And more news from Today in Palestine:
Settlers/Land, property & resource theft and destruction/Ethnic cleansingy
Jewish settlers ‘building 600 new homes’ (AFP)
AFP – Jewish settlers have started building at least 600 homes since the end of a building ban on September 26, a pace four times faster than before the freeze began last year, Peace Now said on Thursday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101021/wl_afp/israelpalestiniansconflictsettlerfreeze
Israeli Military Bulldoze Lands in Hebron
Israeli bulldozers began, on Thursday morning, clearing large areas of Palestinian land in the region of al-Bok’a, near the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59708
IDF to complete new Bilin barrier in coming weeks
The IDF plans to complete the construction of a new security barrier near the West Bank Palestinian town of Bilin in the coming weeks. Bilin has been the scene of weekly anti-fence demonstrations in recent years. The new barrier will comprise a tall concrete wall, and security cameras will be placed near the haredi settlement of Kiryat Sefer. About 650 dunams of agricultural land will be given back to Bilin. Nonetheless, according to attorneys representing the village, roughly 1,300 dunams of private farmland will remain on the Israeli side. It was decided a concrete wall would be constructed in place of a fence, since this replacement barrier will skirt a new neighborhood in Kiryat Sefer, known as Matityahu East. If left as a simple fence, the Israeli residents might be at risk.
http://www.bilin-village.org/english/articles/press-and-independent-media/IDF-to-complete-new-Bilin-barrier-in-coming-weeks
Settlers Escalate Attacks Against Olive Orchards, 2500 Trees Torched In One Week
On Wednesday afternoon, a number of Palestinian villagers were attacked by a group of extremist Jewish settlers of Bracha illegal settlement, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, and cut a number of trees.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59698
Settlers Steal Olives From Palestinian Farmers In Northern West Bank Village
Salfit – PNN – A group of Israeli settlers stole olives owned by Palestinian farmers from Kufer Haress near the northern West Bank town of Salfit on Thursday. Local sources report that the settlers from the nearby Aril settlement arrived early in the morning and started to harvest olive trees owned by two local farmers. Meanwhile another group of settlers started to steal olives from trees behind the Israeli wall. Kufer Haress municipality said that they were trying to arrange permissions from the Israeli army for local farmers to get to their lands.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8959&Itemid=64
In New York, a ‘Hebron Aid Flotilla’ to raise money for Israeli settlements
The Hebron Fund, a US tax-exempt charity that supports Israeli settlers, is rallying Zionists of all stripes to join a ‘Hebron Aid Flotilla’ on the Hudson River next month.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/ljhU4D3fn5g/In-New-York-a-Hebron-Aid-Flotilla-to-raise-money-for-Israeli-settlements
Center: Israel launches tax crackdown in Silwan
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli forces and officers began carrying out a detention campaign and tax crackdown in the flashpoint neighborhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem on Wednesday, the Wad Hilwa Information Center said. Center direct Jawad Siyam said wide-scale raids on stores in Silwan were being carried out, while armoured vehicles patrolled the streets, adding that police, border guards and tax officers were searching cars and “breaking into many stores.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=325891
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Sanctions & Divestment
Ayed Morrar, the moral giant of Budrus, James North
All 1500 residents are heroes in the documentary film Budrus, named for their West Bank Palestinian village, as are the international and Israeli solidarity activists who joined their nonviolent protests against the military occupation back in 2003-04. But one person stands out: Ayed Morrar, a thoughtful, quiet man who leads with calm courage and by example. Ayed, in his early 40s, has been in the Palestinian freedom struggle his entire life; he spent 6 years in Israeli prisons and another 3 on the run. He and his 4 brothers have not been able to all get together for years; at least one of them is always jailed or in hiding. His courageous and outspoken teenage daughter Iltezam, a future doctor, is also a convincing presence in the film.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/10/ayed-morrar-the-moral-giant-of-budrus.html
EU Condemns the Persecution of Bil’in’s Abdallah Abu Rahmah for the Second Time, Jpseph Dana
EU Representatives and Consul Generals in Jerusalem made a statement condemning the sentencing of Abdallah Abu Rahmah to one year in prison by the Israeli military court.
