My Palestine Today news digest, below the jump:
Land Theft/Destruction and Ethnic Cleansing
Abu Tir stripped of citizenship
Police detain Hamas official recently released from prison, order him to leave Israel by end of month.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3899089,00.html
Mohammad Totah expelled from Jerusalem
Jerusalem – Ma’an – Israeli authorities have summoned Jerusalem PLC member Mohammad Totah (Hamas) and delivered a deportation order stripping him off of his parliamentary residency in the city after seizing his ID card. Totah told Ma’an that interrogators informed him that he had lost the "right of residency in Jerusalem," and added that he would not be permitted to enter the city after 3 July under penalty of prosecution.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=289483
Hamas rejects Jerusalem deportation order
Gaza – Ma’an – Hamas rejects Israel’s decision to deport Muhammad Totah, a party lawmaker, and urged Israel to rethink implementing the order “aimed at Judaizing Jerusalem and expelling Palestinians.” Hamas leader Ismail Radwan said “this decision comes within the policy of voiding Jerusalem of its residents, Judaizing it." “This should be a warning to the Arab and Islamic nations and the Palestinian Authority must review its record of negotiations,” which he described as “absurd.” He told Ma’an that “the talks should stop as well as security coordination, and releasing political prisoners, in response to the Israeli offensive against the Palestinians.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=289473
Solidarity/Activism/Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment
Eight injured As Troops Attack Wall Protests In The West Bank
Ghassan Bannoura – PNN – Eight civilians were injured by Israeli military fire, among them three journalists, as troops attacked the weekly anti wall protests in deferent locations in the West Bank. This week nonviolent actions were organized at the villages of Bil’in and Nil’in, central West Bank in addition to Wad Rahal and Al Ma’ssra in southern West Bank. The protests were in solidarity with the Free Gaza aid Flotilla. On Monday the Israeli military attacked the eight ships convey while sailing to Gaza. The attack which took place in the international waters left nine activists killed and 40 others injured. Eight Israeli soldiers were hurt in the attack.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8286
Hundreds mark ’43 years of occupation’ near Route 443
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3899069,00.html
Call for Action: Global Day to Break Israeli Siege
http://www.breaksiege.com/call-for-action-global-day-to-break-israeli-siege/
Canada Wide Upcoming Demonstrations
http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/canada-wide-upcoming-demonstrations/
Protests Scheduled Around the World
http://gazafreedommarch.org/cms/en/flotilla/protest.aspx
Josh Ruebner: Obama Must Do More to Hold Israel Accountable for Gaza Blockade
On a March 2010 visit to Israel/Palestine, during which Israel announced plans for the construction of 1,600 additional housing units in its illegal colonies in occupied Palestinian East Jerusalem, an irate Vice President Joe Biden pledged that the Obama Administration would hold Israel “accountable for any statements or actions that inflame tensions or prejudice the outcome of talks.”
http://endtheoccupationblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/josh-ruebner-obama-must-do-more-to-hold.html
Voices for Evergreen divestment
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/voices-for-evergreen-divestment.html
Rachel Would be Proud
We received the following press release from student activists in Washington. They announced that Evergreen State College students overwhelmingly voted to divest from Israel. Rachel Corrie was a senior at the college when the Israeli army took her life with a Caterpillar bulldozer, as she stood in front of a Palestinian home they wanted to demolish. While I am sure Rachel would be honored to have one of the flotilla ships named after her, this action by Evergreen State students is in her legacy and would make her proud, I imagine.
http://www.kabobfest.com/2010/06/rachel-would-be-proud.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kabobfest%2FGrillMe+%28KABOBfest%29
The Palestinian boycott has settlers running in circles
When politicians face failure what do they do? Step down? No way. Not in Palestine at least. Over and over again the Palestinian leadership has hit a cement wall (no pun intended) in its attempts to lead the Palestinian people to freedom and independence. And with every colossal failure, the leadership looks to Palestinian civil society for direction.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=115535
Live from the Only Democracy: 43 Years of Occupation
Israel has stopped one boat, but it can’t stop the movement. Readers of this blog know the struggle has been going on long before the Gaza Freedom Flotilla set sail, and it continues and will only grow in strength. The protests commemorating the anniversary of the 1967 Occupation of the West Bank including East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip are carrying on, as more boats set sail for Gaza. We’ll have live tweets so night owls and early risers in the United States can follow this protest over at Jewish Voice for Peace’s twitter feed. Then come back here tomorrow for a recap.
http://theonlydemocracy.org/2010/06/live-from-the-only-democracy-43-years-of-occupation/
Letters: Divide grows over Israel and Gaza
We applaud Iain Banks’s decision to refuse book translation deals with Israeli publishers (Letters, 3 June). The mentality behind Israel’s tortuous attempts to justify nine murders and many injuries on the Mavi Marmara was exposed for all to see outside the Israeli embassy in Kensington on Wednesday night.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/04/divide-over-israel-and-gaza
Turkish protestors: We’re all soldiers of Hamas
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3898760,00.html
Palestinians march in Jerusalem with Turkish flags in capital
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3899084,00.html
Protest continues in Syria against Israeli assault on Gaza aid flotilla
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-06/04/c_13334022.htm
Protests against brutal Israeli massacre continue worldwide
http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/photos-of-protests-from-the-world/
Protests held in Ireland over Israeli attack
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0531/breaking21.html?via=mr
Hoosiers Protest Israeli Raid On Gaza Flotilla
http://www.theindychannel.com/news/23775702/detail.html
Chicago Gaza Freedom Flotilla Protest – Israeli Consulate June 1st, 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt_sYsGFOBM&feature=player_embedded
New York Reacts to Israeli Massacre of Humanitarian Aid Workers on Board the Gaza Freedom Flotilla
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Utbn4UPFq0&feature=player_embedded
Canadian Union of Postal Workers’ letter to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper regarding Israeli attack on Gaza Freedom Flotilla
http://www.tadamon.ca/post/7007
Gaza We Are Coming: A special documentary that charts the history of the project to break the blockade of Gaza by sea. **Please note activist Paul Larudee who is featured in this documentary was savagely beaten by Israeli Pirates during the attacks on the Flotillas, he says towards the end of last video of breaking the siege in 2008, "If I never do anything again in my life, it’s enough.." An account of Larudee’s resistance to Israeli Pirates was published today and can be read here.
