Egypt to boycott 'pro-Israel' Adidas kit manufacturer
Egypt Football Association (EFA) president Anwar Saleh has confirmed that Egypt will boycott the Adidas sportswear company to comply with the decision of the Arab Youth and Sports Ministers.
link to english.ahram.org.eg
Sinai Bedouin factions demand Egypt amend peace accord with Israel
Demands come as Israel Counterterrorism Bureau calls on Israelis to leave Sinai, citing immediate threats.
link to www.haaretz.com
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- Israel's counter-terrorism bureau on Saturday warned all Israelis to leave Egypt's Sinai peninsula immediately, citing imminent attacks by groups in the neighboring Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported. "Based on information in our possession, terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip are continuing to work energetically to carry out terrorist attacks against Israeli targets on Sinai's beaches in the immediate term," Israeli daily Haaretz quoted a statement from the bureau saying.
Ethnic Cleansing / Land & Resource Theft / Refugees
Israel To Build New 217 Units In Jerusalem
The Civil Coalition for Palestinian Rights In Jerusalem reported that the Israeli government decided to expand the illegal Nof Zion settlement outpost in Jabal Al-Mokabber, in occupied East Jerusalem, buy approving the construction of additional 217 units.
link to www.imemc.org
‘Strong men wanted to legally evacuate Arab squatters’, Allison Deger
After months of harassment from settlers and the police, on Wednesday morning the police came and evicted the 14 members Natcheh family from their home, with all their belongings (we have a picture and a report on our ICAHD website). Several members of the family were arrested, but we don't know why as yet. Rather than demolish the home, however, which is usually the case, the police escorted a group of settlers into the home, where they took possession. Aryeh King's lawyer even made a statement to the press that its good that Jews are retaking their properties and announced plans to build 60 homes for Jews (only, of course), in the heart of the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Hanina.
Court Orders Removal Of Settlers From Hebron Home
The Israeli District Court ordered the removal of extremist Israeli settlers from a Palestinian home they illegally occupied several years ago in Tal Romedia neighborhood, in the occupied southern West Bank city of Hebron.
After months of harassment from settlers and the police, on Wednesday morning the police came and evicted the 14 members Natcheh family from their home, with all their belongings (we have a picture and a report on our ICAHD website). Several members of the family were arrested, but we don't know why as yet. Rather than demolish the home, however, which is usually the case, the police escorted a group of settlers into the home, where they took possession. Aryeh King's lawyer even made a statement to the press that its good that Jews are retaking their properties and announced plans to build 60 homes for Jews (only, of course), in the heart of the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Hanina.
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- Israel's vice prime minister said Saturday that the government could fall apart if it follows through with plans to remove a neighborhood in Beit El settlement, Israeli daily Haaretz reported. "We have said that we must not remove the neighborhood," Moshe Yaalon was quoted as saying by Haaretz at a meeting in Beersheba. "If that happens, the government will fall apart," he added.
The Israeli District Court ordered the removal of extremist Israeli settlers from a Palestinian home they illegally occupied several years ago in Tal Romedia neighborhood, in the occupied southern West Bank city of Hebron.
link to www.imemc.org
EU in Jerusalem condemns eviction of Arab family
JERUSALEM - (AP) -- The European Union has condemned an Israeli eviction of an Arab family ineast Jerusalem. Israeli police evicted a family from a home in the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Hanina Wednesday. Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said the property belonged to Jewish owners. The European Union missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah issued a joint statement Saturday announcing they "are deeply concerned by the plans to build a new settlement in the midst of this traditional Palestinian neighborhood."
A new settlement in Beit Hanina
“There’s an Eviction in Beit Hanina” said a text message on my phone last Wednesday (18/4/12). I knew it could happen, already since February last year, when the Palestinians lost the court case, but I didn’t know when and whether the police would assist the settlers with evicting the Palestinian families from their homes. Later in the day, when I got to the place, the locksmith was putting a new lock on the door. Few Palestinians, women and children, were talking to the Jerusalem policemen watching their home being taken for the benefit of the Israeli settlers.
Israel Using Oslo Accords to Steal West Bank Land, Stephen Lendman
In 1993, Edward Said minced no words denouncing the Oslo Accords and Declaration of Principles, explaining: "the fashion-show vulgarities of the White House ceremony, the degrading spectacle of Yasser Arafat thanking everyone for the suspension of most of his people's rights, and the fatuous solemnity of Bill Clinton's performance, like a 20th century Roman emperor shepherding two vassal kings through rituals of reconciliation and obeisance, (and) the truly astonishing proportions of the Palestinian capitulation."
Palestinian right of return or nothing
At the centre of the Palestinian question stands the question of refugees and not sovereignty, and at the centre of a solution – return of the refugees.
Gaza: The march for prisoners within a prison
April 17th is Palestinain Prisoners Day. All over Palestine demonstrations were held in solidarity with the approximately 5,000 prisoners still held in the occupations jails. Bait Hanoun was no exception, this week the weekly demonstration against the occupation and the no go zones were in support of the prisoners. The residents of the prison that is Gaza demonstrated in solidarity with the residents of the other Israeli prisons.
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) opened artillery fire at Beit Hanun town to the north of the Gaza Strip on Friday, local sources said.
Media groups slam Bahrain on Grand Prix reporting curbs
Media freedom groups have accused Bahrain of using this weekend's Formula One motor race as a propaganda exercise to improve its international image, saying it wants to stop journalists reporting on pro-democracy protests. As police fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse demonstrators on Thursday, Bahrain prevented a foreign reporter from entering the country after turning away a journalist working for a US news agency earlier in the week.
The Lede Blog: A Bahraini Activist Explains the Standoff Over Formula One
Ala'a Shehabi, a British-Bahraini activist, spoke to The Lede on Friday about the protests against the Formula One Grand Prix that began the same day.
Inside Story - Bahrain's 'days of rage'
Dozens of people were arrested as they voiced their opposition to the Formula One Grand Prix in Bahrain. But do protests, or indeed the race, make any difference?
Robert Fisk: This is politics not sport. If drivers can't see that, they are the pits
When the Foreign Office urges British motor racing fans to stay away from Bahrain, this ain't no sporting event, folks, it's a political one. The Bahraini authorities prove it by welcoming sports reporters but refusing visas to other correspondents who want to tell the world what's going on in this minority-run, Saudi-dominated kingdom.
Bahrain: Formula None
Bahrain’s royal family hopes you too will believe the 14-month uprising that began (or more properly stated,resumed) last February in the tiny Gulf nation, is now over. Order, peace, tranquility and the legitimacy of monarchal rule are what they desperately want the international community to think have been restored. The unrest that followed last year’s violent eviction of peaceful protestors encamped in Manama’s Pearl Roundabout by Bahrain’s imported security force and Saudi troops is a thing of the past. The majority’s demand for serious democratic reform, proportional representation, equality between Sunni and Shia, and an end to the policies of sectarian gerrymandering are issues best left for another day.
Bahrain Drain: Oppressive US Client State Sucks The Life Out Of Formula One
[UPDATE] Qualifying went off without much hitch this morning, at least inside the circuit. Outside the circuit, the body of a protester was found, dead after a night of clashes with government authorities and police. Inside the confines of the circuit, Sebastian Vettel regained qualifying form and took his first pole of the season, followed by Lewis Hamilton, Mark Webber and Jenson Button. Schumacher didn’t even manage to get out of Q1. Unlike the desolate practice yesterday, there were at least some fans observable in the main grandstand for qualifying today. But the scene was still as bleak and lifeless as I have ever seen for a F1 Grand Prix. It remains an embarrassment for FIA and the teams (FOTA) to be in Bahrain. And, as I pointed out yesterday, the lie that FIA and Bernie Ecclestone comfort themselves with – that they are being non-political by going and not giving in to international political concerns – is absurd and outrageous. The oppressive Sunni minority and the ruling Khalifa clan are using the mere presence of F1 in Sakhir to paint the picture that everything is okay with the Shia majority in Bahrain. It is not, and F1 looks like a tool. – bmaz 10:30 am EST Sat Apr. 21
Egypt court 'cannot rule on poll ban for ex-regime leaders'
Egypt's constitutional court refused on Saturday to rule on a parliamentary draft bill barring former regime figures from standing in next month's presidential election, judicial sources said.
