Shadi Fadda brings us today's headlines and other news from around the internet.
Land Theft and Destruction And The So Called "Freeze"/Settlements
Israel's evictions in Jerusalem violate international law, says senior UN official
The forced evictions of Palestinian families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of East Jerusalem by Israel are in contravention of international law, the head of the United Nations agency tasked with assisting millions of Palestinian refugees said today.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/
Barghouti: EU Should Pressure Israel To Halt Settlements Expansion
MP Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative declared that “the recent statement issued by the FM's of the EU concerning the Middle East, Jerusalem's status and the situation in the occupied territories, represents a positive step forward." Dr. Barghouthi also stressed that “despite the fact that the original draft proposed by Sweden met more appropriately the aspirations of Palestinian people, the EU Resolution focused on international law and international legitimacy, referring to the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem as a whole occupied territory.”
http://www.palestinemonitor.
Settlers occupying al-Kurd house in Sheikh Jarrah continue to harass evicted Palestinian families
Settlers, who have since August 2009 taken over three houses in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah in occupied East Jerusalem, have, after a series of violent attacks, initiated a number of actions this week with the intention of intimidating and harassing local Palestinians forcefully evicted from their homes.
http://palsolidarity.org/2009/
Israel: Netanyahu backs benefits package for settlers after protests
After 10,000 settlers and their supporters protested in Israel last night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered tax breaks and other benefits to mollify them. But his effort to please everyone may be backfiring.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/
Likud minister: Settler population could grow by 10,000 in next year
The population of Israeli settlements in the West Bank could grow by 10,000 in the coming year despite a declared temporary freeze on Israeli building in the territory, Likud Minister Benny Begin has said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Pro-settlement protesters denounce Netanyahu
Jerusalem – Tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated support in West Jerusalem on Wednesday for further expansion of settlements on Palestinian land in the West Bank. The demonstration was in opposition to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s declared ten-month freeze on construction in settlements outside of what Israel considers Jerusalem.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Same old Amreeka
U.S. not opposed to Israel pumping more funds into settlements
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to seek cabinet approval for a new map of "national priority" zones does not contradict Israel's declaration of a 10-month construction freeze in West Bank settlements, the prime minister's bureau assured senior United States administration officials late Thursday. The new map would enable another 110,000 settlers - most of whom live outside the major settlement blocs - the economic benefits conferred on residents of zones already included on Israel's list.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment
UK to shun settlement products?
British government advises UK food chains to clearly label all products made in Judea, Samaria and Golan Heights; officials in Jerusalem condemn move, prepare to fight back. British embassy: This isn't a boycott.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
U.K. government urges businesses: Label products from settlements
The British government has issued an official recommendation urging business owners to mark Israeli products produced in West Bank settlements so that consumers who want to boycott such items will find it easy to identify them.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Setting the Record Straight on Ahava: According to CNN, Ahava won't say whether they're being boycotted in the United States
CNN has decided that Ahava has a good business model. Not only that, but they apparently "transcend politics and ecology,"according to this article published at CNNMoney.com.
http://endtheoccupationblog.
Twenty South Africans to join Gaza Freedom March
The delegation includes former Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils. A delegation of almost 20 South Africans will, later this month, join more than a thousand activists from around the world and about 20,000 people from Gaza in the first international Gaza Freedom March, which will protest at Israel's Erez border crossing. South African delegates, including former Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils, a five-person COSATU delegation, solidarity activists and journalists, will meet up in Egypt with solidarity holocaust survivors, activists, academics, and politicians from 42 countries.
http://www.politicsweb.co.za/
Violence and Aggression
Fire attack on West Bank mosque
Jewish settlers are suspected of being behind an attack on a mosque in the north of the occupied West Bank.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-
Clashes after settlers torch mosque
Nablus – Ma’an – Six Palestinians fainted after inhaling tear gas fired by the Israeli military during a protest east of Salfit on Friday.
