and other news from Today in Palestine:
Land, property, resources theft and destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Settlers
Lafta residents outraged at plan transforming hundreds of dunums of land
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– Local councils are expressing total objection to a new Israeli construction plan that will change the historical character of the west Jerusalem village of Lafta. Under Plan 6036, Israel will erect new homes for Jewish settlers and tourist sites, including nightclubs, restaurants, and gambling halls over 455 dunums of the village’s land. Palestinian antiquities, homes, mosques, springs, and graves located along Lafta’s borders will be leveled during construction.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%23d
Golan Heights activist: “We dream of freedom”
Since the Syrian Golan Heights were occupied during the June 1967 War, the indigenous Arab population has resisted Israeli control. The Electronic Intifada contributor Adri Nieuwhof interviews Taiseer Maray, general director of the non-profit organization Golan for Development, about the situation in the occupied Golan Heights.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11747.shtml
Clashes spread to Anata camp
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 28 Jan 21:57 — Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops have erupted in Anata camp in north Jerusalem. Three Israeli soldiers were injured at the checkpoint at the camp’s entrance. Clashes are continuing in Silwan, where youths are reported to be throwing Molotov cocktails at Israeli military vehicles.
http://silwanic.net/?p=11448
Youth aim Molotovs at soldiers on occupied roof
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 28 Jan 22:08 [with photos] — Fierce clashes are still underway in Baten al-Hawa district, with youths hurling Molotov cocktails at Israeli soldiers who had occupied the roof of a Palestinian home. Clashes escalated in Baten al-Hawa throughout the day as Israeli troops set fire to a home when they fired volleys of tear gas inside and settlers joined the violence. A soldiers’ tent caught alight and was burnt by the Molotov cocktails thrown on the roof of the home. Molotovs were also hurled at Beit Yonatan settlement in the same neighborhood.
http://silwanic.net/?p=11459
Photos: Brutal arrest of Palestinian children by undercover Israeli forces Jan 28 18:54
http://silwanic.net/?p=11331
Earlier photos from Baten el_Hawa area of Silwan Jan 28
Photos from Ras el-Amoud area of Silwan Jan 28
Israeli army reopens Shu`fat checkpoint
West Bank, (Pal Telegraph) -Israeli occupation soldiers reopened Saturday a military checkpoint erected near the entrance of Shu`fat refugee camp in central occupied Jerusalem, after being closed for hours last night. Israeli forces had closed the checkpoint following violent clashes [that] erupted yesterday between Palestinian youths and Israeli soldiers, local sources reported. During the clashes Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and sound bombs at Palestinians, witnesses said. More than 50,000 Palestinians [who] live in the neighborhoods around the camp pass through Shu`fat checkpoint headed to their universities and work
http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/west-bank/8339-israeli-army-reopens-shufat-checkpoint.html
B’Tselem indicates rise in home demolitions in 2010
27 Jan – Demolitions by Israel of Palestinian homes in the West Bank tripled in 2010, figures from an Israeli human rights group showed on Wednesday, with a big increase in demolitions in the Jordan Valley.
http://imemc.org/article/60518
Jerusalem man sentenced to 30 days of exile
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– A Palestinian man was sentenced to 30 days of exile from Jerusalem for allegedly assaulting Jewish settlers. The Israeli Magistrate Court also imposed a 2,000 shekel fine on the defendant Mohammed Muneer al-Ghaoui of Sheikh Jarrah, said the Jerusalem center for social and economic aid. Ghaoui was arrested at the Alezariye checkpoint a day earlier before being taken by Israeli forces to the Maskubia investigation center in the city. He was accused of assaulting Jewish settlers and breaking “public order” in east Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah district and involvement in demonstrations against Israeli settlement activity.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq
Violence / Killings by settlers
Two Palestinians in Safa shot by settlers
Israeli media reported earlier today that a 17-year-old Palestinian teenager was shot in the head by settlers in the village of Hirbat Safa, near the settlement of Bat Ayin and the town of Beit Umar. He was taken to a Hebron hospital, where hospital officials recently said that he is brain dead. Palestinians reported that two groups of setters approached the village at 8:00 this morning. The settlers were heavily armed and confrontations began as the settlers entered the village. Settlers then opened fire on the Palestinians hitting tow of them.
