(13 Nov) Israel went back on a pledge to ease its blockade of the Gaza Strip on Thursday, turning away critical deliveries of fuel and food at the borders for the seventh consecutive day, Palestinian officials said. In reneging on its pledge, Israel blocked delivery of United Nations food aid intended for 750,000 of Palestinians. In addition, 20 European consuls who planned to visit Gaza were turned away at the Erez border crossing. Aid workers were also denied entry to the Strip and medical patients were prevented from entering Israel for treatment.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
UN to suspend food distribution in Gaza
(13 Nov, AFP) The United Nations will suspend its food distribution to half of Gaza's 1.5 million people on Thursday after Israel failed to allow emergency supplies into the Palestinian territory , a spokesman said. UNRWA usually distributes emergency food rations to about 750,000 people in the impoverished, overcrowded sliver of land whose economy has been crippled by a tight blockade Israel says is aimed at forcing militants to stop firing rockets and mortar rounds at the Jewish state. "Pushing people to the brink of desperation every few months and forcing UNRWA into yet another cycle of crisis management is not in the interest of anyone who believes in peace, moderation and stability," said UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/
Al-Jazeera video: Gaza's nervous wait for aid
(13 Nov) Trucks carrying basic supplies are waiting to enter the Gaza Strip, ending an Israeli food blockade which has lasted more than seven days. Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros reports from Gaza, where the constant shortages are taxing the emotional and physical health of the Palestinian residents.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Al-Khadr: Daily brutality in a West Bank village strangled by the Wall
(12 Nov) The symbol of the village of Al-Khadr it is its grapes. There are fields upon light green fields of them. They hang in heavy bunches. About a third of the 10,000 residents of the town earn their living from cultivating grapes and other crops. Yet Al-Khadr is a shrinking preserve. Once a 22,000 dunum (1 dunum is 1,000 square meters, 1/4 acre) swath of territory spreading southwest from Bethlehem, some 5,000 dunums have already been confiscated for the construction of four major Israeli settlements. More land is pending confiscation. According to Mayor Ramzi Salah, 90% of the village's landed is slated for confiscation, between the expanding settlements and outposts, the nearly complete Israeli separation wall. Welcome to ground zero of the refugee-campization of Palestine. [long, very good article]
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Israeli forces destroy two houses in West Bank village
(12 Nov) Israeli forces demolished two houses in the West Bank village of Shaqba, west of the city of Ramallah, on Wednesday afternoon, citing a lack of building permits. A total of 18 people lived in the two homes. The houses belonged to the family of Bassem Hassan Subhi Ibrahim. Israeli authorities delivered demolition orders for another five houses. Hard-to-obtain building permits are often used as a pretext to demolish Palestinian homes throughout the occupied territories. In 2006 three houses were destroyed in the same village. [End]
http://www.maannews.net/en/
IDF keeps Gaza crossings shut after receiving terror warning
(13 Nov) By Amira Hass -- The Israel Defense Forces kept all Gaza-Israel border crossings shut on Thursday after receiving intelligence of a planned terror attack at one of the terminals, Israel Radio reported. According to Israel Radio, Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered the crossings closed. The intelligence stated that Palestinian militants were planning to strike the Kerem Shalom Israel-Gaza border crossing. Earlier Thursday, Israel blocked humanitarian supplies from entering Gaza on Thursday after Palestinian rocket attacks, and a United Nations relief agency said it would be forced to suspend food distribution.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Gaza mourns four slain fighters; armed groups launch rockets
(13 Nov) Palestinians in the Gaza Strip mourned on Thursday four men who were killed in a battle with Israeli forces on Wednesday. The mourners called for revenge the deaths of Mahmoud Siyam, Rami Freinah, Muhsen Al-Qidrah and Isma'il Abu Al-Ola, who were killed in a truce-violating Israeli incursion. Separately, armed Palestinian groups unleashed a barrage of homemade rockets and mortar shells at Israeli areas bordering the Gaza Strip overnight in response to Israel's killings of the four. No one was injured by the rockets, which are likely to further strain a five-month old truce between Israel and the Hamas-controlled government in the Gaza Strip.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Gaza commander replacement put off due to clashes
(13 Nov) Swearing-in ceremony of new Gaza Division chief, Brigadier-General Eyal Eisenberg, postponed in light of 'possibility of continued attempts by Hamas and terror elements to disturb stability in the region'. Popular Resistance Committees: IDF in panic over our modest rockets
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Army officials: War with Gaza could take place in the coming two months
(12 Nov) Senior Israeli military officials stated on Wednesday that they believe that the Gaza Strip will witness a new war in the coming two months. The officials said that this war could happen although Hamas, in control of Gaza, is not interested at all in ending the truce. The officials stated that the Palestinians consider December 19 as the last day of truce as the six-month truce deal was achieved through indirect talks mediated by Egypt between Israel and Hamas nearly six months ago, also the term of President Mahmoud Abbas in office officially ends on January 9 of 2009. Israeli military sources stated that even if Hamas is not interested in a new confrontation with Israel, "there are other factions in Gaza, such as the Islamic Jihad and other group close to Al Qaida, that will be interested in a new confrontation", according to the Israeli sources. Based on this belief, the Israeli military officials are convinced that Israel should be prepared for any possible war with Gaza.
