Qadum Children: “You Arrested Our Fathers, So We Lead the Demonstration Today”
After Israeli army nightly incursion into Kufr Qadum accompanied by massive arrest of villagers , the children of the village have come out in protest with a message to the occupying army and the world: “You Arrested Our Fathers, So We Lead the Demonstration Today”. The weekly demonstration has again been brutally suppressed by the army, who blacked all entrances to the village, took hold of a home, made use of the “Skunk”, and fired the usual dose of teargas and shock rounds.
http://www.awalls.org/qadum_children_you_arrested_our_fathers_so_we_lead_the_demonstration_today
Land Theft / Ethnic Cleansing / Exile / Restriction of Movement
A court ruling upholding a military permit system has had the result that a year later West Bank Palestinians in one affected area are virtually unable to work on their farmlands, on the anniversary of the High Court of Justice ruling.
The Israeli occupation forces closed the Ibrahimi Mosque in Al-Khalil in theWest Bank to Muslims and only allowed Jewish settlers to enter it to celebrate the passover Jewish holiday.
Political bureau member of Hamas Ezzet Al-Resheq has called on Arabs and Muslims to protect the Aqsa mosque in occupied Jerusalem.
Israel’s Zionist Push Harming Palestinian Education
The historical exploitation of the Israeli education system to institutionalize Jewish and Zionist dominance has intensified in recent years. Perhaps the most alarming and telling of these efforts is the amendment passed in March of last year to the Budget Principles Law, popularly known by Palestinians as the “Nakba Law.” The law authorizes the Minister of Finance to cut public funding from any entity that “marks Israel Independence Day or the day of the establishment of the state as a day of mourning.”
Migron outpost: playing field for right’s discontent
Israeli right-wing anger over last week’s eviction of settlers from a building in downtown Hebron is currently being played out around the Migron outpost, set to be evacuated by order of the High Court by 1 August.
More than ten thousand Jewish settlers, on Monday, gathered at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Al-Khalil in the occupied west bank, to celebrate the Jewish Passover.
The occupation forces arrested, on Sunday (8-4), an American solidarity activist of Palestinian origin, in her twenties, and assaulted her and her colleagues.
On Video; Soldiers Abuse Elderly Shepherd, Sheep Near Hebron
Remembering the Deir Yassin Massacre
On April 9, 1948, members of Zionist paramilitary groups, the Irgun (led by Menachem Begin) and the Stern Gang (led by Yitzhak Shamir), entered the Arab village of Deir Yassin and massacred over 100 men, women and children. Deir Yassin had a population of about 600-750 people, and had a reputation for being a peaceful village. There were also reports of rapes and mutilations.
Nabi Saleh villagers confront IOF incursion
Young men in Nabi Saleh village, to the north west of Ramallah, confronted on Sunday night an attempt by Israeli occupation forces (IOF) to storm the village.
IOF soldiers kidnap child from Nilin
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) kidnapped a Palestinian child from Nilin village to the west of Ramallah on passing through a military barrier.
IOF soldiers arrest 4 Palestinians including twins
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested four Palestinians in the West Bank at dawn Tuesday including three in Al-Khalil, local sources said.
Dhiab refrains from drinking water on 44th day of hunger strike
Human rights sources have warned that Palestinian administrative detainee Bilal Dhiab’s health condition was critical after he stopped drinking water on his 44th day of hunger strike.
The 74-year-old MP Ahmed Al-Haj Ali has returned to hunger strike on Monday after the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) retracted its decision granting him early release, his family said on Tuesday.
Qassam Brigades commander Abdullah Al-Barghouthi is to a start an open hunger strike at dawn Thursday protesting his continued isolation in Israeli jails, liberated prisoner Ahlam Al-Tamimi said.
Israeli court refuses to commute sentence against university professor
The Israeli Ofer court on Sunday refused to commute the four-month administrative detention order against Professor Mustafa Shawer.