http://josephdana.com/2010/10/eu-condemns-the-persecution-of-bilins-abdallah-abu-rahmah-for-the-second-time/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=eu-condemns-the-persecution-of-bilins-abdallah-abu-rahmah-for-the-second-time
Egypt ready to receive Gaza aid convoy
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Egypt has declared a state of alert at the El-Arish port and airport in preparation for the arrival of a Gaza-bound aid convoy, Ma’an has learned. The convoy is expected to arrive at 1 a.m. Thursday, Egyptian security sources said. After a wait in Syria lasting 16 days, the fifth Viva Palestina convoy of 150 vehicles and 370 people set sail on the final leg of its journey on Wednesday, the Viva Palestina group announced a day earlier.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=326062
Qatar and Syria intervene with Egypt to facilitate Lifeline 5 mission
The PIC was informed that Qatar and Syria intervened with the Egyptian authorities to facilitate the travel of the fifth aid convoy “Lifeline for Gaza” to the Egyptian city of Al-Arish.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6
Convoy Of Hope Arrives In Tunisia
After departing from London on October 10, the Convoy Of Hope heading to Gaza to deliver urgently needed humanitarian supplies has reached on Wednesday Kasserrine in Tunisia after departing from Algeria.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59697
Turkey denies offering assistance to Gaza flotilla organizers
Records of the meeting between the heads of the flotilla two weeks prior to embarkation and other similar documents were found on laptop computers confiscated by the Israel Defense Forces.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/turkey-denies-offering-assistance-to-gaza-flotilla-organizers-1.320328?localLinksEnabled=false
Dutch company raided over involvement in occupation
Last week, the Dutch National Crime Squad raided and searched the headquarters of Riwal in Dordrecht, the Netherlands, following criminal complaints lodged by the Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/leading-rabbi-encourages-idf-soldiers-to-use-palestinian-human-shields-1.320311?localLinksEnabled=false
Settlement-produced paper seized in Hebron
HEBRON (Ma’an) — Printing paper produced in a settlement were seized from Hebron on Thursday. Sources said the paper was produced in the illegal Atarot settlement in occupied East Jerusalem, and was held in a warehouse in Ar-Ram in Jerusalem, before being transferred to Hebron to be sold. The sources added that the owner would be prosecuted.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=326097
Israeli’s Peaceful Position Takes Courage, Mel Frykberg
EAST JERUSALEM – A former captain in the Israeli Air Force, previously an ardent Zionist who lost many members of his family in the Holocaust, has been labeled a psychopath and denounced by many Israelis for the moral stand he has taken against the Israeli occupation.
http://original.antiwar.com/frykberg/2010/10/20/israelis-peaceful-position-takes-courage/
Boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel promoted at Montreal conference
Palestine solidarity organizations from communities and movements across Quebec and elsewhere in Canada will be meeting in Montreal for a historic conference this weekend, Friday October 22 to Sunday October 24. Carrying Forward the Moment Against Isreali Apartheid will map the future of the growing anti-Israeli apartheid movement by bringing together activists from across the country, as well as from the U.K., France, the U.S., and, most significantly, South Africa and Palestine. The intention is to assess and advance the global campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions of the Israeli State until there is full justice, equality, and dignity for all Palestinians.
http://jnoubiyeh.com/2010/10/boycott-divestment-and-sanctions.html
Why the ADL is so Scared of Jewish Voice for Peace, Alex Kane
The Anti-Defamation League has taken to defaming what they call the “top ten anti-Israel groups in America.” Among them is Jewish Voice for Peace, a left-wing group that is the premier Jewish voice advocating for Palestinian justice and an end to the Israeli occupation. Why have they taken to smearing Jewish Voice for Peace as a group that “uses its Jewish identity to shield the anti-Israel movement from allegations of anti-Semitism”? In a word, fear. The ADL is afraid of what groups like Jewish Voice for Peace represent: principled Jewish voices of consciense that take a simple stand for human rights and justice.
http://alexbkane.wordpress.com/2010/10/20/why-the-adl-is-so-scared-of-jewish-voice-for-peace/
Siege (Gaza & West Bank)/Rights Violations/Restriction of Movement
PHR-Israel: Delayed Exit of a Toddler from Gaza Results in Death
Saturday, a child the same age as my daughter was killed in Gaza. She was not killed by a missile, or a suicide bomber, or any of the other dramatic ways children die in the Middle East. She was killed by an Israeli policy, that the people of Gaza are to be imprisoned as punishment for who the adults voted for. While many children have been killed by this policy, this case sounds particularly horrific. Her family and Physicians for Human Rights tried valiantly to get her admitted into Israel for treatment, to no avail. I can imagine no worse nightmare for a parent, to watch your child dying knowing there is medical care a few miles away that you are not allowed to seek out. The next time someone tells you things aren’t so bad in Gaza any more, or that Israel is not responsible for what goes on there, remember this story. There can be no justification for allowing a sick child to die when you have the means to prevent it.
http://theonlydemocracy.org/2010/10/phr-israel-delayed-exit-of-a-toddler-from-gaza-results-in-death/
Facing death on Gaza’s border
Three Palestinians have been shot and injured by Israeli troops in recent days while collecting rubble near the Gaza Strip’s border with Israel. Many young Palestinians scour the area to gather the bricks and stones from demolished homes to sell to help them scratch out a living. A UN report says that at least 25 Palestinians have been killed and scores of others injured by Israeli gunfire along the border since last year. Doctors say about one-third of the victims are under the age of 18. Human rights groups in Gaza and Israel have threatened to launch a legal challenge over what they describe as Israeli violations of the buffer zone. Al Jazeera’s Nadim Baba reports from Beit Hanoum in Gaza. [October 21, 2010]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgelyRnv2uw&feature=youtube_gdata
Israeli fire injures 2 workers in northern Gaza
GAZA (Ma’an) — Israeli forces fired live ammunition injuring two Gaza residents near the Strip’s northern border on Thursday morning, medics reported. Medical services spokesman Adham Abu Salmieh said the injured men were collecting rubble near Beit Lahiya, and were taken to Kamal Adwan hospital for treatment.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=326196
Israel Shooting and Electric-Shocking Palestinian Children, Stephen Lendman
Defence for Children International (DCI) Palestine Section (DCI/Palestine) “is a national section of the international non-government child rights organisation and movement (dedicated) to promoting and protecting the rights of Palestinian children,” according to international law principles.
