Gaza
Aqsa TV goes off the air at night for lack of power
The Aqsa satellite channel announced on Wednesday night that it would be off the air during the night hours due to the lack of power and fuel shortage in the Gaza Strip.
Gaza bakeries to stop working in four days
The bakers society in the Gaza Strip has announced that all bakeries in the coastal enclave would come to a complete halt within four days due to lack of fuel.
Human rights group: The crisis of fuel in Gaza paralyzed civilian life
The Palestinian center for human rights said the crisis of fuel and electricity has paralyzed the daily life in the besieged Gaza Strip and made the lives of citizens much worse than before.
Israel accused of using Gaza to test its missile shield
The head of the Political Bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Khaled Meshaal, has accused Israel of using the Gaza Strip as an experimental theatre of war to test its anti-missile shield and other military capabilities prior to an attack on Iran. Hamas leader Meshaal told the Turkish Anatolia news agency on Monday that, “The Zionist entity chose Gaza when it wanted to test its anti-missile shield, as it prepares for a possible war against Iran and other conflicts.” He said that the Israeli occupation authorities are guilty of “state terrorism” against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Meshaal defended the resistance groups who fire rockets from Gaza into Israel: “These missiles are intended only for self-defence, and were fired after Israel had attacked us; the resistance in Gaza used its legal and moral right to defend itself.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=469991
Land Theft / Destruction / Ethnic Cleansing / Restriction of Movement / Apartheid / Refugees
The UN high commissioner for human rights criticized the Israeli forces for using live ammunition against unarmed Palestinians and for increasing demolition of their property.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7fDlURaxBGuPBIHwIBlqqTNhzOZm5L7f1gghaZVf2ebEZByAX%2bi9bcmUY7D0bbGCusLZFwtmA1dS7WZxHJl37MZryY7k%2f8E6JHtu37UaCBZM%3d
News from Al Khader Village
The occupation bulldozers razed vast areas of agriculture land today March 22 in Al-Khader village, south of Bethlehem. According to the coordinator of the popular committee of Stop the Wall, Ahmed Salah, the land owner Khalil Abdbul-Rahman was surprised when he entered his farm near the settlement of ‘Daniel’, which the occupation built on the land of the village. An area of about 20 acres was razed. This area was planted with olive and almond trees. Salah said that lately there is a clear escalation of attacks by the occupation forces and settlers against that area near the settlements of ‘Eliezer’ and ‘Daniel’. He cited the destruction of hundreds of olive saplings and the confiscation of agricultural equipment as well as the fact that the occupation authorities have extended prohibitions to enter their land to cultivate it to even more families. The goal of all these violations of Palestinian rights is to slowly push them to leave the area as life becomes unsustainable. This forced displacement would then give more space and land for the nearby settlements to expand on. Ahmad Salah further mentioned that as in other recent episodes of settler violence, the settler leader Nadia Matar is heading the settler attacks in the area within a campaign that started over three years ago.
http://www.stopthewall.org/2012/03/22/news-al-khader-village
Lawyer says Israeli outpost deal a stalling tactic
A lawyer is trying to scuttle a deal to allow settlers to remain in their unauthorized West Bank outpost for another three years, telling Israel’s Supreme Court that it’s a stalling tactic.
http://news.yahoo.com/lawyer-says-israeli-outpost-deal-stalling-tactic-134817272.html
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=469955
The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) blocked the travel of second deputy speaker of the Palestinian legislative council (PLC) Hassan Khreisha via Karame crossing to Jordan.
A bomb was found Wednesday morning near the house of the Palestinian Armed Struggle Chief Mahmoud Issa, who goes by the nom de gurerre Al-Lino, in Ain Al-Hilweh Refugee camp in the Saida city south Lebanon.
Israel ‘turning blind eye’ to West Bank settlers’ attacks on Palestinians
EU reports say farmers are bearing the brunt of intimidation in systematic and expanding campaign of violence. Jewish settlers in the West Bank are conducting a systematic and expanding campaign of violence against Palestinian farmers, families and children with the Israeli authorities turning a blind eye, according to confidential reports from senior European Union officials. In two reports to Brussels from EU heads of mission in Jerusalem and Ramallah, obtained by the Guardian, the officials found that settler violence against Palestinians has more than tripled in three years to total hundreds of incidents.