UN sends four electrical transformers to Gaza
The United Nations Development Programme on Monday transferred four electrical transformers to Gaza in a bid to upgrade the territory’s struggling sole power plant.
http://news.yahoo.com/un-sends-four-electrical-transformers-gaza-154129620.html
Qadum Children: “You Arrested Our Fathers, So We Lead the Demonstration Today”
After Israeli army nightly incursion into Kufr Qadum accompanied by massive arrest of villagers , the children of the village have come out in protest with a message to the occupying army and the world: “You Arrested Our Fathers, So We Lead the Demonstration Today”. The weekly demonstration has again been brutally suppressed by the army, who blacked all entrances to the village, took hold of a home, made use of the “Skunk”, and fired the usual dose of teargas and shock rounds.
Nabi Saleh is quite a tiny village. With approximately 550 people, almost all of its residents are members of the same family—the Tamimis. Upon arriving, one is immediately welcomed as part of the family. I arrived in Nabi Saleh at around 10 AM and was treated to two breakfasts and about 5 glasses of tea before the demonstration started at 1 PM.
#BDS: #Saudi Issued Visas for Israelis Holding American Passports
“Levy told Haaretz he was certain his wife and daughters would not be able to attend the ceremony, as their passports are full of visas from Israel and his wife and one of his daughters were born in Israel. To his surprise, when he went to the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles, the attendants stamped their passports, and no one asked any questions.
Palestinian Authority/Israel: Escalating Assault on Free Expression
The Palestinian Authority (PA) should not criminally prosecute Yusuf al-Shayeb, a journalist detained without charge on March 26, 2012, and released on April 2.
COMMENTARY | International diplomacy is often enhanced if leaders of various countries have a warm, personal relationship. The friendship between President Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is often cited as an example.
Condoleezza Rice to visit Israel
Former secretary of state to visit Israel next month together with Motorola executives; scheduled meetings with Peres, Barak and Lieberman.
Israeli spy Pollard in hospital
Jonathan Pollard, an Israeli spy serving life in prison for leaking classified US documents, has been taken to hospital, say US prison officials.
4 indicted for sex trafficking, pandering
Two Bat Yam residents charged with bringing Ukrainian women to Israel to work in prostitution; two others indicted for running brothels.
Book recounts Mike Wallace being attacked at NY party by Barbara Walters and Mort Zuckerman over ’60 minutes’ Israel coverage, Linda Lotz
As we watch the many accolades coming in regarding Mike Wallace, there’s an important story to remember from Michael Emery, the late journalism professor at Cal State Northridge. Described in part in the November 13, 1990 Village Voice and in more detail in On the Front Lines – Following America’s Foreign Correspondents Across the Twentieth Century, Emery explains how Mike Wallace helped to bring the truth forward about what happened during the October 8, 1990 shooting at the Haram Al Sharif in Jerusalem which left 22 Palestinians dead and more than 100 more injured, and how the Israeli government officials completely distorted what happened. It cost Wallace a great deal, personally, to bring this story forward.
https://mondoweiss.net/2012/04/book-recounts-mike-wallace-being-attacked-at-ny-party-by-barbara-walters-and-mort-zuckerman-over-60-minutes-israel-coverage.html
Ten years ago, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, in response to a rapid succession of suicide bombings by Palestinians inside Israel and against Israeli settlements in the West Bank, vowed revenge, calling for “an uncompromising war to uproot these savages.” Calling Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat “the enemy of the entire free world,” Sharon launched a sustained attack on Arafat’s official compound in Ramallah beginning on March 28, 2002. The military operation was part of an Israeli assault on the entire West Bank – Jenin, Nablus, Tulkaram, Qalqiliyah, Bethlehem, Hebron, and countless Palestinian towns – every city except Jericho.
The Israeli prime minister’s critics say he is seeking to change, bend or bypass the law in order to protect illegal outposts.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/08/binyamin-netanyahu-settlers-peace?newsfeed=true
Hasbara in 1988: ‘despite difficulties, South Africa is a vital, progressive state with much to admire’, Phan Nguyen
This is the first of an ongoing series of articles I’ll be writing on the use of the apartheid analogy (as opposed to the application of the term “apartheid” under international law). In this initial piece, we’ll explore some of the themes utilized in propaganda on behalf of South African apartheid. Defenders of Israel seek to stress Israel’s unique situation in order to excuse actions against the Palestinians. Yet if we look at the propaganda employed to defend apartheid in South Africa, we find the same arguments in use.
