestinian UN bid (AP)
AP – The Security Council is moving ahead with its review of the Palestinian bid for U.N. membership while Mideast mediators are preparing a fresh attempt to bring Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111004/ap_on_re_us/un_un_mideast
Quartet to meet in Brussels in bid to restart Israeli-Palestinian talks
EU spokesman Michael Mann says focus of talks will be to maintain momentum in encouraging the parties to return to negotiations.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/quartet-to-meet-in-brussels-in-bid-to-restart-israeli-palestinian-talks-1.388729?localLinksEnabled=false
Palestinian anger at US rising over UN veto threat (AP)
AP – Palestinians have long been skeptical of America’s ability to help them win independence. But low expectations have turned into frustration and in some cases outright anger after the U.S. threatened to derail a bid for U.N. recognition of an independent state and Congress put a hold on $200 million in badly needed aid.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111006/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_palestinians_us
PLO leader denies talks without settlement freeze
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — The PLO secretary-general denied on Thursday reports that Palestinian leaders would hold talks with Israel without a freeze on illegal settlement building. Yasser Abed Rabbo told Ma’an that President Mahmoud Abbas’s conditions for negotiations — a halt to settlement expansion on Palestinian lands, and a clear time frame for ending Israel’s occupation — had not wavered.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=426797
Israel lashes out at Palestinian UNESCO bid
Israel lashed out at the Palestinians and UNESCO on Wednesday after the U.N. cultural organization’s executive committee recommended the acceptance of Palestine as a full member with state rights. “The Palestinians’ actions at UNESCO negate both the bilateral negotiations.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/05/170376.html
USAID Freezes Construction Projects in Palestinian Territories
Official Palestinian sources confirmed in Thursday’s al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper that the American development agency USAID froze its construction projects in Palestinian territory, following a decision by the US Congress to halt aid to the Palestinian Authority as it continues its bid for full recognition at the United Nations.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10731&Itemid=56
Biden denies saying Jonathan Pollard would be released ‘over his dead body’
U.S. Vice President tells American Jewish leaders that while the sentiment expressed in his quoted rejection was correct, his words were taken out of context.
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/biden-denies-saying-jonathan-pollard-would-be-released-over-his-dead-body-1.388489?localLinksEnabled=false
ADL chief to Abbas: Stop demonizing Israel, resume direct peace talks
In open letter to the Palestinian President, Abraham H. Foxman says only way in which Abbas could quell Israeli fears as to the sincerity of his desire for peace is to resume stalled peace negotiations.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/adl-chief-to-abbas-stop-demonizing-israel-resume-direct-peace-talks-1.388542?localLinksEnabled=false
Sarkozy: It is silly to talk about a Jewish state
French leader quoted as saying ‘Abbas is a statesman. Netanyahu, on the other hand, never fails to disappoint us’.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4132036,00.html
Israeli commentators mention Hosni Mubarak as ‘personality of the year’
Israel nominated Egypt’s toppled president, Hosni Mubarak, for the country’s personality of the year award, making him the first Arab and non-Israeli figure nominated for the title.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/05/170334.html
Egypt plans big rise in price of gas to Israel
Egypt will substantially raise the price of its gas exports to Israel, which have stopped after militants blew up a Sinai desert pipeline, an Egyptian newspaper reported on Tuesday. Oil minister Abdullah Ghurab said there would be “a large increase in the price” after the revision which would be announced soon, the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper reported. The sale of gas to Israel, which signed a peace treaty with Egypt in 1979, has always been controversial in the most populous Arab country. Former president Hosni Mubarak, on trial for allegedly ordering the shootings of protesters during a revolt that ousted him in February, also faces charges of exporting the gas at cheap prices.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/10/04/egypt-plans-big-rise-in-price-of-gas-to-israel/
Palestinians celebrate life through beer
West Bank’s tiny Christian town of Taybeh welcomes thousands of visitors to its seventh annual Oktoberfest beer festival.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4130625,00.html
Other Mideast News
29 Jordanians to be beheaded in Saudi Arabia
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/10/29-jordanians-to-be-beheaded-in-saudi.html
Bahrain youth dies after clash with police (Reuters)
Reuters – A Bahraini teenager was killed during clashes with police on Thursday night, opposition activists said, and the government of the restive Gulf Arab state said it was investigating the cause of death.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111007/wl_nm/us_bahrain_youth
Bahrain sentences 33 more for protest violence (AP)
AP – A defense lawyer says Bahrain’s security court has convicted 33 more activists on charges that include violence and attempted murder during anti-government protests and sentenced them to prison terms.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111006/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_bahrain
Bahrain medics to face civilian court retrial
The verdict of the special security court, which sentenced medics to jail over protests, could be overturned.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/10/201110517433596423.html
Saudi Arabia blames riots on ‘outside forces’
Fourteen hurt in Gulf city, officials say, as Saudis vow to come down on “division instigators” with an “iron fist”.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/10/2011104154541907192.html
Michel Suleiman wants Iran to arm Lebanese armed forces
Suleiman made the remarks upon his arrival in Beirut from New York where he attended the 66th UN General Assembly meeting, according to IRNA news agency.