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/10/israel-shooting-and-electric-shocking.html
Center Reports on Israeli Abuse of Children
The Palestinian, Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights published, on Thursday, new reports about Israeli abuse and random detention of Palestinian children and their parents in the town of Silwan next to the old city of Jerusalem.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59707
IDF presents: ‘Soldier-free’ checkpoint control
New electronic ID system that uses handprints ‘will make passage more pleasant,’ IDF source says.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3972725,00.html
IOA blocks travel of Palestinian MP
MP Dr. Samir Al-Qadi has said that he was barred from traveling to Turkey to attend a medical conference by the Israeli occupation authority (IOA).
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7
Racism & Discrimination
Leading rabbi encourages IDF soldiers to use Palestinian human shields
‘Your life is more important than that of the enemy’, Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira tells students, adding that a soldier should never put himself in danger even for the sake of a civilian.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/leading-rabbi-encourages-idf-soldiers-to-use-palestinian-human-shields-1.320311?localLinksEnabled=false
Knesset Won’t Approve Extension of Loyalty Oath to All New Citizens
The Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, lacks support for a bill that would require Jews as well as non-Jews to pledge alligence to Israel as a “Jewish and Democratic” state. Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman has threatened to leave the cabinet if the bill is not passed. Of the 120 Knesset members, only 56 would support the bill if it is applied to both Jews and non-Jews. Much pressure will fall on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to increase those numbers, after he decided on Monday to change the bill so that the Oath of Alligence would apply to all new citizens, and not only non-Jews.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8949&Itemid=61
Lebanon PM: Israel’s loyalty oath akin to South Africa apartheid
Hariri also says law will make ongoing peace talks with Palestinians unbearable, and urges EU to intervene.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/lebanon-pm-israel-s-loyalty-oath-akin-to-south-africa-apartheid-1.320438?localLinksEnabled=false
Violence (See siege/humanitarian section)
Detainees
Israeli Army Detained A University Student One Month Before His Graduation Day
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights and Detainees in Nablus condemned on Thursday the Israeli army raid on the house of Palestinian Nawwaf al-Ammer, and detention of his son, Ibrahim Ammer, 22 years old, after a destructive search of the house.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59706
Israeli troops kidnap 3 Najah university students in Nablus
The international Tadamun foundation said the Israeli occupation forces kidnapped at dawn Thursday three students from Al-Najah national university after raids on their homes in Nablus.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6
Israeli Military Abducts Two, Distrupts Many Near Hebron
The Israeli army, on Thursday morning, abducted two Palestinian citizens after invading their houses and ransacking their contents in the town of Beit Ummar north of Hebron. The citizens were identified as Malek Awad, 21, and Rami Awad, 28.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59705
IOA extends custody of Palestinian detainee for seventh consecutive time
The Israeli intelligence renewed the administrative detention, without trial or charge, for the seventh time running of Bakr Sa’eed Bilal on Wednesday one hour before his scheduled release.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/en/default.aspx?xyz=U6Q
Voices from the Occupation
Karam D. (13) was arrested by Israeli soldiers and accused of throwing stones at a settler car, something he denies. A military court orders house detention and no school.
http://www.dci-pal.org/english/doc/press/Voices_2010-10-21.pdf
5 detained in Silwan overnight
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli special forces detained five Palestinians from the flashpoint Silwan neighborhood in East Jerusalem overnight on Wednesday. The detentions followed a wave of arrests at dawn on Wednesday, when nine Palestinians were detained from their homes in the Ein El-Lozeh and Ber Yacoub areas of Silwan. Those arrested included Sahib Ar-Rajabi, 13, Islam Odeh, 16, Murad Al-Banna, 22, Shaqa Al-Abasi, 20, Muhammad Abbasi, 18, Mahdi Abbasi, 23, and Ziyad Odeh, 15. An Israeli court extended their detention until Friday. An Israeli police spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=326102
Ministry of detainees: Israel uses Arab prisoners as political hostages
The Palestinian ministry of prisoners’ affairs said that Israel uses Arab detainees in its jails as political hostages at the pretext that their countries do not want them.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz
Israel’s Arab Helpers
Hamas: PA detained 8 supporters
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Hamas accused Palestinian Authority security forces of arresting eight party members in the West Bank overnight Wednesday. In a statement, Hamas said the PA was continuing its arrest campaign against Hamas affiliates, adding that the latest detentions occurred in Ramallah, Hebron and Tulkarem. The Islamist movement said PA forces arrested over a thousand supporters in the West Bank in September.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=326177