20 March 2012: Suspected police assault on mother and three sons in East Jerusalem’s Beit Hanina neighborhood on 30 January 2012
Monday morning, 30 January 2012, Jerusalem city inspectors under Israel Police and Border Police protection demolished a trailer in Beit Hanina, East Jerusalem. Hanan Salhab, 60, hanging laundry on her rooftop, witnessed police confronting a man and woman alongside her family’s car. Hanan Salhab told B’Tselem what happened next: “I went downstairs and asked the police to be careful of the car. One came over and grabbed my neck. He dragged me behind the car and pushed me against it. He grabbed my neck again, lifted me, and shoved me repeatedly against the car and punched my chest. Then he pulled my hijab off my head.”
IOF raid Jenin city, search house of senior Islamic Jihad figure
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) at dawn Thursday stormed Jenin city and ransacked the house of Islamic Jihad official Bassam Assa’di, a prisoner in Israeli jails.
Addameer association for prisoner support and human rights warned that the health situation of female hunger striker Hana Shalabi has seriously deteriorated threatening her life.
Nablus marches for Hana Shalabi
On March 19th 2012, in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, ISM volunteers joined demonstrators in solidarity with Ms. Hana Shalabi, now entering her 35th day of hunger strike. Marching from outside the headquarters of the Red Cross, a group of around a hundred demonstrators marched towards Nablus city centre waving flags, signs and ‘Free Hana Shalabi’ posters. Some of the people attending were the parents of prisoners held illegally by Israel and held aloft photographs of their missing loved ones as they chanted slogans ranging from ‘Free Hana Shalabi’ to End Administrative detention’ and ‘End the occupation’.
Nafha prisoners go on hunger strike
Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli desert prison Nafha have gone on hunger strike on Thursday to protest the Israeli policy of banning family visits for the past six years.
The Israeli higher court turned down an appeal by lawyer of MP Ahmed Al-Haj Ali to end his administrative detention, without trial or charge, at the pretext of having secret charges against him.
Detained Hamas leader threatens open hunger strike
Hamas leader Abbas Assayed has threatened that Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails would go on an open-ended hunger strike if isolated prisoners were not taken out of their solitary confinement.
Two million protesters expected to participate in the Global March to Jerusalem
The organizing committee of the Global March to Jerusalem expects the participation of more than two million people in the march which will be started from the surrounding countries of Palestine.
Palestine solidarity contingent at 22/03 Montreal protest against tuition hikes. Thursday, March 22, 13h South/east corner St. Catherine/Peel Montreal, Québec photo Palestinian students in Gaza Strip. Bring Palestinian flags, solidarity banners ! As students in Québec are taking to the streets, the student strike is building momentum against efforts by the Liberal government to hike post-secondary education by $1625 over the […]
Palestinians mark 9th anniversary of Rachel Corrie’s death
The Ministry of Youth and Sports held a solidarity stand on Monday on the Egypt-Gaza border in commemoration of the American activist Rachel Corrie’s assassination by the Zionist occupation in 2004.
On the 9th Anniversary of Rachel’s Stand in Gaza, a letter written by Cindy and Craig Corrie
Palestinian Academics Condemn Cornell University’s Collaboration with Technion
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott (PACBI) of Israel has issued a statement condemning Cornell University’s collaboration with Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. Cornell and Technion are building a multi-billion dollar science and technology campus together on Roosevelt Island in New York. Technion, like other Israeli academic institutions, is complicit in Israel’s continuing occupation and violations of Palestinian human rights and international law. Joining US Campaign member groups US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI) and Cornell Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), PACBI is urging residents of New York, US civil society, and people of conscience to mobilize against the Cornell-Technion partnership. Sign and share Cornell SJP’s petition opposing Cornell’s shameful collaboration with Technion and check out USACBI’s resources page on the Cornell-Technion partnership!
Vita Bekker – The National – “I was looking for reasons of why nice Jewish boys turn into monsters when they join the army,” said Ms Peled-Elhanan, in an interview at her home just outside Jerusalem.”They never meet Palestinians face-to-face as children, so the textbooks are all they know.”