Gaza we are Coming – 23 August 09 – Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZvdZSo_mg0&feature=player_embedded
Gaza we are Coming – 23 August 09 – Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1R7ayng4hw&feature=channel
Gaza we are Coming – 23 August 09 – Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfXo3MrvKfg&feature=channel
Gaza we are Coming – 23 August 09 – Part 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gRscVeNbDo&feature=channel
Violence and Aggression
PCHR Weekly report: 5 fighters killed, 6 civilians wounded in the occupied Palestinian territories
http://www.imemc.org/article/58852
Jerusalem woman miscarries after choking on tear gas
Jerusalem – Ma’an – A pregnant Palestinian woman miscarried after choking on tear gas late Tuesday in occupied East Jerusalem. Fatima Yacob Al-Rajabi, 30, from the Batn Al-Hawa area of Silwan, was seven months pregnant when she inhaled tear gas fired by Israeli forces in the village late Tuesday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=289099
Detainees
16 Palestinians seized in Silwan
Jerusalem – Ma’an – Israeli forces detained 16 young Palestinians Thursday from the Silwan neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem. The detainees, ranging in age from 14-23, were identified as members of the Al-Abasi, Al-Awar, and Sarhan families.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=289454
Al-Ma’sara: Occupation Forces Arrest Saddam Aladdin
June 3rd, 2010– At six thirty in the evening on June 2nd, 2010, Israeli Occupation forces stormed the village of Al-Ma’sara and arrested Saddam Aladdin, 18-year-old member of Stop the Wall Campaign.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2278.shtml
The Siege
The Gaza Siege: A Fact Sheet
http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/ht/display/ContentDetails/i/13264/pid/2254
Tunnelling to Egypt
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2010/06/04/tunnelling-egypt
Egypt fails to block Gaza tunnels
Egypt has built an underground metal wall to stop the smuggling of weapons and goods through tunnels into Gaza. It is an ongoing construction project, but it appears to have failed. The tunnels are still operating — and that is because smugglers have found a way to break through the barriers. Al Jazeera’s Nicole Johnston reports from Rafah, on the border between Gaza and Egypt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvoQKmX1F30&feature=player_embedded
Under U.S. pressure, Netanyahu may ease Gaza siege
Prime Minister willing to consider easing naval blockade on Gaza, while border crossings will remain closed.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/under-u-s-pressure-netanyahu-may-ease-gaza-siege-1.294038#article_comments
Israel’s Arab Helpers: Egypt’s Blockade on Gaza, Ahmad Shokr
In the wake of Israel’s raid three days ago on a civilian vessel attempting to deliver material goods to the residents of Gaza, Egypt announced on Tuesday the temporary opening of its border with Rafah to allow humanitarian and medical aid into the Gaza Strip, with restrictions on what kinds of supplies can enter. On Monday, President Mubarak responded swiftly to the Israeli navy’s assault on the Freedom Flotilla, affirming Egypt’s support for the people of Gaza. Israel’s ambassador to Egypt was quickly summoned by the Egyptian foreign ministry, and told that Egypt condemns the violence deployed against international activists and rejects the continued blockade of the strip.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/06/egypts-blockade-on-gaza/
UN Human Rights Rapporteur Blasts Israel, DENNIS BERNSTEIN and JESSE STRAUSS
At a dawn raid in international waters off the coast of Gaza early on Monday morning, Israeli commando pirates seized the six boat fleet of the Free Gaza Movement, which was carrying 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid, from food and medical supplies to building material. According to the Israeli military ten people were killed in the assault and several dozen wounded. There is as of yet no independent confirmation of these numbers nor of the identities of those killed or injured because Israel has seized the six ships and detained all of their 700 passengers who come from 30 different countries, and has kept the detainees from any contact with the outside world.
http://www.counterpunch.com/bernstein06032010.html
The Rachel Corrie
Nobel laureate on aid ship: we won’t resist Israel (AP)
AP – Israel insisted Friday that it won’t let an Irish aid ship breach its blockade of the Gaza Strip, setting the stage for another maritime showdown with pro-Palestinian activists undaunted by a deadly raid earlier this week.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100604/ap_on_re_mi_ea/gaza_blockade
Rachel Corrie on Her Way
[Cyprus, June 4, 2010] The Rachel Corrie is 150 miles away from Gaza in international waters and on her way. They will arrive on Saturday morning. The 1200 ton cargo ship is the last ship from the Freedom Flotilla and is loaded with construction materials, 20 tons of paper and many other supplies that Israel refuses to allow into the imprisoned people of Gaza.
http://www.freegaza.org/en/home/press-releases/1204-rachel-corrie-on-her-way
Netanyahu: No ships to reach Gaza
Prime minister tells forum of top seven government ministers he has no intention of allowing any vessels to breach Gaza naval blockade, ‘now or later’; referring to Rachel Corrie ship, en route to Israel, PM says: We’ll direct it to Israeli port.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3898901,00.html
Aid boat from Ireland on course for Gaza
The boat, laden with 750 tonnes of aid, is set to arrive in Gaza tomorrow or Saturday. On board are 15 people including a Nobel Prize winner and a former top UN official.
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100603/FOREIGN/706039949/1001/rss
Aid ship sailing towards Gaza, prefers U.N. escort
(Reuters) – An aid ship expects to arrive in Gaza by Saturday morning if given clear passage by Israel, just days after another aid vessel was boarded by Israeli commandos who killed nine people, crew member Derek Graham told Reuters.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65239C20100603
‘MV Rachel Corrie’ said to turn around so as to be fitted with video equipment
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/mv-rachel-corrie-said-to-turn-around-so-as-to-be-fitted-with-video-equipment.html
Robert Naiman, "Denis Halliday Urges Irish-Americans to Defend the Rachel Corrie"
The issue of the Gaza blockade has tremendous resonance in Ireland, partly because of Ireland’s high degree of engagement in international humanitarian causes — John Ging, head of the UN Relief and Works Agency in Gaza, who had called on the international community to break the siege by sending ships loaded with aid, is also Irish — but also, of course, because the Irish people have some experience with the consequences for civilians of a colonial blockade.