Human Rights Watch: Reports of Torture in Palestinian Detention
The Palestinian Authority should promptly investigate the alleged torture of two detainees over the past month in a Jericho prison and ensure that officials responsible for the abuse are prosecuted, Human Rights Watch said today. These two cases are among more than 100 allegations of torture registered so far this year with the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR), the official Palestinian human rights ombudsman, against security services in the West Bank. Members of the Preventive Security agency, which reports to the minister of interior, arrested Ahmad Salhab, a 42-year-old mechanic from Hebron, on September 19, 2010, and detained him until October 16, first in Hebron and then in Jericho. On October 16, Preventive Security officials transferred him to a hospital in Hebron suffering from injury to previously torn spinal discs and severe mental distress, which he told Human Rights Watch resulted from torture in custody. The second man, M.B., who asked that his name not be used, was arrested September 16 and held first in the Preventive Security detention facility in Hebron and then in Jericho, where, he said, he was tortured for 10 days. Both were accused of having ties to Hamas. The human rights commission said that Salhab’s and M.B.’s are the first cases of alleged torture in the Jericho prison.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HRW/8e86b7515673ff22eb22b628497684df.htm
Political Developments
Mashaal: Hamas willing to accept peace deal with Israel
Hamas Politburo Chief tells Newsweek his organization will abide peace agreement with Israel if it has Palestinian consensus; urges US to hear Hamas directly.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3972646,00.html
Hamas says ready to meet Fatah anywhere
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) – Hamas leader Ismael Radwan expressed confusion Wednesday after Fatah changed the location for a reconciliation meeting despite a previous agreement from from both sides. Radwan told Ma’an radio that the main issue was not the place but unity and reconciliation. “We’re interested in the security issue, but it is indeed strange that Fatah wants to change the meeting place.” He said the last-minute change was likely another attempt at obstructing a deal, but that Hamas was nevertheless willing to meet wherever Fatah preferred.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=325977
Hamas official: Israel held up Shalit deal by refusing to free 15 top prisoners
Head of Hamas’ military wing has no interest in securing any exchange unless those senior militants are released, official tells Al-Hayyat.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/hamas-official-israel-held-up-shalit-deal-by-refusing-to-free-15-top-prisoners-1.320402?localLinksEnabled=false
Fatah delegation to visit Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Fatah officials will visit the Gaza Strip on Sunday after canceling a meeting with rival Hamas, Ma’an has learned. The Fatah delegation will be headed by Ramallah-based presidential advisor Abdullah Al-Ifranji, party officials said. The delegation will seek to improve the atmosphere ahead of reconciliation meetings aimed to end years of internal Palestinian rivalry. Hamas leader Ismael Radwan expressed concern Wednesday after Fatah changed the location for a meeting despite an agreement from both sides to meet in Damascus, Syria.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=326065
Palestinian negotiator: Israel tries to murder Mideast peace process
RAMALLAH, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) — A senior Palestinian official Wednesday accused Israel of trying “to murder” the peace process and making it impossible to resume by continuing settlement activities. Nabil Shaath, the Palestinian negotiator and a member of Fatah’s central committee, said after a meeting in Ramallah with Arab and foreign diplomats that “we want peace, but Israel blocks us to resume it by carrying out its practices on the ground.”
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-10/21/c_13567345.htm
Netanyahu: No return to 1967 borders, OJ to remain under Israeli sovereignty
Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu has reiterated his rejection of Palestinian demands for a lasting peaceful settlement mainly a Palestinian state on 1967 land with Jerusalem as its capital.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq
Netanyahu: Settlements no threat to peace
TEL AVIV (Ma’an) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that construction in existing West Bank settlements “does not contradict the aspiration for peace and an agreement.” Addressing the Knesset at a session to mark the 15th anniversary of the assassination of late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Netanyahu said the partial settlement freeze was a temporary “gesture.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=326120
Clinton: Palestinian state based on ’67 borders still possible
U.S. Secretary of State addresses future of peace negotiations; says U.S. position on West Bank settlements ‘has not changed’.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/clinton-palestinian-state-based-on-67-borders-still-possible-1.320369?localLinksEnabled=false
PA: Obama midterm fall could give Netanyahu raise
With Democrats expected to experience strong losses, PLO official, Abed Rabbo, says “PM is not negotiating with us, he is negotiating with US.”