http://imemc.org/article/57644
UN: Border closures hamper Gaza aid programs
(13 Nov) GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – A United Nations flour warehouse in Gaza that was full a week ago now stands empty — the guttural sounds of trucks replaced by the chirping of pigeons in the rafters. Another warehouse holds just a few crates of lunch meat and space usually filled with oil and powdered milk is taken up by air conditioners for medical centers yet to be built.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/
Gaza bakeries about to close down
(13 Nov) GAZA, (PIC)-- The PA economy ministry in the Gaza Strip has warned that most of the bakeries in the Strip would close down by Thursday morning in the event the Israeli occupation authority continued to bar the entry of cooking gas into Gaza.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Agha warns of blocking fuel, fertilizers into Gaza
(12 Nov) GAZA, (PIC)-- The minister of agriculture in the caretaker government, Dr. Ismail Al-Agha, on Wednesday warned that the continued Israeli blockage of fuel supplies and entry of fertilizers, fodder and vaccines into the Gaza Strip was threatening the agricultural and animal farming sectors. He told a press conference that the lives of thousands of farm animals and poultry are threatened due to the lack of fodder, noting that the Strip ran out completely of fodder and necessary fertilizers for the agriculture sector. Agha also warned that barring entry of vaccines would lead to the spread of diseases among animals and human beings.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Israel barring reporters from going to Gaza
(13 Nov) With the five-month-old Israel -Hamas cease fire in Gaza facing its most serious challenge, the Israeli government is taking the rare step of barring journalists from going inside to see what's happening. The new decision to prevent reporters from going into Gaza comes just as the Israel is stepping up its ground and air operations and the cease fire, set to expire next month, is facing the possibility of collapse. While Israeli officials deny that the government is imposing a new policy of barring journalists from going into Gaza, that's exactly what they are doing. Until now, journalists have been able to come-and-go during all the tense periods. [ Israeli journalists have been barred from Gaza for two years]
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcb_
fromgoingtogaza
Int'l lawmakers: We'll work hard to inform Europe on size of the tragedy in Gaza
(13 Nov) BRUSSELS, (PIC)-- The international parliamentary delegation which visited the besieged Gaza Strip last Saturday aboard the dignity boat stated that it would work hard on informing the lawmakers and governmental officials in Europe about the size of the tragedy and humanitarian crisis in the Strip. Upon his return to London, head of the delegation Lord Nazir Ahmed expressed his shock at what he saw in Gaza and condemned the Egyptian authorities' insistence on closing the Rafah border crossing.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Activist: Muslim lawmakers to sail into Gaza to defy Israeli blockade
GAZA, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Muslim lawmakers are preparing to sail into Gaza Strip to defy Israeli blockade following three successful attempts by Western activists, a Palestinian anti-siege activist said on Thursday. Jamal al-Khodary, head of Gaza-based Popular Committee against the Siege, said Kuwaiti members of the International Forum of Muslim Parliamentarians told him that they and other members of the forum will sail into Gaza Strip from Cyprus in the coming few weeks. "The forum has formed a committee to prepare for the voyage which will be the first Islamic one," al-Khodary said.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/
Gaza: A flicker of power
(12 Nov) By Eva Bartlett - Gaza -- Gaza is host to a new power outage. It came the evening of the day when a delegation of 11 European Members of Parliament had visited Gaza's only power plant, which supplies about 1/3 the electricity used in Gaza (the amount used, not the amount needed. People are making due with regular power cuts, particularly in the northern areas of the Strip). The plant used to supply 50% of Gaza's needs before Israel bombed it in June 2006, destroying all 6 of the plant's large transformers. Since then, ten smaller, temporary transformers have had to function, inadequately, as permanent replacements. With the siege on Gaza, importing new transformers, or even replacements parts, has become impossible.
