Thousands of Israelis to visit West Bank site after court decision
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis are likely to visit a West Bank tomb in the coming year, after a Jerusalem court awarded two rabbis legal and administrative control over it in contravention of international law. Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus is in the part of the West Bank that the Oslo Accords assigned to full Palestinian control. Consequently, the Israel Defense Force officially have no jurisdiction in the area and any Israeli involvement there is illegal.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/thousands-israelis-visit-west-bank-site-after-court-decision?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AlAkhbarEnglish+%28Al+Akhbar+English%29
Minister says Israel will not give up settlements of Ofra and Beit El near Ramallah
Israel’s Minister of Defence has said that any political agreement with the Palestinians will exclude a number of settlements in the occupied West Bank. Ehud Barak claimed that the Zionist state will not “abandon” the illegal settlements of Ofra and Beit El near Ramallah. Barak told Israeli Army Radio, “In any map I can think of for final status negotiations, Ofra, Beit El and Baal Hazor must be part of Israel.” He added, “I think that there are many things to be done in order to promote Beit El as a very important settlement and I have no doubt whatsoever regarding its future.” The Hebrew newspaper Haaretz called such statements “a change in Barak’s position”. In the Camp David negotiations when he was Prime Minister of Israel, noted Haaretz, he had agreed to transfer most West Bank land to the Palestinians, including East Jerusalem
In pictures: portraits of al-Aqaba, a village surrounded by the Israeli army
Al-Aqaba is a small Palestinian village in the Jordan Valley of the occupied West Bank surrounded by Israeli military checkpoints and training grounds.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/pictures-portraits-al-aqaba-village-surrounded-israeli-army/11300?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
AJC hasbara video includes ethnically cleansed Palestinian village, Ben White
A hasbara video called “The Rhythm of Israel”, produced by the American Jewish Committee’s initiative ‘Project Interchange’, includes a church from an ethnically cleansed Palestinian village.
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ben-white/ajc-hasbara-video-includes-ethnically-cleansed-palestinian-village
The Naqba “Right of Return” march begins from Damascus Gate
As part of the Naqba Day memorial activities, a large crowd marched from the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem through the streets of the city, demonstrating their commitment to the Right of Return and claim to the land that hundreds of thousands lost in 1948. Today 5 millions Palestinian refugees living in neighboring countries and in Palestine itself, are waiting to return. The march also criticized the silence from the international community, and the weakness of the Arab leaders to address the ongoing violation of human rights by the Israeli occupation. Israeli forces tried to block the march but were unable to delay the determined protestors.
http://silwanic.net/?p=26639
Palestinians face repression on Nakba Day rallies
Palestinians across the West Bank held rallies and protests to commemorate Nakba Day Wednesday with many protests facing violent repression.
http://www.english.rfi.fr/middle-east/20120517-palestinian-day-commemoration-faces-violence
Nakba day at Ofer prison, May, 15, 2012
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.434889723188004.106848.136633479680298&type=1
Palestinian youths and Israeli security forces clash in the West Bank on Tuesday as Palestinians mark Nakba Day.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2012/may/16/nakba-day-palestinians-israeli-video
Coalition Of Youth Revolution, the Arab Spring forces have organized a massive march in Tahrir Square on Tuesday after noon prayers to mark 64th anniversary of “Nakba.”
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7DtYAqanJBSVUfI0bZvexNb6A7YpIcSUd1Ad%2fKXX2ajb52dCQZnKCe3GNLCK1zEXq1VwG247F8k9shm0oq2RYgW8wkd4DGca89TBybU3BX1E%3d
A sit-in tent outside the Netherlands parliament to mark Nakba
The Palestinians in the Netherlands commemorated the 64th anniversary of the Nakba in a sit-in tent outside the Parliament in The Hague, highlighting the prisoners’ issue.
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/karachi/17-May-2012/students-out-for-palestinians
Walid Khalidi on Nakbah
“The UN partition plan, presented as a compromise between the two communities was anything but. It gave the Jewish population, which by then had artificially grown into about 30 percent of the population, over half (55 percent) of Palestine where Jews owned less than 8 percent of the land. It condemned hundreds of thousands of Palestinians within the UN-drawn boundaries to live in separation from their compatriots as a minority in the Jewish state-to-be. The Jews were overjoyed, but the Palestinians were outraged at this dismemberment of their country and fragmentation of their society – a prolonged nightmare realized. Artfully the Zionist leaders represented their “acceptance” of partition as evidence of their readiness to “compromise” and to comply with the will of the international community.
I first heard about the Nakba in the late 1980s, while I was an undergraduate student of philosophy at Hebrew University. This, I believe, is a revealing fact, particularly since, as a teenager, I was a member of Peace Now and was raised in a liberal home. I grew up in the southern city of Be’er-Sheva, which is just a few kilometres from several unrecognised Bedouin villages that, today, are home to thousands of residents who were displaced in 1948. I now know that the vast majority of the Negev’s Bedouin population was not as lucky, and that, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, most Bedouin either fled or were expelled from their ancestral lands to Jordan or Gaza.