http://josephdana.com/2011/01/two-palestinians-in-safa-shot-by-settlers/
Teen shot by settlers dies in hospital
HEBRON (Ma’an) – Palestinian medical sources announced the death of 17-year-old Yousef Ikhleil on Friday night, hours after the teenager was shot in the head by settlers from a nearby illegal settlement north of Hebron.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=355164
Mourners, Israeli troops clash after West Bank funeral
Beit Ummar, West Bank (Reuters) 29 Jan – Palestinian mourners clashed with Israeli troops who used tear gas and rubber-coated bullets after the funeral of a youth in the West Bank Saturday, Palestinian witnesses and the army said. The mourners hurled rocks at soldiers after the funeral of Youssef Fakhri-Khlil, 17, who died of his wounds after being shot by Jewish settlers in the West Bank Friday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110129/wl_nm/us_palestinians_israel_violence
Autopsy on teen slain by settler completed
NABLUS (Ma’an) 28 Jan 12:04 — The bullet that killed 19-year-old Uday Qadous entered his body at the shoulder and ripped through his lung, medical officials at the Rafidyah Hospital in Nablus reported Friday. The report said the shot entered the teen’s body at point blank range. Qadous, a farmer from the northern West Bank village of Iraq Burin, was shot by men his cousin identified as Israeli settlers from the Bracha settlement on Thursday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=355061
Iraq Burin closed after settler shoots farmer
28 Jan 14:45 – Locals from the northern West Bank village of Iraq Burin, where a 19-year-old farmer was shot by settlers on Thursday, said large numbers of Israeli forces had occupied the area. Villagers said no clashes had erupted, but with the funeral of the slain teenager expected to take place on Friday afternoon after the body was released from the hospital, confrontations were expected. Earlier in the day, medical officials released the results of an autopsy, which found that the bullet which killed Uday Qadous entered his body at the shoulder from point blank range and ripped through his lung.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=355076
Palestine complains to UN over Israeli settler violence
NEW YORK (Ma’an) — Palestinian delegate to the United Nations Riyad Mansour sent identical letters to the government of Israel and the UN Security Council on Friday, calling for “urgent attention and serious action” following a wave of settler violence that left two dead and four injured over the previous two days. In what was said to be the 383rd letter to the UN since 2000 over issues of rights abuses stemming from Israel’s occupation, Mansour asked that details of recent deadly settler attacks against Palestinians be transmitted to the UN Security Council for consideration.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=355315
Activism / Solidarity
Al-Ma`asara marches for killed Iraq Burin man
Photos: Irene Nassar. Sixty Palestinian, Israeli and international activists demonstrated in the southern West Bank village of Ma`asara today. The demonstration was in solidarity with Uday Qadous, from Iraq Burin,who was killed by Jewish settlers on January 27. The peaceful demonstration was stopped by a line of soliders who threatened to use tear gas and sound bombs against demonstrators.
http://josephdana.com/2011/01/al-maasara-marches-for-killed-iraq-burin-man/
Israeli forces blast peaceful protesters with sewage water in Bil`in today / Hamde Abu Rahme
A resident of Bil’in was wounded and dozens of residents, peace activists, and individuals wishing to show solidarity suffered severe teargas inhalation today. This was due to extensive tear gas use in clashes resulting from the Israeli occupation forces suppression of the weekly demonstration march against the wall and settlements in Bil’in. Participants in today’s demonstration included Dr. Mai Al Kaila, the Palestinian ambassador to Chile and a high level delegation of lawmakers led by Chilean Vice President of Parliament Ivan Moreira. A delegation from the Arab Liberation Front was also in attendance.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/israeli-forces-blast-peaceful-protesters-with-sewage-water-in-bilin-today.html
Bil`in weekly demo 29.1.2011 by Haithmkatib@gmail.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vmgm8qJD5bs&feature=player_embedded
Witnesses: Army fires tear gas at US, Palestinian officials