Yasouf village's mayor, Abed Ar-Rahim Musleh, said the injured were hospitalized in Salfit. He described their injuries as light.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Detainees
Hamas: PA detained 18 supporters
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Hamas said on Friday that Fatah-backed Palestinian Authority (PA) forces detained 18 people affiliated with the Islamic movement in the West Bank over the the last two days.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
P.A Security Forces Arrest Son Of Detained Legislator
Palestinian Security Forces arrested Thursday No’man Salhab, 20, the son of legislator Dr. Azzam Slahab, who is currently imprisoned by Israel.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
Once Again, High Court Affirms No Visitations For Gaza Detainees
The Israeli High Court of Justice approved a military decision to continue disallowing families of Palestinian detainees from Gaza, from visiting their detained loved ones.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
War Criminals
Gaza war crimes investigation: human shields (with Arabic subtitles)
Clancy Chassay investigates claims from three brothers that the Israeli military used them as human shields during the invasion of Gaza.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Arab girl's healing starts in San Jose with a new eye to replace one destroyed in war
Trapped in the Middle East's brutal eye-for-an-eye conflict, Mariam Al Shafei was robbed of hers by a hot piece of flying shrapnel. She was only 14, a mere schoolgirl, and had never hurt anyone. Mariam's long process of healing started Thursday afternoon. San Jose prosthetic expert Raymond Rendon built her a new eye — large and brown, like her own — and gently placed it in the empty socket.
http://www.mercurynews.com/
Denied the Right to an Education
Rules of human decency apply to Israelis too
Poor Berlanty. What did she do to deserve this crushing blow to her hopes and life chances? The Israeli High Court has denied her justice – again – and prevented Berlanty Azzam returning to Bethlehem University for the final few weeks to complete her degree.
On 28 October this Christian student at the Vatican-sponsored Bethlehem University was abducted by the IDF, "the world's most moral army", after attending a job interview in Ramalla, then blindfolded and handcuffed and dumped in Gaza. She had lived in the West Bank since 2005 after being granted a permit.
http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/
Humanitarian/Human Rights/Siege
No mention of Palestinians: Thousands march for human rights in TA
International Human Rights Day marked in Tel Aviv with procession of hundreds of people. Prominent participants include Minister Avishay Braverman and MKs Nitan Horowitz and Dov Khenin.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Military Court in Ramallah Sentences Palestinian to Death by Firing Squad
Press Release Palestinian Centre for Human Rights "PCHR Calls Upon President not to Ratify Sentence and Demands the Abolishment of Death Penalty from Palestinian Law."
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_
Targeting Civilians in Gaza
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) is an “independent legal body dedicated to the protection of human rights, the promotion of the rule of law, and the upholding of democratic principles in the Occupied Territories.” It issues frequent press releases, statistics, fact sheets, documents, and reports like its October 22, 2009 English version of “Targeted Civilians: A PCHR Report on the Israeli Offensive against the Gaza Strip (27 December 2008-18 January 2009).”
http://dissidentvoice.org/
Young Palestinians celebrate the 20th anniversary of the CRC
JERUSALEM, 10 December 2009 – UNICEF hosted several days of celebratory activities last week to focus public attention on the importance of children’s rights. The occasion was the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which was commemorated throughout the West Bank and Gaza.
http://www.unicef.org/
Palestinians fake cancer to flee blockaded Gaza
Gaza resident obtains bogus medical report saying he has cancer for $260 in order to enter Israel. Fatah loyalist bribes doctor with $100 to escape Hamas harassment. Israeli human rights activist says fakers are minority, but clog up system for real patients enduring longer checks as result.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Egypt accused of building Gaza wall - 11 Dec 09
Israeli newspaper claims that Egypt is building an underground steel fence along its border with Gaza have been denied by the governor of Northern Sinai. Haaretz had claimed metal sheets were being installed underground to block tunnels used to bring essential goods and medicines into Gaza. But tunnel workers say Egypt has been enacting a far simpler plan - drilling holes into tunnels in order flood them with water. Sherine Tadros reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
US Cutting Gaza Lifeline
No doubt at the instigation of the Israeli government, the Obama administration has authorized the United States Army Corps of Engineers to design a vertical underground wall under the border between Egypt and Gaza. In March, 2009 the United States provided the government of Egypt with $32 million in March, 2009 for electronic surveillance and other security devices to prevent the movement of food, merchandise and weapons into Gaza. Now details are emerging about an underground steel wall that wil be 6-7 miles long and extend 55 feet straight down into the desert sand.
