and other news from Today in Palestine:
Land, property, resource theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Settlers
Lawyer: Settlers planning to seize Jerusalem home
10 Dec – Settler groups are planning to take over another house in Silwan, a flashpoint neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem, a presidential legal advisor said Friday. Ahmad Ar-Ruweida, Jerusalem legal affairs advisor, said his office has received information that settler organizations, supported by right-wing parties and Israeli police, plan to seize a Palestinian property in the Batn Al-Hawa area of Silwan. The home would be the fifth property seized by settlers in the last three months, the lawyer said, and the 40th home in Silwan to be occupied by settlers.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=340849
UN concerned about illegal exile of Jerusalem lawmakers
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– UN special coordinator for the Mideast peace process Robert Serry expressed concern on Saturday over illegal Israeli court rulings to exile Arab MP Mohammed Abu Tir and other public officials from the occupied city of Jerusalem.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7oGUInZRU0oH81JNui72zCDl0U%2bzvtepK9PYQYXUhqppKmtjyrTWN%2bYl3YewbA8rOvNLLSQo3VfaBOPXzFhSarl6pmLBVW8EIt3oa%2fSF%2bD0k%3d
Jerusalem merchants forced to have signboards of their stores written in Hebrew
11 Dec – OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– The Israeli municipal council in the occupied Palestinian city of Jerusalem decided to force owners of stores to change all kinds of outdoor signboards into the Hebrew language instead of Arabic or English. Maariv newspaper said on Friday that the council decided last week to demand the merchants in the holy city to remove the signboards written in Arabic and English from their stores and replace them with ones written in Hebrew. According to the decision, the owners of stores will not be allowed to use another language in their signboards if the Hebrew language does not occupy half of the banner, or else they will not get licenses for their stores. [Quebec did this in 1977, with the law at one point being declared unconstitutional, but that problem was circumvented by requiring French to be ‘markedly predominant’ on signs. Any connection between these two acts, Canada being so chummy with Israel now?]
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7%2bjx1jxZcLYGmjeSck2trouRUIO0NOpm%2famjh%2b%2bmsp6MCC4EdbQ6FZkOBjtG0Z6YIEYBoT0JSEsWuRI4O6meQzzNiIdSsD9g1FtenU4zRS90%3d
Keeping alive a sense of decency in Arab East Jerusalem / Ian Buruma
…systematic humiliation of Palestinians, by allowing settlers to get away literally with murder, has a corrupting effect on Israeli society. Citizens are coarsened by the casual brutality meted out to a minority, and become inured to it. Even if most Israelis never see a roadblock, the security wall, or forcible evictions, the habit of looking away, not wishing to know, is a form of corruption. This is why the Friday afternoon protests, however ineffectual in the short run, are essential. The demonstration of solidarity makes Israel a more civilized place. It keeps alive a sense of decency, a hope that a better society is still possible – for Palestinians and Israelis alike.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=122400#axzz17pW0Bm5i
Video: Settler violence — interview with Ahmad Jaradat
10 Dec Alternative Information Center – Fall 2010 was marked by a drastic rise in attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/settlers-violence/3078-videosettler-violence-interview-with-ahmad-jaradat
Violence
Gaza worker shot in foot near Israel border
11 Dec – Israeli forces shot and injured a Palestinian man Saturday as he was collecting stone aggregates north of Beit Lahiya in the Gaza Strip, medics said. Medical officials explained that the man, who was not identified, sustained an injury to his left foot and was evacuated to hospital. On Friday, Israeli forces shot and injured four stone collectors.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=341040
Medic: Soldiers fire at teen near Gaza border
10 Dec – Israeli soldiers fired at a Palestinian teenager collecting rubble near Gaza’s border on Friday afternoon, medics said. Gaza medical services spokesman Adham Abu Salmia said the 16-year-old was shot north of Beit Lahiya and transferred to the Dar Ash-Shifa hospital in a stable condition. Abu Salmia said the incident brings the number of workers injured at the border to 96 since March … Israel declared a “buffer zone” along the border inside the Strip, which officially extends 300 meters into the coastal enclave. Its military considers it a “combat zone” and fires at Palestinians who enter the area. A UN study in August found that in practice, Palestinians have been prevented from accessing land up to 1,500 [meters] inside the border.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=340870