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2010/naiman030610.html
Ship ‘Rachel Corrie’ Challenge Israel’s Unjust Gaza Blockade and Zionist Myths
As the MV Rachel Corrie approaches Gaza to confront the Israeli blockade, it forces the Israeli government to confront this dilemma. Perhaps at last, under this pressure, the Israelis will see that both of the dominant Zionist myths have reached a dead end.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25614.htm
Turkish Response
Turkey to reduce economic, military ties with Israel (AFP)
AFP – Turkey will reduce economic and defence ties with Israel, but bilateral cooperation will not be entirely frozen after the Gaza ship raid, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said Friday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100604/wl_mideast_afp/israelconflictgazaturkeypoliticseconomy
Turkey recalls ambassador from Israel
Turkey’s ambassador to Israel Oguz Celikkol returned home Thursday morning.
http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=123620
Turkish Premier: "Israel Tries To Justify Itself By Exploiting Anti-Semitism"
"After recent developments, everyone has seen the fact that Israeli government’s hostile attitude terrorizing the region, posed a serious threat against peace and stability in the region."
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=352416
Dispatch from an Israeli journalist in Istanbul
Arriving at Attaturk airport as the Gaza flotilla fiasco unfolds, I’m told I don’t need a visa – but that soon, Israelis won’t be let into Turkey at all.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/dispatch-from-an-israeli-journalist-in-istanbul-1.294184?localLinksEnabled=false
Flotilla Fallout and Related News
Obama: Israeli raid on aid flotilla was ‘tragic’ (AP)
AP – President Barack Obama is calling the deadly Israeli raid on an aid flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip "tragic" and says the loss of life that resulted was unnecessary.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100603/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_israel_palestinians
Obama: Use flotilla tragedy to propel Mideast peace
U.S. President tells CNN’s Larry King that while Israel has ‘legitimate security concerns," the Gaza siege prevents Palestinians from pursuing opportunities.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/obama-use-flotilla-tragedy-to-propel-mideast-peace-1.294106?localLinksEnabled=false
Kucinich wants Obama to ‘call Israel to an accounting’
Washington — Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, called Wednesday on President Barack Obama "to call Israel to an accounting" for its attack Monday on a Turkish ship that was traveling in international waters laden with humanitarian goods for Gaza.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/06/02/gaza.kucinich/
US to probe American death in Israeli raid (AFP)
AFP – The United States said Thursday it would probe the death of a Turkish-American killed in an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, but said the FBI were not involved "at this point."
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100603/pl_afp/israelconflictgazausprobe
Hezbollah to announce ‘measures’ against Israeli raid (AFP)
AFP – Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has called for a mass rally in Beirut on Friday during which he will announce "serious measures" in response to Israel’s deadly raid on a Gaza aid flotilla.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100603/wl_mideast_afp/israelconflictgazalebanonhezbollah
Ecuador recalls envoy; Chavez: Israel a murderer
‘Israel is a damned, terrorist country. Long live the Palestinian people,’ Venezuelan president say.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3898523,00.html
Iran, Venezuela seek action on Israel
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "It is necessary for international communities to condemn the catastrophic incident and to send more aid convoys in order to break the siege and save the people of Gaza from the inhumane pressures," the Iranian president added. "Today, the Zionist regime is approaching its end as a terrorist regime," he noted.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=128901§ionid=351020101
Abbas to visit Turkey
Bethlehem – Ma’an – President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to visit Turkey to extend condolences over the deaths of at least four of the country’s citizens during Israel’s raid on an aid flotilla.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=289455
The Flotilla Raid Was Not “Bungled.” The IDF Detailed Its Violent Strategy In Advance
Tel Aviv-Israel Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his senior ministers have attempted to blame army commanders for “the bungled raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla,” according to the UK’s Daily Telegraph. The AP reported that “Israel’s bloody, bungled takeover of a Gaza-bound Turkish aid vessel is complicating US-led Mideast peace efforts.” And according to Reuters, “Israeli military admits errors in bungled boarding.”
http://maxblumenthal.com/2010/06/the-flotilla-raid-was-not-bungled-the-idf-detailed-its-violent-strategy-in-advance/
Israel’s Deadly Raid A Boon To Hamas, AP Says
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israel’s interception of a flotilla trying to break the blockade of Gaza has been a boon to Hamas and vastly improved prospects of at least easing the 3-year-old closure of the territory. Before Israel’s deadly raid on a Gaza-bound Turkish vessel this week, the Islamic militant rulers of the impoverished Palestinian territory had reached a dead end in their desperate attempts to pry open the borders. But then Israel sent commandos to try to stop the six-ship flotilla carrying tons of aid on Monday, prompting a violent confrontation that led to the deaths of nine pro-Palestinian activists.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/04/israels-deadly-raid-a-boo_n_600466.html
Chomsky: Gaza flotilla raid ‘a serious crime’
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Professor Noam Chomsky, the foreign policy analyst and author of Hegemony and Survival, has rejected Israel’s justification for it’s attack on humanitarian aid boats headed for Gaza. "Hijacking boats in international waters and killing passengers is, of course, a serious crime," he told Al-Ahram. "It is worth bearing in mind that the crime is nothing new. For decades, Israel has been hijacking boats in international waters between Cyprus and Lebanon, killing or kidnapping passengers, sometimes bringing them to prisons in Israel including secret prison/torture chambers, sometimes holding them as hostages for many years. Israel assumes that it can carry out such crimes with impunity because the US tolerates them and Europe generally follows the US lead.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=289245
An Italian Fascist Founded the Unit which Attacked the Freedom Flotilla
In 1992, Fiorenzo Capriotti was appointed "honorary commander" of Shayetet 13 by Ami Ayalon, then commander of the Israeli navy, with a special mention of the “glorious” Decima Mas. Capriotti died last year, at the age of 99, a revered figure among Italian neo-Fascists, who would go in pilgrimage to visit him. A volunteer in Mussolini’s elite Decima Flottiglia Mas ("10th Assault Vehicle Flotilla"), specialized in maritime raids, Fiorenzo Capriotti won an important medal in the attack on Malta, where he was however taken prisoner by the British.
http://palestinethinktank.com/2010/06/03/an-italian-fascist-founded-the-unit-which-attacked-the-freedom-flotilla/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PalestineThinkTank+%28Palestine+Think+Tank%29
IDF boosts security around Navy chief
Following flotilla raid’s deadly outcome, IDF heightens security around Navy commander, IDF spokesman as precautionary measure.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3898878,00.html
IDF Released Several Faked Photos – How Can They Be Trusted in ANY Investigation?