Egypt demonstrators block main Cairo bridge
Hundreds of Egyptian demonstrators briefly blocked a main Cairo bridge over the Nile river Thursday to back their call for an end to military rule, a sign of growing concern that the generals might try to cling to power.
Iran says it is building copy of captured US drone
A senior Iranian commander says the country has reverse-engineered an American spy drone captured by Tehran's armed forces last year and has begun building a copy.
Talk to Al Jazeera - Why Arab women still 'have no voice'
Amal al-Malki, a Qatari author, says the Arab Spring has so far failed women in their struggle for equality. She talks about women's rights in the Arab world, political and social empowerment and Islamic feminism.
JERUSALEM - (AP) -- The European Union has condemned an Israeli eviction of an Arab family ineast Jerusalem. Israeli police evicted a family from a home in the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Hanina Wednesday. Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said the property belonged to Jewish owners. The European Union missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah issued a joint statement Saturday announcing they "are deeply concerned by the plans to build a new settlement in the midst of this traditional Palestinian neighborhood."
“There’s an Eviction in Beit Hanina” said a text message on my phone last Wednesday (18/4/12). I knew it could happen, already since February last year, when the Palestinians lost the court case, but I didn’t know when and whether the police would assist the settlers with evicting the Palestinian families from their homes. Later in the day, when I got to the place, the locksmith was putting a new lock on the door. Few Palestinians, women and children, were talking to the Jerusalem policemen watching their home being taken for the benefit of the Israeli settlers.
This is a photo of a little girl doing her homework. She is living in a tent in the Jordan Valley. Her home in El Hama was demolished a few weeks ago on March 26th. She is the daughter of Khabis Sawaftah. I first read about the demolition of the Sawaftah family’s home by way of Amira Hass's article From Yamit to the Jordan Valley, the IDF continues to force Arabs from their homes.
SALFIT (Ma'an) -- Israeli authorities bulldozed around 500 olives trees near Salfit on Friday afternoon, locals told Ma'an. Israeli authorities claimed the al-Daher area is state land, but Salfit residents Ahmad Theeb Alkam and Samir Al-Masri say they own the land.
The Jewish Agency, a quasi-official arm of the Israel government that encourages settlement in Palestine, and the Israeli government itself, are taking advantage of US and UK charity laws to raise tax-exempt donations specifically to place settlers in Syria’s occupied Golan Heights, all in violation of international law.
In 1993, Edward Said minced no words denouncing the Oslo Accords and Declaration of Principles, explaining: "the fashion-show vulgarities of the White House ceremony, the degrading spectacle of Yasser Arafat thanking everyone for the suspension of most of his people's rights, and the fatuous solemnity of Bill Clinton's performance, like a 20th century Roman emperor shepherding two vassal kings through rituals of reconciliation and obeisance, (and) the truly astonishing proportions of the Palestinian capitulation."
At the centre of the Palestinian question stands the question of refugees and not sovereignty, and at the centre of a solution – return of the refugees.
Siege on Gaza
Thousands are forced to seek emergency care in Egypt and Israel after Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip as healthcare system in crisis.
To accompany the fishermen of Gaza on their boats, as human shields to protect them, it provides not only an account of human rights violations by Israel, but also the feeling of what it means to live under siege in the Gaza Strip. Since January 2009 Israel has unilaterally imposed a travel limit of three miles inside the waters of Gaza, which , according to the Jericho Accords, should extend up to 20 nautical miles from the coast. A 3 miles limit is actually illegal.
April 17th is Palestinain Prisoners Day. All over Palestine demonstrations were held in solidarity with the approximately 5,000 prisoners still held in the occupations jails. Bait Hanoun was no exception, this week the weekly demonstration against the occupation and the no go zones were in support of the prisoners. The residents of the prison that is Gaza demonstrated in solidarity with the residents of the other Israeli prisons.
El-ARISH, Egypt (Ma'an) -- A delegation of German medics will arrive in the Gaza Strip on Saturday to perform complex medical operations, a security official at the Rafah crossing from Egypt said. The 16 doctors will bring medical aid into Gaza and carry out operations in the blockaded coastal strip over several days, the official said.
There is not much to smile about when subjected to siege, impoverishment, and a daily dose of depressing realities. But smiles appear readily on the faces of the female employees of the “studio” next door to the Palestinian interior ministry headquarters in Gaza, which makes its living by taking photos and copying documents for people who need to get official paperwork done.
Israeli Terrorism / Raids / Violent Suppression of Peaceful Protest
HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Five Palestinians were injured Sunday morning after their van collided with an Israeli military jeep near Hebron, medics said. One man was critically wounded and taken by ambulance to a hospital in Israel, Palestinian Red Crescent officials told Ma'an. Medics said four others suffered light to moderate injuries and were taken to Al-Mezan and Al-Ahli hospitals in Hebron. The men were traveling to work in the Israeli settlement Nahal Negohot, near the southern West Bank town Beit Awwa, at the time of the crash, Red Crescent officials said.
IOF soldiers fire teargas at schoolchildren
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) fired sound bombs and teargas canisters at schoolchildren in Yabad village, southwest of Jenin, while on their way back home from school on Thursday.
Israeli gunfire wounds Palestinian shepherd
An 18-year-old Palestinian shepherd was seriously wounded by Israeli gunfire in the northern West Bank, Palestinian security sources said on Friday. Yasser Kaabneh, 18, was tending his sheep north of Tubas in the Jordan Valley on Thursday night when he received a bullet wound to the chest, the sources said. It was unclear whether Israeli troops deliberately shot the shepherd. Indigenous Palestinians are routinely harassed in the occupied lands. Kaabneh was in serious condition and transported to a hospital in Nablus, they added.
Israeli settlers assault UN delegation in al-Khalil
Foreign activists hurt in IOF quelling of peaceful marches
Dozens of Palestinian and foreign activists were treated for breathing difficulty when Israeli occupation forces (IOF) fired tear gas canisters at them in West Bank villages on Friday.
IOF soldiers quell Beit Ummar weekly anti-wall march, wound 10
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) used brutal force to quell a peaceful weekly march organized by Beit Ummar village inhabitants on Saturday to protest the separation wall and the settlement activity.
IOF soldiers suppress peaceful march in Yatta, arrest five
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) violently quelled a peaceful march in Yatta village on Saturday in which foreign activists and locals were protesting blocking farmers from reaching their land.
PA pressures Fatah prisoners to not participate in the hunger strike
Sources from occupation prisons told PIC on Thursday that the PA in Ramallah pressured Fatah prisoners to not participate in the Hunger strike, which was launched three days ago.
Israeli jailors storm prison cells, confiscate prisoners’ belongings
Israeli jailors stormed the wards of Palestinian prisoners in Askalan and confiscated their belongings on the first day of their hunger strike, the Palestinian prisoners’ association said on Saturday.
Sawaf: Ramallah Festival disregards the prisoners’ suffering
Mustafa Sawaf, the undersecretary of Ministry of Culture in Gaza, condemned, in a press statement on Saturday, the dancing festivals in Ramallah that coincided with the Prisoners' hunger strike.
California Scholars for Academic Freedom’ challenges UCLA on censure of prof who linked to BDS website, Adam Horowitz
The organization California Scholars for Academic Freedom sent the following letter in response to the UCLA faculty Senate's action against Professor David Delgado Shorter for linking to a website advocating for the culture boycott of Israel on an online syllabus.
link to mondoweiss.net
1200 rabbis threaten an end to interfaith harmony if Methodists support divestment, Philip Weiss
Next week at their conference in Tampa, the Methodists will consider divesting from Israel companies profiting off the occupation , and people are gearing up for the big struggle. Here is an amazing stroke that demonstrates the overwhelming support for Zionism inside the Jewish community, a letter reported in JTA from 1200 rabbis to Christian churches, appealing to them not to divest from Israel.
Israel deports last 10 foreign activists
The Israeli authorities deported the last ten foreign solidarity activists who arrived in Lod airport as part of the “Welcome to Palestine” event.
Israeli radio: Grand Mufti's visit to Jerusalem was in coordination with the IOF
Egypt's Grand Mufti Dr. Ali Gomaa's visit to Jerusalem, on Wednesday 18 April, has been coordinated with the IOF and not as it was announced by the Mufti's advisers, according to Israeli radio.