Israel threatens to deport hundreds of South Sudanese families
Four years ago, the wives of the leaders of Israel and Egypt used their clout to help an African family reunite with a child who vanished in a hail of gunfire as they stole across the Egyptian border into Israel.
Egypt supports international commission on Israeli crimes against Palestinians
Ambassador Hisham Badr, Egypt’s permanent representative to the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, has confirmed Cairo’s full support for the establishment of an international fact-finding committee to investigate the impact of Israeli settlements on Palestinian human rights. A proposal for the committee was submitted by the two Arabic and Islamic groups on the UN Human Rights Council.
Iron Dome bill presented at US Congress
Ambassador Oren’s article on need to invest in 10 new batteries quickly translated into bipartisan bill. Congressman Berman: ‘US will continue to stand by our strong ally’.
Bahraini Forces Kidnap, Rape 16-Year-Old Boy
Bahraini security forces kidnapped sixteen year old Ali Al-Sankees, drove him faraway from Sanabis, south of Bahrain, before he was raped.
At some point before dawn, the vandals struck with brutal efficiency, smashing the windows at one of Bahrain’s oldest Shiite mosques. Then the attackers walked over the broken shards to ransack offices and prayer areas — making sure to pull down some framed parchments with Quranic verses.
Anti-regime demos erupt across Bahrain
Bahraini people have taken to the streets in several villages across the country in fresh protest rallies against the decades-long rule of Al Khalifa royal family.
Bahraini forces fire tear gas at demo
Bahraini regime forces have once again used tear gas to disperse protesters holding a demonstration near the capital, Manama, Press TV reports.
Bahrain pushes ahead with medics trial
The Bahraini regime says it will go ahead with the prosecution of 20 medics over their treatment of wounded anti-government protesters during last year’s demonstrations.
On Tuesday, Bahrain’s National Commission released a report detailing numerous reforms undertaken in the wake of a mass uprising last year. King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa praised the efforts as an “impressive beginning,” and the government launched a well-choreographed media campaign to trumpet them. But the country’s opposition, including the largest Shia bloc Al Wefaq, has says those reforms are more imaginary than real. Wefaq has refused to take part in the government’s efforts. Al Jazeera’s Mohamed Vall reports from Manama.
Angry Arab’s chief Bahrain correspondent is back: ”I have a few updates for you on Bahrain, not really updates but an analysis on where we are, a year after the uprising. Its been really interesting looking back and seeing how much has changed. Of course what I tell you know is not set in stone and things may change as more developments take place…
In spite of claims that Bahrain’s revolution has failed, the reality is that peaceful protests, a campaign of civil disobedience, and anti-Al Khalifa energy is at an all-time high. The regime’s reliance on heavy-handed violence has failed to quell the country’s revolutionary spirit or stamp out the opposition. If anything, the yearlong brutal siege against its own citizens has strengthened the resolve of anti-regime critics and their determination to carry on. Among the most determined to keep the revolution alive is the Coalition of February 14th Youth, an anonymous and decentralized political network that has coordinated months of activism and protest. While Bahrain’s older and more visible political societies, including al-Wefaq and Wa’ad, have sought and failed to negotiate with the government over the last year, the Coalition of February 14th Youth has steadily earned popular legitimacy for its commitment to revolutionary principles and action. Out of fear of arrest, the Coalition has coordinated its efforts primarily through social media, most notably on Twitter and Facebook. Until now they have cautiously avoided speaking directly with the media.
China paper slams U.S. move on Iran oil sanctions
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s top newspaper on Thursday slammed U.S. moves to restrict Iran’s oil trade which could see Chinese banks sanctioned, saying such unilateral action was not only wrong but could exacerbate the stand-off over Iran’s nuclear program. The United States has exempted Japan and 10 EU nations from financial sanctions because they have significantly cut purchases of Iranian oil, but Iran’s top customers China and India remain at risk.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has worked himself into a lather over Iran’s blocking of a Foreign Office website. He says: ‘I condemn this action by the Iranian Government. UK for Iranians’ was launched to reach out to Iranians, explaining, discussing and engaging with them on UK policy.’ ”We have no quarrel with the Iranian people… At the launch of our website, I celebrated the links between the UK and Iran, and the richness of Iran’s culture… It is not just Iranians who are the poorer for their government’s censorship, but the rest of the world. We will continue to look for opportunities to engage with the Iranian people, confident that Iranians are outward looking and deserve the same freedoms that others enjoy around the world.”