Latest Israeli bombing plunges Gaza into darkness / Rami Almeghari
10 Dec – Air strikes by Israeli warplanes at dawn on Thursday caused serious damage to the Gaza Strip’s only power plant, plunging the territory — which already suffers from frequent outages — into darkness … The damage forced the plant to reduce production from its usual 65 megawatts daily to about 35 megawatts, Abu Sisi said, far short of current needs. Unless the damage is repaired it may lead to even longer outages than the power cuts people in Gaza already live with.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11670.shtml
Israeli troops used prohibited teargas rounds
JERUSALEM, Dec 9 (Reuters) – Israel’s army said on Thursday it had used potentially lethal teargas grenades of a type banned by its rules, but promised it would never happen again.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/KHII-8BZ8PS?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P
Activism / Solidarity / Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions
Palestinians injured, American arrested after Israeli troops quell peace march
11 Dec – AL-KHALIL, (PIC)– Several Palestinians were injured Saturday after Israeli troops cracked down on a weekly anti-wall march in the West Bank town of Beit Ummar near Al-Khalil … The troops began firing stun and smoke grenades when demonstrators neared the Beit Ummar entrance north of Al-Khalil, arresting an American national, the witnesses added.Marchers waived flags from Brazil and Argentina as a gesture of the two countries’ recognition of the Palestinians’ right to establish an independent state on 1967 borders.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7jibalnw%2beycVODfsVBIhODLsg89hdDUfp4sPQC6FZZFooIzgDOestPpATQW0tytL7LOgDJyA5oduJsKMcH2R7PhLXjveNpLApQ05doNluUA%3d
West Bank rallies mark intifada anniversary
RAMALLAH 10 Dec — Protesters in villages across the occupied West Bank commemorated the 23rd anniversary of the start of the first intifada on Friday. In Bil`in, the weekly anti-wall rally marked the one-year anniversary of village leader Abdallah Abu Rahmah’s detention and International Human Rights Day. The demonstration was larger than usual, organizers said, and several Palestinian leaders joined the march from the village center to a gate in the separation wall.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=340796
Remembering the First Intifada, International Human Rights Day, and the imprisonment of Abdallah Abu Rahme
(with video by Katib) Many Palestinian leaders participated in the demonstration in solidarity with the residents of Bil’in, including Mustafa Barghouti, leader of the Mubadara Movement; Hisham Abo Riya, leader of the Palestine Liberation Front; Muheeb Awad, a Fatah leader and member of the Palestinian parliament; members and a leader of the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front; and many Palestinians from outside of Bil’in. They were joined by dozens of international and Israeli supporters.
http://www.bilin-ffj.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=333&Itemid=30
Connection between the human rights and West Bank demonstrations? / Joseph Dana
11 Dec …Why is it that thousands of leftist Israelis are able to gather under a public umbrella of human rights, joint struggle and value and not think about venturing into the West Bank to struggle with Palestinians? One path of co-existence lies in these joint actions of solidarity and since Palestinians are not allowed to enter Tel Aviv it is the responsibility of Israelis to go to the West Bank.The disconnection between human rights in Tel Aviv and human rights in the Occupied Territories was on display yesterday.
http://josephdana.com/2010/12/connection-between-the-human-rights-march-and-west-bank-demonstrations/
Boycott roundup: Day of action against TIAA-CREF
10 Dec – Palestine solidarity activists are organizing a day of action today, 10 December, to encourage “people of conscience” to join the more than 18,000 who have already signed a US-wide petition urging financial holdings corporation TIAA-CREF to disinvest from construction vehicle manufacturer Caterpillar Incorporated.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11669.shtml
Israel offers a payout to flotilla victims
11 Dec – JERUSALEM: Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, has proposed paying $100,000 compensation to each family of the nine pro-Palestinian activists killed during a raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla. In exchange, Israel wants Turkey’s help in protecting the Israeli navy against lawsuits. The offer was made last weekend in Geneva. The activists were shot by Israeli marines who boarded the aid-carrying ship the Mavi Marmara which was trying to breach Israel’s Gaza blockade in May. The draft proposal also offered an Israeli expression of regret over the incident, according to Israeli diplomatic sources, but stopped short of Turkey’s demand that Israel formally apologise.
