Settlers spray ‘Death to Christians’ on a monastery, ‘Death to Arabs’ on a school and ‘Mohammad is a pig’ on village entrance

http://palsolidarity.org/2012/02/celebrating-heroes-and-olives-qaryut-begins-to-dismantle-roadblock/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+palsolidarity+%28International+Solidarity+Movement%29

Beit Ommar Demonstration Plants Hundreds of Olive Trees
On Saturday, February 4th, 2012, Palestinian villagers in Beit Ommar conducted their weekly demonstration against the settlement appropriation of their lands. The activists organized this week’s actions to plant dozens of olive trees near the Israeli settlement of Karmei Tsur. This week, the demonstrators were joined by a group of Palestinian and international runners conducting a marathon across the West Bank from Hebron to Jenin organized by Fair Trade groups and US-based community development group On the Ground.
http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2012/02/05/beit-ommar-demonstration-plants-hundreds-of-olive-trees/

Farmers, internationals plant olive trees near Bethlehem
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Local farmers and international volunteers planted olive trees in the Bethlehem village of al-Khader on Monday as part of an ongoing advocacy initiative to protect Palestinian land. The Alternative Tourism Group and the YMCA-YWCA began the olive planting program on Feb. 4, and it will last until Feb. 13. On Monday, the group planted over 500 olive trees on agricultural lands belonging Ahmad Mousa, who owns 7,000 square meters, and Abdul-Hakim Salah, who has 15,000 square meters. Sixty international activists from 10 different countries arrived at the field at 8 a.m. to start planting 3-4 year old olive saplings.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=458411

Take action: Support United Methodist Church divestment campaign
United Methodist Kairos Response (UMKR) is an international movement in the United Methodist Church responding to the “Kairos Palestine Document,” an urgent plea from Christians in the Holy Land for decisive action supporting a just peace in Israel/Palestine.
http://blog.endtheoccupation.org/2012/02/take-action-support-united-methodist.html

Members of Asian People’s Solidarity for Palestine Convene in Pakistan
TEHRAN (FNA)- The Palestine Foundation of Pakistan hosted a meeting in Karachi, where representatives of various Asian nations, who are part of the Asian People’s Solidarity for Palestine (APSP), were present.
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9010173952

No Valentine for Israeli blood diamonds
Members of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign joined London human rights campaigners in Hatton Garden, the centre of London’s jewellery trade, to raise awareness among shoppers and jewellers about the continuing sale of Israeli blood diamonds. Israel is one of the world’s leading manufacturers and exporters of cut & polished diamonds which generate more than US$ 1 billion (about UK£ 600 million) a year for the Apartheid State. Many jewellers falsely claim Israeli diamonds are “conflict-free” which is totally unjustified, given Israel’s blatant violation of international laws.
http://londonbds.org/2012/02/05/no-valentine-for-israeli-blood-diamonds/

David Wildman at PennBDS: Motorola and Caterpillar profited off apartheid South Africa before occupation, Alex Kane
Palestinian-American poet Remi Kanazi, who had a rocking performance at Penn’s boycott, divestment and sanctions conference (BDS) Saturday night, explained the appeal of BDS in a tweet: “#BDS [is] so successful because it’s a positive, ethical, rights based, anti-racist & inclusive movement to upend Apartheid. #pennbds.” The conference showcased those qualities. But to add to Kanazi’s list, one reason why BDS campaigns targeting Israeli apartheid is so appealing is because it has a successful precedent to look to, as David Wildman reminded conference-goers.
https://mondoweiss.net/2012/02/david-wildman-at-pennbds-motorola-and-caterpillar-profited-off-apartheid-south-africa-before-occupation.html

Abunimah highlights ‘turning point’ boycott conference, Philip Weiss
I’m just back from the boycott-divestment BDS conference at the University of Pennsylvania, and will have a lot to post on it in days to come. I must begin with Ali Abunimah’s keynote speech Saturday, at which he emphasized the diversity and positive tone of the conference. He spoke to a hall jammed with over 300 people from countless different backgrounds. There was a great feeling of openness in the hall. Abunimah’s report is here.
https://mondoweiss.net/2012/02/abunimah-highlights-turning-point-boycott-conference.html