http://palestinechronicle.com/
ISM Gaza: Resistance is plowing the fields of Fukharee
(12 Nov) On Tuesday 11th November 2008, four international Human Rights Observers accompanied some farmers to plow their fields for wheat, rye and lentils. The day started out with a long walk to the field. As in previous accompaniments to the "Buffer Zone", the fields waiting to be plowed were close to the fence separating Palestinians farm lands from Israel.The farm lands of the Gaza Strip located on the eastern border have been turned into a desert by the Israeli occupation force army - destroying all the crops, trees and hot houses that existed 300 – 500 meters inside.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/
Gaza security costs girl her dream
(13 Nov) By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem -- An outstanding Palestinian student has lost her best chance of realising a burning ambition to study medicine in Britain because she was trapped in Gaza until it was just a day too late to take a crucial written exam in Jordan. Last week Diana Alsadi, 18, was supposed to take the Cambridge biomedical exam that is required by those who want to study at the top four UK medical schools ... The British Council said the strict timing was so that "candidates cannot convey the contents of the examination across time zones" and said it had offered to refund Ms Alsadi's fee.
http://www.independent.co.uk/
Egyptian troops mass on Sinai border to stave off further Bedouin clashes
(12 Nov) An Egyptian security official says large numbers of security forces are heading to Egypt-Israel border area in an attempt to stave off any further Bedouin strife. Dozens of armored vehicles have already arrived at the border following violent clashes between angry Bedouins and police that led to killing of three Bedouins and injury of at least five policemen. Bedouins also looted and burned several checkpoints along over 10 miles of Egypt-Israel borders south of Rafah Tuesday and seized a total of 70 members of the security forces in separate incidents
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Analysis - Northern Sinai: a desert playground for smugglers, jihadis
(12 Nov) By Jonathan Spyer -- The 25 Egyptian police officers taken hostage by Beduins in northern Sinai on Tuesday have now been freed. The freeing of the hostages concludes a series of events that began on Monday with a shoot-out between local Beduin and police on Monday, in which one Beduin was killed. A large and angry crowd of Beduin then gathered, firing weapons in the air, burning tires and clashing with security forces. The kidnapping took place in the context of these protests. This incident - which had Israeli forces on alert along the border earlier this week - cannot be understood in isolation. Rather, it is a reflection of a deeply problematic situation in the northern Sinai, which is host to large-scale smuggling networks that traffic a wide range of commodities between Sinai and Gaza and Israel.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/
High Court orders Beit El to stop building on private Arab land
(12 Nov) The High Court of Justice on Wednesday issued a temporary order blocking residents from populating some 35 housing units recently constructed in the West Bank settlement of Beit El. The decision was made following a petition issued on October 29th by two Palestinian landowners who claim the land in question belongs to them. The two men were assisted by the Yesh Din human rights organization. Yesh Din wrote in the petition that the buildings were constructed on privately owned land belonging to the nearby Palestinian village of Dura al-Qara, and that the owners of the land were never consulted before building began. Attorney Shlomi Zachariah, who represented the petitioners, said Wednesday "this is a dramatic decision that will have an effect on all future construction on Palestinian land."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Israeli forces attack home of Ma'an board member in Jalazun Refugee Camp
(13 Nov) Israeli forces raided house of Mu'ammar Urabi member of Ma'an Network's Board of Directors, in Al-Jalazun Refugee Camp in Ramallah overnight on Thursday. Urabi said that five military vehicles surrounded his house and smashed front gate. About fifteen Israeli soldiers stormed the house and held Urabi captive in one room while they searched the rest of the house over four hours. The Israeli troops finally released Urabi and left the area in the early morning. Urabi said that he told the soldiers he is a journalist. The soldier responded that they knew this. When he asked why his home was raided, the soldiers' response was, " Stay silent." Urabi is also the director of Watan TV in Ramallah.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Israeli forces attack medical clinic near Ramallah