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/israel-offers-a-payout-to-flotilla-victims-20101210-18sxw.html
Gaza solidarity convoy arrives in Isfahan
TEHRAN, 11 Dec The Asian People’s Solidarity for Palestine convoy arrived in Isfahan Province on Friday, Iran’s Mehr News Agency (MNA) reported. The members of the humanitarian aid convoy began their journey to the besieged territory of Gaza in India, travelled through Pakistan, and then arrived in Sistan-Baluchestan Province in southern Iran. They entered Kerman Province on Thursday, travelled to Yazd Province, and arrived in Isfahan on Friday. They plan to travel to the cities of Qom, Tehran, Zanjan, and Tabriz and then cross into Turkey. The convoy is composed of people from different religions from India, Pakistan, Japan, Indonesia, Nepal, and Iran, including veterans from a number of wars.
http://malaysiandigest.com/world/13364-gaza-solidarity-convoy-arrives-in-isfahan.html
Detainees
PA re-arrests activist hours after chest operation
AL-KHALIL, (PIC)– The family of Dr. Adnan Maswadi, a 67-year-old activist from Al-Khalil, said his blood is in the hands of the Palestinian Authority security forces, who returned him to political detention right after undergoing an angioplasty on Thursday. [normal practice is to keep the patient in hospital overnight in case of complications]
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s79Er%2fsqOq0NHNfXqTcFdaIC1wkP4d5o2ft%2fMBaBeoERXiKsx9B%2fAfhyHAJw3dUQp56WzKqFIKyOdWqHGOScyDL98xkUqkT02xuPx9CSGpO5k%3d
Rights for All slams PA political arrest campaign in West Bank
GENEVA, (PIC)– The Swiss organization Rights for All strongly denounced the Palestinian Authority (PA) for the arbitrary politically-motivated arrest campaign it is carrying out in the West Bank and for ignoring international appeals for the release of political prisoners. The Geneva-based Rights for All said it started to make intensive contacts with many UN institutions in order to pressure de facto president Mahmoud Abbas to order the release of political prisoners in his jails, especially the six hunger strikers who have been refusing to eat or drink since November 26.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7sQ8lbxDZ7UbYMU87nJJT7pgTjv5bMGfugIkgxJZ%2b%2be3si3urZrbe%2fuHwd2Z%2fDWzQ2FKv%2f2jn2xyVaJ0DJCBVhtmm9ouV3gXGC3dxfGtlvJA%3d
Siege / Restriction on movement / Rights violations
Palestinians, contained / Karl Vick (TIME.com)
20 Dec issue – The Wall has made it much harder for young Palestinians to know Israel — and understand its people — On the question of Israelis, Ramzi Thaer Rafik knows what he knows. He spoke to one once. Five years ago. “I was 10 years old, but I remember it very well,” he says. The Israeli was a soldier, and he demanded to know why the young Palestinian was going from one end of his village to the other. Ramzi informed him that he was on his way to school.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2036142,00.html
Political/Diplomatic news
Palestinians to decide on return to indirect talks (AP)
11 Dec – RAMALLAH, West Bank – Palestinian officials said Saturday they’ll decide in coming days whether to agree to a U.S. proposal to return to indirect peace negotiations with Israel, after Washington’s efforts to relaunch direct talks collapsed over Israeli settlement building. The officials also expressed disappointment with the Obama administration, saying the U.S. should have held Israel accountable for the latest impasse, instead of saying both parties bear responsibility.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101211/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians
US seeks ‘clean start’ in peace talks (AFP)
WASHINGTON 11 Dec — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday sought a clean start in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks by urging both sides to tackle “without delay” the core issues of their decades-old conflict … “It is time to grapple with the core issues of this conflict: on borders and security, settlements, water and refugees, and on Jerusalem itself,” Clinton told an audience that included key US, Israeli and Palestinian players.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=340894
Split EU narrows Mideast plea to call for ‘urgent progress’ (AFP)
BRUSSELS 10 Dec – The EU, under pressure from former European leaders to sanction Israel over the Middle East peace impasse, is expected due to its own divisions to restrict its stand to a plea for ‘urgent progress’. As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton steps up efforts to break the deadlock following a failed US push for an Israeli settlement freeze, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has come under growing pressure to take tough action. In a December 2 letter to Ashton, 26 former EU leaders, including her predecessor Javier Solana, urged her to threaten Israel with sanctions for failing to respect the freeze on new settlements.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=340874