http://www.tehrantimes.com/index.php/component/content/article/3203
Israeli violation of ceasefire in Lebanon
BEIRUT, August 21.-The Israeli army has carried out another incursion into Lebanese territory, thus violating the ceasefire, with the toll of three Lebanese and four Israeli soldiers injured in the Bekaa Valley, according to ANSA.
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2006/agosto/mar22/35isrviol.html
Thousands take to streets in Kabul to protest U.S. occupation of Afghanistan
Thousands of people took to the streets of Kabul on Thursday to protest against the decade-long U.S. occupation of Afghanistan and in support of the immediate withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops.
http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/10/06/58267992.html
Iraq NATO deal may let U.S. troops stay on
lawmakers: Iraqi lawmakers on Wednesday said they were discussing a deal to extend a NATO training mission that could allow U.S. troops to stay as trainers beyond the year-end deadline for withdrawal, with the type of legal protections demanded by Washington.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/05/us-iraq-nato-trainers-idUSTRE7945MC20111005
Exclusive: Nobel Peace winner Tawakul Karman talks to Al Jazeera
Tawakul Karman talks exclusively to Al Jazeera about her Nobel Peace Prize win.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKn-tHEM3SU&feature=youtube_gdata
Ahmad Chalabi: humiliated in Beirut
So a group, most probably close to Hizbullah in Lebanon from what I heard, decided to hold a one day conference on repression in Bahrain. Many progressives were in attendance, including former prime minister Salim Huss. The event was being carried live by Al-Manar TV (which confirms that Hizbullah had a role in the event). And then, a panel started and there appeared at the podium none other than Ahmad Chalabi. Chalabi started to talk and blasted foreign powers and foreign occupation. An Egyptian in the audience started yelling at him: others joined in telling him that he was brought in to Iraq in US tanks. There was chaos and uproar in the room. People started leaving saying that they did not know that Chalabi was a guest–Salim Huss also left the room. People were chanting against Chalabi and against foreign occupation. Chalabi–thuggish himself–started chanting from the podium: Down with ignorance. Down with the ignorant. Down with agents of Saddam. Here is a view.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/10/ahmad-chalabi-humiliated-in-beirut.html
Amreeka
AFL-CIO President Trumka announces support for ‘Occupy Wall Street’
The head of the largest federation of unions in the United States released a video on Wednesday in which he announced his support for the “Occupy Wall Street” movement. “Occupy Wall Street has captured the imagination and passion of millions of Americans who have lost hope that our nation’s policymakers are speaking for them,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said. “We support the protesters in their determination to hold Wall Street accountable and create good jobs.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/10/05/afl-cio-president-trumka-announces-support-for-occupy-wall-street/
Ron Paul calls Occupy Wall Street a ‘legitimate effort’
Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul said Wednesday that the Occupy Wall Street protests were a “legitimate effort,” but he wasn’t exactly sure what they are outraged about. “I can’t speak for the people out there because I don’t know who they are or exactly what they are demonstrating against,” Paul told the Nation Press Club. “I can argue the case for their right to express their outright frustration with what is going on. Some are liberals and some are conservatives and some are libertarians and some are strict constitutionalists. And if you read carefully over what I’ve written over the past 10 or 15 years, I talk a lot about this, that eventually we will go bankrupt.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/10/05/ron-paul-calls-occupy-wall-street-a-legitimate-effort/
Labor unions and students joined the growing Occupy Wall Street movement in New York City on Wednesday in the largest march since the protest began 20 days ago. Tens of thousands marched from Foley Square to Zuccotti Park, renamed “Liberty Plaza,” the site of the protest encampment where hundreds have been sleeping since Sept. 17. The march was peaceful ,but police later beat a handful of protesters with batons after they toppled a police barricade in an attempt to march down Wall Street. Police say a total of 28 people were arrested. We hear from eyewitnesses to an altercation between police and protesters at Wall Street.