Video of my Penn BDS speech and how Zionist filmmaker pretended to be from Canada’s CBC, Ali Abunimah
Video and report about my Penn BDS conference keynote, and my account of how an anti-Palestinian filmmaker misrepresented himself as a CBC journalist in a dirty trick.
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/video-my-penn-bds-speech-and-how-zionist-filmmaker-pretended-be-canadas-cbc

Activists demand Cornell cut ties with Technion
Activists with Cornell Students for Justice in Palestine call on Cornell University to end its relationship with the Technion, an Israeli university that is involved in the research and development of military and arms technology. Read and sign the open petition.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/component/content/article/28-news/4120-activists-demand-cornell-to-cut-ties-with-technion

Open letter in support of professor Terri Ginsburg; appealing to N. Carolina Supreme Court
Terri Ginsberg was a visiting film studies professor at North Carolina State University when she was dismissed after sharing views critical of Zionism and the state of Israel. (You can read prior coverage of her case in Muzzlewatch, the Electronic Intifada and in Ha’aretz). She filed a grievance with the university, which denied her a hearing – three times. So she took her case to the courts.
http://www.muzzlewatch.com/2012/02/06/open-letter-in-support-of-professor-terri-ginsburg-appealing-to-n-carolina-supreme-court/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Muzzlewatch+%28MuzzleWatch%29

Madonna to launch MDNA world tour in Israel
The Queen of Pop is set to perform at Ramat Gan Stadium in May, in her fourth Israeli concert in history.
http://www.haaretz.com/culture/madonna-to-launch-mdna-world-tour-in-israel-1.411541?localLinksEnabled=false

Racism & Discrimination

Video report to UN details racism in Israel
During Holocaust Rememberance Day in 2011, Israeli President Shimon Peres called Israel the most “anti-racist” country in the world. But this in-depth look at the xenophobia that is rampant and growing in Israeli society–and that is common to citizens and politicians alike–tells a very different story.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/israeli-society/4112-video-report-to-un-details-racism-in-israel

Ethiopian students? Not in our school
Students of Ethiopian descent living in Netanya are sent to ‘their own’ school; municipality: Registration areas determined years ago.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4186313,00.html

Only rude comments made to Arabs are allowed: MK Tibi disciplined yet again
Arab lawmaker earns second suspension after he is banned from delivering speeches in Knesset for one month over rude comments made to Ethics Committee chairman.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4186483,00.html

blatant racism of the Zionist usurping entity
from The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب by As’ad AbuKhalil”Army Radio reported on Monday that a street naming committee in the Jerusalem Municipality voted against renaming Eshkol Street to Rachmo after some residents complained the change could lead authorities to think they are Arabs.  “If you name our street Rachmo, they [the authorities] will think we are Arabs and delay us at the airport,” a resident of Eshkol Street reportedly said during a heated debate at the Jerusalem Municipality. According to the report, the street was to be named Rachmo after legendary restaurant owner Rachamim Ben-Yosef, whose eponymous eatery “Rachmo,” has become a Jerusalem landmark.  According to the report, the proposed street-name change lost momentum after one resident wrote in a letter that “the name Rachmo has an Arab sound to it. It is unacceptable that a street in west Jerusalem should have an Arab name. During security checks at the airport they ask us our address, and we if we tell them ‘Rachmo Street’ we will immediately be suspected of being Arabs and suffer all the delays that result from that.”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2012/02/blatant-racism-of-zionist-usurping.html

Tel Aviv continues to fine store owners open on Shabbat in mostly non-Jewish areas
Judge criticizes municipality’s policy, notes that the last time the issue was discussed by the city council it was addressed in a ‘lethargic, non-systematic’ fashion.
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/tel-aviv-continues-to-fine-store-owners-open-on-shabbat-in-mostly-non-jewish-areas-1.411253?localLinksEnabled=false

Career officer suspected of blackmailing women online
Police arrest 24-year-old IDF career officer accused of forcing dozens of women, girls to strip in front of computer camera as he watches while threatening to destroy their computers if they refuse.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4185975,00.html

Political Developments / Diplomacy / Other News

U.S. says Palestinian deal ‘internal’ matter
WASHINGTON — The United States Monday remained on the sidelines over a deal signed between Hamas and Fatah to end a long-running discord between rival Palestinian movements, saying it was an internal affair. “As we’ve said many times, questions of Palestinian reconciliation are an internal matter for Palestinians,” said US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland. The accord signed in Qatar was welcomed by officials from both Palestinian movements, but Israel warned Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to choose between reconciliation with Hamas and making peace with the Jewish state.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/06/u-s-says-palestinian-deal-internal-matter/