The Rest is Hasbara, Ramzy Baroud
“My Lords, I was in Gaza six weeks ago,” began Baroness Tonge, when she spoke at the House of Lords in January 2009. “Now, as a result of the impotence of the international community, not just in Gaza, but…over 40 years of occupation of Palestine by Israel, those institutions that I visited are rubble and many of the children with whom I played are dead.”
What Do Breivik and Netanyahu Have in Common?, Alan Hart
Let’s start with a glance at what they do not have in common. The man now on trial for killing 77 people in bomb and gun attacks in Norway last July has admitted, even boasted about, what he did. Netanyahu denies Zionism’s crimes. The main thing they have in common stems from the fact that they both live in fantasy worlds of their own creation and talk a lot of extreme rightwing nonsense. The nonsense Anders Breivik speaks is driven in general by his fears about the consequences for Norway of immigration and multiculturalism and, in particular, by his vision of an Islamic takeover.
Activist found dead in Bahrain
A man is found dead in Bahrain after overnight protests ahead of Sunday's Grand Prix - opposition activists say he was killed by the security forces.
Bahraini forces arrest Zainab Khawaja
Saudi-backed Bahraini security forces have arrested the daughter of Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, the prominent jailed activist who has been on a hunger strike for more than two months.
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) fired sound bombs and teargas canisters at schoolchildren in Yabad village, southwest of Jenin, while on their way back home from school on Thursday.
Israeli gunfire wounds Palestinian shepherd
An 18-year-old Palestinian shepherd was seriously wounded by Israeli gunfire in the northern West Bank, Palestinian security sources said on Friday. Yasser Kaabneh, 18, was tending his sheep north of Tubas in the Jordan Valley on Thursday night when he received a bullet wound to the chest, the sources said. It was unclear whether Israeli troops deliberately shot the shepherd. Indigenous Palestinians are routinely harassed in the occupied lands. Kaabneh was in serious condition and transported to a hospital in Nablus, they added.
Israeli settlers assault UN delegation in al-Khalil
Jewish settlers threw stones and rubbish on a number of foreign law professors, participating in a conference at al-Khalil University, while they were touring the old city.
Dozens of Palestinian and foreign activists were treated for breathing difficulty when Israeli occupation forces (IOF) fired tear gas canisters at them in West Bank villages on Friday.
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) used brutal force to quell a peaceful weekly march organized by Beit Ummar village inhabitants on Saturday to protest the separation wall and the settlement activity.
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) violently quelled a peaceful march in Yatta village on Saturday in which foreign activists and locals were protesting blocking farmers from reaching their land.
Israeli terrorist embedded within the army in Nabi Saleh, Abir Kopty
Last Friday, the Israeli army adopted, for the first time in the village of Nabi saleh, the well known US military communication tactic of embedded journalism during its was on Iraq. This is probably another desperate attempt by the Israeli Hasbara, that is failing to keep dominating, distorting or hiding facts. Embedded foreign and Israeli journalists arrived with military jeeps to Nabi Saleh village’s weekly protest, including Hagai Segal, who was a member of the “Jewish Underground”, a terrorist organization that was active in the 1980s. Two Israeli activists, who attend the weekly protests of Nabi Saleh, recognized Segal and confirmed it was him.
3 students arrested after violent clashes between students and occupation forces
Violent clashes broke out on Thursday in Beit Ummar town north of Al-Khalil when stones were thrown at settlers' vehicles near the town and ended up with the abduction of three youths.
IOF soldiers arrest 5 Palestinians in Al-Khalil
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested five Palestinian citizens in Al-Khalil province on Friday night including two brothers, local sources said.
Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners join the hunger strike
Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli jails of Megiddo and Hadarim are expected to join the hunger strike that started in other jails five days ago, the Tadamun foundation said on Saturday.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk
Administrative detainee Zuhair Lubada suffering serious health deterioration
The family of the administrative detainee Zuhair Rashid Lubada asserted that his health has seriously deteriorated and was carried to a hospital in Tel Aviv.
Last Friday, the Israeli army adopted, for the first time in the village of Nabi saleh, the well known US military communication tactic of embedded journalism during its was on Iraq. This is probably another desperate attempt by the Israeli Hasbara, that is failing to keep dominating, distorting or hiding facts. Embedded foreign and Israeli journalists arrived with military jeeps to Nabi Saleh village’s weekly protest, including Hagai Segal, who was a member of the “Jewish Underground”, a terrorist organization that was active in the 1980s. Two Israeli activists, who attend the weekly protests of Nabi Saleh, recognized Segal and confirmed it was him.
Detainees / Political Arrests
In a quick and clean opperation, the Israeli Occupation Military managed to arrest 10 young men in two hours, forever altering the next few months or even the next years of their life in one swift swoop. At 2 AM on 18 April, around 200 soldiers entered the village of Burin, south of Nablus and dispersed into teams of 20-30. Soldiers then proceeded to enter the homes of ten families and took away who they wanted. There wer
NABLUS (Ma’an) -- The Israeli army seized two Palestinian teenagers at an Israeli checkpoint near Nablus on Saturday, and said they were found in possession of weapons. The two 17-year-olds from Nablus' Balata refugee camp arrived at Tappuah junction by taxi, and were apprehended by border police walking towards the checkpoint, an Israeli army spokesman said.
Violent clashes broke out on Thursday in Beit Ummar town north of Al-Khalil when stones were thrown at settlers' vehicles near the town and ended up with the abduction of three youths.
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested five Palestinian citizens in Al-Khalil province on Friday night including two brothers, local sources said.
Hunger Strikes & Other Prisoner News
Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli jails of Megiddo and Hadarim are expected to join the hunger strike that started in other jails five days ago, the Tadamun foundation said on Saturday.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk
The family of the administrative detainee Zuhair Rashid Lubada asserted that his health has seriously deteriorated and was carried to a hospital in Tel Aviv.
PA pressures Fatah prisoners to not participate in the hunger strike
Sources from occupation prisons told PIC on Thursday that the PA in Ramallah pressured Fatah prisoners to not participate in the Hunger strike, which was launched three days ago.
Israeli jailors stormed the wards of Palestinian prisoners in Askalan and confiscated their belongings on the first day of their hunger strike, the Palestinian prisoners’ association said on Saturday.
Mustafa Sawaf, the undersecretary of Ministry of Culture in Gaza, condemned, in a press statement on Saturday, the dancing festivals in Ramallah that coincided with the Prisoners' hunger strike.
BDS / Anti Palestinian / Anti Human Rights / Anti Solidarity / Pro Normalization
Pharaohs to boycott kit manufacturer Adidas due to company's sponsorship of Jerusalem marathon, despite potential 1.7 million euros per year financial impact.
The Arab Organization for Human Rights has revealed that the Netherlands had blocked the official issuance of a European report condemning Jewish settlers’ violations against Palestinian civilians.
The organization California Scholars for Academic Freedom sent the following letter in response to the UCLA faculty Senate's action against Professor David Delgado Shorter for linking to a website advocating for the culture boycott of Israel on an online syllabus.
link to mondoweiss.net
Minnesota Break the Bonds Campaign loses lawsuit against state, Sylvia Schwarz
Minnesota Break the Bonds Campaign (MN BBC) is part of the global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. It is a statewide campaign to break Minnesota's economic ties with Israel, and along with its legislative and educational work, it had filed a lawsuit against the State Board of Investment (SBI), charging that the SBI had illegally invested Minnesota's taxpayer money in Israel bonds. The three counts of the lawsuit charged that the investments are illegal because 1) Minnesota statutes Section 11A.24, specifically prohibit investments in non-Canadian foreign government securities, 2) by investing in projects that violate the Fourth Geneva Convention Minnesota violates its own and the US Constitution, which says that all treaties ratified by the federal government are the law of the land, and 3) the investments expose Minnesota taxpayers and pensioners to potential lawsuits by individuals who have been harmed by those illegal and abusive practices. (Read the full text of the lawsuit here [PDF].)
Minnesota Break the Bonds Campaign (MN BBC) is part of the global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. It is a statewide campaign to break Minnesota's economic ties with Israel, and along with its legislative and educational work, it had filed a lawsuit against the State Board of Investment (SBI), charging that the SBI had illegally invested Minnesota's taxpayer money in Israel bonds. The three counts of the lawsuit charged that the investments are illegal because 1) Minnesota statutes Section 11A.24, specifically prohibit investments in non-Canadian foreign government securities, 2) by investing in projects that violate the Fourth Geneva Convention Minnesota violates its own and the US Constitution, which says that all treaties ratified by the federal government are the law of the land, and 3) the investments expose Minnesota taxpayers and pensioners to potential lawsuits by individuals who have been harmed by those illegal and abusive practices. (Read the full text of the lawsuit here [PDF].)