(13 Nov) The Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees condemned an Israeli attack on one of their clinics in the village of Al-Mugher, near Ramallah on Thursday. The Vice President of the organization, Jihad Mash'al, said in a statement that Israeli troops broke through the gate of the clinic, ransacking the facility and destroying equipment.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Israel says it detained five Palestinians in the West Bank overnight
(13 Nov) Israeli troops seized five Palestinians during overnight raids in the West Bank, Israeli radio reported on Thursday morning. The detentions reportedly occurred in the cities of Ramallah, Nablus and Hebron. [End]
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Israeli troops seize student from home near Bethlehem
(13 Nov) Israeli forces seized a Palestinian university student while raiding the village of Al-Ubeidiya, east of the city of Bethlehem, early on Thursday. Palestinian security sources reported to that five military vehicles invaded the village at 2am. Israeli troops searched a house owned by Jamal Mahmoud Rabay'ah ,then detained his 22-year-old son Ra'fat, a student at Hebron University. [End]
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Israeli court extends detention of alleged stone-throwing children
(12 Nov) he Israeli military court at Ofer detention center in the West Bank extended the detention of eight Palestinian students until 14 December on Wednesday citing a need for 'further investigation.' The court rejected a petition to release these detained students on bail. The students all attend a school in Al-Arroub, in the southern West Bank. The children are accused of throwing stones at Israeli troops. Mahmoud Hassan, an attorney for the Addameer Prisoners' Support and Human Rights Association, condemned the court's decision, saying the students will be prevented from continuing their studies. Hassan added that the detention center where the youths are held "lacks the minimum requirements of humanitarian law." The students were arrested from their classrooms after Israeli soldiers attacked the school with tear gas and bullets. [End]
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Candle-lit demonstration through the Old City of Hebron
(12 Nov, photos) On the 8th November, around 50 residents of Hebron, joined by international solidarity activists, gathered in the Old City to protest against Israeli closures in the area. The demonstration, initiated by the Popular Committee of Hebron and the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee, took the form of a candle-lit procession through the Old City. The Committees declared that this demonstration marked the first of what will become weekly protests through the Old City as they demand that the forced closures of Palestinian shops by Israeli forces is reversed.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/
Suspected water thief arrested in Hebron
(12 Nov) Police investigators in the West Bank city of Hebron arrested a suspect they say stole water from a public grid. The suspect is from the town of Halhoul, north of Hebron. He allegedly conspired with others to drill unauthorized holes in order siphon water from a public water main for a fee of 500 shekels. A power generator, electric drill, and other tools were confiscated at the time of the arrest. The Hebron area suffered an acute drought this year, which was made worse by the theft and re-sale of water. Police also managed to re-seal 10 unauthorized holes in the main pipelines in Hebron. A number of other people are under investigation for alleged water theft. [End]
http://www.maannews.net/en/
The withering Palestinian economy
(13 Nov) By Jonathan Cook -- .... If Nilin's farmers face the imminent demise of their livelihoods with the confiscation of their land, Nilin's businessmen may not be far behind. B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, has seen plans drafted by the Israeli army to seal off the crossroads at the entrance to the village, the only access in and out of Ni'lin. Currently it is controlled by an army checkpoint, the location where a bound Palestinian was shot in the foot in July by an Israeli soldier -- a moment captured by Salam Amira, a Palestinian schoolgirl, on her video camera. "Israel says it wants to prevent the inhabitants of Ni'lin using the road so that it can 'secured'," said Sarit Michaeli of B'Tselem. "In practice that means the road will be reserved for settlers to reach settlements even deeper in the West Bank, on the far side of Ni'lin. The road will be for Jews only." In place of the checkpoint, Israel is proposing that Ni'lin be turned into an enclave connected via a tunnel to another road leading to Palestinian villages in the area. The villagers fear they will then be entirely dependent on the Israeli army's good will to come and go. Other communities in the West Bank have suffered similar fates in the past.