Reading Fanon in Palestine/Israel
The fiftieth anniversary of the death of revolutionary, writer and psychiatrist Frantz Fanon was commemorated this past December. In late February, the not-so-revolutionary judge Asher Grunis was elected President of the Israeli Supreme Court. The fanfare that accompanied Grunis’ inauguration was an opportunity to extol Israeli democracy by playing out the ritualized Supreme Court induction ceremony. Yet, there was a disquieting stink about the celebration. Mum among the lot of Hatikva-singing judges was Justice Salim Jubran, the Arab. His refusal to join the chorus likely stemmed from not identifying with the lyrics, “as long as in the heart, within, a Jewish soul still yearns…” His silence, however, prompted loud condemnation from the public and Israeli Knesset members, leading some to propose legislation that would impeach Jubran and effectively bar Arabs from serving on the bench.
Art, Writing Must Challenge Pornography of War, Dallas Darling
Those attacking German novelist Gunter Grass, who wrote a poem criticizing Israel’s nuclear weapons program and arsenal, should recall what Pablo Picasso once said: “Art is not done to decorate apartments, it is an instrument of war against brutality and darkness.”(1) Picasso had just finished painting Guernica, a vivid yet infamous masterpiece that had captured and exposed the cruelty and destructiveness of a fascist-like war. In 1937, Nazi Germany supported General Francisco Franco’s Spanish fascists in an effort to destroy the morale of republican and communist enemies. German bombers mounted a four-hour-long attack on Guernica, the capital of the northern Basque region of Spain. The town was almost completely destroyed. Thousands of innocent civilians, including women and children, were indiscriminately bombed and murdered from the air.
University students surveyed last month in Lebanon on the subject of how to improve their society and move it in the direction of meeting international human and civil rights norms identified three groups most in urgent need of immediate Lebanese governmental action. Not surprising perhaps, but nevertheless refreshing, were the students’ strongly expressed convictions, regardless of particular sect, that those most victimized by Lebanon’s government and current laws are the roughly 200,000 migrant domestic workers, woman, who make up half of Lebanon’s population, and the estimated 250,000 Palestinian refugees waiting to return to their country, Palestine. Last month’s suicide by domestic worker 33 years old Alem Dechasa-Desisa, following a beating in front of her Ethiopian Consulate by Ali Mahfouz and his colleague, whose recruitment agency arranged for Alem to work in Lebanon, was condemned across this country and angered those watching the video of the beating on LBCI TV.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/04/09/lebanons-oppressed-domestic-workers-women-palestinians/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=lebanons-oppressed-domestic-workers-women-palestinians
Bahrain
Bahrain hosts warplane drills with US, Arab allies
Bahrain’s military says the U.S. and eight other countries are taking part in the Gulf nation’s largest air force exercises in more than two decades.
http://news.yahoo.com/bahrain-hosts-warplane-drills-us-arab-allies-085045043.html
US continues to support democracy in Bahrain
By nightfall June 3, what began as an officer’s move-in bash at her new apartment in Bahrain’s Floating City was getting out of hand. Partiers had been drinking all day Friday. And the party had spilled from her patio onto rafts in the canal alongside. Then, something startled her guests, a mix of colleagues from her command, friends and neighbors: The host stripped off her bikini top. The party — while not an official command function — included enlisted, junior officers, and even the commanding officer of her 100-member logistics task force based in Bahrain. The sight of her topless changed the party’s dynamic. Men drew closer to leer. Another woman removed her top. And a man took off his pants, exposing himself. While guests stared, all three went skinny-dipping. That’s when the commodore jumped in. Capt. David Geisler, commodore of the logistics task force responsible for supplying all naval assets in 5th Fleet, who had spent the afternoon drinking and floating in an inner tube on the canal, removed his bathing suit and swam nude, witnesses said. His participation in this and other such parties would lead to his firing later in the year, according to an investigation into his and others’ behavior in Bahrain.
http://www.navytimes.com/mobile/index.php?storyUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.navytimes.com%2Fnews%2F2012%2F04%2Fnavy-bahrain-bash-commodore-david-geisler-040812w%2F
Bahrain says jailed hunger striker is ‘in good health’
Bahrain’s interior ministry said on Monday that jailed activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who has been on a hunger strike for two months, is in “good health” after his lawyer expressed fears he could be dead. “Abdel Hadi al-Khawaja’s state of health is good,” the interior ministry said in a statement, adding that the activist had been transferred to a military hospital “for the best medical treatment.”