Siege on Gaza
Medics: Man suffocates in Gaza tunnel
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — A man died on Thursday after suffocating in a smuggling tunnel beneath the Gaza-Egypt border, medics said. Jihad Barakeh, 18, was pronounced dead upon arrival at a Gaza hospital, having been pulled out of a tunnel by other workers. Since Israel tightened its blockade on the Gaza Strip in 2007, goods smuggled in from Egypt through underground tunnels have provided a lifeline to the coastal enclave. Under siege, Gaza’s economy collapsed and a 2011 UN study found that unemployment rates in Gaza were among the highest in the world. Gaza officials say over 160 young men have died at work in smuggling tunnels, but with a lack of alternatives many are still drawn to the hazardous profession.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=486658
Gaza-bound activists arrive in Egypt
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma’an) — Over 120 activists arrived in Egypt on Thursday en route to the Gaza Strip, a security official said. An Egyptian security officer told Ma’an that 40 activists arrived at Cairo airport and 84 flew into El-Arish airport to join the 12th Miles of Smiles convoy and the Jordanian Supporters of Gaza group. They are bringing medical aid and vehicles adapted for disabled people and will enter Gaza via the Rafah crossing.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=486772
Jordanian aid convoy “Ansar 2” leaves for Gaza
The aid convoy dubbed “Ansar 2” on Thursday left for Gaza to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinians caused by the Israeli blockade., The convoy headed by Head of the Jordanian “Artery of Life” committee Wael Saqqa and about 100 participants from various local activities left Amman International Airport to the Egyptian Al Areesh Airport. It is expected to arrive at Gaza Strip on Thursday noon., Saqqa told (Petra) that “Ansar 2 ” aims to confirm Jordan’s solidarity with Gazans, adding that it will support the sector’s small productivity projects, visit the Jordanian field hospital in addition to other activities.
http://en.ammonnews.net/article.aspx?articleNO=16625
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), based in Gaza, issued its weekly report (May 10 – 16) on Israeli violations in the occupied Palestinian territories, revealing that Israeli soldiers shot and wounded 46 Palestinians, including children and reporters, and carried out more than 41 invasions. The army continued to use excessive force against nonviolent protesters.
http://www.imemc.org/article/63515
Israeli tanks fire on Gaza Strip, 7 injured
Israeli forces opened fire on northern and eastern Gaza, medical officials say.
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Seven people were injured on Thursday when Israeli forces fired artillery rounds at the northern and eastern Gaza Strip, medics said. Gaza medical spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya told Ma’an that two people were seriously wounded and five moderately injured when Israeli forces opened fire on Beit Lahiya, north Gaza, and east of Gaza City.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=486729
Farmers critically wounded in unprovoked Israeli attack
Eight Palestinian farmers were injured this morning in the Shujaeya district, east of Gaza City, in an unprovoked attack by Israel. All the victims were working on their farms during the attack; two are in a critical condition in hospital. In a similar incident, a number of farmers were wounded by Israeli forces in Bayt Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip. In the south of the beleaguered territory, Israeli forces infiltrated the area east of Khan Yunus. Eyewitnesses report that a number of Israeli bulldozers and tanks eventually retreated under air cover. Commentators point out that these are the sort of daily infringements which provoke resistance groups in Gaza to fire rockets into Israel. Subsequent Israeli “responses” are given maximum media coverage to illustrate how dangerous life is for Israeli civilians. No such sympathetic coverage is afforded to Palestinian civilians trying to go about their daily business under the threat and reality of Israeli bombs and bullets.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/3766-farmers-critically-wounded-in-unprovoked-israeli-attack
Israeli police kill Palestinian in Tayeba city
The Israeli occupation police on Wednesday killed a Palestinian citizen in Tayeba city of the 1948 occupied lands and wounded others during a raid on a house.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7pJPMsk5q%2b7qE7KBxq26%2bjdi74SARBwd%2bx1DKkJMTKgielTOXEpxAfLbjKR%2f6D4xaFQvkXVwQUeH2it8yzmXODzCYSZypPPMOg2d2IMhfpd4%3d
Two workers seriously injured during IOF chase
Two Palestinian workers were injured when a wall fell over their head while escaping chase of Israeli occupation forces (IOF) near Beit Awa village in Al-Khalil, local sources said.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7ZFGQiwK4vtsfSDnMA%2bavvqfp16ktRiLpdatEtjaP26u5nIyVggIV0N35NNUTXgiIrzSA15Rq4S0OkAsndgSxu4PhWOaQPwcQsA0R652JGmM%3d
IOF troops fire teargas bombs on civilians in northern Gaza
Palestinian citizens were treated for breathing difficulty after Israeli occupation forces (IOF) fired a number of teargas canisters on northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday night.
Many confrontations since this early morning in the Issawiya village in Jerusalem between the locals and the Israeli forces as a result of the memorial Naqba day, The Israeli forces attacked the Palestinians in Gas and robber bullets, witnesses said that the under cover forces (Mista’revim) kidnapped 7 young men and beat them then they took them to the Post Office police station and then transferred them to the Maskubiya jail. At the same time the Israeli forces maintained their raids in the area, they kept assaulting the youth and the children. The Israeli forces kidnapped another 4, among them 2 children, Ismail Kweder and Muhammad Abbas, they were assaulted in a brutal way, they also arrested and attacked a guy that suffers from mental illness till he bled, eye witnesses added that an Israeli soldier was injured from the stones. During the confrontations the Israeli forces broke into Mahmood Eliyan’s house and they beat him, his wife and his children in a brutal way. As was mention before, the Issawiya decided to have a general strike for the Naqba Memorial Day.
The assault on Diala Jwejan the journalist from Jerusalem
The Israeli forces assaulted the journalist that is known for covering the incidents in Jerusalem, the assault happened during the Naqba day memorial in the Issawiye village in Jerusalem, Diala told Silwanic over the phone the Israeli forces broke her equipment then they started beating her.
PA: Settlers torch car in Nablus
NABLUS (Ma’an) — A group of settlers on Thursday set fire to a car in Nablus, a PA official said.Three settlers from Yitzhar settlement set fire to the car in Einabus village, PA official Ghassan Daghlas told Ma’an.The owner, Zain Mustafa Allan, said the car was parked outside his home when the attack took place. Earlier, settlers threw rocks at Palestinian cars driving near Yitzhar settlement, Daghlas said. The Nablus district experienced the majority of settler violence in 2011, The Palestine Center says.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=486657
Jewish settlers, officials storm Aqsa mosque
A group of 25 Jewish settlers accompanied by an Israeli minister stormed the holy Aqsa mosque in occupied Jerusalem on Thursday morning.