1200 rabbis threaten an end to interfaith harmony if Methodists support divestment, Philip Weiss
Next week at their conference in Tampa, the Methodists will consider divesting from Israel companies profiting off the occupation , and people are gearing up for the big struggle. Here is an amazing stroke that demonstrates the overwhelming support for Zionism inside the Jewish community, a letter reported in JTA from 1200 rabbis to Christian churches, appealing to them not to divest from Israel.
Members of United Methodist Church have responded forcefully to an attack from Rabbi A. James Rudin, the “senior interreligious adviser” of the American Jewish Committee, just as the Church’s upcoming national conference is to vote on a major initiative to divest from companies profiting from Israeli occupation and human rights abuses against Palestinians.
The Israeli authorities deported the last ten foreign solidarity activists who arrived in Lod airport as part of the “Welcome to Palestine” event.
Egypt's Grand Mufti Dr. Ali Gomaa's visit to Jerusalem, on Wednesday 18 April, has been coordinated with the IOF and not as it was announced by the Mufti's advisers, according to Israeli radio.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk
Hamas leader: no peace with Israel
A Hamas leader has reiterated that if the party came to power in a future Palestinian state, it would not abide by any previous Palestinian peace deals with Israel. Moussa Abu Marzouk, the Islamic group's number two figure, said any potential deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, even if ratified in a Palestinian referendum, would be considered only as a temporary truce.
Political Developments & Other News
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The United States would spend an additional $680 million through 2015 to strengthen Israel's short-range rocket shield under a plan crafted by House of Representatives' Republicans, two congressional staff members disclosed on Friday. The figure could put election-year pressure on President Barack Obama's administration to spell out what it deems suitable support for the "Iron Dome," which has played an increasingly important role in Israeli security.
A Hamas leader has reiterated that if the party came to power in a future Palestinian state, it would not abide by any previous Palestinian peace deals with Israel. Moussa Abu Marzouk, the Islamic group's number two figure, said any potential deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, even if ratified in a Palestinian referendum, would be considered only as a temporary truce.
DOHA, Qatar (Ma'an) -- Hamas chief Khalid Mashaal on Saturday met Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Doha, Turkish state media reported. The officials discussed the reconciliation process between Hamas and Fatah and the Israeli occupation, the Anadolu Agency said. Qatar hosted the last round of reconciliation talks between Hamas and Fatah in February, and party leaders renewed their pledge to form a unity government to prepare for elections. The administration is yet to be formed and the parties still lead rival governments in the West Bank and Gaza. The factions continue to trade blame for the impasse.
NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Dozens of residents in Nablus demonstrated outside municipal offices on Saturday to demand that the local council remove a rubbish dump which they say is a health hazard. Protesters called for the Palestinian Authority to intervene in removing the dump, which they say contaminates ground water in the area and emits a foul smell. Dr Jawad Beitar, head of a local committee in Nablus, told Ma'an that the rubbish site, situated in the al-Badhan area, posed a threat to the health of residents.
Mourid Barghouti’s I Was Born There, I Was Born Here is for anyone in your life who needs to understand the pain, the absurdity, the injustice, and the devastatingly predictable unpredictability of life for ordinary Palestinians.
Your tax dollars fund ‘violent crackdowns on dissent’, Allison Deger
Earlier this week on "Tax Day" Tuesday, Anna Lekas Miller for Alternet covered the business of U.S. foreign aid used to purchase less-than-lethal weapons for the Israeli military. Lekas Miller focused on extended-range tear gas canisters manufactured by Combined Systems Inc. in Jamestown, PA. These canisters and others produced by different U.S. manufacturers are responsible for dozens of deaths in Bahrain over the past year, and five in Palestine over the past decade.
Earlier this week on "Tax Day" Tuesday, Anna Lekas Miller for Alternet covered the business of U.S. foreign aid used to purchase less-than-lethal weapons for the Israeli military. Lekas Miller focused on extended-range tear gas canisters manufactured by Combined Systems Inc. in Jamestown, PA. These canisters and others produced by different U.S. manufacturers are responsible for dozens of deaths in Bahrain over the past year, and five in Palestine over the past decade.
Stephen Pollard, editor of the UK’s Jewish Chronicle has levelled his first volley against journalists and bloggers who criticized the newspaper for hosting a blog by Carlos Cortiglia, a white supremacist leader of the British National Party. He’s threatened Jews for Justice for Palestinians with “remedial action” for republishing Hugh Muir’s Guardian story and my own first blog post about the controversy...
Gaza, April 19, I have been silent for a while but I guess its time I break my silence and let everything out. I am exhausted of being a Palestinian who is living in Gaza. I live with two contradicting attractions inside of me that represent an inner struggle, I belong to this land but I feel like a stranger at the same time. I refuse to lose my entity to blend in. Yet, being who I am and living in Gaza is very exhausting. I see Palestine as a woman who is being raped by many people and many countries, all wishing to take control of this steadfastness that is represented by an authentic soil that has an indestructible soul. Some (I am being polite here, I really wanted to write many instead of some) Palestinians inside Palestine, in the Diaspora and pro-Palestinians use Palestine in one way or another.
The makers of 33 Days are not exaggerating when they describe their film as “the biggest cinema production on the July [2006] War.” The impressive cast includes Carmen Lebbos, Bassem Moughnieh, Youssef el-Khal, Nisreen Tafesh, Kinda Alloush, Pierre Dagher, Darine Hamze, Nicolas Mouawad, and Michel Odbashi. The production company, Rihanat Ghurub, cast Lebbos as southern Lebanese mother, Umm Abbas. Her character is supported by Khal and Moughnieh, whose casting has attracted a wide audience.
“My Lords, I was in Gaza six weeks ago,” began Baroness Tonge, when she spoke at the House of Lords in January 2009. “Now, as a result of the impotence of the international community, not just in Gaza, but…over 40 years of occupation of Palestine by Israel, those institutions that I visited are rubble and many of the children with whom I played are dead.”
An Associated Press article by Diaa Hadid, filed from Tel Aviv and published Wednesday, warns of a potential increase in anti-Semitism and possible anti-Jewish violence in Europe if Israel carries out a military assault on Iran. The piece focuses on Viatcheslav Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, speaking at Tel Aviv University "after the presentation of an annual report on worldwide anti-Semitic attacks" and in advance of Holocaust Remembrance Day. Kantor said "he feared a minority of angry, extremist European Muslims who live in impoverished neighborhoods might use an Israeli attack [against Iran] as a pretext to hit local Jews, particularly in France and Great Britain."
How odd. The Jewish Chronicle is boasting that it has secured funding for Habima from the Israeli foreign ministry. Well perhaps it's not so odd for the State of Israel to be funding a hasbara effort. The odd thing is that it seems like only yesterday (it was in fact yesterweek) that Ilan Ronen, Habima's artistic director, was trying to distance the group from Israel's policies. Now if the appearance at the Globe has nothing to do with the policies of the State of Israel, why has Israel's Ministry for Foreign Affairs decided to stump up the funding?
Let’s start with a glance at what they do not have in common. The man now on trial for killing 77 people in bomb and gun attacks in Norway last July has admitted, even boasted about, what he did. Netanyahu denies Zionism’s crimes. The main thing they have in common stems from the fact that they both live in fantasy worlds of their own creation and talk a lot of extreme rightwing nonsense. The nonsense Anders Breivik speaks is driven in general by his fears about the consequences for Norway of immigration and multiculturalism and, in particular, by his vision of an Islamic takeover.
Bahrain
A man is found dead in Bahrain after overnight protests ahead of Sunday's Grand Prix - opposition activists say he was killed by the security forces.
Saudi-backed Bahraini security forces have arrested the daughter of Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, the prominent jailed activist who has been on a hunger strike for more than two months.
Al-Khawaja’s Wife Criticizes F1 Supremo: He’s Ignoring Our Plight
The wife of jailed Bahraini activist who is on a hunger strike has accused Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone of ignoring her husband’s plight.
Thousands protest as Bahrain hunger striker nears death
Organizers say at least 50,000 people marched in Bahrain on Friday against this weekend's Grand Prix, as a prominent jailed human rights activist on a hunger strike has told his family he may die within the next 24 hours.
