Shadi Fadda brings us today's headlines relating to Palestine and other news from around the internet.
Settlements/Land Theft and Destruction
Israel seeks bids for hundreds more Jerusalem settler homes
ERUSALEM, Dec 27, 2009 (AFP) - Israel has invited tenders for the building of hundreds of more homes in Jewish settlements in annexed Arab east Jerusalem, the independent Channel 10 television said on Sunday. In all, the housing ministry sought bids for the construction of 692 new homes in the settlements of Neve Yaacov, Pisgat Zeev and Har Homa, among a dozen that ring the city, the channel said.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/
State officials say US knew about Jerusalem building plan
Sources say new construction bid issued intentionally during vacation days of European Union, American administration workers. Fatah official in charge of Jerusalem portfolio says 'Americans must respond to this Israeli game'.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Despite promise, Israel eyes building on Palestinian land, Akiva Eldar
The state is considering appropriating private Palestinian land in the West Bank, the State Prosecutor's Office informed the High Court of Justice yesterday. Such a move would contravene Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's commitment not to seize land for settlement expansion. The prosecution's statement to the High Court yesterday came in response to a petition by human rights group Yesh Din against the construction of a sewage treatment facility that would serve the West Bank settlement of Ofra.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
27 Activists arrested during friday's Sheikh Jarah demo
Around 300 protesters participated in yesterday's demo in Sheikh Jarah, marching from Hamashbir Plaza towards the neighborhood. As early as the initial gathering, the police began to arrest demonstrators, claiming that the event is illegal, and by the end of the demonstration 27 people were detained. None of those detained resisted arrest. Quite a few of them were arrested when they were simply drumming or performing as dressed up clowns. In spite of our legal team's attempt to have the detainees brought to an immediate hearing to set terms for their release, the police has decided to punish the detainees to the extent permitted by the law. Therefore, they will be brought to the hearing only after the end of Sabbath. Protest and solidarity Vigil on Saturday evening at 20:00 in front of Hashalom court, Russian Compound.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment
Gaza Freedom March Dec 27 2009 in Toronto
Rally for the rights and lives of Palestinians, one of many on this day around the world video, by Robin Gordon December 27, 2009, Toronto.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
UK: JEREMY CORBYN MP: Stop GAZA Siege, let VIVA PALESTINA convoy in
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Brussels: Gaza Solidarity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
AATW demonstration against Israel's siege of Gaza
Sunday December 27, 2009 demonstration by Anarchists Against the wall near Gaza border against the Israeli siege of Gaza.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Holocaust survivor stages hunger strike for Gaza (AFP)
AFP - An 85-year-old Holocaust survivor was among a group of grandmothers who began a hunger strike in Cairo on Monday to protest against Egypt's refusal to allow a Gaza solidarity march to proceed.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Turks stage solidarity demonstration with Palestinians on 1st anniversary
of Israeli war on Gaza ISTANBUL, Dec 27 (KUNA) -- Some 1,000 Turks flocked to streets on Sunday to show their support and solidarity with the Gaza Strip on the first anniversary of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip. Dozens of anti-Israel Turkish organizations participated in the demonstration, which started from the "Taqseem" square in the heart of the commercial capital of Istanbul. They denounced the barbaric Israeli activities against the iccocent Palestinian people. They also lashed out at the international silence on this issue, reaffirming their continuous support of the Palestinian issue. (end).
http://www.kuna.net.kw/
Thousands rally in London in solidarity with Gaza
Thousands of Palestinians and human rights activists organize a picket in front of the Israeli embassy in London on Sunday evening to mark the first anniversary of the Israeli war on Gaza.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
1 Year after Gaza Massacre: Over 500 Academics and Cultural Workers Call for Boycott
December 27, 2009 marks the one-year anniversary of the beginning of “Operation Cast Lead,” Israel’s 22-day assault on the captive population of Gaza, which killed 1400 people, one third of them children, and injured more than 5300. During this war on an impoverished, mostly refugee population, Israel targeted civilians, using internationally-proscribed white phosphorous bombs, deprived them of power, water and other essentials, and sought to destroy the infrastructure of Palestinian civil society, including hospitals, administrative buildings and UN facilities. It targeted with peculiar consistency educational institutions of all kinds: the Islamic University of Gaza, the Ministry of Education, the American International School, at least ten UNRWA schools, one of which was sheltering internally displaced Palestinian civilians with nowhere to flee, and tens of other schools and educational facilities.