Illegal Arrests / Detainees
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) rounded up seven Palestinian citizens in various West Bank areas at dawn Thursday.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s76o8oKTjPRKLjTbOuS5ymekkVsyMVVmF4H580ZKWWLYaXyKAx6Qm3SU6NPJ9HMbOYe8jYl%2bBmQTLjfTgL8fyUD8o0S2D5cwe1gW2J3iZxm98%3d
Israeli special force shoots, arrests Palestinian youth in Alezariye
A special force of the Israeli army shot and wounded a Palestinian youth in Alezariye town in occupied Jerusalem on Tuesday.
Israel ‘arrests TV director, confiscates equipment’
JENIN (Ma’an) — Israeli forces arrested the director of a Jenin-based satellite channel on Thursday after raiding his home, the executive director of the channel said. Saher Qassem, chief of the Al-Asir channel, told Ma’an that a group of soldiers arrested Baha Khayri Ata Musa, 32, after raiding his home in Mirka village.
Soldiers Kidnap Child Near Hebron; Israeli Soldiers Attack Nakba Protests
Israeli soldiers kidnapped, on Tuesday, a Palestinian child in Beit Ummar town, near the southern West Bank city of Hebron, on Tuesday. He was repeatedly kicked and punched to various parts of his body.
Child wounded in Arub clashes
A Palestinian child was hospitalized in Al-Khalil on Wednesday when Israeli occupation forces (IOF) fired bullets and tear gas grenades at protestors.
Many confrontations since this early morning in the Issawiya village in Jerusalem between the locals and the Israeli forces as a result of the memorial Naqba day, The Israeli forces attacked the Palestinians in Gas and robber bullets, witnesses said that the under cover forces (Mista’revim) kidnapped 7 young men and beat them then they took them to the Post Office police station and then transferred them to the Maskubiya jail. At the same time the Israeli forces maintained their raids in the area, they kept assaulting the youth and the children. The Israeli forces kidnapped another 4, among them 2 children, Ismail Kweder and Muhammad Abbas, they were assaulted in a brutal way, they also arrested and attacked a guy that suffers from mental illness till he bled, eye witnesses added that an Israeli soldier was injured from the stones. During the confrontations the Israeli forces broke into Mahmood Eliyan’s house and they beat him, his wife and his children in a brutal way. As was mention before, the Issawiya decided to have a general strike for the Naqba Memorial Day.
Details emerge of Israeli concessions that ended historic Palestinian mass hunger strike,Ali Abunimah
Details of the Israeli concessions that ended an historic 28-day mass hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, and the more than two-month hunger strikes of several prisoners, emerged today.
Two Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are refusing food, despite the signing this week of a deal to end a mass prisoner hunger strike, Israeli and Palestinian officials said on Thursday.
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/05/17/214696.html
Several prisoners still on hunger strike in Israeli jails
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Several prisoners in Israeli jails are still on hunger strike, officials said Thursday, days after a deal was struck to end a mass hunger strike movement. Israeli Prisons Service spokeswoman Sivan Weizman told Ma’an that Mahmoud al-Sarsak and Akram al-Rekhawi are refusing food. They are being held in Ramle prison clinic, she said. Al-Sarsak has been on hunger strike for 60 days and is protesting his detention without charge or trial. A soccer player, al-Sarsak was detained in July 2009 while leaving the Gaza Strip to join the national team in the West Bank.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=486762
Nizam Abu Rumuz from Silwan is serving 22 months in the Gelboa prison after he was accused in resisting the settlements and the Israeli forces, although he needs an immediate surgery in his Back the prison administration is denying him as a punishment for his strike hunger that’s been going on for 25 days, he is striking with the rest of many prisoners that’s demanding to improve their bad circumstances in the prison. Nizam’s family informed us that the Red Cross told them that he is forbidden from visitors, as well, new information reached Silwanic’s website that he is being transferred to different prisons without any doctor’s examination, Nizam is suffering from over fat in his back and its causing him extreme pains and still the prison administration is denying him from an immediate surgery.
The family of administrative detainee Suleiman Skafi demands his release
The family of the administrative detainee Mohammed Suleiman Tawfiq Skafi, from Al-Khalil city in the West Bank who had participated in the dignity strike in an attempt to achieve his release.
Growing tensions between locals and migrants in Israel
TEL AVIV, Israel (IRIN) — Blessing Akachukneu was already looking for a new place to live when her south Tel Aviv apartment, which doubles as a day-care center, was firebombed in April. Her Israeli neighbors, she explained, had complained to the landlord about the noise from the day-care center and she had been asked to leave. Otherwise, she had not had any problems in Shapira neighborhood.
Incredibly vile racist Israeli rant: Terra Incognita: How racism crept into my neighborhood
African migrants are viewed through the prism of “victims”; their own racism is not usually acknowledged.
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=270267
President Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has sworn in nine new ministers to his cabinet in a reshuffle condemned by the opposition Hamas as a “big error.” PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was retained in his role but had to relinquish his influential second post as finance minister. The move is a blow to reconciliation efforts with Hamas, which governs Gaza, as the PA appears to be moving away from plans for a unity government.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/abbas-makes-%E2%80%9Cbig-error%E2%80%9D-naming-new-cabinet?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AlAkhbarEnglish+%28Al+Akhbar+English%29
Palestinians now merit full ambassador
The Foreign Ministry has given diplomat Naofumi Hashimoto, chief of the Representative Office of Japan to the Palestinian Authority, the title of ambassador in charge of Palestinian affairs. It is an extraordinary step for a diplomat in charge of an area that Japan has not yet recognized as a state to be designated as an ambassador. The new title, bestowed Tuesday, does not carry extraordinary and plenipotentiary representative powers equivalent to those of the Japanese ambassador to the United States, for instance, but the title will enable him to engage in diplomatic activities more smoothly, sources said. Hashimoto was formerly deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Iraq.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120517a9.html
Israel ‘violates’ Turkey airspace
Turkey says it scrambled two military jets to chase away an Israeli plane which allegedly violated the airspace of Turkish-held northern Cyprus.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18100762#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
IDF to boost intelligence efforts on Jordanian border
Army hopes to deploy advanced observation system currently installed in south, in Jordanian border area too.