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?ID=192163&R=R1
Clinton urges Arabs to give more money to Palestinians (AFP)
AFP – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday urged Arab countries to offer greater financial support to the Palestinian Authority.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101021/pl_afp/israelpalestinianspeacearabsus
War Criminals
NGOs lobby international court over Gaza probe (AP)
AP – Rights groups lobbied the International Criminal Court on Wednesday for and against a Palestinian bid to be recognized as a state by the tribunal.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101020/ap_on_re_eu/eu_international_court_palestinians
US activist’s family sue Israel
A civil lawsuit brought by the parents of a US peace activist who was crushed to death by an Israeli forces bulldozer in the Gaza Strip in March 2003 has begun being heard in the Israeli city of Haifa. The two drivers of the bulldozer that crushed Rachel Corrie to death will testify in court on Thursday, while the military commander in charge of the unit on the day will give evidence at a future date. Rachel Corrie’s family filed the private lawsuit against the state of Israel five years ago after an Israeli military investigation into the incident concluded that the soldiers operating the bulldozers could not see Rachel and closed the case.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciEAjYltAvo&feature=youtube_gdata
IDF soldier involved in Rachel Corrie’s death testifies in public for first time
Soldier, who has not been tried nor identified, delivers testimony anonymously over 2003 death of American pro-Palestinian activist.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/idf-soldier-involved-in-rachel-corrie-s-death-testifies-in-public-for-first-time-1.320412?localLinksEnabled=false
Other News
S.Africa draws on past to boost Palestinian reconciliation (AFP)
AFP – South Africa has launched a new initiative aimed at encouraging Palestinian reconciliation by sharing its experience in overcoming Apartheid, officials said on Wednesday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101020/wl_mideast_afp/palestinianspoliticshamasfatahsafrica
Rivlin to Carter: Public views you as Hamas supporter
Harsh message to former president: Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin blasts Jimmy Carter in Jerusalem, says meetings with Hamas leaders create impression of support for terrorists; Carter says main objective is to bring peace to region.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3973020,00.html
Senior Labor minister: We’ll quit coalition if Mideast talks don’t resume by year’s end
Despite Braverman’s warning, party leader Barak has yet to deliver ultimatum to Netanyahu; Labor holds 13 of the 71 seats and its defection could bring down the government.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/senior-labor-minister-we-ll-quit-coalition-if-mideast-talks-don-t-resume-by-year-s-end-1.320286?localLinksEnabled=false
Poll: 49% of Palestinians would recognize Jewish state
Survey finds willingness to recognize Israel as Jewish as part of peace deal establishing Palestinian state.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3972781,00.html
Poll: 41% of Palestinians support resuming the Intifada
Only 30% support continuing talks, as opposed to 78% of Israelis, according to joint Hebrew U.-Palestinian Center for Policy survey.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=192232
Gaza security release Hizb Ut-Tahrir affiliates
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Hizb Ut-Tahrir said Tuesday that Gaza government security forces released a number of party affiliates after they were detained for distributing a pamphlet, the movement said. A statement issued by the Islamist movement said the pamphlet people reading “Hamas jumped over Sharia [Islamic law] and laws by barring a Hizb Ut-Tahrir symposium,” entitled Islamic Political Action: Bases and Restrictions.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=325960
Brothers arrested over string of recent ‘honor killings’ in Lod
Police suspect the two were hired hit men in a string of so-called ‘honor killings,’ offering their services to locals who wanted to attack their family members.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/brothers-arrested-over-string-of-recent-honor-killings-in-lod-1.320337?localLinksEnabled=false
Culture
DAM: “We Can’t Go To Syria, But Our Music Can”, Palestine Monitor
Day two of the Taybeh Oktoberfest, the internationally renowned beer festival. Its late and the amber nector is loosening tongues. MC Tamer Nafar addresses the audience in English. “Scream if you do not speak Arabic,” he calls. A few people shout, and he raises his voice. “Come on, come on! Yala, yala! Scream if you do not speak Arabic!” He wins over a few meek foreigners, and their voices blend with those of the mainly Palestinian audience, who are eager to join the call-and-response game. DAM is requesting audience interaction, specifically asking their foreign audience to learn Arabic syllables during the next song. Their call is a demand for understanding.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1574
Analysis/Opinion/Human Interest
MJ Rosenberg: The Lobby: Targeting Democrats for Nov. 2 Defeat
The fury of the “pro-Israel” lobby lately has truly been something to behold. It has abandoned bipartisanship by setting up front organizations like the so-called Emergency Committee for Israel, which is running ads across the country calling on voters to defeat Democratic members of the House and Senate for signing a letter urging President Obama to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. With all the problems average Americans are facing, the lobby is so out-of-touch that it thinks that hard-hit Pennsylvanian voters (the ads runs most often in the Keystone State) will actually cast their votes based on the lobby’s litmus test of who is and who isn’t hawkish enough on Israel.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mj-rosenberg/the-lobby-targeting-democ_b_771117.html
Israel’s guardian sews up the Senate, Jeff Blankfort and Phil Weiss
A few months back Chuck Schumer went to AIPAC and said that he had the name Schumer because Shomer means Guardian, and God had made him the guardian of Israel. He also finished, with a shout: “Ladies and gentlemen, Am Yisrael Chai. In Israel and America the Jewish nation lives now and forever.” Soon after that he said that Gaza ought to be strangled. Charm has never been his strong suit.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/10/israels-guardian-sews-up-the-senate.html
Bibi’s poodle, Philip Weiss
Barack Obama, at Cairo University, June 4, 2009. Speech was titled “A New Beginning:”
At the same time, Israelis must acknowledge that just as Israel’s right to exist cannot be denied, neither can Palestine’s. The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. (Applause.) This construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. It is time for these settlements to stop. (Applause.)