Letter of Solidarity from Palestinian Prisoner Ameer Makhoul to the People of Bahrain
Your freedom is our freedom and our freedom is your freedom! Greetings to you, my brother, Abdul-Hadi al-Khawaja, struggling in the face of tyranny and for freedom, freedom of the individual, the people and the nation, whether in Bahrain or in any/every corner of the Arab world. In past years I have stood in solidarity with you from Haifa, from the captive nation of Palestine, which surrounds the racist, colonial, Zionist project; and today I am in solidarity with you while in an Israeli jail, two years out of an unjust nine-year sentence — a high price imposed by the colonial system on Palestinian leaders of 48 to deter them from communication with the Arab people throughout the Arab world, and the price of our interaction with people’s movements and struggles for their freedom and the freedom of Palestine and its people.
The wife of jailed Bahraini activist who is on a hunger strike has accused Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone of ignoring her husband’s plight.
Organizers say at least 50,000 people marched in Bahrain on Friday against this weekend's Grand Prix, as a prominent jailed human rights activist on a hunger strike has told his family he may die within the next 24 hours.
Your freedom is our freedom and our freedom is your freedom! Greetings to you, my brother, Abdul-Hadi al-Khawaja, struggling in the face of tyranny and for freedom, freedom of the individual, the people and the nation, whether in Bahrain or in any/every corner of the Arab world. In past years I have stood in solidarity with you from Haifa, from the captive nation of Palestine, which surrounds the racist, colonial, Zionist project; and today I am in solidarity with you while in an Israeli jail, two years out of an unjust nine-year sentence — a high price imposed by the colonial system on Palestinian leaders of 48 to deter them from communication with the Arab people throughout the Arab world, and the price of our interaction with people’s movements and struggles for their freedom and the freedom of Palestine and its people.
Since the start of the Arab Spring, which has led to many new seasons of protest in turn, the media has often gravitated to individual activists who have become leading figures in mobilizing the public during these revolutions. Tawakul Karman in Yemen, Ahmed Maher in Egypt and Moncef Marzouki in Tunisia—these are just three names that have resonated in the media over the course of protests. Their specific stories of perseverance in the face of brute force have galvanized people around the world.
Bahrain, with a total population of approximately 1.3 million, is smaller than most metropolitan cities in the world. But, over the past week the country has made headlines across global media. The fact that the Formula One Grand Prix is going to be held in the capital Manama this weekend while a majority of the island is besieged by protests, clashes, and arrests has become an ethical quandary with multiple dimensions.
Huge demo as Bahrain prince insists F1 is on
Thousands of people protested in a Shiite suburb of Bahrain's capital on Formula One practice day as the Gulf kingdom's crown prince insisted Sunday's race would go ahead to avoid "empowering extremists."
Thousands of people protested in a Shiite suburb of Bahrain's capital on Formula One practice day as the Gulf kingdom's crown prince insisted Sunday's race would go ahead to avoid "empowering extremists."
Media freedom groups have accused Bahrain of using this weekend's Formula One motor race as a propaganda exercise to improve its international image, saying it wants to stop journalists reporting on pro-democracy protests. As police fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse demonstrators on Thursday, Bahrain prevented a foreign reporter from entering the country after turning away a journalist working for a US news agency earlier in the week.
Ala'a Shehabi, a British-Bahraini activist, spoke to The Lede on Friday about the protests against the Formula One Grand Prix that began the same day.
Dozens of people were arrested as they voiced their opposition to the Formula One Grand Prix in Bahrain. But do protests, or indeed the race, make any difference?
When the Foreign Office urges British motor racing fans to stay away from Bahrain, this ain't no sporting event, folks, it's a political one. The Bahraini authorities prove it by welcoming sports reporters but refusing visas to other correspondents who want to tell the world what's going on in this minority-run, Saudi-dominated kingdom.
Bahrain’s royal family hopes you too will believe the 14-month uprising that began (or more properly stated,resumed) last February in the tiny Gulf nation, is now over. Order, peace, tranquility and the legitimacy of monarchal rule are what they desperately want the international community to think have been restored. The unrest that followed last year’s violent eviction of peaceful protestors encamped in Manama’s Pearl Roundabout by Bahrain’s imported security force and Saudi troops is a thing of the past. The majority’s demand for serious democratic reform, proportional representation, equality between Sunni and Shia, and an end to the policies of sectarian gerrymandering are issues best left for another day.
[UPDATE] Qualifying went off without much hitch this morning, at least inside the circuit. Outside the circuit, the body of a protester was found, dead after a night of clashes with government authorities and police. Inside the confines of the circuit, Sebastian Vettel regained qualifying form and took his first pole of the season, followed by Lewis Hamilton, Mark Webber and Jenson Button. Schumacher didn’t even manage to get out of Q1. Unlike the desolate practice yesterday, there were at least some fans observable in the main grandstand for qualifying today. But the scene was still as bleak and lifeless as I have ever seen for a F1 Grand Prix. It remains an embarrassment for FIA and the teams (FOTA) to be in Bahrain. And, as I pointed out yesterday, the lie that FIA and Bernie Ecclestone comfort themselves with – that they are being non-political by going and not giving in to international political concerns – is absurd and outrageous. The oppressive Sunni minority and the ruling Khalifa clan are using the mere presence of F1 in Sakhir to paint the picture that everything is okay with the Shia majority in Bahrain. It is not, and F1 looks like a tool. – bmaz 10:30 am EST Sat Apr. 21
Al-Khalifa despots rule Bahrain repressively. Bahrainis want democratic change. In summer 2010, sporadic protests began. In mid-February last year, major ones erupted. They continue daily nonviolently. Courageous Bahrainis brave vicious security force attacks. Saudi troops are involved. In March 2011, they entered Bahrain guns blazing. They remain. They're terrorizing Bahraini men, women, children, doctors, other medical professionals, journalists, human rights activists, and foreign observers. So do state police.
Egypt
Demands come as Israel Counterterrorism Bureau calls on Israelis to leave Sinai, citing immediate threats.
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- Israel's counter-terrorism bureau on Saturday warned all Israelis to leave Egypt's Sinai peninsula immediately, citing imminent attacks by groups in the neighboring Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported. "Based on information in our possession, terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip are continuing to work energetically to carry out terrorist attacks against Israeli targets on Sinai's beaches in the immediate term," Israeli daily Haaretz quoted a statement from the bureau saying.
The Muslim Brotherhood's new presidential candidate, pitched into the race after its first choice was disqualified, promised on Saturday to govern in coalition and to steady Egypt after more than a year of political turmoil. Mohamed Mursi, 59, the head of the Brotherhood's political party, said he would seek the votes of ultra-conservative Muslims after a popular hardline Salafi candidate was barred too, but he promised to be a president for all Egyptians.
Egypt's constitutional court refused on Saturday to rule on a parliamentary draft bill barring former regime figures from standing in next month's presidential election, judicial sources said.
Tens of thousands of protesters flooded Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday to denounce the ruling military and remnants of former dictator Hosni Mubarak's regime that still linger in positions of power. The protests, themed “Self-Determination Friday,” come ahead of the country's first post-revolution presidential election scheduled in May. Liberals had organized the rally, but were joined by the Muslim Brotherhood following a growing rift between the powerful Islamist bloc and the ruling military over the upcoming elections.
Hundreds of Egyptian demonstrators briefly blocked a main Cairo bridge over the Nile river Thursday to back their call for an end to military rule, a sign of growing concern that the generals might try to cling to power.
Iran
A senior Iranian commander says the country has reverse-engineered an American spy drone captured by Tehran's armed forces last year and has begun building a copy.
I’m told that MEMRI, which has its origins in Israeli military intelligence, has put out a statement doubting that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ever issued a fatwa forbidding nuclear weapons. (MEMRI claims to be a 501(c)3 non-profit but is actually an effort to cherry-pick Middle Eastern news to present the most negative face of the Arab world to Americans so as to prejudice them in favor of Israel; in this case it is just doing propaganda).
link to www.juancole.com
link to www.juancole.com
Video apparently recorded last week in Iran seems to offer a glimpse of Iran's president's being forced to engage in some retail politics.
Iraq Carnage: 69 Killed, 176 Wounded
Iraq suffered significant bomb attacks in multiple cities today, leaving at least 69 dead and 176 more wounded.