Iraqi officials say assailants have killed a Shiite mother and her three children after breaking into their house in Baghdad.
Al-Qaida claims responsibility for Iraq attacks
Al-Qaida’s front group in Iraq claimed responsibility Wednesday for a wave of attacks that killed 46 people across the country this week and said the violence exposes how weak government security is ahead of the upcoming Arab League summit in Baghdad.
Sunni lawmakers accuse Iraq government of torture
Iraqi lawmakers from the Sunni-dominated bloc are accusing the country’s Shiite government of torturing to death a jailed bodyguard who worked for the fugitive Sunni vice president.
Saudi Mufti: destroy the churches!
The declaration of Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti Abd al-Aziz b. Abdullah that all churches in the Arabian Peninsula should be destroyed is getting some attention. I first saw this a few days ago at Crossroads Arabia and thought little of it. Saying offensive and somewhat crazy extreme things is practically the job description for the head of that country’s religious establishment, which fears the moral collapse of society if women start driving cars. The Mufti of Saudi Arabia: possibly one of the most dangerous a-holes in a country led by a-holes that the United States has been protecting for the last 60 years. Compare with Iran: they may be religious fanatics too, but so much more tolerant.
Government forces continue to pound opposition neighbourhoods in Homs, killing at least five, activists say.
Russia criticises Syrian ‘errors’
Syria’s leadership is making “a lot of mistakes”, says Russia, in a sign Moscow may be hardening its stance towards Damascus.
JORDAN-SYRIA: Refugees say it is becoming harder to leave
MAFRAQ 21 March 2012 (IRIN) – A few hundred metres from the dusty, sleepy crossing that divides Jordan and Syria, Mohammad* waits on the roadside clutching a plastic bag and his blazer.
Aljazeera English translates 4 out of 5 documents
Taleb sent me this: ”Did you note that aljazeera leak translated the 4 documents into English but they didn’t translate the 5th one and even in the 5th document Enlglish summary they ignored important part???because the 5th document contains clear orders to prevent police and security men to take guns when they are dealing with demonstration in Fridyas !!! Read the last part of the 5th document in arabic.(I don’t think it is professional from aljazeera English)…Besides, the 5th document contains the real number of demonstrators! this will show their lying about Numbers!”
Wikileaks: Google caught in spy games on execs and ‘regime change’, Allison Deger
Following Wikileaks’ first dump of emails from the global security firm Stratfor last month, another round was released Friday, showing that Google passed on information to Stratfor about an executive’s travels in Egypt– including his meetings with Wael Ghonim, the Google marketing head and Egyptian revolutionary. Google suspected Jared Cohen, an executive with Google Ideas who had worked in the State Department under Bush and Obama, of coordinating with the Obama administration to astroturf ”regime change” in the Middle East.
Craig Monteilh says he did not balk when his FBI handlers gave him the OK to have sex with the Muslim women his undercover operation was targeting. Nor, at the time, did he shy away from recording their pillow talk. “They said, if it would enhance the intelligence, go ahead and have sex. So I did,” Monteilh told the Guardian as he described his year as a confidential FBI informant sent on a secret mission to infiltrate southern Californian mosques. It is an astonishing admission that goes that goes to the heart of the intelligence surveillance of Muslim communities in America in the years after 9/11. While police and FBI leaders have insisted they are acting to defend America from a terrorist attack, civil liberties groups have insisted they have repeatedly gone too far and treated an entire religious group as suspicious.
Trayvon Martin and the fatal history of American racism
Kevin Powell: Every incident like the shooting of Trayvon Martin has its random elements. But the pattern of tragedy upon tragedy is inescapable.
Gaza to be connected to Egypt’s power grid: Egyptian envoy