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/04/09/206587.html
Bahrain refuses to release dying hunger striker to Denmark
Bahrain on Sunday turned down a request to transfer to Denmark a jailed human rights activist who has been on hunger strike for two months and also holds Danish nationality, state news agency BNA reported. “The handover of accused and convicted persons to foreign countries takes place under specific conditions … This does not apply in Abdulhadi al-Khawaja’s case,” a Supreme Judiciary Council official said, quoted by BNA. The statement did not gave any further details. Khawaja, who was sentenced to life in jail over his role in organizing pro-democracy marches during the month-long protest a year ago, began his hunger strike on the night of February 8. BNA reported on Saturday that Bahrain was examining a request to transfer him to Denmark. “Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmad Al-Khalifa received a written letter from Danish Foreign Minister Villy Soevndal asking Abdulhadi al-Khawaja be transferred to Denmark since he holds Danish citizenship,” it said.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/bahrain-refuses-release-dying-hunger-striker-denmark?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AlAkhbarEnglish+%28Al+Akhbar+English%29
Jailed Bahrain hunger-striker feared dead: lawyer
Jailed activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja was feared to have died, his lawyer said on Monday, after Bahraini authorities turned down repeated requests to contact him.
http://news.yahoo.com/jailed-bahrain-hunger-striker-feared-dead-lawyer-130956195.html
Bahraini hunger striker’s daughter speaks out
Protests in Bahrain have increased as Abdul Hadi al-Khawaja’s hunger strike enters its 60th day and Bahrain rejects a request to transfer him to Denmark. Al-Khawaja’s daughter, Zainab, has told Al Jazeera that he sounds very weak. “Dying with dignity is better than living in humiliation,” she said, quoting her father.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBTgvK6LQqA&feature=youtube_gdata
Abdulhadi al-Khawaja’s death would be a stain on Bahrain
Bahrain risks instigating a collapse of its civic society if it fails to release this respected human rights activist and hunger striker
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/apr/09/open-letter-bahrain-abdulhadi-al-khawaja
Abdulhadi Alkhawaja: Dying for Justice, Steve Lendman
Bahrain’s Al-Khalifa monarchy is one of the world’s most ruthless despotic regimes. It’s also a valued US ally. It’s one of many other regional ones, notably Saudi Arabia, the worst of the lot. In summer 2010, sporadic protests began. Last February, major ones erupted. Daily, Bahrainis brave security force violence, arrests, disappearances, torture, and cold-blooded murder, as well as show trial prosecutions, convictions, and imprisonments.
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2012/04/abdulhadi-alkhawaja-dying-for-justice.html
Bahraini forces attack mourners
Saudi-backed troops in Bahrain have attacked the protesters, who were calling for the release of detained human rights activist, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, Press TV reports.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/235273.html
Bahrain jails 10 more protesters
A Bahraini court has handed down jail terms to 10 anti-government demonstrators for taking part in a protest rally marking the first anniversary of the country’s uprising.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/235384.html
Bahrain update
A Bahraini source sent me this: ”By the way, if you are only every going to watch two videos from Bahrain watch these two
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2012/04/bahrain-update_08.html
Formula One teams ‘ready to quit’ Bahrain Grand Prix
Formula One teams have put in place contingency plans in case the Bahrain Grand Prix is called off due to the violent unrest in the Gulf state, The Times newspaper said on Monday.
http://news.yahoo.com/formula-one-teams-ready-quit-bahrain-grand-prix-102141760.html
Bahrain’s Shiite opposition raised the pressure on Monday on Grand Prix organisers to cancel the ritzy Formula One show for a second year in a row, amid fears over the fate of a jailed hunger-striker.