http://www.counterpunch.org/
Hamas, Islamic Jihad reiterate their boycotts of Egypt-mediated inter-Palestinian dialogue
(12 Nov) Hamas, which controls Gaza Strip, and the Islamic Jihad on Wednesday reiterated that they boycotted Egyptian efforts for an inter-Palestinian dialogue to reconcile between the main rival factions of Hamas and Fatah. Hamas and the Islamic Jihad withdrew from the dialogue due to the continuation of the political arrests against Hamas supporters in the West Bank ruled by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement, and Egypt's refusal to consider their reservations, said media reports.
http://english.people.com.cn/
Hamas to accept dialogue if Fatah frees its prisoners
GAZA, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Islamic Hamas movement on Thursday said it can withdraw its boycott of inter-Palestinian dialogue if its political prisoners in West Bank are freed. The Egyptian-sponsored dialogue was due to start on Nov. 9 but Egypt postponed it after Hamas, who claimed more than 600 of its members are confined in West Bank prisons, decided to quit. "We are ready to join the dialogue when our political prisoners are released and when West Bank-based members of our delegation to the dialogue are allowed to travel," Hamas spokesmen said in a press conference held in Gaza city.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/
PA police step up campaign against Hamas fighters in Hebron
(13 Nov; includes video with interviews with Hamas members) Palestinian security forces were recently deployed in Hebron, where their presence is now heavily felt. Their primary target is Hamas. Since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June of last year, life hasn't been made easy for its fighters in the West Bank, which is still ruled by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party. As a result, many Hamas men have gone into hiding. Roughly 250 Hamas men are presently in jail, where they claim they undergo brutal torture at the hands of Palestinian policemen.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Hamas: Fateh forces arrested 27 Hamas members in the West Bank
(12 Nov) The sources stated that in Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank, the security forces arrested Salah Al Mohtasib, Monthir Ehrayyis, Sa'id Hmedat, Mohammad Al Hoor, the imam of a local mosque. All are from Sorif town, near Hebron, and the security forces also confiscated their personal computers. In Salfit district, the security forces arrested Adel Shihada, Mohammad Suleiman, both from Marda town, Adam Zeidan from Dir Estia, and Sheikh Jom'a Ramadan, the Imam of Zeita mosque. Adel Mohammad and Adam are students of Al Najah University in Nablus....
http://imemc.org/article/57647
Court orders state to explain construction in Jerusalem's Holy Basin
(13 Nov) The High Court of Justice last week ordered the state to explain the unauthorized construction and earthworks by government bodies near the Western Wall and the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Arab residents of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan and Peace Now activists had petitioned the court on the matter. The petition calls on the court put an end to area earthworks by the Israel Antiquities Authority
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Fire at server farm paralyzes Justice Ministry
(13 Nov) Work at the Justice Ministry has been all but paralyzed after its server farm burned to a crisp on Monday night, in a fire reportedly caused by a short-circuit in an air-conditioner at the ministry's branch on Salah a-Din Street in East Jerusalem. The loss of data affects ministry branches throughout Israel. The attorney general and prosecutor general are both affected, as is the spokesman's office. The ministry insists that the fire could not have been caused by arson because the building is guarded and the servers are inaccessible to the general public.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
New synagogue opens old wounds in Jerusalem
(13 Nov, Reuters) A synagogue newly reopened in Jerusalem's Old City has worried Arab neighbors and Palestinian leaders who accuse Israel of using its political power to push them out and shift the city's religious balance in favor of Jews. Israelis say the work in the Muslim Quarter merely restored a building wrecked during 19 years of Arab control before Israel captured the Old City in 1967, but Palestinians complain they live under an unequal rule.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Mayor-elect vows to keep Jerusalem occupied
(13 Nov) OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: A secular tycoon celebrating his election as Occupied Jerusalem mayor on Wednesday vowed to turn the holy city into a world metropolis and bolster its illegal status as Israel's "undivided" capital. Barkat, 49, swept to victory on a hard-line ticket rejecting concessions to the Palestinians of any part of Occupied East Jerusalem as part of a peace deal. All Israeli presence on occupied land is illegal under international law and violates numerous UN resolutions.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Secular, but not so liberal