HEBRON (Ma’an) 29 Jan 00:31 — Israeli forces on Thursday fired tear gas and stun grenades at senior US and Palestinian officials and farmers planting trees near Hebron, witnesses said. US consulate officials, settlement and wall affairs minister Maher Ghuneim, Hebron governor Kamil Hamid and Beit Ummar mayor Nasri Sabarneh joined farmers in Safa to plant trees on land slated for confiscation by Israel. The farmers are frequently denied access to their land by settlers and Israeli soldiers. A US Consulate’s political attaché left the scene when Israeli soldiers arrived, onlookers said. Palestinian Authority security sources said Israeli forces seized a PA car and detained PA officers for 30 minutes.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=354915
War crimes
Amnesty: Israel’s flotilla probe a ‘whitewash’
29 Jan – LONDON (Ma’an) — London-based rights group Amnesty International condemned on Friday the findings of an Israeli inquiry into last year’s raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla as a “whitewash,” saying the Israeli investigating panel failed to account for the deaths of nine Turkish nationals at the hands of Israeli commando forces. The findings of the inquiry, known as the Tirkel Commission, were released on Sunday,
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=355195
Movie based on Gaza flotilla raid opens in Turkey
(AP) ‘Valley of the Wolves – Palestine’ shows Turkish agents hunting down IDF commandos responsible for killing 9 activists when they raided the Mavi Marmara aid ship … The TV series Valley of the Wolves, on which the film is based, caused a diplomatic row between Turkey and Israel last year and the film could cause even more tension.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/movie-based-on-gaza-flotilla-raid-opens-in-turkey-1.339803
Slain activist’s parents thank Turkey
A play based on the life of Rachel Corrie, an activist from the United States killed in 2003 while attempting to prevent an Israeli bulldozer from demolishing a Palestinian house in Gaza, premiered Thursday in Istanbul … Corrie’s parents were in the audience at the Istanbul premiere of the show … Cindy and Craig Corrie are currently visiting Istanbul for the first time. Apart from watching the premiere of the play and meeting friends, on Thursday morning the couple visited the Mavi Marmara
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=dead-gaza-activist8217s-parents-thank-turkey-2011-01-28
Detention
Political prisoner Ahmad Sa`adat update / Stephen Lendman
…As General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), he was sentenced in 2002 to 30 years in prison “for a range of ‘security related’ political offenses,” including his prominence in a prohibited organization … For nearly 700 days (since March 19, 2009), he’s been held in isolation with no family visits, reading material, or contact with counsel, friends or fellow prisoners. On October 24, 2010, his status was extended another six months until April 21, 2011 “barred from human contact.”
http://www.uruknet.info/?new=74371
2 minors arrested in West Bank village
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Israeli soldiers arrested two minors from Bil’in village who had approached a barrier separating it from settlements. Local witnesses said Mu’tesem Ali Mansour and Khalil Ibrahim Yasin were tied up and blind-folded before being dragged away. An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed that two Palestinians suspected of throwing rocks were arrested in the village
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=354993
PA security agencies arrest seven Hamas supporters in West Bank
WEST BANK, (PIC)– Palestinian Authority security agencies have arrested seven Hamas supporters across the West Bank in the past two days. Four of them were arrested after few day releases from PA prisons. The arrestees included Nablus city councilman Lutfi Qatluni and his son. Some arrests may not have been reported because of pressure, threats and pressure exerted by the West Bank-ruling Fatah party.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b
Siege / Restriction of movement / Human rights / Humanitarian issues
Israel closes both Gaza crossings
Israeli authorities decided to close all crossings into Gaza on Friday and Saturday, Palestinian officials said. Crossings liaison officer Raed Fattouh said he was informed of the closure early Friday morning. Imports into Gaza may be reduced further in the coming week, as the bulk goods crossing in the northern Strip – Karni crossing – is expected to close.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=355030
Cyprus FM: Israel rejects Cyprus-Gaza aid link
Nicosia, Cyprus — Cyprus’ foreign minister says Israel has turned down a proposal to use the east Mediterranean island as a staging post to ship humanitarian aid to blockaded Gaza … Under the European Union-backed initiative, ships would have used Cypriot ports to ferry aid directly to Gaza, some 240 miles (386 kilometers) away.