Ali Abdelemam is a prominent opposition figure in Bahrain. He is a blogger and human rights activist who was included on a list of 20 opposition figures tried in front of a military court. He has been to prison in the past and has been sentenced in absentia to 15 years in jail, but has been in hiding since March 17th. His wife Jenan Al Orabi was interviewed at Al Jazeera’s Doha studio.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX_4ZktXenI&feature=youtube_gdata
The Egyptian gas pipeline in northern Sinai Peninsula supplying natural gas to Israel and Jordan was blasted for the 14th time, since 25 January 2011, at dawn Monday.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7IfJEZ9QrkBMb73k0sycUDyR3hKtapMTnED%2f%2bqeE1xa%2fO4umY8eQkvIHkmxwrugG9h4HPbRJ5kcHEwnJ3FulnPEHThfL9EbItuS7tjdgyC1U%3d
Egypt constitution panel halted
A court in Egypt suspends the Islamist-dominated assembly appointed last month to draft the country’s new constitution.
Mubarak’s spy chief Omar Suleiman is Israel’s preferred candidate for Egypt president, says Israeli lawmaker; a Brotherhood president could threaten Camp David peace deal.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/38826/World/Region/Israeli-lawmaker-backs-Suleiman-as-Egypt-leader.aspx
Mubarak spy chief, Brothers spar on presidency
Egypt’s former spymaster Omar Suleiman lashed out at the Muslim Brotherhood and insisted his candidacy for the presidency would restore stability, as the two sides sparred on Monday ahead of next month’s polls.
http://news.yahoo.com/mubarak-spy-chief-brothers-spar-presidency-001028651.html
Mubarak’s VP says he won’t ‘reinvent’ old regime
Hosni Mubarak’s former vice president and spy chief said in comments published Monday that he would not attempt to “reinvent” the regime of his longtime mentor if he is elected president of Egypt.
http://news.yahoo.com/mubaraks-vp-says-wont-reinvent-old-regime-115442761.html
VIDEO: ‘Suleiman win would renew unrest’
The Muslim Brotherhood has warned there could be renewed unrest in Egypt if the country’s former former intelligence chief wins next month’s presidential elections.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-middle-east-17660679
Omar Suleiman, Egypt’s New Candidate, Represents Old Order
Omar Suleiman, former President Hosni Mubarak’s intelligence chief and vice president, filed to run for president in Egypt, but his entry is unlikely to shake up the race.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/09/world/middleeast/omar-suleiman-egypts-new-candidate-represents-old-order.html
Omar Suleiman’s gall, AuthorIssandr El Amrani
I have to confess I was skeptical about Omar Suleiman’s run in recent days, especially when you consider the press reporting it was only going on a statement he’d allegedly made to MENA and he has yet to appear on television or in public talking about his campaign. But we’re getting more confirmation with this interview with al-Akhbar, as reported by Reuters. I have a hard time seeing Suleiman win (unless the election is rigged) but he can certainly be useful in stirring up anti-MB sentiment to other candidates’ advantage — especially if he uses some of the documents and recordings he no doubt has saved from his years as spy chief.
http://www.arabist.net/blog/2012/4/9/omar-suleimans-gall.html
Iran
Iran opposes A-bomb, Ahmadinejad tells Japan ex-PM
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stressed to visiting former Japanese premier Yukio Hatoyama on Sunday that Tehran opposes nuclear weapons, his official website reported.
http://news.yahoo.com/iran-opposes-bomb-ahmadinejad-tells-japan-ex-pm-160405093.html
Iran holds firm on nuclear ‘rights’ as talks loom
When talks between Iran and world powers collapsed last year, Tehran quickly blamed the West for trying to trample its “nuclear rights.” The Iranian line appears little changed — signaling that critical negotiations could begin this week where the impasse left off.
http://news.yahoo.com/iran-holds-firm-nuclear-rights-talks-loom-161430690.html
Nuclear talks to be held in Turkey: Iranian state media
An Iranian state television station reported on Sunday that international negotiations about the country’s disputed nuclear program will take place in Istanbul, indicating that disagreements over the venue that had threatened to derail the talks may be resolved. But there was no confirmation from Turkey nor from the six world powers involved in the April 13 meeting – the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany – that Iran had confirmed its participation.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/nuclear-talks-be-held-turkey-iranian-state-media?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AlAkhbarEnglish+%28Al+Akhbar+English%29
Israel warns negotiators to be tough with Iran
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday warned the six-power group negotiating with Iran to set stringent limits on its nuclear enrichment at forthcoming talks.