US gas giant works to avoid Israel electric shortage
Noble Energy is to hook up two small natural gas fields to Israel’s central gas supply to avoid electricity shortages over the summer due to the cut in Egyptian supplies, a spokesman said on Wednesday.
Israel ranks among states perceived to have most negative influence on world, according to BBC poll; only Iran, Pakistan do worse, Israel’s image hits nadir in Europe.
Israel Tied with North Korea in BBC Negative Influence Poll
Israel’s foreign and domestic policy seems to have tarnished its image on the world stage as it came joint third in an annual international BBC poll assessing the negative influence of major countries. The poll asked which states were perceived to have had the most negative influence on the world. Iran and Pakistan took first and second place respectively, with Israel sharing third place with North Korea.
http://www.imemc.org/article/63513
Verdict in Corrie Lawsuit to be Announced August 28, 2012
(Olympia, WA USA – May 16, 2012) – The verdict in the civil lawsuit against the State of Israel for the killing of peace activist Rachel Corrie more than nine years ago will be announced August 28, 2012, at 9:00 a.m. at the Haifa District Court.
Is the United States “going above and beyond for Israel?” According to the Washington Post’s Walter Pincus, the answer is yes. In his column today, Pincus asks provocatively, “Should the United States put solving Israel’s budget problems ahead of its own? When it comes to spending, it appears that the United States already is.”
http://blog.endtheoccupation.org/2012/05/above-and-beyond-for-israel.html
New Texts Out Now: Past Is Present: Settler Colonialism in Palestine
Manchester launch for Leila Khaled biography CANCELLED
I’m very sad to say that the Manchester launch of my Leila Khaled biography, which was due to take place a week on Thursday, has been cancelled. A very shaken staff member called me earlier to say that the shop had been subjected to a deluge of phone harassment since opening this morning, and that they simply could not cope. As a mainstream bookshop, Blackwell’s hasn’t experienced anything like this (or not for a very long time – I seem to remember tales of someone trying to firebomb it over another controversial title, but that was in the 1980s!) and they are simply not equipped to cope. This is, of course, immensely disappointing, but I absolutely do not blame Blackwell’s for taking this decision, and they have been incredibly kind about it (I feel rather guilty about not foreseeing this and for putting their very sweet but rather literary staff through this!). It is, of course, a measure of the desperate rearguard action which apologists for the actions of the State of Israel are currently fighting that they feel the need to close down all debate and discussion of issues around Palestinian history, politics and culture. It’s also worth noting that some of the callers hadn’t even bothered to properly find out what the event was – they thought that Leila Khaled herself was planning to appear, something which is currently impossible because she is denied visas by the UK government. But it is revealing that Zionist campaigners are happy to close something down when they don’t even know what it is.
http://www.sarahirving.co.uk/?p=943
As the leaders of the global diamond industry gathered in Vicenza, Italy on Monday for the annual meeting of the World Diamond Council, Palestinians remained trapped in a surreal nightmarish existence under the cosh of a diamond-funded, nuclear-armed belligerent regime. Despite the fact that cut and polished diamonds from Israel are funding war crimes and crimes against humanity, the US Chair of the international diamond-regulatory system known as the Kimberley Process (KP), said on Monday, “We cannot be everything to everyone and our role is to cover the rough distribution process.”
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/jewellers-profit-while-palestinians-bear-cost?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AlAkhbarEnglish+%28Al+Akhbar+English%29
Amidst Fragmentation and Disposession, Which Palestine?, Fida Jiryis
Throughout contemporary history, movement of people outside their own countries for long or short intervals movement of people outside their own countries has occurred for long or short intervals has occurred for various reasons…
Israelis Not Keen on Changing the Status Quo, Stuart Reigeluth
The Israelis are anything but stupid. However their cleverness and innovation in perfecting the technological, logistical and financial dimensions of the military occupation and colonisation of Palestinian land make the situation nearly impossible to reverse — but not impossible, if it weren’t for European endorsement. While the United States continues with its carte blanche foreign policy of supporting Israel blindly in all forms of security and military material, Europe — that has much more to gain from changing its policies towards the Palestinians — is still essentially paying for the continuation of the Israeli occupation by covering costs to maintain the Palestinian National Authority.
Bahrain activist says charge over tweets ‘vindictive’
Prominent Bahraini rights activist Nabeel Rajab told a court on Wednesday that a charge that he tweeted insults against the government was “vindictive,” as dozens of lawyers turned up to defend him.
http://news.yahoo.com/bahrain-activist-says-charge-over-tweets-vindictive-132759053.html
Rights group chides US arms sale to Bahrain
A Bahraini rights group urged the US to reconsider its planned arm sales to Bahrain citing continued human rights violations with the use of US-made weapons. Washington lifted its freeze on supplying arms to Bahrain last week after initially raising concerns that US weapons were being used by Bahraini authorities to brutally suppress pro-democracy protesters. Locally based rights group Bahrain Watch said the deal was “problematic” as it did not take into account Bahrain’s ongoing violent crackdown on the uprising.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/rights-group-chides-us-arms-sale-bahrain?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AlAkhbarEnglish+%28Al+Akhbar+English%29
US Arms Sale Sends Wrong Signal to Bahrain, Groups Say, Jim Lobe
The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama is sending the wrong signal to the government of Bahrain in proceeding with a partial sale of new arms to Manama, according to human rights activists and some lawmakers.