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/52394
The Activists/Eyewitness Accounts
Draped in Palestinian flags, Turkey’s martyrs of the flotilla are laid to rest
Thousands of mourners yesterday attended the funerals of eight men killed in the Israeli naval raid on a Turkish ship carrying pro-Palestinian activists trying to break the Gaza blockade. The display of solidarity – which included a huge banner proclaiming "You head to heaven. May God bless your martyrdom" – came on a day that the country’s President Abdullah Gul said "Israel made one of the greatest mistakes in its history." The coffins of the dead men, draped in Turkish and Palestinian flags, were carried through crowds from Istanbul’s Fatih mosque to cars to take them to a city cemetery. The men, seven Turks and a US citizen of Turkish origin, ranged in ages from 19 to 60. A ninth man was due to be buried today.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/draped-in-palestinian-flags-turkeys-martyrs-of-the-flotilla-are-laid-to-rest-1991106.html
Reporter Disputes Israeli Account of Raid
An Al Jazeera reporter who was on the main ship in the flotilla intercepted on its way to Gaza on Monday said that Israeli forces fired live ammunition at the activists on the boat before commandos landed on it.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=4f064bf9ac951966001954e2018a9767
43 Years After Surviving Israeli Attack on USS Liberty, U.S. Veteran Joe Meadors Seized by Israeli Forces on Gaza Aid Flotilla
Joe Meadors who was on one of the other Free Gaza boats that was seized early Monday morning. For Meadors this marks the second time he has been aboard a ship attacked by Israeli forces in international waters. In 1967 Meadors was a signalman aboard the USS Liberty, a U.S. Navy electronic intelligence-gathering ship that was attacked by Israeli planes and torpedo boats in 1967. 34 Americans were killed and more than 170 were wounded in the attack.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/6/4/43_years_after_surviving_israeli_attack
As Obama Refuses to Condemn Flotilla Assault, Survivors Recount Shootings, Beatings Aboard Mavi Marmara
While the Obama administration has refused to condemn the Israeli flotilla raid outright, survivors of the assault continue to challenge Israeli military claims that soldiers acted in self-defense after rappelling onto the lead vessel, the Mavi Marmara. We speak to two passengers who were aboard the ship: Kevin Neish of the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid and Kevin Ovenden of Viva Palestina.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/6/4/as_obama_refuses_to_condemn_flotilla
Archbishop Capucci viciously assaulted by Israeli occupation soldiers
The Syrian delegation which participated in the Freedom Flotilla revealed upon its return to Syria on Thursday that its members were assaulted and barbarically treated by the Israeli soldiers.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7LeVRAPPn2uB1O1bXoPT7vtcNiwlnNeC85WpLqEZM4JObmPboaXP8ew9nfXOwapIK4GhOMkn2RVwOWK499SVIegu8lMGD9MZWfPJ%2f%2b%2b9Xows%3d
Henning Mankell: ‘That kind of stupidity I will never understand’
Swedish author and creator of Wallander gives a dramatic account of his experience as part of the Gaza aid flotilla attacked by Israel.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/audio/2010/jun/04/gaza-middleeast
Putting Names To Faces
A brief introduction to the nine Turkish people shot dead on 31 May 2010, by Israeli soldiers who attacked the Turkish vessel M.V. Mavi Marmara, as it attempted to transport humanitarian aid to the people of the Gaza Strip.
http://lawrenceofcyberia.blogs.com/news/2010/06/putting-names-to-faces.html
Israeli raid on Gaza Freedom Flotilla killed US citizen Furkan Dogan
Furkan Dogan – one of the activists killed in an Israeli raid on the Gaza ‘Freedom Flotilla’ and buried in Turkey today – was a US citizen. A friend, who had been on board the same ship, said Dogan was shot by five bullets.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2010/0603/Israeli-raid-on-Gaza-Freedom-Flotilla-killed-US-citizen-Furkan-Dogan
Three American Subplots in Flotilla Drama
Furkan Dogan, a young activist who was killed on Monday during an Israeli commando raid, in a 2008 family photo.Dogan Family/Hurriyet, via Associated Press A 2008 family photograph of Furkan Dogan, a Turkish-American activist killed on Monday. On Thursday, Turkish and American officials confirmed that one of the nine activists killed in an Israeli commando raid on Monday on a ship challenging Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza was an American citizen.
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/03/three-american-subplots-in-flotilla-drama/?partner=rss&emc=rss
Can the Israeli government murder Americans with impunity?, Paul Woodward
For several days, Israel has been able to contain some of the fallout from the flotilla massacre by withholding information about the dead and injured. The object of this exercise has clearly been to slow the flow of information in the hope that by the time the most damning facts become known, the international media’s attention will have turned elsewhere.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/can-the-israeli-government-murder-americans-with-impunity.html
Can the Israel government maim Americans with impunity?, Philip Weiss
Cry, my beloved country, this amazing photo of the shooting of Emily Henochowicz, 21, a Cooper Union art student demonstrating against Israel’s flotilla raid on Monday, is at the Baltimore Sun site (she’s from Maryland). It was taken by Majdi Mohammed of AP. More photos of Henochowicz, I’m afraid very graphic, at ISM site. Henochowicz lost her left eye and had to have reconstructive surgery on her face, in Israel. No news at the Cooper site, though they did issue a statement we picked up Tuesday. Note the grim surroundings of the Qalandiya checkpoint, this is the eastern side of the checkpoint. Oh and it has been reported that Henochowicz is Jewish. She is an artist. Here is her youtube page, check out Walkers and a frontier, and the flipbook. Wow. What was such a young and gifted American artist doing at Qalandiya checkpoint? We’re pulling for you, Emily.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/can-the-israel-government-shoot-americans-with-impunity.html
Blinding the witnesses, Naomi Klein
There is something way too literal about Israel shooting out the eye of a witness to its crimes. This photograph of Emily Henochowicz’s bandaged face needs to be seen by the world.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/blinding-the-witnesses.html
Interior Minister seeks to revoke Israeli Arab MK’s citizenship
Israeli Arab MK Hanin Zuabi took part in Gaza aid flotilla, in what Eli Yishai calls a ‘premeditated act of treason’ under protection of parliamentary immunity.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/interior-minister-seeks-to-revoke-israeli-arab-mk-s-citizenship-1.294091
Gaza flotilla: Sarah Colborne’s account
On Sunday 30th we set off together. We had assembled all the boats in international waters. At 11pm that night, Israeli naval boats were detected on the radar and sighted and a decision was made to move further back into international waters, further from Israel.