(12 Nov) By Daphna Baram. Jerusalem's new mayor might look more kindly on gay pride parades, but he won't be stopping the bulldozers -- Foreign observers tend to confuse Israeli secularism with general liberalism, and to assume that all religious leaders propagate right wing nationalistic policies. In the case of the last elections in Jerusalem, they couldn't be more wrong. Barkat, in his effort to gather the large National-Religious electorate under his flag, has already committed to building a new Jewish settlement in occupied Palestinian Anata in East Jerusalem, and voiced some radical anti-Palestinian views.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
'The ebb, the tide, the sighs'
(13 Nov) By Gideon Levy -- The young fisherman is now in hospital, feeble and pale, one leg in a cast held in place by iron screws. He is awash with pain. His mother does not leave his bedside ... The sea is the same sea and the Arabs are the same Arabs, as an Israeli prime minister once said. Only the cease-fire is no longer the same cease-fire. On land and in the air it is generally maintained, but not at sea. There, Israeli forces continue to shoot at fishermen from besieged Gaza, who are trying to wrest from the sea a living that is so difficult to make on land. Gaza's 40,000 fishermen have been deprived of their livelihood. Before the siege, they caught 3,000 tons of fish a year; now it is 500 tons.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Disaster of Israel's making
(12 Nov) By Sonja Karkar -- The illegal settlement movement, supported by every Israeli administration to date, has burgeoned out of control and its right wing leaders are vehemently opposed to negotiating land for peace. We will probably see the present Foreign Minister and Kadima party leader, Tzipi Livni - if she forms the next government and takes over from Ehud Olmert, now interim PM - use the same stalling tactics with the Palestinian Authority that have, up until now, allowed land grabs from the Palestinians for the Zionist dream of a greater Israel. After all, Livni was nurtured on that dream. Her main rival, Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu, has vowed to allow expansion of the settlements if he wins expected early elections. A 15-year-old peace process is ominously poised for failure, not just politically but economically.
http://palestinechronicle.com/
Our inept justice system
(11 Nov) By Khalid Amayreh in the West Bank -- Everything seems to be collapsing in the nominally-autonomous enclave, known as the Palestinian Authority these days. The executive authority, which really has no authority or sovereignty of its own, has become too authoritarian and tyrannical and, of course, too corrupt. The legislative authority is paralyzed due to the mass incarceration by the Nazi-like Israeli occupation regime of dozens of lawmakers for their refusal to recognize the "legitimacy" of Zionism and the Israeli apartheid state. And the media, the fourth estate, has likewise been thoroughly corrupted due to the virtual absence of press freedom and freedom of speech as a result of the consolidation of an American-sustained reign of terror now being consolidated in the West Bank. Now, the Palestinian Justice System seems to be collapsing as well, mainly due to its growing subservience to the executive power, particularly to the police-state apparatus.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Gender equality report ranks Israel 56th
(13 Nov) World Economic Forum publishes annual report probing equality of sexes worldwide. Data indicate steady decline in Jewish state's standing, as Norway tops chart, Yemen lingers in bottom -- A new report probing gender equality in various countries around the world ranks Israel in the 56th place out of 130 – far behind other Western countries.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Under the cover of a commander's orders
(13 Nov) By Meron Benvinisti -- A short while ago, the GOC Central Command published an order establishing in the occupied territories "The Ayosh Second Authority," which duplicates the Second Authority for Television and Radio in Israel. ["Ayosh" is a Hebrew acronym for Judea, Samaria and Gaza.] This legal maneuver drew hardly any attention, since it did not contain any striking innovation. Hundreds of previous "commanders' orders" have for a long time duplicated Israel's system of government, law and administration, and turned the territories into annexed areas; of course, only when the issue relates to, and is in the interest of, the Israelis.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Kinnaret colony celebrates 100th anniversary
(13 Nov) Zionist-settlement enterprise launched near Jordan River's point of departure from Sea of Galilee -- Three weeks ago we started publishing a four-piece series dedicated to the Kinneret colony, which was established exactly 100 years ago. In this series we bring you the stories of the first families that settled at the place, and who have lived there till this day. The photos are on display at the colony's museum and its first houses.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Gov't approves aliya of some 150 Bnei Menashe from India
(12 Nov) By Amir Mizroch -- The Interior Ministry has granted permission to the Shavei Israel organization to bring a group of some 150 Bnei Menashe from northeastern India on aliya, a government source told The Jerusalem Post this week. The Bnei Menashe claim descent from a lost tribe of Israel and some 7,200 of them reside primarily in the Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur, which border Burma and Bangladesh.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/