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/10/6/occupy_wall_street_march_gets_massive
Hundreds of people marched through downtown San Francisco on Wednesday, joining a growing movement whose followers believe the nation’s financial system is broken and its distribution of wealth unfair.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/05/BA121LDU5B.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea
‘Occupy Chicago’ joins anti-war protesters at Obama 2012 headquarters
Some “Occupy Chicago” protesters joined up with anti-war protesters on Thursday outside President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign headquarters at Chicago’s Prudential Plaza. “Occupy Chicago” began on September 23, when around 20 people gathered at Willis Tower, formerly known as the Sears Tower, and then marched to the Federal Reserve Bank to show their solidarity with the “Occupy Wall Street” protesters in lower Manhattan.
October 5, 2011 marked the 18th day of Occupy Wall Street, a protest that has filled a small park in downtown Manhattan for weeks and sparked copycat protests across the country and abroad. Hundreds have been arrested over the past few weeks — at least 20 were arrested last night — and the world has its eyes on Liberty Square, where the protesters have made their encampment.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/10/06/photos-inside-occupy-wall-street-at-liberty-square/
Getting Ready for Occupy Austin
My Tuesday evening walk to the General Assembly of Occupy Austin begins near 5th St. and Colorado as I enter the fashionable warehouse district occupied by restaurants where I cannot afford to eat. Signs on the sidewalk offer valet parking. A rooftop club shares music that puts you in the mood to party. By the time I get to 2nd St, better known these days as Willie Nelson Blvd, sidewalk dining is in full buzz. At 6:30 pm the temperature is sliding down into the 70’s, and the atmosphere could not be more perfect for a gourmet pizza with salad, wine, and schmooze. This newly-developed high-rise section of downtown Austin has got to be one of the more fortunate neighborhoods in the history of the world.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2011/10/getting-ready-for-occupy-austin/
NEW YORK — Their chief target is Wall Street, but many of the demonstrators in New York and across the U.S. are also thoroughly disgusted with Washington, blaming politicians of both parties for policies they say protect corporate America at the expense of the middle class. ”At this point I don’t see any difference between George Bush and Obama. The middle class is a lot worse than when Obama was elected,” said John Penley, an unemployed legal worker from Brooklyn.
Pinning its hopes on the sole support of the US, Israel risks a collapse if it is ever withdrawn – much like apartheid-era South Africa, prominent scholar Professor Noam Chomsky warns. He recalls how South Africans felt safe to ignore a UN embargo and corporations pulling out of their country throughout the 1980s, as long as the Reagan administration continued to support them. As soon as the US withdrew its support, the apartheid regime collapsed. “For 35 years, the US and Israel have been rejecting a political settlement that is supported virtually by the entire world. A couple of months ago, there was a meeting of the oligarchs — people who pretty much run the economy [of Israel],” Chomsky says, “and they warned the government that it better accept something like this resolution, because otherwise, Israel will be, as they put it, South Africanized: even more isolated, with boycotts, refusal to load ships, and their economy will collapse.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5pur4-dfiY&feature=player_embedded
Secret panel can put Americans on ‘kill list’ without any oversight
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – American militants like Anwar al-Awlaki are placed on a kill or capture list by a secretive panel of senior government officials, which then informs the president of its decisions, according to officials. There is no public record of the operations or decisions of the panel, which is a subset of the White House’s National Security Council, several current and former officials said. Neither is there any law establishing its existence or setting out the rules by which it is supposed to operate.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/10/06/secret-panel-can-put-americans-on-kill-list/
Irum Abassi, Muslim Woman Removed From Southwest Plane, To Sue
SAN DIEGO — A Muslim-American woman is suing Southwest Airlines for discrimination because she was removed from a plane by federal security agents. Irum Abbasi of San Diego plans to announce the lawsuit Thursday.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/06/irum-abassi-muslim-woman-_n_998217.html
Analysis / Op-ed
Rambunctious reporters question US State Dept’s double standard on Syrian/Palestinian aspirations, Philip Weiss
Below is a long excerpt from yesterday’s press briefing at the State Department. Victoria Nuland of State takes on a bunch of rowdy questions on Palestinian aspirations and why the U.S. has opposed Palestine’s bid to join UNESCO. The exchange is noteworthy for Nuland’s laughable claim that the U.S. is “absolutely” opposed to Israeli settlement expansion, despite its continual collapse on the issue; for the reporters’ lack of interest in the unending Quartet negotiation drama — they seem to sense another sham in the making–; and for a reporter’s statement that the U.S. will do nothing that “gets Israel upset” (Nuland: “I didn’t say that.”). The cat is out of the bag; will American public opinion begin to reflect the reporters’ awareness? The interchange begins with the matter of the Security Council resolution calling for an end to the Syrian crackdown, which was vetoed by Russia and China. Several other nations, including India, abstained.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/10/rambunctious-reporters-question-us-state-depts-double-standard-on-syrianpalestinian-aspirations.html
One-state solution goes mainstream? CBC interviews Ali Abunimah and Daniel Gavron
In a sign of changing times, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) carried a 30 minute interview with Ali Abunimah and Daniel Gavron, both supporting a one-state solution, on its flagship radio news program The Current with Anna Maria Tremonti.