The Mainstreaming of Hamas Continues as Palestinian Unity Gains Steam (Time.com)
Time.com – Hamas vows to give Palestinian moderate leader Mahmoud Abbas the running room to see what talks can produce.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20120206/wl_time/httpglobalspinblogstimecom20120206themainstreamingofhamascontinuesaspalestinianunitygainssteamxidrssfullworldyahoo

Doha agreement divides political opinion
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The Doha agreement signed on Monday by President Abbas and Hamas chief Khalid Mashaal has been welcomed and criticized in equal measure by politicians and analysts. Hamas official Ismail al-Ashqar told Ma’an that the agreement “contradicted basic Palestinian law and overstepped the Palestinian Legislative Council.” He urged President Abbas to take serious steps to implement the Cairo agreement as a whole, rather than being selective about which articles to implement.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=458511

Soldier forgets sensitive equipment in Palestinian store
IDF soldier buying cigarettes in violation of military protocol forgets case with night vision equipment in store. Owner returns equipment to local DCO.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4186223,00.html

Analysis / Op-ed

Israel to the United States: “We’ll Give You the War, You Give Us the Cannon Fodder”
The dogs of war are off the leash. In meeting rooms in London, Tel Aviv and Washington the dice have been thrown: snake eyes. Flashback, 1963: When John F. Kennedy decided not to escalate the soon-to-be disastrous Vietnam war and issued National Security Action Memorandum 263 (NSAM 263), he signed his death warrant. Scarcely six weeks after vowing to pull all American forces out of South Vietnam by 1965, Kennedy was dead, the target of an “executive action” orchestrated by the CIA, a coup d’état on behalf of America’s corporatist masters–the military-industrial cabal of hardline cold warriors who stood to lose billions if Kennedy lived. That sweet little deal to “win” the war in Southeast Asia cost some two million Vietnamese lives, 58,000 dead Americans and precipitated an economic crisis which dealt a death blow to post-World War II prosperity and launched the United States on its inexorable glide path towards becoming a failed state.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2012/02/israel-to-the-united-states-well-give-you-the-war-you-give-us-the-cannon-fodder/

AIPAC Obtained Missile Secrets
Author Norman F. Dacey made powerful enemies. He turned the cozy estate-planning industry upside-down after publishing How to Avoid Probate in 1965. The book sold 2 million copies as Dacey barnstormed [.pdf] the country advising Americans how to structure their estates to avoid the costs, delays, and publicity of probate by setting up trusts.
http://original.antiwar.com/smith-grant/2012/02/05/aipac-obtained-missile-secrets/

Ray Hanania – His own worst enemy
It’s always a dilemma. What to do, when people you admire are being attacked by the jealous and hateful? If you respond to it, it sometimes gives them the undeserved attention that they desperately seek. If you stay silent about it, you let baseless smears linger as if they contain some element of truth.  In the case of Ray Hanania attacking Palestinian surgeon and musician Doc Jazz, and Palestinian activist and publicist Ali Abunimah of the Electronic Intifada, I have decided to respond. Hanania, an Arab-American comedian of Palestinian origin, wrote down his vile accusations in the Jerusalem Post, a Zionist outlet that he apparently regularly contributes to as a columnist. Although he didn’t mention their names specifically, the descriptions he gave of them leave no doubt that Doc Jazz and Ali Abunimah are the two people his poisonous claims are aimed at.
http://ikhras.com/2012/02/ray-hanania-his-own-worst-enemy/

Where is the Palestinian Spring?
The Egyptian Revolution recently marked its first anniversary. When is the Arab Spring coming to Palestine?
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/component/content/article/34-opinion/4111-where-is-the-palestinian-spring

Remapping Palestine and the Politics of Injury, Aimee Shalan
The struggle over Palestine, a struggle in which ideas, representations, rhetoric, and images are all fiercely contested, has been so overexposed in mainstream media in North America and Western Europe that the actual experience of Palestinians living under occupation has often disappeared from view. A preoccupation with “balance,” regardless of the asymmetry of the situation, has given vent to a seemingly vicious circle of tit-for-tat denunciations. In this context, legitimate Palestinian anger in response to decades of oppression is frequently regarded as an obstructive proclivity for “supercharged emotions” and the investment o
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/4269/remapping-palestine-and-the-politics-of-injury