13 Iraqis Killed, 40 Wounded in Random Violence
At least 13 Iraqis were killed and 40 more were wounded in the latest violence. These attacks come just two days after the Islamic State of Iraq staged a series of significant attacks against security personnel. Today's bloodshed does not appear to be coordinated.
Roadside blasts in Baghdad kill three: Sources
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two roadside bombs exploded in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Saturday, killing three people and wounding 15, police and hospital sources said, two days after several blasts killed 36 people across Iraq. The two blasts went off at the same time in the mainly Shi'ite al-Shuaala neighborhood. Three mortars were also fired at a police station wounding seven people in the town of Al-Musayyab near Hilla, 90 kms (55 miles) south of Baghdad, police sources said. Heightened tension between Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds in the coalition government since U.S.
Syria street protests met with force
On a day when U.N. monitors are missing, Syria government forces try to prevent demonstrations, firing on protesters in some cases, activists say. Continued shelling and at least 57 deaths are reported. BEIRUT — Large antigovernment demonstrations filled the streets of Syria on Friday despite reports of regime forces trying to prevent them from forming and, in other instances, shooting at protesters as an announced cease-fire continued to unravel.
Iraq
Iraq suffered significant bomb attacks in multiple cities today, leaving at least 69 dead and 176 more wounded.
At least 13 Iraqis were killed and 40 more were wounded in the latest violence. These attacks come just two days after the Islamic State of Iraq staged a series of significant attacks against security personnel. Today's bloodshed does not appear to be coordinated.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two roadside bombs exploded in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Saturday, killing three people and wounding 15, police and hospital sources said, two days after several blasts killed 36 people across Iraq. The two blasts went off at the same time in the mainly Shi'ite al-Shuaala neighborhood. Three mortars were also fired at a police station wounding seven people in the town of Al-Musayyab near Hilla, 90 kms (55 miles) south of Baghdad, police sources said. Heightened tension between Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds in the coalition government since U.S.
Syria
On a day when U.N. monitors are missing, Syria government forces try to prevent demonstrations, firing on protesters in some cases, activists say. Continued shelling and at least 57 deaths are reported. BEIRUT — Large antigovernment demonstrations filled the streets of Syria on Friday despite reports of regime forces trying to prevent them from forming and, in other instances, shooting at protesters as an announced cease-fire continued to unravel.
Blast rocks Syria airbase: monitors
A huge explosion on Saturday rocked a Syrian military airport on the outskirts of the capital, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
A huge explosion on Saturday rocked a Syrian military airport on the outskirts of the capital, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
18 security forces killed in Syria attacks: state media
A powerful blast killed 10 members of the security forces in the southern Syrian region of Quneitra on Friday, state television reported, blaming the explosion on "terrorists."
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's state news agency said that an "armed terrorist" group blew up an oil pipeline in Syria's eastern province of Deir al-Zor, near the border with Iraq, on Saturday. "An armed terrorist group detonated an improvised explosive device on a oil line near Abu Hammam, in the province of Deir al-Zor, which led to a fire," SANA said, giving no more details.
Syria's Homs 'calm' amid UN monitors visit
Advance team's entry comes ahead of UN Security Council vote on resolution that aims to raise observer strength to 300.
The Lede Blog: No Friday Patrols by U.N. Observers in Syria
The Moroccan colonel leading a small team of United Nations military observers dashed the hopes of opposition activists when he announced that his monitors planned to avoid working on Fridays.
Syria frees 30 detained over unrest: state media
Syria has released 30 people who were detained for their alleged role in an anti-regime uprising, but who have "no blood on their hands," state media said on Saturday.
Advance team's entry comes ahead of UN Security Council vote on resolution that aims to raise observer strength to 300.
The Moroccan colonel leading a small team of United Nations military observers dashed the hopes of opposition activists when he announced that his monitors planned to avoid working on Fridays.
Nearly 22,000 Syrian refugees had fled the unrest in their country to Lebanon, according to a report issued on Saturday by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The UNHCR and its NGO partners are working in cooperation with Lebanese government, local authorities and international agencies "to aid more than 22,000 Syrian refugees across the country," the report said. Around 9,940 Syrian refugees have already been registered in northern Lebanon, while procedures are still ongoing to register the rest. In Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli alone, there are around 3,000 Syrian refugees waiting to be registered, the report added.
Syria has released 30 people who were detained for their alleged role in an anti-regime uprising, but who have "no blood on their hands," state media said on Saturday.
Panetta says US ready on Syria if required
U.S. military leaders clearly expressed reluctance about using American might to stop the unending violence in Syria, insisting that diplomacy remains the best option to force President Bashar Assad to end the brutal crackdown on his own people.
US calls for tough action against Syria
Secretary of State Clinton urges Security Council to adopt arms embargo, even as Syria agrees to terms for UN observers.
Hague hints at harder line if regime shuns Syria peace plan
Bashar al-Assad's regime is flouting the Kofi Annan plan for ending the violence in Syria and punitive action can be taken if it is in breach of the United Nations resolution on the crisis, William Hague declared yesterday amid rising calls for intervention in the country.
Assads' luxury lifestyle is target of new EU sanctions
The Assad couple's lifestyle is the next target of EU sanctions on the Syrian regime, with the bloc ready to ban exports of luxury items, diplomats said Friday.
Assad supporters, opponents clash in northern Israel
Show of support for Syrian leader in Umm al-Fahm quickly turns violent as Assad opponents turn up.
Getting Serious About Syria
The Syrian conflict continued to boil — or boil over — when Syrian troops fired across the Turkish border on April 9, apparently killing either fleeing refugees or armed combatants. Then the UN team entered and began monitoring a shaky ceasefire – shaky because the Syrian National Council in exile and their backers in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Washington and western capitals don’t want the fighting to stop. They want to overthrow the Assad government by force and violence.
Covering Israel/Covering Syria, Asad AbuKhalil
It has been quite a show for students in journalism schools. Western media and Al Jazeera compromised the traditional standards of journalism in order to promote the Syria story from the standpoint of Western governments (the traditional enemies of the Syrian people and their interests who have taken to referring to themselves as the “friends of Syria”).
Pointing to Syria to divert attention from Israel's crimes, Jamil Sbitan
The Israeli government and its supporters now feel justified in exploiting the Syrian people’s suffering and resistance in order to further their own political agenda, depicting Israel as a “vibrant democracy” in comparison to Syria.
U.S. military leaders clearly expressed reluctance about using American might to stop the unending violence in Syria, insisting that diplomacy remains the best option to force President Bashar Assad to end the brutal crackdown on his own people.
Secretary of State Clinton urges Security Council to adopt arms embargo, even as Syria agrees to terms for UN observers.
Bashar al-Assad's regime is flouting the Kofi Annan plan for ending the violence in Syria and punitive action can be taken if it is in breach of the United Nations resolution on the crisis, William Hague declared yesterday amid rising calls for intervention in the country.
France would join a campaign for war against its former colony Syria if endorsed by the United Nations, French presidential candidate Francois Hollande said on Friday, who leads his rival President Nicolas Sarkozy in current polls. "If done within a UN framework, we would participate in such an intervention," Hollande, the Socialist Party's candidate, told Europe 1 radio when asked about possible UN military action in Syria.
The Assad couple's lifestyle is the next target of EU sanctions on the Syrian regime, with the bloc ready to ban exports of luxury items, diplomats said Friday.
Show of support for Syrian leader in Umm al-Fahm quickly turns violent as Assad opponents turn up.
The Syrian conflict continued to boil — or boil over — when Syrian troops fired across the Turkish border on April 9, apparently killing either fleeing refugees or armed combatants. Then the UN team entered and began monitoring a shaky ceasefire – shaky because the Syrian National Council in exile and their backers in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Washington and western capitals don’t want the fighting to stop. They want to overthrow the Assad government by force and violence.
It has been quite a show for students in journalism schools. Western media and Al Jazeera compromised the traditional standards of journalism in order to promote the Syria story from the standpoint of Western governments (the traditional enemies of the Syrian people and their interests who have taken to referring to themselves as the “friends of Syria”).
The Israeli government and its supporters now feel justified in exploiting the Syrian people’s suffering and resistance in order to further their own political agenda, depicting Israel as a “vibrant democracy” in comparison to Syria.