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-warns-negotiators-tough-iran-131857427.html
Israel ‘satisfied’ with Iran’s rejection of West’s demands
State officials glad to see Tehran exposed its true face by rejecting Obama’s reported demands, estimate US president will now be forced to toughen sanctions.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4214015,00.html
U.S. to demand Iran immediately close Fordo nuclear facility
The New York Times reports that the Obama administration, European allies due to set demands for Iran nuclear talks, that include a halt in production of higher-level uranium enrichment.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-to-demand-iran-immediately-close-fordo-nuclear-facility-1.423218?localLinksEnabled=false
Exiled son of shah of Iran calls for Israel’s help
The exiled son of the toppled shah of Iran is calling on Israel not to bomb his home country, but rather to help the opposition to the ruling system.
http://news.yahoo.com/exiled-son-shah-iran-calls-israels-help-182025646.html
Iraq
Fugitive Iraqi VP Hashemi arrives in Istanbul: sources
Fugitive Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, who is accused of running a death squad in Iraq, arrived in Istanbul Monday from Saudi Arabia, diplomatic sources told AFP.
http://news.yahoo.com/fugitive-iraqi-vp-hashemi-arrives-istanbul-sources-184734983.html
Kurdish Leader Warns of Maliki Dictatorship, Again
Kurdish President Massoud Barzani has once again charged Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki with moving Iraq towards a new dictatorship. Meanwhile, at least seven Iraqis were killed and five more were wounded in new violence, including a rare attack in Kurdistan.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2012/04/08/kurdish-leader-warns-of-maliki-dictatorship-again/
RAF helicopter death revelation leads to secret Iraq detention camp
In one case, taskforce interrogators were said to have forced a 73-year-old woman to crawl around a room while a man sat on her back, before forcing a broom handle into her anus. Two of her fingers were broken. The woman, a retired teacher, said her interrogators demanded to know the whereabouts of her son and husband, both of whom she said were dead.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/07/iraq-death-secret-detention-camp?CMP=twt_gu
System of Death (I): Paul Bremer’s Morality Police
The recent wave of targeted killings against emo youth in Iraq was done under the pretense of morality. Death has been rationalized in many different ways since the 2003 invasion of the country. This three-part series takes a look at how the system of death was installed by the US occupation and how it keeps fueling itself despite the withdrawal of troops.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/system-death-i-paul-bremer%E2%80%99s-morality-police?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AlAkhbarEnglish+%28Al+Akhbar+English%29
Saudi hunger striker’s health at risk
Prominent Saudi rights activist Mohammad Al Bajadi who has been on a hunger strike for the past month has now stopped drinking water, rights activists say.
As the population is left simmering after the ‘Arab Spring,’ those challenging the kingdom wonder whether it will suppress them or let the phenomenon grow.
The Saudi sports minister and head of the Saudi National Olympic Committee confirmed on April 4, 2012, that Saudi Arabia will not support women in practicing sports. Prince Nawwaf al-Faisal said: “Female sports activity has not existed [in the kingdom] and there is no move thereto in this regard.”
http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/04/05/saudi-arabia-sports-minister-confirms-women-s-exclusion
Syria
Syria: Troops being pulled out from provinces
Foreign minister pledges commitment to Annan ceasefire plan but seeks say in composition of implementation team.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/04/201241092145250519.html
Unidentified gunmen killed six Syrian soldiers in the northeast, as regime forces shelled areas in Homs and Aleppo on Tuesday, monitors said, on the day a UN-Arab peace plan is due to start taking effect.
At least 35 Syrian civilians, including women and children, were killed on Monday in shelling by regime forces that struck a village in the country’s central Hama province, a monitoring group said.
http://news.yahoo.com/syria-shelling-kills-least-35-civilians-hama-154715490.html
Gunfire along Syrian border kills journalist
Security officials says a Lebanese journalist has been killed by gunfire along the Lebanese-Syrian border.
http://news.yahoo.com/gunfire-along-syrian-border-kills-journalist-131239946.html
Syrian gunfire wounds five in Turkish refugee camp
Gunfire in Syria hits a refugee camp over the Turkish border on Monday, wounding five people with unconfirmed reports of possibly two deaths.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/Uj7X68OF6pw/Syrian-gunfire-wounds-five-in-Turkish-refugee-camp
Syria peace plan appears to fall apart
President Bashar Assad’s government says it won’t withdraw forces without written guarantees from opposition groups, which say they don’t recognize the regime.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/nUOeEAdS4rQ/la-fg-syria-peace-accord-20120409,0,5753150.story
Rights group: Syria troops executed civilians
A leading international human rights group says Syrian forces have summarily executed more than 100 people, most of them civilians.