We managed to get some broadcasts out that we were on a humanitarian mission, that the United Nations had called for ships to be sent with humanitarian aid to break the blockade on Gaza, that we were simply undertaking that goal. An emergency medical room was assembled and we were all told to put lifejackets on to prepare for any attack.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/03/sarah-colborne-gaza-account
Jodie Evans: Israel: The Truth is Coming
My dear friend Ann Wright joined the Gaza Freedom Flotilla just days before it left Greece. She posted daily blogs from her voyage, the last one written only hours before the Israeli Navy commandeered her small boat. Ann Wright has given her entire adult life to service. She served 35 years in the US Army, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. She spent the fifteen subsequent years in the U.S. State Department, a career that ended in 2003 with her resignation over the impending invasion of Iraq. For the past eight years she has traveled the world tirelessly as a peace and human rights activist working against the devastating policies of the U.S. Government.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jodie-evans/israel-the-truth-is-comin_b_598690.html
Turkish group behind flotilla is Gaza’s new hero (AP)
AP – The Turkish group that bankrolled the aid flotilla raided by Israel has big plans for Gaza.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100603/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_gaza_turkey
Assad welcomes flotilla ‘heroes’
Syrian president receives flotilla passengers in formal ceremony, says ‘barbaric attack expresses Israel’s true nature’.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3898847,00.html
Lebanon greets Gaza Flotilla heroes
Hussein Shakar (C) and three other activists arrived at Lebanon’s southern border town of Naqoura, June 2, 2010.
Four Lebanese nationals, detained by Israel during its deadly attack on a Gaza aid Flotilla, have been released at the border point in Naqoura. Crowds of jubilant Lebanese from different political parties joined late on Wenesday to welcome the four, including two journalists, at the southern border crossing. Lebanese protesters, among them both Muslim and Christian religious leaders, burnt the Israeli and the US flags during a protest earlier in the area.
http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=128887§ionid=351020203
Israel boats ‘like hyenas hunting’: Australian journalist
SYDNEY, Thursday 3 June 2010 (AFP) – An Australian journalist on board a Gaza-bound aid ship said Israeli commando boats had circled their flotilla like "hyenas hunting animals in the night" before his colleague was shot with a stun gun. Sydney Morning Herald journalist Paul McGeough and photographer Kate Geraghty were released from Israeli detention and deported to Turkey Thursday, and said they were slowly recovering from their ordeal. "We’re fine, we’re both fine," McGeough told the Herald’s website from Turkey. "We are leaving Israel on legal advice that we will be able to appeal our deportation in absentia," he added.
http://www.mysinchew.com/node/39942
Israeli Response/Israel’s American Helpers
US helps Israel avert international inquiry
UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – Less than 48 hours after the Israeli attack on a flotilla of six ships carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, the most powerful political body at the United Nations acted most ineffectively: it opted for a shaky "presidential statement" instead of a demanding resolution.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11316.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
Politicians from Both US Parties Rally Behind Israel Following Raid
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich "The U.S., through the United Nations relief organization, has been funding food and shelter for the people of Gaza for 60 years now. There was no humanitarian crisis"
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20006501-503544.html
Ayalon: Raid deliberately conducted in international waters
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Daniel Ayalon, said Thursday that a deadly raid on an aid ship bound for Gaza was intentionally conducted before it reached Palestinian Authority territorial waters. During a conference call with radical American pastor John Hagee and supporters of his Christians United for Israel movement, Ayalon explained that forces chose to attack the vessel far out to sea for strategic reasons. The military leadership opted for the raid, which left at least nine dead, before it approached Gaza because that was when it believed the hundreds of passengers on board would be least prepared to resist, he said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=289501
Other News
‘S. African official bought nuclear trigger from Israel in 70s’
Johannesburg paper fans claims of alleged nuclear ties between Jerusalem, Pretoria, saying Apartheid-era minister transported atom trigger from Tel Aviv to South Africa in mid-1970s; says information was withheld for fear for minister’s safety.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3898974,00.html
Hamas Invites Abbas To Gaza
The Hamas movement invited Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, of the rival Fateh party, to visit the Gaza Strip as the first step to break the Israeli siege, and end internal divisions between the two movements.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58853
Fatah: Hamas shrugs off goodwill efforts
Ramallah – Ma’an – Fatah spokesman Ahmed Assaf says "Hamas is on purpose taking the battle of the Palestinian people against the occupation to our own internal space." Assaf said in a statement that "At a time when Fatah has all the energy to face the Israeli crime and stand by Hamas and the peace activists, we find Hamas rejecting Fatah’s support and opposing any national reconciliation and hurling accusations.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=289312
Palestinians seek U.S. help in opening airwaves
* Palestinians want Israel to release frequencies
* Conference generates pledges of investment of $1 bln
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE6521F7.htm
$500m mortgage finance facility launched in Palestine
BEIRUT: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas launched on Wednesday a landmark $500 million mortgage finance program that will double the number of Palestinian families who are able to purchase homes by offering long-term mortgages that will enable them to enjoy the benefits of home ownership without excessively burdening their monthly incomes.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=3&article_id=115551
IFC Supports Growth of Palestinian Olive Oil Industry
Bethlehem, West Bank, June 3, 2010-IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, said today it was launching the second phase of a project that is helping olive oil bottling and export companies in the West Bank improve their competitiveness, enhance compliance with international standards, and increase their presence in global markets.
http://media-newswire.com/release_1120013.html
Israeli Censorship/Media Bias
US networks show different story on Gaza aid flotilla
The US is coming under increasing pressure to take a harsher stance in its dealings with Israel. And the revelation that an American citizen was killed in the flotilla raid has prompted the US to launch its own investigation. But many of the US media outlets are coming to Israel’s defence. Al Jazeera’s Clayton Swisher reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIB2F0NP3AU&feature=youtube_gdata
3 most viewed YouTube clips in the world – posted by IDF
IDF clips of clash aboard a Gaza flotilla aid ship viewed by some 3 million people Wednesday. Al Jazeera video of same incident comes in fourth with 616,000 views.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/3-most-viewed-youtube-clips-in-the-world-posted-by-idf-1.293994?localLinksEnabled=false
Israel Censors News on Deadly Flotilla Raid, Mel Frykberg
TEL AVIV, Jun 3, 2010 (IPS) – Attempts by media to interview some of the hundreds of Free Gaza (FG) members, who were being deported from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport, Wednesday, were thwarted by Israeli authorities.