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=205654
Gaza: Improving services for the physically impaired
Jerusalem/Gaza (ICRC) – Improved services will be available to physically impaired people in the Gaza Strip starting 27 January, when an extension to the Artificial Limb and Polio Centre will be inaugurated.
http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/news-release/2011/israel-occupied-territories-news-2011-01-26.htm
GCC through the Islamic Development Bank joins UNRWA in Gaza housing project
28 Jan – …The project will repair 373 refugee houses in Gaza damaged by Israeli attacks. The Israeli attack on Gaza between December and January 2009 made many thousands homeless and condemned thousands of others to living in houses with gaping holes in the wall and other forms of damage. Through the new project almost 2,000 refugees will see their quality of life greatly improved, although thousands of others remain homeless or unable to repair their war-damaged houses.
http://www.unrwa.org/etemplate.php?id=894
UNRWA: Qaddafi foundation has not transferred funds
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The Qaddafi foundation has only transferred $2 million of a $50 million grant to rebuild homes in the Gaza Strip, a UN Relief and Works Agency spokesman said Friday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=355040
The Palestine Papers and other political developments
The Guardian Mideast editor: Nothing in the Palestine papers smacks of forgery
Ian Black, who has been covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for the British media corporation for over two decades, shares in an exclusive interview … What is also very interesting in the documents is the intimacy of the relationship between the negotiators on both sides, Israelis and Palestinians, although they obviously don’t agree on most things. There is another interesting detail and that is it’s very clear that there is a conventional channel on negotiations, between Tzipi Livni and Saeb Erekat, but then you have also Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas talking on a different channel, and the negotiators are complaining that they don’t know what goes on there. For example, Livni was against Israel taking in any refugees whatsoever while Olmert had a different position.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/the-guardian-mideast-editor-nothing-in-the-palestine-papers-smacks-of-forgery-1.339249
Al Jazeera why now? / Rashid Shahin
Unfortunately, ‘why now?’ was the question raised by many Palestinian intellectuals, writers, politicians and political factions and parties over the past week, as leaked documents were aired on Al-Jazeera … I believe the question ‘why now?’ would have been asked by the same people if Al-Jazeera had published the documents a month or a year before, or a month a year, or even ten years, later … The question is, were the documents that have been revealed all the documents that Al-Jazeera has?
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=355039
Erekat: Special committee investigating Al-Jazeera leaks
29 Jan 17:13 Chief negotiator of the Palestine Liberation Organization Saeb Erekat said Saturday that a higher Palestinian committee was appointed to investigate the source of leaked documents made public last week by Qatar-based Al-Jazeera news channel … The official had earlier accused a British and American journalist who he said had worked for MI6 and the CIA of leaking the documents
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=355320
Backlash, confusion over leaked documents
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) 29 Jan – Following calls for vengeance and a “day of rage” against the PA for an alleged assassination, Hamas security forces in the Gaza Strip warned the angered Al-Aqsa Brigades that if they did not clarify threats the group’s weapons would be confiscated … Hours later, the family of Hassan Madhoun, assassinated in 2005, said they held Israel entirely responsible for the death of their son, while a video from the brigades denounced leaked documents that hinted the fighter’s death had been the result of PA collusion in a video statement aired on Qatar-based satellite channel Al-Jazeera … In their first statement, the brigades had named four PA security officials and said they were behind the assassination of Madhoun.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=354928
PA official denies involvement in assassination
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) 29 Jan 1:13 — Former Palestinian Authority interior Minister Nasir Yousef on Wednesday said leaked PLO documents implicating him in the 2005 assassination of a Fatah militant were fabricated … According to handwritten Arabic notes obtained by the network, the former Israeli Defense Minister Sha’ul Mofaz asked Yousef to assassinate Hassan Madhoun.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=354579
Palestinian officials analyze fall-out of Palestine Papers
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) 28 Jan 23:44 — As Palestinian officials respond to the fallout from the leak of PLO documents covering a decade of negotiations with Israel, the Qatar-based satellite channel Al-Jazeera remains the focus of attention … PLO negotiator Nabil Sha’ath said Thursday that the publication of the secret papers had a “catastrophic impact” on future negotiations with Israel, and would obstruct future talks as negotiators would fear further leaks.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=354994
Islamic Jihad: Resistance over negotiations
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) 28 Jan – Senior Islamic Jihad official Khalid Al-Batash said Thursday that occupation should be faced with resistance and national unity, and not negotiations. He also called for the restructuring of the PLO following the leak of Palestinian documents about negotiations with Israel … Al-Batash told Ma’an Radio that Palestinian factions had held a meeting in the Gaza Strip to discuss the documents.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=355042
Friday sermons in West Bank slam Al-Jazeera
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) 29 Jan — Sermons delivered Friday by local imams focused almost exclusively on condemnations of Qatar-based Al-Jazeera TV channel over what most Imams dubbed “incitement against Palestinian leadership,” Muslim worshipers said. With tens of thousands taking to the streets in Egypt, many had expected reflections and support for the people trying to oust a 30-year-old regime. The uncanny similarities of sermons prompted complaints over a widely held belief that the Palestinian Authority hands out prepared sermons to religious leaders for them to read.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=355236
Dahlan suspected of leaking documents, Abbas thinking of resigning
Ramallah (ABNA) 29 Jan …In a separate development, mosque speakers across the West Bank are refusing government directives to incite against Al-Jazeera, which began leaking some of 1,600 claimed documents on concessions Palestinian negotiators made on almost all major points. One speaker, Abu Bilal, said the religious affairs ministry in Ramallah called for an urgent meeting of imams on Thursday.