Exploratory drilling in Judean desert underway
(8 Nov) National Parks and Nature Reserves' Commission grants Delek Energy, Ginko final permit to search for oil in three-mile stretch of desert. Society for Protection of Nature in Israel objects, says prospects fail to justify damaging fragile ecosystem -- The location chosen for the exploratory drill is a nature reserve off Highway 31, slightly north of the Dead Sea.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Adalah NY: Eight groups call on Marriott Marquis to cancel Hebron settlement fundraiser
New York, November 13, 2008 – Eight groups representing tens of thousands of people in the US, Palestine and Israel have called on the Marriott Marquis hotel in Manhattan to cancel the November 17th dinner for the Brooklyn-based Hebron Fund aiming to raise money for Israeli settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Hebron. In a November 7th letter the groups said, "The Marriot Marquis will be facilitating activities that directly violate international law and US foreign policy, actively promote racial discrimination, and, at least indirectly, support brutal Israeli settler attacks on Palestinian civilians and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Hebron." Kathleen Duffy, a spokesperson for Marriott in New York City, told Adalah-NY on November 12th that the dinner will go ahead. Adalah-NY has called for a protest at the hotel on the 17th if the dinner is not cancelled.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/
-settlement-fundraiser/
Corporate vows tested in the West Bank
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 12 (IPS) - A company that is a member of the U.N. Global Compact for corporate social responsibility has ties to production in an Israeli settlement on the West Bank considered illegal by the United Nations. "Companies have a social as well as a legal responsibility and must therefore take no part in the illegal occupation," Merav Amir of the Coalition of Women for Peace (CWP), told IPS. "In order to comply with international human rights law, companies should make sure that their businesses have nothing to do with the occupation." Amir says companies located in the territories benefit from reduced taxes, little or no enforcement of labour laws, a captive labour market, very cheap real estate prices and lax enforcement of environmental regulations.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.
Protesters picket US State Department following eviction of al-Kurd family of East Jerusalem
(12 Nov) The eviction of the al-Kurd family from their East Jerusalem home is attracting worldwide protest. Upon hearing the news, two recent ISM volunteers who had camped out on the al-Kurd patio for several days picketed the U.S. State Department and visited with a representative of the Israel-Palestine desk. They were assured that the State Department had already filed a complaint with the Israeli government, but the volunteers are pressing for immediate, concrete action. To view original report on the eviction of the al-Kurd family of Occupied East Jerusalem click here
http://www.palsolidarity.org/
Cambridge rabbis urge Obama to focus on resolving Israeli-Palestinian conflict
(12 Nov) Three Cambridge [Massachusetts] rabbis joined 92 rabbis, cantors and rabbinical students in the Boston area, and almost 750 from across the country in calling on President-Elect Barack Obama to make vigilant U.S. leadership in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a top priority of his administration, reversing eight years of diplomatic neglect. For the text of the letter and a full list of signers, go to www.obamaletter.org.
http://www.wickedlocal.com/
-Israeli-Palestinian-conflict
8,000 Beduin stake their claim as the lost tribe of Barack Obama
(13 Nov; includes video) A sheikh in Galilee says he has evidence that he and his family are linked by blood to the new President -- He has a host of relatives in exotic locations from Hawaii to Kenya, and during his run for the American presidency he discovered that he had an aunt living in Boston. Now Barack Obama is being claimed by not one but as many as 8,000 Beduin tribesmen in northern Israel.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/
Some Chicago Jews say Obama is actually 'the first Jewish president'
(13 Nov) Quite a few of Barack Obama's "friends from the past" have popped up recently. It's doubtful whether he even knows their names, but in the Chicago Jewish community many people really are long-time friends of the president-elect. Some of the older people in the community say that they "raised him," while others half-jokingly call Obama "the first Jewish president."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Obama, Rahm-bo and the end of the new American century
(12 Nov) By Paul Craig Roberts -- If the change President-elect Obama has promised includes a halt to America's wars of aggression and an end to the rip-off of taxpayers by powerful financial interests, what explains Obama's choice of foreign and economic policy advisors? Indeed, Obama's selection of Rahm Emanuel as White House chief of staff is a signal that change ended with Obama's election. The only thing different about the new administration will be the faces.