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51704
Israel using ‘pirated’ footage to defend raid: media body
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military’s YouTube site is using ‘pirated’ footage confiscated from journalists on board a Turkish vessel in a bid to defend its botched flotilla raid, a press body charged on Thursday. "The Foreign Press Association (FPA) strongly condemns the use of photos and video material shot by foreign journalists, now being put out by the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) spokesman’s office as ‘captured material’," a statement from the organization said.
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0603/israel-using-pirated-footage-defend-raid/
Yahoo and AP Caught Manipulating User Comments, Ahmed Amr
It was like déjà vu all over again. I’d go from one Yahoo article to another and notice that regardless of the subject matter, the first user comment was always the same — at least on AP articles covering the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. The comment that kept reappearing was posted by “Robert” and it was a one liner. “Hamas is now in control of the Gaza Strip after winning an election there against Abbas Palestinian Authority.” That was it. Fair enough — I’ve got no quarrel with the messenger or the message. But somehow that one comment generated an incredible 184 responses and, last I checked, readers had given it 3212 thumbs up and 2525 thumbs down.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/06/yahoo-and-ap-caught-manipulating-user-comments/
‘New York Times’ fails to interview a single flotilla member about killings, James North
This is amazing. The Israeli government held the hundreds of illegally-arrested people from the Gaza Flotilla incommunicado for several days to give Israel’s version of the deadly raid time to harden. But yesterday, Israel started to release and deport the prisoners. The London Financial Times then did exactly what a newspaper is supposed to do; it asked the detainees for their side of the story. In a short article, Vita Bekker found people like Norazma Abdullah, from Malaysia, who challenged the Israeli account.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/new-york-times-fails-to-interview-a-single-flotilla-member-about-killings.html
Of Course, They Were Asking for It, Mark Steel
It’s time the Israeli government’s PR team made the most of its talents, and became available for hire. Then whenever a nutcase marched into a shopping mall in somewhere like Wisconsin and gunned down a selection of passers-by, they could be on hand to tell the world’s press “The gunman regrets the loss of life but did all he could to avoid violence.” Then various governments would issue statements saying “All we know is a man went berserk with an AK 47, and next to him there’s a pile of corpses, so until we know the facts we can’t pass judgement on what took place.”
http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/06/of-course-they-were-asking-for-it/
Some Interesting Media Reactions
Olbermann seeks non-IDF version of events
Keith did it last night. Had on as guest Edward Peck, the deputy director of the terrorism task force in the Reagan administration and passenger on one of the ships of the flotilla. Olbermann was skeptical of Israeli claims. Peck said the Israeli soldiers had boarded his smaller boat (not the Mavi Marmara, where the killings took place) with machine guns at the ready, plus helmets and night gear, though nobody on board had any weapon that he could see. They broke into the cabin where some passengers had retreated to protect the ship. He indicated that the soldiers used more violence than was necessary. Olbermann asked what Peck made of the idea that the IDF acted in self-defense. Peck replied that this was turning language upside down. The protesters were defending their ship; they had done nothing hostile to Israel. It was the IDF soldiers who attacked.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/olbermann-seeks-non-idf-version-of-events.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z47wKB94ZGM&feature=player_embedded
Jeremy Scahill Mops the Floor with Ed Koch in Debate Over Israelis Attack of Aid Flotilla
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgivY8wyVQQ&feature=player_embedded
Scahill: Former NYC Mayor Ed Koch called me a ‘terrorist supporter’ during MSNBC spot
In a heated discussion broadcast by MSNBC’s News Live on Thursday, investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill and former New York City Mayor Ed Koch traded verbal barbs over Israel’s storming of a humanitarian aid flotilla from Turkey; an act of aggression in international waters that resulted in the killing of nine peace activists and the detention of hundreds of civilians. The conversation was atypical of most televised coverage on the Israel-Palestine conflict, in that Scahill was able to present a glimpse into the reality faced by many Palestinians trapped within Israel’s military blockade. At one point, Scahill even noted that out of the 1.5 million people in Gaza, "65 percent of that population are under the age of 18."
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0603/scahill-ed-koch-called-terrorist-supporter/
Shift in discourse, continued, Philip Weiss
Stephen Kinzer at Daily Beast says that we should treat Israel like Iran, a rogue state. You would never have read something like this in the MSM even five days ago. (This is Netanyahu’s achievement. He’s toast. When you’ve lost Wieseltier, a former member in his youth of the Jewish Defense League… The lobby is more important than Netanyahu and all Israelis know it, and they’re cracking open the lobby.)
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/shift-in-discourse-continued.html
Hamas has been working on a ‘crutch-a-pult’, Jon Stewart jokes
Israel insists that commandos had to intercept aid ships headed for Gaza because they could have been supplying weapons to Hamas. At least nine activists were killed in the raid. Israel said that they were forced to use live rounds because activists attacked them first.