Barak raises anew the possible partition of Jerusalem (AFP)
WASHINGTON 11 Dec — Israel Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Friday raised anew the prospect of sharing Jerusalem with the Palestinians as part of a peace deal, in sharp contrast with views held by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=340896
US says recognition of Palestinian state premature (Reuters)
SANTIAGO 10 Dec – Brazil and Argentina’s recognition of a Palestinian state is premature, Undersecretary of State William Burns said during a visit to Chile on Friday … Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman, who was due to meet with Burns on Saturday, criticized his remarks. “I think it’s unpropitious that once again the United States has publicly expressed an opinion about sovereign actions taken by the Argentine Republic,” Timerman told Reuters.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101210/wl_nm/us_palestinians_usa_burns_2
Other news
Poll: Split over sending Palestinian fire crews to Israel
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) – A slim majority of the respondents to a reader poll on Ma’an’s Arabic-language news site said sending Palestinian firefighters to help battle Israel’s fire was “disgraceful” … Of 48,870 readers who responded to the 7-day poll, 50.3 percent (24,524) described Palestinians’ participation as a disgrace, but 48.7 percent (23,761) said sending Palestinian firefighters to help was civilized and a humanitarian duty. [Is this one of those Internet polls where you can vote as often as you want to?]
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=341014
Thousands celebrate PFLP anniversary in Gaza
11 Dec – Thousands of supporters celebrated the 43rd anniversary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in Gaza City on Saturday. Politburo member of the leftist faction Jamil Majdalawi delivered a speech urging rival factions Hamas and Fatah to end “the unjustified disagreement which harms the Palestinian people, resistance fighters and negotiators.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=341088
Hundreds march for freedom of religion in Jaffa
10 Dec – Hundreds of Muslim and Christian residents of Jaffa took to the streets Friday in protest against a complaint filed by residents of a luxury apartment complex, who say the noise emitted by mosques and the nearby St. George’s Cathedral is too loud. Protesters held signs saying, “We were here before you, if you don’t like it, get out”, and “No one will move us from our holy land” as well as “We won’t ask for your permission on when and how to pray”.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3997290,00.html
Israel’s left and right march separately for human rights
10 Dec – Haaretz [oddly, this aspect of the march was not reported by AFP] Over 5,000 people participated in a march marking International Human Rights Day on Friday in Tel Aviv. The marchers gathered at Tel Aviv’s Habima Theater in the morning and were divided into two groups for the actual march: one for left-wing groups and one for right-wing groups … At the march on Friday, those from the right-wing side held signs saying things such as “Tel Aviv + Ariel = Israel,” Ariel being a large settlement in the West Bank, and “Jews also have human rights.”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israel-s-left-and-right-march-separately-for-human-rights-1.329901
Images from Tel Aviv’s 1010 Human Rights March
http://972mag.com/images-from-tel-avivs-2010-human-rights-march/
Fatah – Hamas
Hopes of Fatah-Hamas reconciliation still alive
11 Dec …Munib Masri, a Palestinian businessman and head of the Reconciliation Committee, an advocacy group that is trying to push the parties back together, explained why he’s still optimistic, even when others say it’s time to start viewing the Palestinian fracture as permanent.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-palestinian-reconcile-qa-20101211,0,5711954.story
Fatah leader: ‘Dangerous repercussions’ if affiliates executed
GAZA CITY 11 Dec — Hamas’ decision to execute three Fatah members accused of killing an iman could have dangerous repercussions, a senior Fatah leader warned Saturday. Abu Samhadana, a member of its Revolutionary Council, said the decision would rip apart “the already-torn social structure in Palestine,” and that the executions would be “the last nail in the coffin of Palestinian reconciliation,” in a statement.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=341075