http://news.yahoo.com/rights-group-syria-troops-executed-civilians-075232504.html
Syria wants ‘guarantees’ for troop pullout
Syria’s government appears to be pulling back from a United Nations peace plan, saying it wants “written guarantees” that opposition fighters will lay down arms before it implements a troop pullback agreed by President Bashar al-Assad, a demand refused by the main rebel group. Hours after the government’s demand on Sunday, the leader of the rebel Free Syria Army said his group is committed to the peace plan but will give guarantees to the international community. Al Jazeera’s Scott Heidler reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLGmSJH-Vtw&feature=youtube_gdata
APAYDEN, Turkey (Reuters) – A former army commander who now leads a military council trying to organize armed resistance to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said air strikes on forces spearheading his military crackdown would be the only way to avoid a protracted civil war.
A 33-year-old woman was reportedly arrested in Damascus on Sunday as she protested outside the Syrian Parliament building with a banner that read, “Stop the killing, so we can build a country for all Syrians.”
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=1c28c28a3db618dc06150b9b8ebe64bf
Amid widening Syria violence, a new war-crimes charge
Syrian refugees say Assad’s soldiers are forcing women and children to march in front of advancing tanks to prevent rebels from opening fire. International law forbids the use of human shields.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/5DPUiAP3rQw/Amid-widening-Syria-violence-a-new-war-crimes-charge
Syrian rebels refuse to give regime guarantees
A U.N.-brokered peace deal for Syria appeared to collapse Sunday as the government made a new demand that its opponents provide “written guarantees” to lay down their weapons before regime forces withdraw from cities, a call swiftly rejected by the country’s main rebel group.
http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-rebels-refuse-regime-guarantees-114423566.html
Syrians fleeing to Turkey are stuck in dreary limbo
As soon as her family and 200 other people entered Turkey, they were met by soldiers who left them in the rain for hours until buses could come and take them to the camps. ”I thought a lot about going back to Syria,” said Um Mohammad, who is from the Idlib-area village of Binnish. “Because when we got here, the army left us in the rain for seven hours, and the children were whining and crying and hungry. I would rather have just gone back home.” After nightfall, she said, her husband paid a $200 bribe and was able to arrange for their own transportation to take them away. But the rest of the refugees remained behind; she’s not sure for how long.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-syria-refugees-20120408,0,4021979.story
Sergey Lavrov and Walid al-Moallem, “How to Achieve Peace in Syria” (Press Conference, Moscow, 10 April 2012)
“Russia asked Syria not to withdraw its troops completely but to begin pulling out as an example for other sides of the conflict. Absolute ceasefire should only be carried out under supervision of international observers.”
Other Mideast & World News
Jordan: Demonstrators Beaten in Custody
Police beat close to 30 demonstrators at a police station this week, two of whom fainted from the ill-treatment, Human Rights Watch said today after interviewing six witnesses to the March 31, 2012 arrests, including two detainees who were later freed. Military prosecutors charged 13 of them with crimes related to their exercise of freedom of speech to criticize the authorities, but no inquiry into ill-treatment has been announced.