http://dissidentvoice.org/
Public campaign: Lift siege on Gaza
On 27 Dec. '09, a year since Operation Cast Lead began, B'Tselem is launching a public campaign calling on the Israeli government to lift the siege on the Gaza Strip, which is drastically harming 1.5 million residents.
http://www.btselem.org/
Successful youth conference held despite mounting arrests
December 28th, 2009-- Stop the Wall held its first West-Bank-wide youth conference this month. This conference, a product of two years of youth organizing and planning, took place under the creeping shadow of repression that is being exacted on activists and communities fighting against the Wall. However, even with the arrest of key organizers Mohammed Othman and Jamal Juma’, the conference went ahead with fruitful discussions on grassroots resistance, boycott and the role of the youth in the national struggle. [MORE]
http://stopthewall.org/
Protestors call for the release of Jamal, Abdallah and Mohammed
December 27th, 2009-- Demonstrations against the Wall continued through Christmas in the villages of Ni'lin, al-Ma'sara and Bil'in. Protestors, some of whom were dressed as Santa, called for the immediate release of the anti-Wall prisoners. These demonstrations come on the eve of the Gaza war, where 1,419 Palestinians were killed and at least 5,300 wounded during the 23-day bombardment. During the war, Israeli forces shot and killed Arafat and Mohammed Khawajeh during a Gaza solidarity demonstration in Ni'lin.
http://stopthewall.org/
Egyptians in the Service of Israel
Newspaper: Egypt is building an electronic fence around Rafah city
The Egyptian Al-Shaab newspaper reported that the Egyptian authorities embarked on building an electronic fence around the city of Rafah in order to reduce the entry of goods into Gaza.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Haniyeh urges Mubarak to stop building fence
Hamas prime minister calls for prosecution of Israeli officials, calls on Egyptian president to 'release us from the siege'.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Egyptian forces detain Gaza Freedom Marchers in el-Arish and shut down Gaza Memorial in Cairo
On Sunday, 27 December, the Egyptian security forces detained a group of 30 internationals in their hotel in el-Arish and another group of 8 at the bus station. They also broke up a memorial action commemorating the Cast Lead massacre at the Kasr al Nil Bridge. At noon on December 27, Egyptian security forces detained a group of 30 activists in their hotel in el-Arish as they prepared to leave for Gaza, placing them under house arrest. The delegates, all part of the Gaza Freedom March of 1,300 people, were Spanish, French, British, American, and Japanese. The Egyptian security forces eventually yielded, letting most of the marchers leave the hotel, but did not permit them to leave the town. When two younger delegates, a French and Japanese woman, attempted to leave el-Arish, the Egyptian authorities stopped their taxi and unloaded their luggage. Another group of eight people, including citizens from American, British, Spanish, Japanese and Greece, were detained at the bus station of Al Arish in the afternoon of December 27. As of 3:30pm, they were still being held.
http://palsolidarity.org/2009/
Gaza aid held up in Jordan - 26 Dec 09
Since June 2007 Gaza has been under a crippling blockade with few essential goods making it through. Now an aid convoy of 250 trucks and ambulances is attempting to reach the Strip to deliver much needed supplies. But a bureaucratic argument with Egypt is holding it back in Aqaba in southwest Jordan. Al Jazeera's Clayton Swisher reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
French protestors camp out in front of Cairo embassy (AFP)
AFP - French protesters camped out in front of the their embassy in Cairo to protest a ban on them from travelling from Egypt to Gaza for a march in support of the blockaded Palestinian enclave.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Palestinians in the Service of Israel
PA arrests another suspect in shooting attack
ination of gunmen who killed Moshe Hai in West Bank last week, security organizations continue efforts to locate those involved in incident.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Hamas: PA security detained three affiliates in Jenin and Nablus
Bethlehem – Ma’an – PA security services detained three Hamas affiliates over the past week from two West Bank governorates, the party said in a statement. The three were both reportedly students, two from the Arab American University of Jenin and the third attending the An-Najah National University of Nablus.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Hamas: “Israeli Crime In Nablus, An Outcome Of Security Coordination With Zionist Entity”
Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, reported Saturday that the execution of three fighters in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, come as an outcome of the security coordination between the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas and the “Zionist entity”. The three fighters are members of the Al Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fateh movement led by president Mahmoud Abbas.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
Mubarak Blows His Big Chance
Gee, thanks President Mubarak... Thanks for ruining Christmas for so many. But that’s par for the course in the cesspit of treachery that is the Middle East. The human tragedy of Gaza just gets worse and worse. Nobody seriously believed the Viva Palestina convoy would get through unmolested; and so it came to pass… It is stranded at Aqaba, and its precious cargo is spoiling in the heat, because Mubarak’s henchmen will not allow it to enter Egypt through the port of Nuweiba.