http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&id=223221
Palestinians protest over Al-Jazeera leaks
HEBRON (AFP) 28 Jan 21:28 — Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets on Friday to vent their anger over secret peace talks documents published by satellite television station Al-Jazeera. Across the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, supporters of the militant Islamic group marched in protest at concessions that Qatar-based Al-Jazeera said were made to Israel by the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank. In the West Bank, where President Mahmoud Abbas and his Western-backed administration holds sway, supporters carried his picture and burned effigies of Al-Jazeera staff and Qatari ruler Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=355119
Gaza protests accuse Palestinian Authority of betrayal in talks with Israel
28 Jan – Thousands of people have taken to the streets in Gaza venting their anger at Palestinian negotiators for offering big concessions in peace talks. Meanwhile, Tony Blair accused those behind this week’s leak of documents of wanting to inflict serious damage on the peace process.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/28/gaza-protests-palestinian-papers-leak
Fear and the Palestine Papers / Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh
…For me two things come out clearly from these painful documents (some of them have parallel data in the US embassy cables on Wikileaks). First it is not that the Palestinian officials are traitors but merely (and this is bad enough) mistakenly and passionately going through motions hoping against all odds that by talking and compromising more they could achieve a tiny fraction of what we are entitled to. The second observation is that Israel will not sign a peace deal regardless of how low and ridiculous the concessions on the Palestinian side
http://www.uruknet.info/?new=74376
The real Palestinian concession / Amira Hass
Both Palestinian rivals know how to use the resilience and creativity of their people in the face of the daily torture that is foreign rule. But they do not help translate this personal and collective stamina into a strategy of unarmed popular struggle.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/the-real-palestinian-concession-1.339252
Israel will never get a better deal than the one it rejected / Gideon Levy
…They conceded most of the settlements in Jerusalem, the Old City is also no longer exclusively in their hands, and nothing. Betar Ilit and Modi’in Ilit are ours, and that’s not enough for Israel, as if it has forgotten that the 1967 borders are the Palestinian compromise. What more do we want? What more will Israel ask of the dying horse, a moment before it gives up the ghost? A Palestinian state in greater Abu Dis? Hatikvah as its anthem? … Never, but never, will Israel be offered a better deal than the one now revealed – and what came of it? Israeli rejection. Rejectionism.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/israel-will-never-get-a-better-deal-than-the-one-it-rejected-1.339435
The Palestine Papers: A fact-based play in one act / Sandy Tolan
“For six decades I’ve been pretending to be the honest broker — but I’m here to tell you: It’s all lies!” … Dr. Weller: Welcome. Do you prefer Uncle? Or Mr. Sam? Uncle Sam (not meeting the doctor’s eyes): Doesn’t matter. I just have to get a load off my chest. (Looks nervously over his shoulder toward the office door.) By the way, I parked my car in your underground lot. I hope nobody followed me.
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/01/29/palestine_papers_tolan/index.html
Al Jazeera leaks – who are the winners and losers? / Carlo Strenger
28 Jan – Does the common wisdom that Al Jazeera is close to Hamas and wanted to undermine Abbas really hold true? — Now that the sound, the fury and the dust from the Al Jazeera leaks are beginning to fade, the inevitable question is: what are we to learn from the material that was published? What are we to learn from the way the material was presented by the various parties? And finally the inevitable question: who are the winners and losers of the leaks?
http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/strenger-than-fiction/al-jazeera-leaks-who-are-the-winners-and-losers-1.339808
The Aljazeera scandal / Uri Avnery
I ALWAYS thought this a specifically Israeli trait: whenever a scandal of national proportions breaks out, we ignore the crucial issues and focus our attention on some secondary detail. This spares us having to face the real problems and making painful decisions … It seems that this particular Israeli way of dealing with problems is infectious … the Aljazeera leaks stirred up an intense controversy. But what was the clash about? Not about the position of the Palestinian negotiators, not about the strategy of Mahmoud Abbas and his colleagues, its basic assumptions, its pros and cons. No, in the Israeli way, the main question was: who leaked the documents? Who is lurking in the shadows behind the whistle-blowers? The CIA? The Mossad? What were their sinister motives?