http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/
Political Developments
Official: Hamas-Fatah talks may resume soon
Cairo – Ma’an/Agencies – Talks between rival factions Hamas and Fatah could resume within a few days, the head of the Palestinian Reconciliation Committee, Iyad As-Serraj, told Egyptian journalists on Thursday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
No Moscow Mideast talks for now: Palestinian minister (AFP)
AFP - Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki on Thursday rejected holding Middle East peace talks in Moscow in the absence of preliminary negotiations with Israel.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Irish slam Gaza ban
The Israeli government has been sharply criticised in the Irish parliament for refusing Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin permission to visit Gaza.
http://www.thejc.com/news/
Syria: All Israeli PMs since '91 have agreed to Golan pullout
Contrary to reports in the Israeli media according to which Syria is willing to begin negotiations with Israel without preconditions, Damascus has insisted it will demand a full Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights before it begins even indirect talks.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Other News
Palestinian Christians to declare occupation 'a sin'
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Palestinian Christians from all denominations were in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Friday to demand sanctions on Israel and to jointly reject Christian Zionism. Clergy have termed their movement the Palestine Kairos Initiative, modeled after black South Africa's 1985 Kairos Document, a theological statement that called on churches to join the fight against apartheid.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
What power does U.S. have to stop ‘third war’ in Middle East?
Washington Stakeout got Russ Feingold to admit that Israel has nukes, though the senator tried to avoid the question. How helpful is this kind of hypocrisy? Andrew Sullivan is worried about Israeli nuclear policy [emphasis mine].
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/12/
Speak Persian? The Shin Bet wants you
The Shin Bet security service published an unusual want ad in the newspapers this week, seeking "Persian-speaking field coordinators." Training for the position, the ad said, was open to both men and women, and would begin in April.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
3 items--IOF night raid, summary, letter on depleted uranium
http://groups.google.com/
Zionist Wahabbis
Rabbis rage against net 'abominations'
Ultra-orthodox rabbis in Israel are trying to crack down on growing use of the internet among their followers, saying that it is filled with "abomination" and is leading believers astray.
http://www.independent.co.uk/
Jewish lobby wages war on Christmas trees
Lobby for Jewish values passes out fliers against hotels, restaurants putting up Christmas trees, other Christian symbols ahead of civil New Year, say businesses who do so risk losing kosher certification.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Ulpana high school, where settler girls go to become 'real men'
"A girls school of real men," they sometimes call the small ulpana in the West Bank settlement of Ma'ale Levona, headed by Rabbi Gad Ben-Zimra. The religious Zionist middle school and high school won its nickname from its students' incredible willingness to sacrifice themselves for the Greater Land of Israel - setting up illegal outposts, refusing to move in the face of police assaults, and sitting in jail for weeks in order not to give interrogators their names.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Israel should bring Jewish law into its legal system
Is Israel about to introduce a legal system where adulterous women are stoned to death and unruly sons put to the sword? One might have thought that was the case from the near-hysterical reaction to Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman's speech on Monday, in which he spoke of his desire to "step by step" make the laws of the Torah into the law of the land.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Analysis/Op-ed/Human Interest
The soldier said ‘Boi ne! boi ne!’ (Or, why even you might consider violent resistance)
As the Gaza Freedom March approaches, I wanted to post a video from Gaza last May I haven’t mentioned here before, documenting the humiliations of armed occupation. The speaker is Reem Abu Jaber, the highly-educated director of the Qattan Center for the Child in Gaza City. Abu Jaber could be working in Europe or the Gulf; she chose to return to Gaza because she was needed there, to serve children at the most modern library for young people in the entire Gaza Strip. We’re in the conference room at the Center, and out of the "bloody cycle," as Abu Jaber says–although our meeting began with her showing us an exhibit of the debris of modern armaments that fell on her facilities during the onslaught of last winter.