Fatah riven with fights
With accusations against Abbas and his circle multiplying, the struggle within Fatah is turning personal, writes Saleh Al-Naami
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/1026/re1.htm
Analysis / Opinion / Culture
Palestinian nonviolence: Is the Budrus model still viable? (CSM)
10 Dec – …”Bilin has become a symbol, a subject of Master’s theses, films, blogs, and articles,” says Menachem Klein, a political science professor at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv. “Budrus and Bilin maintain the resistance while the Palestinian elite attend talks and readily accept painful concessions on settlements.” Yet he calls these weekly events a “ceremony” that may not actually achieve change. Indeed, even as “Budrus” is embraced by audiences from America to Germany to the West Bank, the momentum generated by Budrus is waning. Only nine villages hold regular demonstrations and they are often met with a harsh Israeli response,
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2010/1210/Palestinian-nonviolence-Is-the-Budrus-model-still-viable
Come join the march of the many / Hagai Elad
10 Dec – Our government is currently spearheading the attack against the foundations of our democracy … It is also responsible for the separation regime that is taking an even stronger hold in the occupied territories, the shameful treatment of refugees and migrant workers, and the close links that have been forged between those ruling the country and those groups seeking to intimidate and tag as “disloyal” anyone they see fit, targeting, among others, academia and human rights organizations.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/come-join-the-march-of-the-many-1.329808
Light amid the darkness / Gideon Levy
10 Dec – An expedition behind police lines into the smoldering communities of Mt. Carmel, where everyone learned a lesson last weekend, of one kind or another … On Shabbat, we had been walking with him in Ein Hod; Josh reported on the situation to homeowners on his mobile phone. Now he is sitting at the entrance to his own house, new and spared any damage, and charging the phone in his car. There is no electricity in the village. Nor is there any electricity in Ein Hud, up the hill, but there they are used to it: Until two years ago, the village was unrecognized and unelectrified. The word “evacuation” is also loaded with significance in this village of refugees; they have already been evacuated from Ein Hod and not allowed to return.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/light-amid-the-darkness-1.329869
A general overhaul / Uri Avnery
…The fire started near Ussafiyeh. In this Druze locality, with its 10,000 inhabitants, there was no fire station. Nor was there any in the neighboring Druze locality of Daliyat al-Carmel, which has 15,000 inhabitants. The Arab local councils, which are discriminated against in most spheres, are disadvantaged in this sphere, too. This week, racism revenged itself. If there had been fire stations in the Druze localities, the fire could have been put out in short order, even with the East wind and the dry trees, before it could develop into a disaster. The Ussafiyeh station could have safeguarded the whole Carmel area, which is always liable to burn. …
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1292075842/
Uneasy but necessary — the UNRWA – Palestinian relationship / Randa Farah
30 Nov …She proposes that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) is a unique humanitarian organization, but is neither static and homogeneous, nor is it apolitical. Rather, Farah contends that it is a site of multiple and sometimes contradictory interests. She concludes that in the current political climate, UNRWA’s presence is significant mainly because it attests to the international responsibility toward the Palestinian refugees, and as a signatory to UNGA resolution 194 (III), their right of return.
http://www.israeli-occupation.org/2010-12-10/randa-farah-uneasy-but-necessary-the-unrwa-palestinian-relationship/
Keep dreaming: This week in Palestine / David Breakstone
The vice chairman of the World Zionist Organization recommends a visit to Palestine — Looking for a unique holiday destination, something exotic, inexpensive, close to home and not yet inundated by Israelis? I’ve discovered just the spot. It’s called Palestine. I got up close by joining a tour run by Ir Amim, an NGO that “seeks to render Jerusalem a more viable and equitable city for the Israelis and Palestinians who share it.”