http://original.antiwar.com/lobe/2012/05/15/us-arms-sale-sends-wrong-signal-to-bahrain-groups-say/
Bahrain and Iran in ‘union’ row
Bahrain’s foreign ministry summons Iran’s charge d’affaires following Iranian comments objecting to a proposed union between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18086742#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
Egypt
Egypt: Court acquits police in protesters’ deaths
An Egyptian court has acquitted 14 policemen charged with killing protesters during last year’s popular uprising.
http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-court-acquits-police-protesters-deaths-133903346.html
Egypt: New Law Keeps Military Trials of Civilians
Egypt’s parliament on May 6, 2012, approved amendments to the Code of Military Justice that failed to end the unprecedented expansion of military trials of civilians, despite pleas for reform from the legal and human rights communities. In 2011 more than 12,000 civilians, including children, faced unfair military trials which fail to provide the basic due process rights of civilian courts, more than the number of military trials of civilians during 30 years of rule by former president Hosni Mubarak.
http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/05/07/egypt-new-law-keeps-military-trials-civilians
Rights group documents 841 deaths in 2011 uprising
An Egyptian rights group released Tuesday the most comprehensive list to date of the more than 800 civilians killed by security forces in last year’s uprising that overthrew Hosni Mubarak last year. The report by the Arab Network for Human Rights Information follows what many in Egypt see as a failure by officials to adequately investigate what happened during the 18 chaotic days of street protests in January and February 2011, or to hold those responsible for killing protesters to account.
http://www.egyptindependent.com/node/843006
Revolutionary youth demand release of prisoners, formation of Constituent Assembly
Revolutionary movements announced that they will organize a number of activities to pressure for the release of prisoners arrested after different incidents since the start of the revolution till the Abbasseya clashes. The activities will start with a march on Wednesday evening from Cairo High Court to the headquarters of Parliament demanding it take real steps to release prisoners, said a statement Tuesday by the Revolutionary Forces Coalition, the Second Revolution of Anger, the Revolutionary Youth Coalition, the April 6 Youth Movement Democratic Front, the Revolution Youth Union and the Free Front for Peaceful Change.
http://www.egyptindependent.com/node/842601
Copts fear an Islamist president, mostly back Shafiq or Moussa
Egypt’s Coptic Christians complained of discrimination under Hosni Mubarak but fear it may get worse if an Islamist takes his place in next week’s presidential election. Long-suppressed Islamists already dominate Parliament. Islamist contenders for the presidency say Christians, who form about a tenth of Egypt’s 82 million mostly Muslim people, will not be sidelined, but mistrustful Copts will not vote for them.
http://www.egyptindependent.com/node/842011
Shafiq: Relations with Saudi Arabia priority over Iran
Presidential hopeful Ahmed Shafiq has said that if elected president he would work to develop deep and strategic relations with all countries, with priority given to Gulf countries, particularly Saudi Arabia. He emphasized Egypt could cut relations with Iran if it comes at the expense of Saudi relations. Iran and Egypt severed ties in 1980 after the Islamic revolution in Iran and the normalization of relations between Egypt and Israel. Both nations have long vied for power in the Middle East. Egypt has been allied with the US and Israel for decades, but relations between Cairo and Tehran have warmed since the resignation of Hosni Mubarak.
http://www.egyptindependent.com/node/843901
Egyptian director sends messages to Islamists, and Israel in Cannes
About his film being projected in Israel, Nasrallah said he did not want the movie to be sold there, believing that the country is “not an ally” of the Egyptian revolution. “I do not know at all if the film was sold to Israel, but if you want my opinion, no, I do not want it to be. Not as long as the Israelis still occupy the Palestinian territories,” he said during the conference, as several journalists applauded.
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/05/17/214714.html
Egyptian presidential hopeful Amr Moussa still committed to decade-old Arab Peace Initiative
The decade-old Arab Peace Initiative “is our initiative and we will stick to it,” Egyptian presidential candidate Amr Moussa told The Electronic Intifada in an audio interview.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/egyptian-presidential-hopeful-amr-moussa-still-committed-decade-old-arab-peace-initiative?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
Rap Group at the Leading Edge of Egyptian Rebellion
Alexandria, with a rich and cosmopolitan past, these days is a focal point of revolutionary fervor, expressed in a vibrant underground art and rap music scene.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=34449e64a33f9559749cb4013f7f0ca2
Iran
Bolton: ‘Israel should have struck’ Iran several years ago
Former United Nations’ American ambassador John Bolton continued his campaign to have the country of Iran bombed Tuesday evening, feeling that Israel should have accomplished the task several years ago. Appearing on Fox News’ On The Record with Greta Van Susteren, Bolton expressed to van Susteran how Israel needed to be clever with its approach to any military action with Iran. “I thought the Israelis should have struck about three and a half years ago,” he said. “So as far as I’m concerned, everyday that goes by just increases the risk that our intelligence maybe imperfect. I just throw that out there for what it’s worth. Iran could be a lot farther along to developing nuclear weapons than we think.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/05/16/bolton-israel-should-have-struck-iran-several-years-ago/
Top U.S. think tank warns against Israeli, American strike on Iran
Amir Oren – Haaretz – “RAND Corporation sides with Mossad chief Meir Dagan and former Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin, openly disagreeing with Netanyahu and Barak`s belligerent stance on Iran.”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/top-u-s-think-tank-warns-against-israeli-american-strike-on-iran.premium-1.430697
One week before the next P5+1 meeting with Iran in Baghdad, the RAND Corporation, one of the most influential and respected U.S. think tanks advising the Pentagon, has published a comprehensive report in the Rand Review warning against striking Iran. The report, co-authored by RAND’s director James Dobbins, advises the US to persuade Iran against nuclear-arms through diplomatic means including economic sanctions instead of a military attack. ”No effort at persuasion can begin, though, until the United States acknowledges that the Iranian nuclear program might not be reversed and thus commences preparations to deal with the consequences.”