AP tonight, Karin Laub reporting:
Israeli settlers have begun building new homes at an extraordinary pace since the government lifted its moratorium on West Bank housing starts — almost 550 in three weeks, more than four times faster than the last two years. And many homes are going up in areas that under practically any peace scenario would become part of a Palestinian state, a trend that could doom U.S.-brokered peace talks
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/10/bibis-poodle.html
Hamas and ‘Israel’s Destruction’, Alex Kane
The following article was originally published in the July 2010 issue of Extra! magazine, the monthly publication put out by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. It’s still quite relevant.
http://alexbkane.wordpress.com/2010/10/20/hamas-and-%e2%80%98israel%e2%80%99s-destruction%e2%80%99/
Pining for President Carter, Alex Kane
Say what you will about former President Jimmy Carter, be it that his presidency was a failure, or that he was once the head of the U.S. war machine. Those sentiments about Carter may be true, but his advocacy for Palestinians in recent years has been unflinching, even in the face of vicious smears, like Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League calling Carter an “anti-Semite” after the publication of Carter’s book titled Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.
http://alexbkane.wordpress.com/2010/10/20/pining-for-president-carter/
3 Jews showed this video last night at NYU, challenging Zionism, Philip Weiss
The three Jews were Micha Kurz, Max Blumenthal and Joseph Dana. When Saba Quraishi, a member of the audience, said that she didn’t understand why her well-educated Jewish friends were so quiet when she sent them links about the Gaza slaughter or the Mavi Marmara– “what is this magic brainwashing?” –Max Blumenthal said the “sclerotic Jewish establishment” is facing “impending collapse,” Abe Foxman and David Harris and Malcolm Hoenlein are “embalmed characters” who do not speak for young Jews. And Joseph Dana said that American Jewish identity is constructed on two faraway poles that have nothing to do with American life, Israel and the Holocaust.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-St2hn_qPwE&feature=player_embedded
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/10/3-jews-showed-this-video-last-night-at-nyu-challenging-zionism.html
The United States Fights and Pays for Israel’s Wars, Kourosh Ziabari
Maidhc Ó Cathail is a widely-published Irish author and journalist. He has been living in Japan since 1999. Ó Cathail’s articles and commentaries have appeared in a number of media outlets and newspapers. Maidhc joined me in an exclusive interview and responded to my questions about the 9/11 attacks, the influence of the Israeli lobby over the U.S. administration, the prospect of Israeli – Palestinian conflict, the prolonged controversy over Iran’s nuclear program and the freedom of press in the United States.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/10/the-united-states-fights-and-pays-for-israels-wars-maidhc-o-cathail/
The dam is breaking?, Eva Smagacz
As John Mearsheimer said recently, although the internet exposed the reality of Occupation in Palestinian Territories to many more Americans, this knowledge does not translate into political power. And I believe him.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/10/the-dam-is-breaking.html
Anecdote on how Israeli paranoia is cultivated, Yaniv Reich
Without exaggeration, one of the single most important factors in the Israel/Palestinian conflict is the way that Jews fear Arabs and Persians in general, and Palestinians in particular. This fear is reflected in a constant distrust of such penetrating depth that it is routine to hear that we can’t actually believe, say, the comprehensive Arab Peace Initiative (2002) because the Arabs will just turn around and “stab us in the back.” A similar argument is used to suggest we can’t possibly give the Palestinians an independent state because even if they say they want peace, they really just intend to build up their military and eventually attack us. Rampant fear and total paranoia are the name of the game in Israeli psychology.
http://www.hybridstates.com/2010/10/anecdote-on-how-israeli-paranoia-is-cultivated/
Report from Israel: the occupation is the Stanley Milgram experiment, for American Jews, Philip Weiss
At the beginning of the year I visited Israel and came back and wrote a post, Israel’s crisis. Last month I got back from my third trip to the country, and that sense is stronger. Israel is headed for the iceberg, as one Israeli friend put it. Its effort as a Jewish state to govern a population that is half-non-Jewish is unsustainable. Palestinians are everywhere oppressed in the occupied territories (and second-class citizens inside Israel). The awareness fills me with dread and a renewed commitment to the American conversation, and even feelings of blasted brotherhood with American Jews, who are the chief enablers of the oppression.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/10/my-trip.html
Jewistan: Finally Recognizing Israel as the Jewish State, Francis Boyle
Israel’s Likudnik Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reached into his bag of Zionist tricks and pulled out a brand-new demand that had never surfaced before in the history of the Middle East Peace Process going all the way back to their beginning with the negotiation of the original Camp David Accords conducted under the personal auspices of U.S. President Jimmy Carter in 1978: The Palestinians must recognize Israel as “the Jewish State.” Not surprisingly, the Zionist controlled and funded Obama administration publicly endorsed this latest roadblock to peace that was maliciously constructed by Israel.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26649.htm
To Italy as Italians, or Israel as Jews?, Bianca Ambrosio
Jews living in the Diaspora face a controversial dilemma when it comes to national sentiment: Is it better to prioritize the state in which we live or to focus on belonging to the State of Israel?