http://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Features/Article.aspx?id=198668
The ‘real Jew’ debate / Roger Cohen, NYT
LONDON 9 Dec — Ira Stup was raised in Philadelphia attending Jewish day school and camps. He found his home in the Jewish community and was “intoxicated with Jewish democracy” as framed in the ideals of Israel’s foundation. Now he has returned deeply troubled from a one-year fellowship based in Tel Aviv.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/10/opinion/10iht-edcohen.html?_r=1&ref=opinion
Palestinian American hip-hop artists asks you to ‘Consider Violence’ / Maryam Jameel
10 Dec – Chicago-based Palestinian American rapper Gon isn’t apologizing. In his recently released hip-hop album Consider Violence, Gon aggressively confronts political and personal realities, boldly lyricizing his uncompromising opinions … He is simply inviting people to listen, inviting them to think. In his single “White Flag,” he satirizes the idea of protesting and invoking change with his music — “Peace in Palestine, they say resist with rap, how cute, we’ll make a song and then they’ll give it back,” he writes.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11668.shtml
Film: Why can’t a Palestinian woman tell her own story? / Robert Fisk
11 Dec …Julian Schnabel’s new movie Miral, a feature film which follows the life of Rula Jebreal, a real-life Palestinian-Israeli woman who became a journalist, author and television presenter. Schnabel, who is Jewish, lives with Jebreal in New York. Their movie begins and ends with the death of Hind Husseini, a remarkable and courageous Palestinian woman who found orphans from the Jewish massacre of Arab villagers at Deir Yassin in 1948 and started a boarding school for girls that still exists in Jerusalem. Husseini died in 1994, but Rula was one of her pupils. Her childhood – losing her mother, choosing to be a well-educated woman, sucked into the intifada, arrested and brutalised by the Israelis – is the story of Miral.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-why-cant-a-palestinian-woman-tell-her-own-story-2157457.html
Lebanon
Grenade blast rocks Palestinian camp in south Lebanon (AFP)
BEIRUT 11 Dec — A grenade attack on the home of a member of an Al-Qaeda splinter group rocked a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon overnight without causing injuries, a security official said on Saturday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=341083
So who exactly is sowing strife in Lebanon? / Franklin Lamb
10 Dec …Perhaps not since the Vietnam War, with the exception of Iraq, has an American Embassy so inextricably inserted, bullied and entangled itself into the internal affairs of another country, than the U.S. Embassy here in Beirut. Or so brazenly targeted a nationalist political party that won the largest number of votes in the most recent election and that likely represents a majority of the country’s population. Not since 1982 has it occurred in Lebanon.
http://www.counterpunch.org/lamb12102010.html
Iraq
Friday: 8 Iraqis killed, 11 wounded
Following Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani’s call for the swift execution of terror suspects, the United Nations has asked Iraq to abolish its death penalty. At least eight Iraqis died in new attacks and another 11 were wounded. In Baghdad, a blast targeting a bus near a popular coffee shop killed two people and wounded seven others. A policeman was killed and two others were wounded in a blast in Alam.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/12/10/friday-8-iraqis-killed-11-wounded/
Iraqi PM unlikely to form gov’t until year’s end (AP)
11 Dec – IRBIL, Iraq – Iraq’s prime minister said Saturday he’s still seeking Cabinet nominations from the country’s top politicians, signaling he likely will not form a new government much earlier than the Dec. 25 deadline. Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite Muslim, had pledged to announce his new government by Dec. 15 and end the political deadlock that began after parliamentary elections in March failed to produce a clear winner.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101211/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq
Iraqi media complain of tightening curbs
10 Dec – Journalists in Iraq are calling for new laws to ensure their rights are protected, amid concerns that the government is increasingly acting to limit freedom of expression.