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0603/stewart-hamas-working-crutchapult/
Burying Gaza, Frank and Matthews remember the good old days fightin apartheid, Susie Kneedler
Who hammered Barney Frank into reversing himself last night on Hardball? (Audio here). A day after announcing that Gaza’s deprivation by Israel makes him ashamed as a Jew, Frank defended Israel’s condemning Gazans to survival-rations amid ruins. The flip-flop would have been tragic–except that in the process he unwittingly promoted a world-wide Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions of Israel. Frank achieved this coup using the very best evidence–Israel’s own actions–comparing Israel’s siege with U.S. action against South African apartheid.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/burying-gaza-frank-and-matthews-remember-the-good-old-days-fightin-apartheid.html
Analysis/Opinion
Gaza occupation and siege are illegal, George Bisharat
Israel’s deadly attack on the Gaza "Freedom Flotilla" was flagrantly illegal. The flotilla, carefully searched for arms before disembarkation, enjoyed the right of free navigation in international waters, and Israel had no legal justification to interrupt its peaceful mission.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/06/03/EDGF1DPDK9.DTL#ixzz0pr09gpV6
Doubts Grow Over Israel’s Value as U.S. Ally, Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON, Jun 3, 2010 (IPS) – Israel’s disastrous raid in international waters Monday on a Turkish-flagged flotilla carrying humanitarian supplies to Gaza has resurrected a long-running debate over whether Washington’s close alliance with the Jewish state really serves U.S. strategic interests.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51715
Flotilla debate ratchets up: Norman Finkelstein and Daniel Pollack
We continue our coverage of events surrounding the deadly Flotilla ships carrying aid to Gaza. Norman Finkelstein and Daniel Pollack debate the Flotilla raid and whether the facts are true or not. Also there is new evidence that an American citizen has been reported to have been among the nine people killed during the incident. Could this bring further diplomatic isolation for Israel, or will the United States continue to back up Israeli officials?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10XphhuNupw&feature=player_embedded
‘Price to pay’ for opposing Israel
Though international criticism has been mounting against Israel’s raid on civilian aid ships bound for Gaza, reaction from the United States has been cautious. Glenn Greenwald, a former constitutional lawyer and civil rights litigator, said this muted response is due to the "huge political price" US politicians must pay for being seen as adversarial to Israel. In an interview with Al Jazeera, Greenwald, a contributing editor for Salon.com, said what is clear is that the Obama administration has given its full support to the Israeli government once again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vao4e_g6grY&feature=youtube_gdata
Gaza siege crisis may bring opportunity for US policy change
During most of the eight years George Bush was US President, there were increasingly sour relations between the US and Arab world. When Bush would visit the region, he was often greeted by protests over US policy towards the Palestinians. But when Barack Obama took office last year, he promised a new era of engagement with the region. Clayton Swisher reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsiPaoYWYTc&feature=youtube_gdata
Not quite as it was, Support remains strong but is no longer unquestioning
FROM Barack Obama’s point of view, the timing could not have been worse. The administration has been pushing hard in the Security Council for new sanctions against Iran and had invested heavily in the Israeli-Palestinian “proximity talks” brokered by Mr Obama’s special envoy, George Mitchell. Both of these efforts are now in jeopardy. Moreover, the Israeli raid came soon after Mr Obama had decided to rescue America’s relations with Israel from the ditch into which they fell in March, when Israel announced plans for a Jewish suburb in occupied East Jerusalem just as the proximity talks were about to begin.
http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=16274273
In ‘WaPo’, Obama administration distances itself from Israeli raid, Philip Weiss
Key new data point: The Washington Post has a piece (by Glenn Kessler and Scott Wilson) saying that the US repeatedly told Israel to use "caution and restraint" with flotilla and Israel ignored the advice. The significance of the piece is that the Obama administration is leaking this to the Post, distancing itself from Israel. Does this mean Obama is determined to bring down the Netanyahu gov’t?
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/in-wapo-obama-administration-distances-itself-from-israeli-raid.html
New conventional wisdom, echoed by Cordesman: Israel is ’strategic liability’, Philip Weiss
Anthony Cordesman, the military analyst for network television, says that Israel has become a "strategic liability," in a Center for Strategic and International Studies site, i.e. establishment organ. I heard about this last night at an event in NY; Michael Hirsh of Newsweek brought the Cordesman article up with Dan Senor at a neocon hoedown. Hirsh said that Walt and Mearsheimer had said the same thing and even though they wrote a "really bad book," the idea has begun to "seep into" the conversation. Senor pooh poohed the idea, he said, oh you hear this every five years or so. "People scratch their heads and do a version of Walt and Mearsheimer."
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/new-conventional-wisdom-echoed-by-cordesman-israel-is-strategic-liability.html
The myth of Israeli morality, Lamis Andoni
The Israeli attack on the international aid flotilla – killing nine and injuring dozens more – is not the first example of non-violent resistance by Palestinians and their supporters being met by force. Israel has, in fact, at different times reacted with repression or even extreme violence to cultural and political manifestations of Palestinian identity. But the flotilla carnage is the first direct and officially declared attack by the Israeli army on foreign activists – taking Israel’s reaction to solidarity activities to a new and unprecedented level.
http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/06/20106391049788617.html
Israel’s Insane Attack on the Freedom Flotilla, Prof. Avi Shlaim
My heart sank when I heard the news of the IDF’s insane attack on the unarmed boats carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza in which ten international volunteers were killed and many more were wounded. It was with great patriotic pride that I served in the IDF in 1964-1966. In those days the IDF was true to its name: the Israel Defence Force. Sadly, over the last four decades, my army has been subverted into the brutal police force of a savage colonial power.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19505
Strenger than Fiction / Israel’s bunker mentality
Israel is stuck in the belief that it is right, and everybody else is wrong and hence incapable of admitting that its policy vis-à-vis the Palestinians has been disastrous.
http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/strenger-than-fiction/strenger-than-fiction-israel-s-bunker-mentality-1.293767
One of the main questions that’s been floating around (no pun intended) in relation to this week’s events is whether there is a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip or not. Is Israel letting in enough stuff? Despite several years of attempts, including a Freedom of Information petition, we’ve never heard a satisfactory answer to the question of how Israel measures “crisis” or monitors the humanitarian situation in the Strip when it decides what and whom it allows into and out of Gaza. Nonetheless, it’s hard to argue that at least 80% dependence on charity, a stagnant economy, 90% to 95% unsafe water in the aquifers, and movement limited to the bare minimum don’t constitute, at the very least, a crisis of dignity.