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/whither-goes-our-loyalty-to-italy-as-italians-or-israel-as-jews-1.319624
The Occupation Has Rotted Israeli Morals, Michael Khaled for MIFTAH
I pass through the Qalandia checkpoint a lot. The infamous crossing cuts off the main rout from where I work in Ramallah to where I live in Jerusalem. Israelis say its purpose is to keep “terrorists” out, but years after the last so-called terrorist crossed from the West Bank, Israel still keeps Jerusalem completely isolated from West Bank Palestinians who cannot cross unless they receive a rarely-granted permit. Going into Ramallah is simple; there is usually no inspection on the way in, only the occasional traffic jam since the road is not designed to handle the tens of thousands of cars that pass through. The time it takes varies by the traffic and whether they’ve opened one or two of the motor inspection gates (I’ve never seen them open the third, even on the Eid holiday). I’m used to the routine: fight your way to the front of a crowd of idling cars, turn off the headlights as you approach the three Israeli army guards, pull up after they wave you over, get out to open the trunk and hand over your ID to the usually-teenage-looking officer.
http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=22729&CategoryId=13
Invisible Israel?, LAWRENCE DAVIDSON
Michael Oren is the Israeli ambassador to the United States. This means he stands in a line of foreign diplomats who are often quite out of the ordinary. For one thing they may well be ex-Americans. Oren (nee Bornstein) was born in upstate New York and grew up in West Orange, New Jersey. He switched countries in 1979. For another, Israeli ambassadors do not hesitate to engage in public debates aimed at swaying American public opinion. Actually, this is very un-diplomatic behavior and you don’t see the ambassadors from China, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Mexico, Paraguay or Liechtenstein, ad finem, doing that sort of thing. Yet Oren has done this several times by sending op-eds to the New York Times. On October 13 he did so again with one entitled, “An End to Israel’s Invisibility.”
http://www.counterpunch.com/davidson10212010.html
Lebanon
Berri: Inter-Lebanese cooperation key to unity
BEIRUT: The Syrian-Saudi rapprochement remains a guarantee for stability in Lebanon but necessitates inter-Lebanese cooperation to preserve unity, Speaker Nabih Berri said in Damascus following a meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad Wednesday.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=120630
The Rageh Omaar Report – Lebanon: What lies beneath
October marks 20 years since the guns of the Lebanese civil war fell silent. Why is the fate of thousands who disappeared during the Lebanese civil war still unsolved?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhoyts-eGXk&feature=youtube_gdata
Iraq
Wednesday: 5 Iraqis Killed; 14 Iraqis, 1 Turk Wounded
At least five Iraqis were killed and 14 more were wounded in new attacks. Turkish man was wounded as well. The prime minister continued to seek foreign support for his return to the premiership for a second term in a row, while his rival is mounting an internal campaign.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/10/20/wednesday-5-iraqis-killed-14-iraqis-1-turk-wounded/
Iraqi border guard and family members shot dead (AFP)
AFP – An Iraqi border guard and four members of his family were killed at their house in the restive northern city of Mosul on Sunday evening, police said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101020/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestpolice
Iraqi refugees: Mobilizing for Lana and the rights of abused women
I received last week a news documentary made by an Australian television network from Dr. Isam Khafaji. Khafaji is an old Iraqi friend who fought against Saddam Hussein’s regime because of its appalling human-rights record, and keeps the fight on for the continuing miseries affecting Iraq. The documentary focuses on the Iraqi women who have found refuge in Syria.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=30&article_id=120602
Kurds threaten to boycott Iraq census (AFP)
AFP – Iraq’s Kurds might boycott the country’s already delayed national census if the central government drops a question on ethnic identity, a senior regional official said on Wednesday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101020/wl_mideast_afp/iraqpoliticscensuskurds
Event Shows How New Media Can Shape Iraqi Democracy
Joint IWPR-IREX conference highlights the important role information technology could play in the country’s development.
http://iwpr.net/report-news/event-shows-how-new-media-can-shape-iraqi-democracy
Q&A: What the U.S. Undid for Women in Iraq (OneWorld.net)
OneWorld.net – LONDON, Oct 20 (IPS) – The U.S.-led invasion and then occupation of Iraq brought a sharp setback to the rights of women in that country, UNFPA head Thoraya Obaid tells IPS in an interview.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/oneworld/20101021/wl_oneworld/world3695691287660467
The Zero and US, Arshad M. Khan
Babylonians — oh yes! it’s the Iraqis again — developed a zero about 300 B.C. It was represented by two slanted wedges on their clay tablets and served as a place holder in the sexagesimal (base 60 unlike our current base 10) system they used. By the way, there is something to be said for base 60 because it is divisible by 2, 3, 4 and 5, so one can get halves, thirds, etc. without going to a second or more decimal places. Our base 10 system forces us into two decimal places for a quarter and an infinite number for a third, wasting computer time and leading to inaccuracies because of approximations that have to be fudged for such mundane computations as calculating interest in savings accounts.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/10/the-zero-and-us/
U.S./ Other Mideast/World News
US announces $60 billion arms sale for Saudi Arabia
WASHINGTON: The United States announced its largest arms sale ever Wednesday: hundreds of advanced warplanes and helicopters for Mideast ally Saudi Arabia in a deal worth up to $60 billion. The plan allows for the sale to Riyadh of 84 F-15 fighter jets, 70 Apache attack helicopters, 72 tactical Black Hawk helicopters and several Little Birds, lightweight helicopters.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=120627
‘Israel not expected to oppose $60b. US-Saudi arms deal’
US official says deal would not affect Israel’s qualitative military edge in Middle East, no objections from Jerusalem expected.