http://iwpr.net/report-news/iraqi-media-complain-tightening-curbs
Barzani backs Kurdish referendum
11 Dec – A prominent Iraqi Kurdish leader has called for the right to self-determination for his region, the AFP news agency says. Massoud Barzani’s remarks on Saturday came as Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq’s prime minister-designate, is attempting to form a cabinet, in which Barzani’s bloc is expected to obtain several ministerial posts.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2010/12/2010121112362221606.html
Iraqi Kurd leader says Kirkuk belongs to Kurdistan (Reuters)
ARBIL, Iraq, Dec 11 — Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani said Saturday that his semi-autonomous region has the right to self-determination and to the disputed city of Kirkuk, which is located above some of Iraq’s largest oil reserves. The fate of Kirkuk is one of the main issues of contention between the Kurdish region and the central government in Baghdad, which are locked in disputes over land and some of the world’s richest oilfields.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101211/wl_nm/us_iraq_politics
Other Mideast
Jordanian, Palestinian soccer fans clash (AP)
AMMAN, Jordan – Fans of rival Jordanian soccer teams clashed after a match, injuring 250 people in violence that pointed to the deep divisions between the nation’s native Bedouin clans and its Palestinians … Although most of Jordan’s Palestinians — excluding natives of the Gaza Strip — carry Jordanian passports and enjoy citizenship rights unmatched by other Arab host governments, many of them complain that they are barred from taking up security and army posts or holding other top positions in the Jordanian government.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101211/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_jordan_soccer_brawl
Justice sought over Jordan violence (Al Jazeera)
(video) A day after violence following a football match in Jordan left at least 250 fans injured, investigators are seeking answers to what went wrong … Nisreen El-Shamayleh reports from Amman.
http://english.aljazeera.net//video/middleeast/2010/12/20101211142020685574.html
White House plans more Iran sanctions
10 Dec – Reporting from Washington — The Obama administration said Friday that it was planning additional economic sanctions against Iran and acknowledged that the Islamic Republic might be trying to manipulate the West by continuing slow-moving talks with the U.S. and five other major powers.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran-nuclear-20101211,0,6976805.story
Iran media airs ‘murder confession’ (Al Jazeera)
10 Dec – State television shows fourth interview with woman whose sentence to death for adultery has sparked global outrage … In the new footage broadcast on English-language Press TV, Ashtiani was brought from prison to her home outside the city of Tabriz in northwestern Iran. She was shown acting out the alleged December 2005 killing with an actor portraying her husband.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2010/12/2010121022517738514.html
Afghanistan / Pakistan
Hunger and anger in Afghanistan / Kathy Kelly
11 Dec – The Obama administration has announced the imminent release of a December Review which will evaluate the U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan. The military has yet to disclose what the specific categories for evaluation will be. Yet many people in Afghanistan might wish that hunger along with their anger over attacks against civilians could top the list. In Afghanistan, a nation where 850 children die every day, about a quarter of the population goes hungry.
http://original.antiwar.com/kathy-kelly/2010/12/10/hunger-and-anger-in-afghanistan/
15 dead, 24 injured in Afghan bombings
11 Dec – Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan — Civilians bore the brunt of insurgent violence in a series of attacks Friday and Saturday that killed at least 15 people and injured 24, Afghan officials said. The bombings took place in the south and the northern province of Kunduz, both home to the Pashtun plurality fueling the Taliban insurgency against NATO troops and the Afghan government.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fgw-afghan-bombings-20101212,0,5817876.story
4 killed in US drone strike in NW Pakistan
10 Dec – At least four people were killed and two others injured in a U.S. drone strike launched Friday evening in Pakistan’s northwest tribal area along the Afghan border, reported local Urdu TV channel Geo. According to the report, four missiles were fired by U.S. drones at a vehicle suspected of carrying militants in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan, a place believed to be a stronghold of Taliban and al-Qaeda militants. Friday’s strike is the fourth of its kind since December and the 21st since November.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/7227723.html
US drone strike victims stage rally in Pakistan’s capital
10 Dec – Victims of U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal region Friday afternoon staged a demonstration in the country’s capital Islamabad and asked the world community to take notice of the attacks, which they said kill civilians. Sadaullah, a 17-year-old boy from the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan, who lost two legs in a U.S. strike, was among scores of tribesmen who held the first ever rally against the drone strike outside the parliament in Islamabad.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/7227725.html
US envoy Holbrooke critically ill
11 Dec – US special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan is in critical condition after heart surgery on Saturday morning.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/12/201012111615568636.html
U.S. and other world news
Attorney General Eric Holder defends anti-terrorism stings (Reuters)
SAN FRANCISCO 10 Dec – Attorney General Eric Holder on Friday strongly defended undercover sting tactics like those used last month to capture an Oregon man charged with trying to plant a fake bomb at a holiday festival … “I make no apologies for how the FBI agents handled their work in executing the operation,” Holder said in the remarks released before he spoke. “Those who characterize the FBI’s activities in this case as ‘entrapment’ simply do not have their facts straight — or do not have a full understanding of the law,” he added.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101211/us_nm/us_usa_muslims_stings
Gov’t accused of fuzzy math in Gitmo report / William Fisher
11 Dec – A prominent public interest law firm that has defended numerous Guantánamo Bay detainees charged Thursday that a recent government report on a high rate of recidivism among former inmates is loaded with “vague and unsubstantiated claims and misinformation.”