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1296254339/
Palestine, Israel and Egypt (note: Main Egypt news in separate Today in Egypt post)
Palestinians wait, watch events in Egypt
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) 29 Jan 15:21 — Palestinian officials in Ramallah offered no comment on the Friday events in Egypt, with attention still focused on the fallout of a series of reports detailing leaked information from over a decade of negotiations with Israel … In the Gaza Strip, Palestinians have been watching the unrest in Egypt attentively, and while civilians say they are pleased with the prospect of change, demonstrations in the north and southern Strip on Friday continued to focus on condemnation of the PA and PLO for comments made in leaked documents published the week before … Gaza’s Hamas-run government, like their compatriots in the West Bank, remained quiet on the situation. Throughout the morning, civilians have been hoping that the change in Egypt will mean an easing in access to the country. With Islamist movements in the country remaining the most popular, any free vote would likely see an influx of parties in support of Gaza taking power.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=355196
Palestinian security men deployed along border with Egypt
29 Jan – GAZA, (PIC)– Palestinian security men were deployed on Saturday morning along the Gaza Strip borders with Egypt to secure the area in anticipation of any attempt to violate the borders in light of the deteriorating conditions in Egypt. Local sources and eyewitnesses reported that the Palestinian security was on full alert along the borders, noting that the security men block anyone from approaching the border area.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
Egyptian security: 12 killed in Bedouin skirmish at Gaza border
SINAI PENINSULA, Egypt (Ma’an) — Palestinian sources say 12 people including Bedouins and Egyptian police officers were killed Saturday in clashes in the Sinai Peninsula, in what appeared to be an attempt by tribes in the region to take control of the swath of land south of the Egypt-Gaza border. Gunshots were heard in the Egyptian city of Rafah as Bedouins attempted to occupy the border with Israel and the Gaza Strip. Rocket-propelled Grenades were fired at Egyptian soldiers, witnesses said, causing the near-total destruction of one home near the border area, and damage to a sector of the Gaza-Egypt border fence.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=355252
Other news
Egyptian forces kill 3 migrants en route to Israel
Egyptian forces shot dead three African migrants attempting to enter Israel, Egyptian security sources said
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=355130
Report: Hamas leaders to discuss Shalit deal proposal in Syria
A delegation of Hamas strongmen is set to discuss the latest proposal for a Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal with organization political chiefs in Damascus, the London-based newspaper Al-Hayat reported on Friday.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/report-hamas-leaders-to-discuss-shalit-deal-proposal-in-syria-1.339764
PA agricultural ministry to distribute 3 million tree seedlings
Three million fruit tree seedlings will be distributed to Palestinian farmers across the West Bank, Palestinian Authority Agriculture Minister Ismail Daiq said Saturday. The initiative is a joint project by the ministry, nongovernmental organizations and private sector groups, Daiq said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=355272
Little recourse for victims of gender-based violence
RAMALLAH (IRIN) — Gender-based violence in the occupied Palestinian territory remains at epidemic levels, according to UN agencies, local NGOs and women, while victims lack legal recourse and often face a family backlash for reporting crimes … This data prompted the PA to launch a national plan to combat violence against women in January, in conjunction with six partner UN agencies and funded by a US$9 million grant from the Spanish government.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=91755
Kosher version of YouTube hits Web
Site aimed at ultra-Orthodox sector offers strictly kosher content. ‘It’s exactly like Youtube, but without pictures of women,’ says creator
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4018740,00.html
‘Don’t take our girls…’ / Mya Guanieri
Jewish-Palestinian couples in Israel face increasing pressure as racism becomes more open.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/01/201112912322207901.html
Sons and daughters – but not exactly
A little-known clause in the [Israeli] Inheritance Law cruelly differentiates between biological and adopted children, resulting in ugly inheritance battles that tear families apart. Now, adoptees and their parents have launched a struggle to secure their rights.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/sons-and-daughters-but-not-exactly-1.339757
Report: Holocaust compensation group withheld over a billion euros from Jewish survivors