http://palestinechronicle.com/
In Iraq, a sudden spurt of violence
(13 Nov) In Baghdad alone, 58 people have been killed by bombs this week, police say. U.S. military officials dispute the casualty figures and say the attacks don't mean insurgents are staging a comeback.
http://www.latimes.com/news/
Scattered families: the Iraq refugee crisis
(12 Nov) By Johanna Berrigan -- Among the many horrors of the tragedy of this war, destroyed, displaced, scattered families are a sad reality. There are an estimated 2.7 million people displaced within Iraq, and more than 2 million more living in neighboring countries, primarily Jordan and Syria. Most, if not all, refugees left Iraq because of the violence; some have received direct threats, others have had family members, friends, and neighbors kidnapped or killed. Whether the Iraqi people have "resettled" in this country, are waiting in Jordan or Syria for resettlement in another country, or are displaced inside Iraq, all of them have experienced terrible trauma, loss, and continue to face many difficulties.
http://www.counterpunch.org/
RIGHTS: Women leaders reject 'state of living death'
NEW YORK, Nov 12 (IPS) - United in their fight against discrimination and inequality, three women from crisis-struck countries received the 2008 Gruber International Women's Rights Prize -- Yanar Mohammed from Iraq, Sapana Pradhan Malla from Nepal, and Nadera Shalhoub-Kervorkian, a Palestinian woman living in the state of Israel. Mohammed spoke of the worsening situation for Iraq's women.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.
Iraq soldier kills at least two Americans
(13 Nov) An Iraqi soldier opened fire on U.S. forces in Nineveh province in northern Iraq on Wednesday, killing two and wounding six before he was shot to death by American troops, the U.S. military said. The motive for the attack was unclear. U.S. officials said the Iraqi unleashed a barrage of AK-47 fire without provocation; Iraqis said the soldier was angry after an incident with U.S. troops.
http://www.latime.com/news/
Row over claims of Syrian nuclear find
(12 Nov) By Ian Black -- Claims that traces of uranium were found at the site of an alleged Syriannuclear reactor which was bombed by Israel last year prompted a row about politically-motivated leaks yesterday. Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the UN body was taking very seriously allegations that Syria has a hidden atomic programme. But he declined to confirm that uranium had been detected.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
UNIFIL denies reports of imminent Israeli pullout from Ghajar
(13 Nov) By Nicholas Kimbrell -- BEIRUT: A new round of media speculation on a possible Israeli withdrawal from the village of Ghajar surfaced Wednesday, with local media outlets reporting that Israel could withdraw from the town's northern section in the coming days. UN officials in Lebanon would not corroborate the reports.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Cluster-bomb activists visit army deminers
(13 Nov) By Andrew Warder -- ZAWTAR: Delegates from an international conference on cluster munitions taking place in Beirut this week visited deminers from the Lebanese Army working in South Lebanon on Wednesday. A convoy of vehicles carried delegates from Beirut to Zawtar, an isolated village that was heavily bombarded by the Israeli military during the summer war of 2006. On a windswept hilltop outside the village that is still scattered with the deadly bomblets spread by cluster-bomb strikes, delegates watched the heavily protected deminers as they located and destroyed individual bomblets left over from the war. Brigadier General Mohammad Fehmi, the director of Lebanon's mine-action center, was keen to emphasize that the area had been targeted despite not being used for military purposes during the conflict.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
'Spy' admits to surveying Mugniyah assassination site
(13 Nov) Lebanese officials believe that the "Israeli espionage network" uncovered recently was involved in the assassination of senior Hizbullah commander Imad Mugniyah. Security sources told the As-Safir newspaper on Wednesday that the network's leader, Ali al-Jarah, had confessed to his investigators that he was ordered to survey the Kafr Sousa neighborhood in Damascus, where Mugniyah was killed by a car bomb in February.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
www.TheHeadlines.org
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