The hard facts about the Syrian crisis today mean that the ouster of President Bashar Assad is contingent on his enemies’ ability to assassinate him. Barring that eventuality, everything remains hypothetical. The regime’s Syrian opponents are in no shape to draft a joint plan of action. The fact that their policies, funding, and operations are determined externally reflects a structural crisis in the Syrian opposition. There is no way out of their current situation other than to adopt policies which repudiate collaboration with the Arab and Western parties that do not want a strong Syria.
Other Mideast / World News
While protests have been muted, opposition is growing – and is more nuanced than the monarchy or its western backers realise. Jordan's government has proposed a new election law that has dealt a further blow to those hoping for meaningful reform in the Hashemite kingdom. The law, which severely limits the number of seats that opposition parties can hold in parliament, was this week supplemented by a proposed ban on political parties established on a religious basis.
Two leading Lebanese political activists have been held in a military prison overnight after being detained for writing political graffiti. Khodor Salameh, author of the Jou3an (hungry) blog on Lebanese politics, and Ali Fakhry, a leading member of the Anti-Racism Movement in the country, were arrested on Friday around midnight by military forces in the Beshara Al-Khoury area in central Beirut. They were then taken to military prison and held overnight, contrary to Lebanese law, fellow activist Saad Kurdi said.
Amal al-Malki, a Qatari author, says the Arab Spring has so far failed women in their struggle for equality. She talks about women's rights in the Arab world, political and social empowerment and Islamic feminism.
www.TheHeadlines.Org
i don’t know if this is legitimate or not. global research can’t always be relied upon, but this is cited as an israeli poets response to gunter grass.
link to globalresearch.ca
it’s legit, taxi posted the crazy poem here earlier
link to mondoweiss.net
so i looked it up and confirmed it link to israelnationalnews.com
nuts huh.
sorry, taxi. missed it. frightening insight into mass psychology. they dehumanize the ‘suicide bomber ideology’ of the palestinian/arab, and yet state their willingness to commit a mass murder/suicide on an international scale if they don’t get their way. imagine the response if a spokesperson for the roma made such a threat. ‘we’ve obtained nuclear weapons, and will blow up the world if our persecution doesn’t stop.’ and who exactly is in charge of making the determination that the time has come to exercise the ‘samson option’? hopefully not someone like the deranged poet. a comment from your linked piece, annie:
Israel’s road of appeasement never led to peace.By following evil America’s false peace scam and always retreating and capitulating and giving goodwill gestures to undeserving human garbage Israel has sent the wrong message to pseudo friend and enemy alike.It’s better to be respected and feared than to be seen as a fearful appeaser.Israel needs to dump the loser leaders Netanyahu Barak whose only game is getting on their knees to beg Washington for permission and green lights to defend ISRAEL
no wonder israelis are leaving, if this is becoming the predominant mindset. it’s pure insanity.
It’s not representative of how ordinary Israelis feel. It can’t be.
When the economic crunch comes the ones who can earn money elsewhere will leave and there will be nothing the settlers can do about it.
Israel really messed up with the Sinai Bedouin.
This attitude is going to come back and haunt them
link to todayspictures.slate.com
and now the chosen ones have no local bolthole.
News coming out of Egypt today:
“Egypt Terminates Gas Deal With Israel
CAIRO April 22, 2012 (AP)
The head of the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company says it has terminated its contract to ship gas to Israel because of “violations” of contractual obligations.
Mohamed Shoeb said Sunday Israel has not paid for its gas in months. He would not elaborate. He said it was a business and not a political decision.
Egyptian militants have blown up the gas pipeline to Israel 14 times since the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak last year. Many Egyptians feel the deal gives Israel bargain prices. Egypt’s parliament has called for the deal to be abrogated.
The Israeli side said the decision was “unlawful and in bad faith,” accusing the Egyptian side of failing to supply the gas quantities it is owed. The dispute is under international arbitration.
link to abcnews.go.com
“The Israeli side said the decision was “in bad faith”"
LMFAO
And when will Israel be reopening its embassy in umadunya ?
Dammit it, Walid, I wanted to add that big find since it really shows the banner to this article. I will only add that the US-seduced (bribed) deals as between Egypt and Israel, in this case, the natural gas deal, was made at the expense of the Egyptian Street. That’s why the pipelines have been sabotaged so much since Muburak’s fall. The US deal gave Israel Egyptian gas at a large discount, so that Israelis paid much less for gas than average Egyptians. Just a small micro showing how neo-colonialism works in the 20th-21st Century.
“… And I suppose the Islamists that want to send Egypt back to the dark ages have no responsibility for all of this?
… Why are there no concerns expressed here about American taxpayers funding a radical Islamic regime?”
Mayhem, this is your view but to Islamists, it’s moving the country from the darkness of colonialism and into the light. Maybe they’re not all that wrong.
Israel with something like the world’s 16th strongest economy is not in this position because of its smarts but because it has been a parasitically freeloading country since its inception when most of its infrastructures like the electricity and nuclear plants were donated by the Europeans and it has never had to pay for most of its land as it simply stole it outright along with the water. If the Americans with all their homeless, uninsured and unemployed don’t mind getting milked by the better-off Israel, it’s their business. But to expect a very poor country like Egypt to continue subsidizing the gas that the already richer Israelis are using is way over the top. Egyptians would be better off foregoing the 2 billions their military get in US equipment each year and getting instead a fair price for their gas that would benefit all Egyptians. It’s obscene that Israelis pay a cheaper price for Egyptian gas than what the Egyptians themselves pay.
@walid: To speak about Israel as a “parasitically freeloading country” is to speak from spite rather than fact. I just ask you to give credit where credit is due.
Israel’s contribution to the world in medicine, science and technology is enormous. Read the book ‘Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle’ to get some perspective.
The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle
let me guess, ripping off the US?
“I just ask you to give credit where credit is due.”
I’m not denying any of Israel’s technical and medical contributions, I’m just saying that this has been made possible by Israel’s parasitic existence that is founded on freeloading off America’s and Europe’s guilty consciences and not having had to pay for mostof what it has. Give any other country the same economic advantages and there’d be a good chance that the country would have the opportunity of making great discoveries too. Let any other country double its land mass simply by stealing it and have other countries contribute guilt money to build homes on them and you’d see a building boom there. Israel doesn’t even pay for all the fuel used for its military aircraft, and vehicles; fuel for the military is supplied by the US for free and this item has nothing to do with the other 3 billion in freebies it gets annually from the US. If this is not parasitic, one of us doesn’t know the meaning of the word.
Israel is a parasite. Add up all the revenue generated by Israeli ideas (and subtract the impact of non Israeli capital) and then on the other side of the equation subtract the cost of Palestine and all the US funding, underpriced Egyptian gas and the water stolen from the West Bank and the unpaid reparations due to the people of Egypt (4 wars) , Lebanon (7 wars) and Iraq and it’s way negative.
Open your eyes. On the NASDAQ Israel has more companies than any foreign country bar China
Refer link to economist.com
The Middle East could be a vibrant technology hub and the Palestinians could participate in it if they had any perspicacity.
It’s good to see all that stolen inttectual property going tp good use.
It’s Israel that stands in the way, having repratedly rejected the Atab Peace offer to normalize relations with the Arab world. Israel has always regarded itself as part of Europe. It has no desire to be part of the ME.
In fact, Israel is paranoid of the US becomming friendly with countries like Iran, for fear it would be relegated to lower status if the US were to become allied with a Middle Easten country that has something to offers the US – hence the hype about Iran’s non existent nukes.
“The Middle East could be a vibrant technology hub and the Palestinians could participate in it if they had any perspicacity.”
Well, they have more pressing issues, like the theft of their land and resources and the complete destruction of their human rights by a thieving horde of European and American colonists and thier offspring. THAT is the problem — and not racist notion of a lack of perspicacity — which prevents them from fully participating in the world’s economy.
“It’s good to see all that stolen intectual property going to good use.”
I don’t get how Israel keeps getting caught time and again spying on and stealing military and industrial secrets from its main financial benefactor and even less how the benefactor does nothing about it. Those parasites have a strange way of showing their gratitude.
egypt severs its peace agreement with the zionist entity and how many israelis will pack up and fly off to wherever their second passport takes them? and how many of those fleeing will be from the educated/technical class that manages the economy, and won’t this turn israel into a failed state with delegitimization soon to follow?