28 Jan – The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, set up to restitute Jewish property, did not return all the funds it received from the German government to their Jewish owners or their heirs, a new report has found.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/report-holocaust-compensation-group-withheld-over-a-billion-euros-from-jewish-survivors-1.339626
Report: Holocaust survivors face increasing financial difficulties
28 Jan – Holocaust Victims Foundation says number of survivors in need of financial support increased by 160% in past five years. Organizations face collapse, await interior minister’s response as World marks International Holocaust Memorial Day
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4019974,00.html
Analysis / Opinion
It’s not just the economy, stupid / Amnon Be’eri-Sulitzeanu
28 Jan – Is it rational to believe that we can embrace the Arab minority economically, but assault it in all other ways? … What is the message that is being sent to Israel’s Arab citizens? That the civil service wants them, but their loyalty is suspect; that the high-tech industry is open to them, but they are a security threat (we demonstrate this to them well at Ben-Gurion airport); that it’s important that they attend university, but they should play down their identity there; that they may be “colleagues” of Jews, but they will never be just “friends”; that their money is welcome in the malls, but they shouldn’t even dream of living in the adjacent neighborhoods;
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/it-s-not-just-the-economy-stupid-1.339690
Boycotting Israel, boycotting Macy Gray, and a third option / Bradley Burston
As I ride the hurtling down-elevator, while my Zionist life flashes before my eyes, I’d like to take a moment and seek a fresh take on the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions effort …at a time when Israel is going to be increasingly under the gun as the rejectionist party to the Mideast conflict – and at a time when Benjamin Netanyahu, Ehud Barak, Avigdor Lieberman and Eli Yishai, who may all be in the midst of their final term, seem all too ready to take the whole ship down with them as long as they can still be at the wheel when Israel takes its final dive – there’s at least one thing that can be reasonably foreseen: Calls to boycott Israel will only increase.
http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/a-special-place-in-hell/boycotting-israel-boycotting-macy-gray-and-a-third-option-1.339111
Iraq
Friday: 4 Iraqis wounded
At least four people were wounded in two incidents in Mosul and Baghdad. In the United Kingdom, Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O’Donnell, said the former Prime Minster Tony Blair was so paranoid about leaks that he didn’t discuss war details with his cabinet. A bomb targeting police in Mosul wounded three people including a civilian. In Baghdad, a roadside bomb wounded a civilian…
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2011/01/28/friday-4-iraqis-wounded-2/
Iraq water shortage raises ethnic tensions
KIRKUK, Iraq (AFP) 29 Jan – A worsening water shortage in Iraq is raising tensions in the multi-ethnic Kirkuk province, where Arab farmers accuse the Kurdistan region of ruining them by closing the valves to a dam in winter.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110129/wl_afp/iraqkurdspoliticswater
Iraq refugee returns fell in 2010, says UNHCR
29 Jan – BAGHDAD (AFP): Fewer Iraqis displaced inside and outside the country returned to their homes in 2010 than in the previous year, largely as a result of Iraq’s prolonged political deadlock, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said Friday. The U.N. agency reported, in its December 2010 statistical update, that a total of 118,890 Iraqi refugees and internally displaced persons returned to their country and homes. It is a 40 percent drop compared with 2009.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=124266#axzz1COzV3n4v
Refugees in Lebanon receive wider, cheaper access to hospital services
BEIRUT, Lebanon, January 28 (UNHCR) – A landmark cooperation agreement, supported by UNHCR and Lebanon’s Health Ministry, will allow [Iraqi] refugees to receive medical treatment at four state-run hospitals around Lebanon at affordable prices.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/EGUA-8DJTVU?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P
Tunisia
Clashes in Tunisia as new government sworn in (AFP)
TUNIS 28 Jan 22:06 — Clashes broke out in the Tunisian capital on Friday between riot police and hundreds of demonstrators, as a new cabinet aimed at putting an end to mass protests was sworn into office. Security forces fired warning shots and tear gas as some groups threw stones in the main government quarter, where protesters have camped out in front of Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi’s offices for five days. The protest camp was shut down and at least five people were injured, a medic said. AFP reporters saw police beating and arresting several protesters.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=355142
Police destroy protest camp at Tunisian prime minister’s office