http://www.gazagateway.org/2010/06/a-crisis-of-proportions/
‘If you express solidarity with Palestinians, then you will have Palestinian experiences’
Two thoughts on the meaning of the Israeli violence. There is of course a big effort in the western press now to make the flotilla members into violent people, provocateurs, engaged by cool Israeli commandos. I must tell you my one actual experience of this dynamic.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/if-you-express-solidarity-with-palestinians-then-you-will-have-palestinian-experiences.html
Israel’s game is coming to an end
Benjamin Netanyahu as visionary? This was the conclusion of a Haaretz editorialist this week, after Israel’s bloody attack on a Turkish ship in international waters, loaded with aid for Gaza.Of course, it was a tongue-in-cheek description, which detailed the Israeli prime minister’s visions and predictions in recent months.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=17&article_id=115533
Does Zionism = Amos’n’Andyism?, Philip Weiss
I hope you all looked at the video Adam posted last night, made by Israelis parodying the Palestinian-solidarity movement behind the flotilla. Watch the credits roll at the end, and you it looks like all the Arabs and Muslims in the parody are played by Jews.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/does-zionism-amosnandyism.html
The Real Motive Behind the Gaza Flotilla Attack, RANNIE AMIRI
Worldwide outrage and condemnation of Israel’s brazen, unprovoked attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, which killed at least nine activists and injured dozens, was predictable and justified. Many remained puzzled, though, as to why
http://www.counterpunch.com/amiri06042010.html
Israel’s Dilemma, NADIA HIJAB
http://www.counterpunch.com/hijab06032010.html
Rogue State Politics, ANTHONY DiMAGGIO
There has been much intense discussion of
http://www.counterpunch.com/dimaggio06042010.html
Israel’s Two Spaces, NEVE GORDON
In Israel, almost all of the protests against the navy’s assault on the relief flotilla took place in Palestinian space. Palestinian citizens in almost every major town and city, from
http://www.counterpunch.com/gordon06042010.html
In the Israeli Minefield, JOHN M. GRANT
It’s like entering a minefield to seriously discuss
I’ve entered this minefield before and have been called an ”anti-semite” and an “Israel hater” for saying pretty much what the sentence above suggests, that Palestinians feel a legitimate bond with the land Israel claims and holds with its military prowess. The individual who called me those names is an antiwar liberal on everything but
http://www.counterpunch.com/grant06042010.html
The Lessons of Gaza, DIANA BUTTU
http://www.counterpunch.com/buttu06042010.html
Chutzpah Galore, DANIEL C. MAGUIRE
http://www.counterpunch.com/maguire06032010.html
The Same Boat: Israel’s attack on flotilla mirrors daily reality in Gaza, Eva Bartlett
GAZA—On the evening of May 30, 2010, I awoke to a text message from a Gaza-based international activist saying that the Freedom Flotilla was being instructed by the Israeli Navy to halt its course to the Gaza Strip. The vessels were more than 70 miles from
http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/3482
Week 64 – A Different Reality, Jody McIntyre
As I was sitting on the steps of my close friend Fifi’s house in Catford, south east London, at around 1.30am, a man walked past asking for a cigarette. Fifi politely obliged. He came and sat down on the floor next to us, and Glen, as he introduced himself, turned out to live in a home for people with mental disabilities just a few doors down. He told us about the maltreatment of people living there, which could well have been true, and his plan to set up a system of cameras to catch the staff as they carried out their dirty work.
http://jodymcintyre.wordpress.com/2010/06/02/week-64-a-different-reality/
Cartoon of the Day
http://palestinethinktank.com/2010/06/03/cartoon-of-the-day-166/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PalestineThinkTank+%28Palestine+Think+Tank%29
Iraq
Thursday: 10 Iraqis Killed, 28 Wounded
At least 10 Iraqis were killed and 28 more were wounded in the latest attacks and in a mass grave discovered near the capital. Also, the PKK, which has sought to give Kurds an independent country have ended their unilateral truce with
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/06/03/thursday-10-iraqis-killed-28-wounded/
Mass grave with eight bodies unearthed in Abu Ghraib
“According to descriptions and information available for the security agencies, the dead civilians had been local residents of different areas of Abu Ghraib district,” he added.
http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=132665
Failed Iraq asylum seekers screened for forced deportation
Iraqi officials undertaking procedure in UK despite UN opposing forced returns to Baghdad. Iraqi officials are screening failed Iraqi asylum seekers in
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jun/03/iraq-asylum-seekers-forced-deportation
Lebanon
Lebanese policeman killed by unexploded Israeli bomblet (AFP)
AFP – A Lebanese policeman died on Friday after he was critically wounded by a bomblet from a cluster bomb, one of millions dropped by Israel during a devastating 2006 war with Hezbollah, police said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100604/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictlebanonmine
Lebanese-American couple charged with supporting Hezbollah (AFP)
AFP – A Lebanese-American couple was arrested Thursday and charged with providing material support to Hezbollah, a designated foreign terror organization, and other crimes.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100603/ts_alt_afp/uslebanoncrimehezbollah
U.S. and Other World News
US hopes for Iran sanctions vote at UN next week (AFP)
AFP – The White House said Thursday it was confident the UN Security Council would back toughened sanctions on Iran in the next week, despite the furor over Israel’s Gaza flotilla raid.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100603/pl_afp/usiransanctionsun
US detention centres face legal limbo
When undocumented workers are caught they get sent to a detention facility run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). There are dozens of detention facilities across the US and some immigrants are even kept in actual prisons with convicted criminals. There have been accusations of mistreatment, lack of medical care, and lack of attorney access at some of these detention facilities. The ACLU successfully sued the ICE to have undocumented families removed from one of the detention facilities because of the conditions. Now, the ACLU is calling for federal oversight for the detention centres to ensure that there are standards in place. Al Jazeera’s Mike Kirsch reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1bIoGYP_0A&feature=youtube_gdata
President Hosni Mubarak’s party tightens its grip on Egypt
President Hosni Mubarak won 74 of 88 seats in elections for the Shura Council, Egypt’s upper house of parliament, amid accusations of fraud and state intimidation. The vote sets the scene for more important upcoming elections.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/rBMnXT97XNU/President-Hosni-Mubarak-s-party-tightens-its-grip-on-Egypt
Two million to attend memorial for Khomeini
TEHRAN: More than two million people are expected to attend the 21st anniversary on Friday of the death of the Islamic Republic’s founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, with Iran’s supreme leader to make a speech, officials said.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=115546
www.theheadlines.org