RAND Calls for U.S., Israel to Prepare for Nuclear Iran, Richard Silverstein
The U.S. national security think-tank, RAND, just published an eye-opening report on the issue of the Iranian nuclear program and how the U.S. should approach the issue. In a number of ways, it ratifies the Obama administration approach including supporting sanctions against Iran (with a significant caveat, read below). But in a number of other ways it is significantly more dovish than current administration policy and certainly rebuts the approach of the Barak-Netanyahu war party in the Israeli government.
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2012/05/17/rand-calls-for-u-s-israel-to-prepare-for-iran-having-nukes/
That Was Now, This is Then:Another Pro-War Resolution Hits the House Floor, Nima Shirazi
Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives debated H.Res. 568, an AIPAC-sponsored bill designed to outlaw diplomacy with Iran and take the United States Congress one step closer to authorizing an illegal, unprovoked and premeditated military attack on Iran. Debunking statements about Iran made by House Representatives and Senators on the floor of Congress is tedious and boring. Most of the statements are inarticulate readings of AIPAC-drafted talking points and boilerplate hasbara. M.J. Rosenberg has already excellently addressed the point of this legislation and there is no need to repeat, ad nauseum, why most of what’s in the bill is wrong, how 13,000 AIPAC operatives were dispatched through the halls of Congress to garner sponsorship and support for the bill, how shameful it is for elected officials to spout pure propaganda about silly cartoon drawings and absurd assassination plots, and how – despite the many repetitions of the same infamous and long–debunked claim (which has literally appeared in over 50 Congressional resolutions since 2005) – even Israeli Minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy Dan Meridor admitted on Al Jazeera that Iran has never threatened to “wipe Israel off the map.”
http://www.wideasleepinamerica.com/2012/05/that-was-now-this-is-then-another-pro.html
Robert Wright at The Atlantic has a good piece on the campaign to remove the name of Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) from the U.S. terrorist list. As Wright states, legitimizing this terrorist group whose main goal is to overthrow the current Iranian regime is not a big confidence builder for the upcoming second round of nuclear negotiations with Tehran. This is especially true since MEK has been responsible for recent Israeli-sponsored acts of sabotage including assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists.
https://mondoweiss.net/2012/05/removing-mek-from-the-terrorist-list-would-raise-chance-of-war.html
At least 17 Iraqis were killed, while three Iraqis were injured in a blast in the capital. Meanwhile, a government spokesman blamed technical difficulties for the absence of Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi name from a presidential website and said the vice president’s presence will return in the coming days.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2012/05/16/17-bodies-found-across-iraq/
5 Iraqi soldiers killed in suicide bombing
Iraqi officials say a suicide bomber who drove an explosives-rigged fuel truck into the front gate of an army post has killed five soldiers in the country’s north.
http://news.yahoo.com/5-iraqi-soldiers-killed-suicide-bombing-142413798.html
The Already Forgotten Iraq War
Will there be autocracy in Iraq or renewed civil war? The country seems headed for either one or the other, as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki tightens the noose on Iraqi democracy and sectarian bombings resume.
http://original.antiwar.com/eland/2012/05/15/the-already-forgotten-iraq-war/
Lebanon
Child Killed in Tripoli despite Lebanese Army’s Deployment
The National News Agency reported that the Lebanese army and security forces heavily deployed in the streets and squares of the northern city of Tripoli but that a boy was killed and two Lebanese army soldiers were wounded.
Several wounded in renewed Lebanon clashes
At least four people were wounded on Wednesday in clashes between the army and residents of two areas of Lebanon’s city of Tripoli supporting opposite sides in the crisis in neighbouring Syria, a security official said.
http://news.yahoo.com/several-wounded-renewed-lebanon-clashes-141800850.html
Uneasy calm prevails in Lebanon’s Tripoli
The latest bout of violence in the northern city of Tripoli, which has left nine people dead and several dozen more wounded, began after the authorities arrested Shadi el Mawlawi. Islamic groups in the north of Lebanon have closed one of the city’s main squares in protest against Mawlawi’s arrest, who is now facing terrorism charges. The city is home to a large Alawite minority, which is the sect that Syrian president Bashar al Assad belongs to, as well as a Sunni majority, who support the Syrian opposition. Lebanese troops deployed on Tuesday in sectors of Tripoli affected by clashes. They are said to be on Syria Street, the fontline of the fighting between the residents of Bab el Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen. “Hostilities have ceased in Tripoli,” Najib Mikati, Lebanese prime minister, said on Tuesday in Beirut, adding that “the past 48 hours have been difficult.” Mikati said he had met political officials and Islamist leaders to discuss the crisis. “We reached an understanding on a number of issues,” including a ceasefire, he said. Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr reports from Tripoli, Lebanon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AZCE6-vxDY&feature=youtube_gdata
Saudi-Brokered May 17 Agreement Worse than Camp David
Those who talk about Hezbollah’s “illegal weapons” are the same people who were enthusiastic towards May 17 agreement.
http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=56039&cid=23&fromval=1
Syria
At least 10 more killed in Syria: watchdog
Regime troops shot dead at least five people in a new assault on the flashpoint town of Khan Sheikhun and opened fire on a refugee camp in southern Syria on Wednesday, monitors said.
http://news.yahoo.com/least-10-more-killed-syria-watchdog-131500916.html
Syrian activists say regime fires on funeral
Syrian activists say regime forces fired on a funeral procession in the presence of U.N. observers, causing many casualties.