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/12/
"I was beaten savagely without knowing the reason" A Bidya man tells his story to Khalid Amayreh
Despite repeated assurances from the Palestinian Authority (PA) that torture has been outlawed in PA interrogation and incarceration facilities, stories of physical and psychological abuse continue to surface in the West Bank. This raises serious questions about the credibility of undertakings made by the PA to local and international human rights organisations operating in the occupied territories.
http://palestinethinktank.com/
Decrypting the Palestinian Political Crisis: Old Strategies against New Enemies
The explanations given by Israel to justify the onslaught on Gaza in last December were confused. The goals advanced by military and political Israeli apparatus varied, depending either on the person speaking or on the moment in which they were stated: from overthrowing the Hamas-led government and annihilating the movement, to putting an end to the launching of Hamas rockets from the Strip, to destroying Hamas’s military capabilities, to stopping the smuggling into Gaza, and so on.
http://dissidentvoice.org/
Gaza, West Bank is 'biggest prison in the world'
As I write this letter, Obama's is accepting the Nobel Peace Prize. But.... nine days ago, he ordered 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, and bought several thousand more from European stooges. Last night the BBC ran a story about a 10 km-long fence that's being erected between Gaza & Egypt. It will go in the ground 18 meters, is made of bomb-proof, cut-proof steel made in the USA. It's purpose is to prevent tunneling, therefore smuggling, into Gaza; thus reinforcing the idea that Gaza & the West Bank is the biggest prison in the world. It will be bought and paid for by the good old USA. At the same time, Obama has as his Chief of Staff, Rohm Emanuel, who once served in the Israeli Army.
http://www.standard.net/
Answers to The State of Palestine Quiz
THE GREAT ZIONIST MYTH: The Palestinians never existed before modern Israel was established. They came from other Arab lands to try to take what the Israelis had rightful claims to. “Palestinians” pretend to the world and to themselves that they have always been there, but they are delusional and do it all merely because they hate Jews.
http://dissidentvoice.org/
Oren instructs American Jews to have ‘no differences of opinion’ on survival of the Jewish state, Philip Weiss
The angry response to Walt and Mearsheimer’s writing on the Israel lobby was never about whether they were right or wrong. It was about the fear on the part of an empowered group that their power was being called out and questioned; and the righteousness of the response was a reflection of what a solemn duty the lobby has in Jewish life. The lobby is the guardian in the American power centers of Jewish lives abroad, because you really can’t trust gentiles to watch out for Jewish lives.
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/12/
Obama seems to throw in the towel on the ‘peace process’
As I look over Obama’s Nobel speech, which includes a lot of stentorian talk about a new commitment to peace-making and to international human rights standards, I notice no reference to Israel-Palestine directly, just this.
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/12/
Iraq
US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,368 (AP)
AP - As of Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009, at least 4,368 members of the U.S. military had died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Iraqi PM condemns sectarianism
Nouri al-Maliki blames recent deadly bombings that killed 127 on political discord.
http://english.aljazeera.net/
Inside Iraq - Iraq's internal dilemma - 11 Dec 09
Who is benefiting from the wave of violence that is hitting Iraq?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
‘I Have No Living Friends in Iraq Now’, Riyadh Mohammed
In most parts of the world, the end of the year is a time to reminisce about the best of the past and look to the future with a hopeful eye. Iraq is not like the rest of the world. For me, it is a time to update my death list. The latest entry is my ex-girlfriend.
http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.