Citizen, this was initially good news but in the long run, Israel’s godfather carries a much bigger stick than Egypt and it won’t let it suffer long without stepping in. Also, I think the same pipeline supplies Jordan. There’s been talk in the press in the last 2 or 3 years about another Arab country stepping in to supply Israel and Jordan with LNG also at good prices and for which Israel is already preparing a sea terminal.
Haaretz today: “… Before the sabotage, Egypt supplied about 40 percent of Israel’s natural gas, which is the country’s main energy source. Israeli officials have said the country was at risk of facing summer power outages due to energy shortages. Companies invested in the Israeli-Egyptian venture have taken a hit from numerous explosions of the cross-border pipeline and are seeking compensation from the Egyptian government of billions of dollars. Ampal and two other companies have sought $8 billion in damages from Egypt for not safeguarding their investment. ”
On big sticks, it was insinuated in al-Akhbar last week that one is being waved over Egypt’s head with the proposed Ethiopian plan to build a huge dam that would choke the life out of Egypt’s Nile and that the US and Israel have a hand at pulling the strings.
It’s good that Israel’s cheap gas joy ride is ending as the Egyptian people are more deserving of that gas but Egypt too is heading into stormy weather on several fronts.
link to english.al-akhbar.com
If Egypt is deprived of Nile water and Israel is involved that’s as good as a declaration of war.
Israel makes treaties with Arab nations that at the end of the day mean nothing.
Hypocrisy and double talk is their lingua franca.
See link to jcpa.org
Israel can hardly see its way clear to make any kind of peace deal with the Palestinians now, when this kind of war-mongering is being trumpeted by a key player.
Hypocrisy and double talk is their lingua franca.
Yes, the natives do have that tendency – not honest and straightshooting like the white man. They only understand the language of force. It’s in their nature. They do make great hummus though, don’t they?
>> The term “the State of Israel” is not mentioned …
But the terms “Israel and “Israeli” are mentioned:
- ” … in order to allow this nation to stand firm against Israel’s policy of aggression.”
- “A demand that the Egyptian government reopen the Israeli nuclear issue … ”
How often does Israel refer to the West Bank as anything other than Palestine?
>> It celebrates Palestinian terrorism, which is called “resistance” …
Palestinians are, in fact, resisting Israel’s 60+ years, ON-GOING and offensive (i.e., not defensive) campaign of aggression, oppression, theft, colonization, destruction and murder.
>> … and denies the very existence of Israel …
No it doesn’t. The entire statement is about the very real, oppressive, expansionist and colonialist existence of Israel.
>> … which it defines as “an imperialist settlement entity” which is of “an aggressive nature” and which “drove a nation from its land by force to establish a racist state.”
Yup, pretty much. But every bully – even, it seems, a Jewish one – hates being called a bully.
Mayhem: “Hypocrisy and double talk is their lingua franca”
Yep!
Dr. Guy Bechor, heads the Middle East Division at the Lauder School of Government at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya.
Bechor: “There is no breach of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel here. Under the agreement, Egypt was supposed to sell oil and energy to Israel, and it did so, but that obligation ended ten years ago.
“This is solely a commercial-economic matter, not a political matter. EMG, the gas supplier, has not paid the Egyptian government for several months. There is no decision to halt gas supplies for political reasons.
link to globes.co.il
Egypt is suffocating in its Islamic miasma. Its economic failings are of its own making. It can ill afford to forgo the agreed monies that Israel was paying for gas into its depleted coffers
The link to the article from al-akhbar provided by Walid is very revealing.
Ethiopia is one of the poorest, driest countries in the world and the writer of the article shows no compassion at all for the people of Ethopia, selfishly suggesting that Egypt has a supreme right to the waters of the Nile.
The article claims that the peace treaty with Israel was imposed on the Egyptian people. (Maybe Egypt should just give back the Sinai to Israel).
The article suggests that any country that might support the Ethiopian proposal is the enemy of Egypt i.e USA, Israel and China.
The article seeks to blame others for Egypt’s ills.
This is how nations behave when they lose their viability. They start to look at others to blame for their plight.
The next thing they do is go to war to divert attention away from the misery of their own people.
Mayhem, international laws determine the distribution of water between countries that share a waterway unless there’s an agreement to the contrary between them such as the one between Jordan and Israel for the waters of the Jordan River. If more water is due to Ethiopia, it will get more water whether Egypt likes it or not. The article said that Burundi also wants more water. Your rant about Islamists, the price of gas and Egypt starting wars is absurd.
>> This is how nations behave when they lose their viability. They start to look at others to blame for their plight.
Yes, Israel does do a lot of that. (“It’s not the occupation – they just hate us for our freedoms!”)
>> The next thing they do is go to war to divert attention away from the misery of their own people.
Ah, so this is why Israel keeps threatening to attack Iran.
@walid, I think my remarks are not a rant. They are based on the current situation.
Egypt is clearly adopting an aggressive stance against Israel in direct contravention of the Camp David accords. In the JCPA report the way the new Egyptian parliament refers to Israel as the ‘Zionist entity’ reeks of the same parlance that Hamas uses all the time.
The US has already warned Egypt that their aid is at risk. Refer link to security.blogs.cnn.com
Now Egyptian authorities have denied eight U.S. NGOs their licence to operate link to rferl.org and this even includes the Carter Center.
Hopefully the US will now wake up to the reality that Egypt is a rathole and stop wasting their money on it.
Walid, you have naively posited that with the ‘fortune’ Egypt will make from the gas they are no longer selling to Israel that will make up for the shortfall in US funding. Ideologically that might satisfy the Salafists, but at the end of the day everybody needs to eat.
And Straightline, technically there may not yet be a breach of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, but the way the Egyptians are carrying on it is just around the corner.
It never ceases to amaze me how shameless and unaware you hasbrats are. Israel has been in violation of the Camp David accords from the day after they signed them. The bribe maoney the US is threatenening to withhold is not because Egypt is violating the accords so much as not doing what it’s told. You might recall that the aid to Israel was also offered as an incentive to stick to the agreement, but you won’t hear Washington threatening to withold payment even as Shamir and Netenyahu spit in the faces of US presidents.
As for revocation of the licenses to the US NGOs, you are aware I take it that the activities of these NGOs do indeed breach the country’s sovereignty. In fact, their very activities would be illegal in the US. No foreign entity is legally entitled to intervene in US politics.
It comes as no surprise that this rampant hypocrisy has gone over your head.
Mayhem, Israel has been practically stealing Egyptian gas at $4.50 per million BTU when by its own admission, the going rate should be $16.00 per million BTU. Now it’s out on the market desperately looking for replacement gas for the next year or 2 until its own starts flowing, and it’s expecting to pay as high as $18.00 per million BTU for it. Instead of renegotiating a fair price with Egypt, which Egypt is willing to do, Israel prefers paying a much higher price from another source. From Haaretz yesterday:
Electric Corp. urgently seeking new gas supplier
Needs 5-month stopgap until Israeli gas starts flowing.
By Avi Bar-Eli and Itai Trilnick
Needing to fill the energy void left by the Egyptians canceling the sale of natural gas to Israel, the Israel Electric Corporation is trolling the world for a new source. The IEC has published an international tender for purchase of imported liquefied natural gas, hoping to start buying as much as $700 million to $850 million worth on December 1, 2012.
link to haaretz.com
Mayhem, about the difference between the 2 billion in arms Egypt gets annually and what it should be getting for its gas it had been selling to Israel, last year Haaretz wrote:
“Prime Minister Essam Sharaf’s spokesman, Ahmed el-Samman, was quoted by MENA as saying that the review is aimed at bringing in the greatest returns for Egypt. El-Samman said revised contracts (with Israel) could boost income by $3 billion to $4 billion. ”
link to haaretz.com
I read somewhere that Israel hadn’t paid Egypt for its gas since 2010 eventhough the grounds for terminating the contract were based on the unpaid supplies of the last 4 months.
Mayhem do you know *why* the US gives money to Egypt?
It is a major component of the Camp David Accords. If you want the US to stop giving the money to Egypt then the treaty is kaput.
I would ask why the US should continue giving billions to Israel each year.
The treaty has been virtually defunct from the beginning. While tourists have flocked to Egypt from Israel this has not been reciprocated. Egypt has only been staying in the ‘deal’ so it can get money infusions to keep itself afloat. Isn’t this gross hypocrisy given the contempt that is incessantly expressed against the US and all it stands for?
Exactly. Israel have violated the obligation to withdraw from the OT and to stop building settlements – an obligation they violated from day 1.