http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-activists-regime-fires-funeral-155222028.html
UN mission to Syria comes under attack in Idlib
An IED went off yesterday in the town of Khan Sheikhoun, damaging a UN observer convoy and killing at least 20 locals, but no UN observers. The government and opposition blame each other.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/lS2TpVYgImg/UN-mission-to-Syria-comes-under-attack-in-Idlib
Syrian forces out to ‘destroy’ rebel town Rastan: NGO
Regime forces sent shells crashing into rebel stronghold Rastan early Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, while calling on UN observers to rush to the town in central Homs province.
http://news.yahoo.com/syria-accused-massacre-un-team-evacuated-041701491.html
Syrian regime torture
Palestinian-Syrian writer, Salmah Kilah, shows signs of torture on his body, after he was released from Syrian regime prisons. The Syrian regime interrogator also insulted the Palestinian people and their cause. This is a regime that does not have a legitimacy of one second.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2012/05/syrian-regime-torture.html
Syria accused of blocking relief efforts
Doctors Without Borders and other aid groups complain that they are not allowed to enter the country.
http://www.aljazeera.com/video/middleeast/2012/05/2012516143716527824.html
Assad: Ready to show foreign mercenaries to world
Syrian President Bashar Assad says his country has captured foreign mercenaries who were fighting for the opposition and is ready to show them to the world.
http://news.yahoo.com/assad-ready-show-foreign-mercenaries-world-151923997.html
Assad warns against sowing chaos in Syria
President pours scorn on armed opposition group and says countries igniting chaos in Syria may be affected themselves.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/05/2012516145146401292.html
Israeli defense minister says Assad is ‘doomed,’ urges more pressure on him
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Wednesday that Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is “doomed” and called for increased pressure on his regime amid reports that Israel’s intelligence no longer sees Assad’s continuity as beneficial for the Jewish state.
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/05/17/214604.html
US facilitating arms flow to Syrian rebels
Gulf states are sending more weapons to Syrian rebels battling President Bashar Assad’s regime with coordinated assistance from the United States, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday. Obama administration officials denied the claims accusing the United States of supplying or funding lethal material, which includes antitank weapons, the report said. Instead, they claimed that the administration had expanded contacts with armed rebels to provide the Gulf nations with assessments of rebel credibility and command-and-control infrastructure, the Post said.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/us-facilitating-arms-flow-syrian-rebels?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AlAkhbarEnglish+%28Al+Akhbar+English%29
U.S. Organizing Syrian Rebels: Syrian Rebels Get Influx of Arms with Gulf Neighbors’ Money, U.S. Coordination
Syrian rebels have begun receiving significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, an effort paid for by Persian Gulf nations and coordinated in part by the United States, according to opposition activists and U.S. and foreign officials.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/syrian-rebels-get-influx-of-arms-with-gulf-neighbors-money-us-coordination/2012/05/15/gIQAds2TSU_story.html?wprss=rss_world
Exclusive: Iran flouts U.N. sanctions, sends arms to Syria: panel
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Syria remains the top destination for Iranian arms shipments in violation of a U.N. Security Council ban on weapons exports by the Islamic Republic, according to a confidential report on Iran sanctions-busting seen by Reuters on Wednesday. Iran, like Russia, is one of Syria’s few allies as it presses ahead with a 14-month old assault on opposition forces determined to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-syria-remains-top-destination-iran-arms-transfers-184326272.html
UN team stayed with Syria rebels
The six UN observers who came under fire in northern Syria have spent the night with the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA), UN officials say.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18084824#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
Syrian activists claimed that government forces moved tanks into a northern town on Wednesday, in clear violation of a ceasefire agreement, just after the departure of a team of United Nations observers.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=ed99b03da4ae3237aca9e6b256b3e9b4
Opposition Syrian National Council head Burhan Ghalioun ‘to resign’
The head of Syria’s main opposition alliance, the Syrian National Council, has said he will resign amid growing criticism and rifts within the group.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18106592
Another senior figure walks out on SNC
A prominent dissident resigned from the Syrian National Council (SNC) on Tuesday, dealing another blow to the Istanbul-based opposition that has seen several senior figures quit in the last few months. The resignation of Fawaz Tello came hours after the council’s general secretariat, a body of 45 of whom 33 were present, re-elected Burhan Ghalioun as president for another three-month term at a meeting in Rome organized by the Italian government to prod the SNC toward reform.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/another-senior-figure-walks-out-snc?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AlAkhbarEnglish+%28Al+Akhbar+English%29
Turkey warns against Sectarian outlook in Syria
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday the violence in Syria should not be viewed as a sectarian or ethnic conflict, and those who did so risked setting the whole region on fire. Erdogan made a specific call to on Shia Muslims to see the conflict in Syria only through “brotherly eyes,” despite harboring Syrian Sunni Islamists on its own soil. Majority-Sunni Turkey, which shares a 900km long border with Syria, fears the internal conflict could develop into sectarian and ethnic fighting that could spill across borders, pitting Shia Muslims against Sunnis.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/turkey-warns-against-sectarian-outlook-syria?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AlAkhbarEnglish+%28Al+Akhbar+English%29
How Many Innocent Civilians Did NATO Kill in Libya?