http://electronicintifada.net/blog/ali-abunimah/one-state-solution-goes-mainstream-cbc-interviews-ali-abunimah-and-daniel-gavron
Romney and Perry get chummy with the anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian crowd, Alex Kane
The news that the family of Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry owned a ranch known by the name “Niggerhead” has sparked outrage. But both Perry–and Mitt Romney, who is leading the Republican presidential pack for now–have no shame and have faced little scrutiny when it comes to their courting of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian activists and advisers.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/10/romney-and-perry-get-chummy-with-the-anti-muslim-anti-palestinian-crowd.html
Mosque Torching: When Extremist Attacks Against Arabs Cross the Green Line
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, was reportedly “outraged” on Monday by images of the gutted mosque in the Bedouin village of Tuba Zangariya, close to the Galilee’s Jewish towns of Rosh Pina and Safed. The mosque was torched by right-wing Jewish extremists. Netanyahu warned that the attack violated Israel’s “supreme values” of freedom of religion and worship and called on the security services to swiftly catch the perpetrators.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/mosque-torching-when-extremist-attacks-against-arabs-cross-green-line?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AlAkhbarEnglish+%28Al+Akhbar+English%29
Israeli International Festivals: Whitewashing Oppression or Resisting it?
Once again, the Israeli cultural establishment is attempting to put itself on the global cultural map by mounting another extravaganza, this time the 27th Haifa International Film Festival to be held between 13-22 October 2011. The Festival is sponsored by Israel’s political establishment, from the Minister of Culture and Sport to the Mayor of the city of Haifa. The Israeli Haifa elite celebrates Haifa as “a city that has become a symbol of co-existence, tolerance and peace,” in flagrant contradiction to the realities of segregation, discrimination, and racism suffered by the native Palestinian residents of Haifa, and in denial of Israel’s violent history of ethnic cleansing in that city.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/israeli-international-festivals-whitewashing-oppression-or-resisting-it?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AlAkhbarEnglish+%28Al+Akhbar+English%29
Israel’s Jewishness: Precondition for Palestinian Statehood
Nazareth – Israel’s relentless efforts to foil a Palestinian bid for statehood at the United Nations are linked to its increasingly intransigent demand that it be recognised as a Jewish state. By denying the Palestinians the UN route while at the same time insisting as part of peace talks that they acknowledge Israel’s Jewish character, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is driving the final nail into the coffin of the peace process and the pursuit of the two-state solution.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/israel%E2%80%99s-jewishness-precondition-palestinian-statehood?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AlAkhbarEnglish+%28Al+Akhbar+English%29
America couldn’t veto Palestinian admission to the UN
The United States of America is preparing to use its veto in order to block Palestine’s admission to the United Nations as an independent state. However, it is doubtful if this vote will have the effect desired by the US State Department because the Americans have renounced using the veto in this way. Not only that, but the vote for membership is based on conditions which don’t allow for such a prohibitive move.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/articles/americas/2902-america-couldnt-veto-palestinian-admission-to-the-un
Why Kosovo but not Palestine?
Serbia was historically more aligned with Russia, while Israel serves US foreign policy interests in the Middle East.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/10/201110292016107881.html
Israeli Foreign Ministry Fires Deputy Ambassador to U.S. Over Iran Leak, Original Haaretz Story Exposed for First Time, Richard Silverstein
Two days ago, with the help of an Israeli source I broke a gag order concerning the arrest of a dubious suspect in the mosque burning in northern Israel, naming him as Yisrael Katz. Today, various Israeli media published portions of what I wrote (though only Yediot mentioned his name, and then strangely only his last name). Of course, none of these sources mentioned that the story broke here first, probably because they can’t conceive of an American blogger breaking stories before them. They’d do well to pay closer attention to what’s published here.
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2011/10/06/israeli-foreign-ministry-fires-deputy-ambassador-to-u-s-over-iran-leak/
Arab Art as an Early Indicator of Revolution
An art fair in Marrakesh showcased many Arab artists who visualized the revolutions in their countries long before they happened.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/world/africa/arab-art-as-an-early-indicator-of-revolution.html