TUNIS 29 Jan (Reuters): Tunisian riot police broke up a protest camp in the capital Friday, hoping to end days of demonstrations against a government that has undergone a major overhaul to meet some of the crowds’ demands. The assault on the round-the-clock sit-in came a day after Prime Minister Mohammad Ghannouchi replaced 12 Cabinet ministers in an attempt to placate protesters demanding a purge of all members of the former ruling party.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=124290#axzz1COzV3n4v
Jordan
Thousands of Jordanians march to press for reform
28 Jan 22:04 (AFP) Thousands of Jordanians held peaceful demonstrations in Amman and other cities on Friday to press for reform and the government’s resignation, taking their cue from Tunisia and Egypt.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=355144
Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood: Arabs will topple US-backed tyrants
29 Jan (AP) …Hammam Saeed says Arabs have grown disgruntled with U.S. domination of their oil wealth, military occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and its support for totalitarian leaders in the region. The opposition party did not specifically mention Jordanian King Abdullah II, but called for the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/jordan-s-muslim-brotherhood-arabs-will-topple-u-s-backed-tyrants-1.339955
Yemen
New protests erupt in Yemen
29 Jan 13:06 GMT – Dozens of activists calling for the ouster of Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen’s president, have clashed with government supporters in San`a, the country’s capital. Plainclothes police also attacked the demonstrators, who marched to the Egyptian embassy in Sanaa on Saturday chanting “Ali, leave leave” and “Tunisia left, Egypt after it and Yemen in the coming future”.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/01/2011129112626339573.html
Saleh complains about Al Jazeera coverage of Yemen unrest
DUBAI 29 Jan (AFP) – Yemen’s president has complained to Qatar over satellite channel Al-Jazeera’s coverage of unrest in his country, where thousands of protesters took to the streets Thursday to demand the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. ‘What the channel is doing only serves the Zionist entity and terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda as well as the enemies of the Arabs seeking to ignite dissent’, Saleh said, according to Yemen’s state news agency Saba.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=124262#axzz1COzV3n4v
Saudi Arabia
Saudi police arrest dozens rallying over weak infrastructure after floods
JEDDAH 29 Jan (AFP) – Saudi authorities detained dozens of demonstrators Friday in Jeddah who gathered to protest against poor infrastructure after deadly floods swept through Saudi Arabia’s second biggest city, police and witnesses said.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=124264#axzz1COzV3n4v
Iran
Iran’s first nuclear power plant to be ready April 9, says official
TEHRAN 29 Jan (AFP): Iran’s first nuclear power plant will be ready to generate electricity April 9, atomic energy chief Ali Akbar Salehi said Friday, in signs of yet another delay.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=124265#axzz1COzV3n4v
U.S.
US Democrats and pro-Israel lobbies slam Republican senator’s call to halt Israel aid
28 Jan 02:17 – Tea Party representative Rand Paul tells CNN’s Wolf Blitzer he has a lot of respect for Israel but he doesn’t believe the U.S. should be funding the Mideast arms race during financial crisis … Pro-Israel Jewish lobby J Street issued a statement in response to Paul’s comments saying it was ‘alarmed’ by his suggestion.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-democrats-and-pro-israel-lobbies-slam-republican-senator-s-call-to-halt-israel-aid-1.339662
Backlash after firing of pro-Palestinian professor / Justin Elliott
28 Jan – A watchdog group that defends academic freedom has now weighed in on the case of a Brooklyn College professor who was fired after complaints from a local politician about his pro-Palestinian views.
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/01/28/watchdog_letter_brooklyn_college/index.html
British arrests, US raids over cyber hackers
29 Jan – LONDON: British police arrested five people and the FBI launched raids across the U.S. as part of a probe into cyber attacks by online group “Anonymous,” which last year assailed Websites hostile to WikiLeaks. In a series of dawn raids in England, three teenage males and two adult men were arrested on suspicion of breaking the Computer Misuse Act 1990, London’s Metropolitan Police Service said. On the same day, the FBI executed more than 40 search warrants throughout the United States.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=124259#axzz1COzV3n4v
WikiLeaks rival operational soon, says founder
29 Jan DAVOS, Switzerland (AFP) – The founder of OpenLeaks, a rival project to WikiLeaks, said Friday the new service would begin soon and vowed to make it easier for whistleblowers to expose secrets in complete anonymity.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=124268#axzz1COzV3n4v