When the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) meets next week at a summit in Chicago, expect a lot of self-congratulatory rhetoric about the alliance’s bombing campaign in Libya last year. Backed by a U.N. Security Council mandate, NATO charged in, citing its “responsibility to protect” civilians threatened by the bloody rampages of the late Libyan tyrant Muammar Gaddafi. The near 10,000 sorties launched by NATO strike craft helped push back Gaddafi’s forces; targeted attacks on the regime’s arsenals and defenses allowed rebel fighters on the ground to eventually sweep into Tripoli and bring down Gaddafi. Not long thereafter, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron were greeted raucously as heroes in Tripoli and Benghazi.
http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2012/05/16/how-many-innocent-civilians-did-nato-kill-in-libya/
Julian Assange’s The World Tomorrow: Surviving Guantanamo
The 5th episode of The World Tomorrow takes us to the very heart of America’s War on Terror: Guantanamo Bay. In the episode Julian Assange speaks with Moazzam Begg – former Gitmo prisoner and a rights campaigner fighting for those still trapped behind the wire, and Asim Qureshi – former corporate lawyer, whose human rights organization Cageprisoners Ltd exists solely to raise awareness of the plight of prisoners who remain in Guantanamo Bay.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_lQzu9J2PM&feature=player_embedded
US rendition ‘torture’ case heard
A German man who alleges he was subjected to “extraordinary rendition” by the CIA takes his case to the European Court of Human Rights.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18086766#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
President Obama executive order gives Treasury authority to freeze Yemeni assets in U.S.
President Obama plans to issue an executive order Wednesday giving the Treasury Department authority to freeze the U.S.-based assets of anyone who “obstructs” implementation of the administration-backed political transition in Yemen. The unusual order, which administration officials said also targets U.S. citizens who engage in activity deemed to threaten Yemen’s security or political stability, is the first issued for Yemen that does not directly relate to counterterrorism. Unlike similar measures authorizing terrorist designations and sanctions, the new order does not include a list of names or organizations already determined to be in violation. Instead, one official said, it is designed as a “deterrent” to “make clear to those who are even thinking of spoiling the transition” to think again. The official was authorized to discuss the new order on the condition of anonymity.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/president-obama-executive-order-will-give-treasury-authority-to-freeze-us-based-assets-in-yemen/2012/05/15/gIQALWPUSU_story.html
Al Jazeera exposes 2nd anti-Islam class taught to US military officers, Alex Kane
Al Jazeera English has revealed that a second anti-Muslim class was taught to senior US military officers. The class was titled “Understanding the Threat to America,” and claimed that Islamists from Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood have infiltrated the US government at the highest levels.
https://mondoweiss.net/2012/05/al-jazeera-exposes-2nd-anti-islam-class-taught-to-us-military-officers.html
Islamists & Necrophilia: How Western Media Fell For Bogus Islam-Bashing Tale
The making of a hoax: how a story about a law allowing Egyptian men to have sex with their dead wives went from rumor to front page of the Daily Mail, the Huffington Post and Al-Arabiya.
http://www.worldcrunch.com/islamists-necrophilia-how-western-media-fell-bogus-islam-bashing-tale/5316
FBI Crackdown on Anti-War Groups Targets Chicano, Brown Beret Activist Carlos Montes
Supporters of a longtime California activist, Carlos Montes, rallied outside a courthouse in Los Angeles Tuesday calling on authorities to drop his prosecution. Montes faces four charges including one for firearms possession that dates back to the 1960s. A longtime leader in the Chicano, immigrant rights, and antiwar movements, Montes’ arrest in a May 2011 raid followed similar FBI raids on activists in Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois targeting fellow members of a political group called the Anti-War Committee. “They are attacking me for my activism against the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, but also because of my solidarity work with oppressed people throughout the world — whether they be in Palestine, Colombia or Mexico,” says Montes, who plans to march against NATO this weekend in Chicago. Montes helped organize the Brown Berets and took part in the famous 1968 walkout by high school Chicano students in East Los Angeles to protest academic prejudice and dire school conditions.
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/5/16/fbi_crackdown_on_anti_war_groups
“What Have We Been Doing?”: Decorated Veteran Aaron Hughes to Return War Medals at Anti-NATO Protest
Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will join thousands of protesters this Sunday at the NATO summit in Chicago. We speak to Iraq Veterans Against the War’s Aaron Hughes, who’s among a number of Afghanistan and Iraq war vets planning to return their medals of honor to visiting NATO generals. “[Veterans] have to live with the failed policy of the global war on terror on a daily basis,” Hughes says. “What have we been doing in this decade-long war? There is a real moral disconnect between that the idea that our military can build a democracy and the idea that our military is trained and designed to control, dominate and kill people… Occupations do not build democracies. Occupations do not extend individuals’ freedoms. The movements of the Arab Spring, that was building democracy. The movements of Gandhi, of civil rights in this country, people’s movements, that’s what extends democracy.”
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/5/16/what_have_we_been_doing_decorated
Queen Rania
According to sources in Amman, the previous head of the Mukhabarat secret police told the queen she needed to lower her profile for the good of the monarchy. It is rumoured that a journalist who published negative stories about her was on the Mukhabarat payroll. A claim that she was helping Palestinians acquire Jordanian citizenship was especially damaging.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/11/queen-rania-jordan-waiting-game
Keffiyeh Crime in Turkey
On February 20th 2010 Cihan Kırmızıgül, a junior industrial engineering student of Galatasaray University, was waiting at a bus stop in Istanbul after a visit to a college friend’s home. Suddenly he was approached by Turkish police who arrested him violently, one cracking his skull with a blow from his rifle butt, and took him away to be detained at a prison in the west of Istanbul, charged with “membership of an illegal organization” and “harming private property”. The reason for his surprise arrest was the scarf he was wearing around his neck – the traditional black and white checked Arab headdress known as the ‘keffiyeh’.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/05/15/keffiyeh-crime-in-turkey/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=keffiyeh-crime-in-turkey
www.TheHeadlines.Org
All these actions and they wonder why they are detested by decent civilized human beings worldwide.
>> All these actions and they wonder why they are detested by decent civilized human beings worldwide.
Zio-supremacists know they’re detested for being hateful and immoral. However, thanks to the breath-taking arrogance and self-righteousness that are a fundamental part of Zio-supremacism, they just don’t care.