From the Memoirs of a Ghost, Marwan kindly translated Sinan Antoon's piece from Arabic: " "From the Memoirs of a Ghost"
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
Lebanon
Lieberman indicates imminent withdrawal from north Ghajar
An Israeli withdrawal from the northern sector of the occupied village of Ghajar could be imminent, according to Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.The minister delivered an ad dress on the fate of the disputed village during talks Wednes day with his Italian counterpart Franco Frattini, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
New Lebanon Cabinet allows Hezbollah to keep arms (AP)
AP - The Lebanese parliament overwhelmingly approved a national unity government Thursday that will allow Hezbollah to keep its weapons, despite strong criticism from pro-Western lawmakers angry at the militant group's refusal to disarm.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Afghanistan
Kucinich plans to force vote on US withdrawal from Afghanistan
For congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Afghan President Hamid Karzai's announcement Tuesday that his country would need the US's military support for another 10 or 15 years seems to have been the last straw.
http://rawstory.com/2009/12/
Afghans protest civilian killings by US forces
Hundreds of Afghans have taken to the streets of the capital Kabul to protest a recent NATO airstrike which killed a number of civilians in the war-ravaged country.
http://presstv.ir/detail.aspx?
Afghan demonstrators call for trial of "war criminals"
The protesters also called on the government to identify and sack all those officials involved in human right violation and war crimes over the past three decades.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/
Canadian General Now Acknowledges Risk to Afghan Detainees
Canada’s top soldier, said Wednesday that the country’s military had been aware that prisoners it handed over to Afghan authorities risked being abused.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/
Marines captain from 45 Commando admits Afghan assault
A Royal Marines officer has pleaded guilty to assaulting an Afghan national while serving in the country, according to a court martial spokesman.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/
U.S. and Other World News
How about we just ignore Obama's Nobel Prize speech?
Instead of spending a lot of time parsing Obama's latest speech -- to no one's surprise, it was thoughtful, self-effacing, nuanced, balanced, eloquent, lucid, well-delivered, etc. etc. (yawn) -- I suggest we focus our attention henceforth on what he actually does.
http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/
Obama Nobel Peace Prize: What Arabs think
The Obama Nobel Peace Prize is seen as inappropriate by many Arabs, who are angry about the surge of US troops into Afghanistan and a stagnant Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/
Ari Shavit / Obama awarded Nobel because he's a Democrat, liberal and black
He will be awarded the prize even though he is personally responsible for scores of targeted killings and much slaughter of civilians in aerial bombardments. He will be awarded the prize even though he has just decided to escalate one of the two ineffectual wars he is conducting.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Inside Story - In search for Bin Laden - 10 Dec 09
Are US policies helping or hindering al-Qaeda's popularity?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Syria: Lift Blackout on Prisoners’ Fate
(New York) - Syrian authorities should make public without further delay the fate of all prisoners whose whereabouts and well-being remain a mystery almost 18 months after security forces put down a riot at the Sednaya prison in July 2008, Human Rights Watch said today.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/
A Victim of Saudi Arabia's Irreligious Police:Why You Should Know About Ali Sibat, By RANNIE AMIRI
At the time of this writing, Ali Hussain Sibat is still alive. It is unknown for how long he will be however, for he is set to be executed in Saudi Arabia at any moment for the undefined crime of practicing “sorcery” and “witchcraft.” As Robert Fisk aptly penned, “Some stories from the Middle East make you want to weep. But this one is truly heart-breaking.”
http://www.counterpunch.org/
Egypt demolishing new Brotherhood hospital in row
* Brotherhood leader says demolition politically-driven
* Officials says hospital violated regulations
* Analysts say social projects key to Brotherhood support
http://www.alertnet.org/
Erdogan warns Israel on Iranian spying
Israel would face dire consequences if it violated Turkish airspace to spy on Iran, the Turkish prime minister said in an interview with an Egyptian journalist.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/
www.TheHeadlines.org
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