http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/04/03/jordan-demonstrators-beaten-custody
Alem Dechasa’s choice: an impossible decision and a lonely death
“Alem’s beating, in late February, was broadcast by Lebanese TV in March and has been viewed by tens of thousands on YouTube. Newspapers and human-rights groups identified the man in the video as Ali Mahfouz, brother of the head of the recruiting agency. He has been charged with contributing to her suicide. He says the agency was trying to send her home because she had mental health problems. The video showed Alem being dragged along the street outside the Ethiopian consulate. Her hair was pulled and she was bundled into a car. She was later admitted to a psychiatric hospital. A few days afterwards she apparently hanged herself. In a statement , Human Rights Watch quoted a social worker with Caritas Lebanon Migrant Centre as saying that Alem first worked with a Lebanese family for a month but was returned to her agency because of communication problems. She did not get paid. Her second job only lasted a few days. Alem allegedly told the social worker that a recruitment agent had beaten her and threatened to send her home. The statement also said she had previously tried to kill herself by drinking a cleaning product and by jumping from a car. The mystery surrounding Alem’s life and death in Beirut hangs heavy over Burayu, where children in ripped clothes that are too thin for this rainy March day cluster around huts, as donkeys bray and hammers clank in a nearby quarry. Lemesa has not yet told Yabesira – which means “work of God” – or Tesfaye that their mother is dead. “They are suspicious of something because people have been coming here, crying, but I am afraid to break the news to them,” the 31-year-old said. “Sometimes the children see her photo and ask when she is coming back to Ethiopia. If I tell [Yabesira] she is dead, I am afraid of the questions she will ask me.” But when asked about reports that Alem killed herself, Lemesa, said: “I haven’t heard anything about her committing suicide.” Suicide is a taboo subject in Ethiopia, especially among Christians such as Lemesa. Lemesa said he had heard only that before her death she was beaten. He later saw a newspaper article about the beating, but he has not seen the video, which prompted protests by Ethiopians.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/09/alem-dechasa-ethiopia-lebanon
Libya rules out ICC trial for Saif al-Islam
Justice minister says Muammar Gaddafi’s most prominent son will be tried by Libyan judges, in the North African nation.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/04/2012499216767703.html
Jailed Moroccan student on hunger strike for more than 110 days
Moroccan activists have launched an online campaign calling for the release of a student arrested in a demonstration in December last year whose health has deteriorated after being on a hunger strike for more than 110 days. Azzedine Roussi was arrested in the northwestern city of Taza on Dec.
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/04/09/206482.html
http://news.yahoo.com/protesters-police-clash-heart-tunis-150659525.html
‘Anonymous’ leaks emails hacked from Tunisia’s leaders
TUNIS — Activists claiming affiliation with the hacking group Anonymous published about 2,700 emails Sunday purportedly between Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali and other members of his government. A mask-wearing man in a video posted online said the publication had been prompted by recent events in Tunisia, notably the violent dispersal of a rally for unemployed people on Saturday in which several were injured. “Government of Tunisia, we have kept secret a large part of your information,” the masked man said. “If you do not want to see this published, we call on you to avoid online censorship, respect human rights and respect free expression.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/04/08/anonymous-leaks-emails-hacked-from-tunisias-leaders/
UAE detains 6 activists critical of rulers
An attorney for six activists in the United Arab Emirates previously stripped of their citizenship for criticizing the country’s rulers says they were detained for illegally residing in the oil-rich union.
http://news.yahoo.com/uae-detains-6-activists-critical-rulers-180530760.html
US drone and air force bombs kill 24 in Yemen
Air strikes and US drone attacks have killed 24 people in an Al-Qaeda stronghold in the country’s south and east, the defense ministry and a tribal chief said on Sunday. A Yemeni air raid late on Saturday killed “16 terrorists belonging to Al-Qaeda network in Kud near Zinjibar,” the extremists’ stronghold in the south, the defense ministry news website reported. Meanwhile, a US drone killed eight Al-Qaeda suspects when it fired a missile at their vehicle in the eastern province of Shabwa on Saturday, a tribal chief told AFP.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/us-drone-and-air-force-bombs-kill-24-yemen?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AlAkhbarEnglish+%28Al+Akhbar+English%29
Berlin’s largest mosque has been targeted in an Islamophobic attack in the German capital’s predominantly migrant district of Neukoelln.
In a letter Abbas gave to Netanyhu, he gave him till next wednesday to reply to the Palestinian positions. What have those replies got to do with going to the General Assembly for an update to Observer State status, absolutely nothing, then Ryad Mansour PA observer at the UN appealed to the Security Council on account of settlement activity, another exercise in futility but then these dinosaurs in the PA are used to making futile gestures ,they did have a plan of action at the UN last September what happened to that?
children of kufr qadum
your fathers were arrested
yet today you led the demonstrations
no matter the brutality of those occupiers
their firing of tear gas and shock rounds
their use of the “skunk”
but please,
from where comes such courage
the example of your parents
love for your people
a sense of justice
all of the above
and for you when will the struggle end
this one time only, then you’re out
the day your fathers are back home
when palestine is free