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=192171&R=R3
Did US occupation force soldier kill prisoner? U.S. soldier in custody after death of Afghan prisoner
A U.S. soldier has been taken into custody after an Afghan detainee was found dead in his cell in southern Afghanistan at the weekend, apparently from a gunshot wound, the U.S. military said on Tuesday.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69I5KP20101019
US court re-instates gay troops ban
Appeals court orders temporary reinstatement of ban on gays serving openly in the military as per government’s request.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/americas/2010/10/2010102121745886349.html
NAACP Report Ties Tea Party to Militia and Racist Group
Less than two weeks before the midterms elections, the NAACP has published a new report that exposes what it calls links between various Tea Party organizations and racist hate groups in the United States. The report, ‘Tea Party Nationalism,’ analyzes each of the six most active Tea Party organizations in the country and describes links between Tea Party factions and various white supremacist groups, anti-immigrant organizations and militias. We speak with Benjamin Todd Jealous, the president and CEO of the NAACP; and one of the authors of the report, Leonard Zeskind, the president of the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. [includes rush transcript]
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/10/20/naacp_report_ties_tea_party_to
Donald Trump Among Wealthy Donors To Karl Rove-Backed Group
More specifically, the reports to the Federal Election Commission, which covered from Sept. 1 to Oct. 15, included a $50,000 donation by none other than Donald J. Trump, the real estate developer, who previously had not had much of a reputation as a major financial backer of Republican politics.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/20/donald-trump-american-crossroads_n_770734.html
NPR fires Juan Williams over anti-Muslim comments on Fox News
juan williams going postal NPR fires Juan Williams over anti Muslim comments on Fox NewsPublic radio NPR News has fired a longtime analyst with a history of appearing on Fox News Channel over comments he made about Muslims earlier this week.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/10/npr-fires-juan-williams-antimuslim-comments-fox-news/
Chavez vows to back Iran ‘under any circumstances,’ hopes to bolster trade ties
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez vowed Tuesday to back ally Tehran “under any circumstances” as his Iranian counterpart and host praised Caracas for fighting sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
http://dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=120565#axzz12ujLOGPH
Amnesty International: Syria urged to release or charge Lebanese Shi’a cleric
Sheikh Hassan Mchaymech has been held incommunicado since July when he was arrested while on his way to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. Amnesty International has urged the Syrian authorities to release or charge a Lebanese Shi’a cleric held incommunicado for more than three months after he was arrested while on his way to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. Former Hizbullah member Sheikh Hassan Mchaymech was travelling by car to Saudi Arabia with his wife and mother, when he was arrested by Syrian Political Security on the Syrian side of the Jdeidet Yabous border crossing with Lebanon on 7 July.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/syria-urged-release-or-charge-lebanese-shia-cleric-2010-10-20
UAE Judicial Official Condemns Domestic Violence
A senior Emirati judicial official stressed Wednesday that the UAE does not condone domestic abuse even though the country’s highest court ruled that a man can physically “discipline” his wife and young children provided he leaves no marks.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=b0dea2c3dd4e2f602c6f08167460429e
Human Rights Watch; Tunisia: Union Voices Silenced
(Tunis) – The Tunisian authorities should end arbitrary restrictions on independent trade and student unions, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The government has refused to recognize independent unions, limited their ability to assemble peacefully, and unfairly prosecuted members, effectively shrinking the space in which unions can operate outside of government control. The government has denied such interference, but the facts contradict its rebuttals, Human Rights Watch said.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HRW/e71427e1e8e720c2fdf0fb64fca677ff.htm
Daoud Kuttab: Jordanian Candidate Uses Debate to Call for Curtailing King’s Powers
The hall where a lively debate had been taken place suddenly went silent. A courageous Jordanian journalist asked a candidate for Jordan’s parliamentary elections a question rarely asked.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daoud-kuttab/jordanian-candidate-use-d_b_768697.html
Christian Massacre Tugs at Ismailis’ Hearts in Saudi Arabia, ROBERT F. WORTH
Ismailis, widely reviled as heretics by Sunni Muslims, identify with the oppressed Christians of ancient Najran in an ongoing struggle for recognition by the Saudi state.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/21/world/middleeast/21saudi.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
Forced abortions for Chinese women
Mother tells Al Jazeera how her foetus was terminated at eight months after she violated the one-child policy.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/10/201010208145793266.html
Mexican student takes over police in drug war town
A 20-year-old female college student is the new police chief of one of Mexico’s most dangerous drug war towns on the U.S. border, where policemen have quit and officials have been killed. Marisol Valles, who studies criminology in Mexico’s violent city of Ciudad Juarez, took charge of the police force in the neighboring municipality of Praxedis G. Guerrero near El Paso, Texas, just days before hitmen shot and killed a local official. The mother of an infant son heads a force of just 13 agents, nine of whom are women, and can count on just one working patrol car, three automatic rifles and a pistol to take on powerful drug cartels waging war over smuggling routes into Texas.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N20225337.htm
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