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.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/6/52/39674/Sports/National-Teams/Egypt-to-boycott-proIsrael-Adidas-kit-manufacturer.aspx
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.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/sinai-bedouin-factions-demand-egypt-amend-peace-accord-with-israel-1.425661?localLinksEnabled=false
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.
http://www.imemc.org/article/63352
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7U9dg0UP1vVUZajvQi%2faYTmIzvRiag%2fBv7UgFpFY6HMAoP8MigbCxeMORagjGE7hRnvfxZ0Qr1h2MJ3zJj686mhcQ9AkDY6Tc8Ne%2bw3SKe%2bk%3d
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.
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.
https://mondoweiss.net/2012/04/california-scholars-for-academic-freedom-challenges-ucla-on-censure-of-prof-who-linked-to-bds-website.html
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].)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
http://www.juancole.com/2012/04/yes-memri-there-is-a-fatwa-from-khamenei-forbidding-nukes.html
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.
A huge explosion on Saturday rocked a Syrian military airport on the outskirts of the capital, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
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.
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.
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.
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.
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=30460
Israel really messed up with the Sinai Bedouin.
This attitude is going to come back and haunt them
http://todayspictures.slate.com/20070326/4.html
and now the chosen ones have no local bolthole.
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.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/egypt-being-threatened-through-its-nile
Israel makes treaties with Arab nations that at the end of the day mean nothing.
Hypocrisy and double talk is their lingua franca.
See http://jcpa.org/the-new-egyptian-parliament-takes-aim-at-the-camp-david-accords/
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.