http://original.antiwar.com/fisher/2010/12/10/govt-accused-of-fuzzy-math-in-gitmo-report/
Debate over Peto thesis reaches the halls of government as Israel/Palestine proxy battle rages on in Canada / Avi Lewis
Check out this extraordinary exchange in Ontario’s legislature (Hoskins is the Liberal Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, the other two are Conservative members of the provincial parliament.) … Ok, so what exactly is going on here? Well, first of all, Canada has been ruled for the last five years by a hard right Conservative government that is now widely recognized as Israel’s most fervent supporter on the world stage. In the same period, the BDS movement has been growing stronger in Canada, along with Israeli Apartheid Week – which launched in Toronto in 2005 and is now in more than 60 cities around the world.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/12/debate-over-peto-thesis-reaches-the-halls-of-government-as-israelpalestine-proxy-battle-rages-on-in-canada.html
WikiLeaks: Advancing an Israeli agenda? / Maidhc O Cathail
Like 9/11, WikiLeaks has been singularly good for Israel. Asked on the night of September 11, 2001 what the terrorist attacks meant for U.S.-Israel relations, Benjamin Netanyahu, the then former prime minister, tactlessly but accurately replied, “It’s very good.” And on the day after WikiLeaks’ publication of U.S. diplomatic cables, Netanyahu “strode” into a press conference at the Israeli Journalists Association, looking “undoubtedly delighted” with the group’s latest embarrassment of U.S. President Barack Obama.
http://www.intifada-palestine.com/2010/12/wikileaks-advancing-an-israeli-agenda/
They bombed al-Jazeera’s reporters. Now the US is after our integrity. / Wadah Khanfar
Al-Jazeera reporters have been tortured and killed in defence of their values. That’s why the WikiLeaks story must be challenged … Cables from the US embassy in Doha were made accessible by WikiLeaks, alleging that Qatar was using Al-Jazeera as a tool for its foreign policy. While nothing could be further from the truth, US diplomats had the freedom to express their opinions.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/dec/10/al-jazeera-us-integrity-wikileaks
Hacker shuts down Dutch ministry website
10 Dec – The website of the Dutch public prosecution and police department were shut down by hackers Friday, after a young hacker was arrested over the cyber attacks in support of WikiLeaks on Wednesday.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90853/7227726.html
WikiLeaks chief moved to isolation in British jail (AFP)
LONDON 11 Dec — WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange was in an isolation unit of a London jail Saturday, as new leaked US diplomatic cables revealed a row between the Vatican and Ireland over a child abuse inquiry … Assange was in “very good” spirits but “frustrated” that he could not answer the allegations that WikiLeaks was behind cyber attacks launched on credit card firms that have refused to do business with the website.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=340988
Pro-WikiLeaks protests in Australia
10 Dec – Hundreds protest against the arrest of Julian Assange and accuse the Australian government of opposing free speech.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/12/20101210131224247432.html
WikiLeaks splits as volunteers quit to set up rival websites
11 Dec – Former WikiLeaks volunteers are planning to launch a rival whistle-blowing website next week amid growing indications that the US government is on the verge of filing its own charges against Julian Assange. Lawyers for the 39-year-old Australian said yesterday that they believed American prosecutors are planning to charge the WikiLeaks founder using either espionage or computer misuse legislation.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/wikileaks-splits-as-volunteers-quit-to-set-up-rival-website-2157420.html
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