http://palestinechronicle.com/
The Middle East's Master Pimp
December 27, 2009 "ICH" Cairo - December 26, 2009 -- The activities of the rent boys who parade up and down Al-Shawarby Street in Cairo provide a good metaphor for the relationship the Egyptian Government has with Israel and the US. Both are quite shameless and ruthless; prepared to do whatever it takes to please ... in order to secure a fistful of dollars. But at least the man whores of Al Shawarby are honest about their trade as they eagerly hustle potential customers. Yes, they are shameless but so is the Egyptian Government as it continues to enforce the brutal siege in Gaza for Israel's pleasure and America's dollars. The tears it sheds for the besieged people of Gaza are crocodilian. And today the government stands before its people completely naked, without honour as the last fig leaf of decency floats despairingly to the ground.
http://www.
Violence and Aggression
Palestinian woman unharmed after settler opens fire
Hebron – Ma'an – An Israeli settler opened fire at a woman while she was herding sheep near Hebron on Sunday, Palestinian and Israeli sources said. Witnesses identified the woman as Khadra Al-Hathalin, saying she collapsed and fainted during the incident, in which a settler fired from the Caramel settlement, adjacent to the Palestinian village of the same name.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Israeli tanks invade areas in northern and southern Gaza Strip
In two separate attacks, Israeli tanks invaded on Monday areas close to the northern and southern Gaza Israeli borders. The first invasion took place on Monday morning when tanks and bulldozers rolled into farm lands near Khan Younis town southern Gaza. Witnesses said that tanks opened fire at resident homes while bulldozers damaged crops. No injuires were reported.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
Detainees
Israel kidnaps 8 Palestinians in Hebron
West Bank, December 28, 2009 (Pal Telegraph) - The Israeli occupation forces kidnapped on Monday morning 8 Palestinians in Hebron, West Bank. Local media sources clarified that Israeli occupation forces raided different areas in Hebron. After they had invaded the citizens' houses, they arrested number of them and transferred them to investigation centers. The detainees are children under 18 years and they are Anas Shaker, 15, Moaz Sweti, 15, Abed Allah Sweti, 14, and Ahdi Sweti, 14. Also, IOF raided other houses from the same families.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/
War on Gaza, One Year Later
Noam Chomsky Audio: Gaza, One Year Later
A report back and critical look at Gaza, one year after the invasion. Noam Chomsky is a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is a world renown linguists, philosopher, cognitive scientist and political activist. Here, Chomsky speaks about the strategic isolation of Gaza from the rest of the Palestinian territories, the continued US/Israeli crimes, the corrupt Israeli prison system, the Israeli decision to choose expansion over security and many other US backed Israeli atrocities committed with complete impunity and in violation of international law. This event was sponsored by Newton Dialogue on Peace and War, Boston Coalition for Palestinian Rights, CodePink, Greater Boston, Jewish Women for Justice in Israel/Palestine, and others. Prasannan Parthasarthi was moderator. This program was produced on December 8, 2009.
http://www.zmag.org/zaudio/
Gaza: The War of Words - 28 Dec 09 - Part 1
A year on from Israel's offensive in Gaza, another battle is still being played out. The war of words between Israel and opponents of last year's war continues, with the latest flare up centred on the UN's Goldstone report. But while everyone is busy apportioning blame, there is little chance of developments to the peace process and hopes for justice are fading. Gaza: The War of Words explores the various claims and counter-claims against Israel and Hamas that have been made in the past year and looks at the international community's rol in that war of words.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Gaza: The War of Words - 28 Dec 09 - Part 2
A year on from Israel's offensive in Gaza, another battle is still being played out. The war of words between Israel and opponents of last year's war continues, with the latest flare up centred on the UN's Goldstone report. But while everyone is busy apportioning blame, there is little chance of developments to the peace process and hopes for justice are fading. Gaza: The War of Words explores the various claims and counter-claims against Israel and Hamas that have been made in the past year and looks at the international community's rol in that war of words.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Talk to Al Jazeera - Richard Falk - 27 Dec 09 - Part 1
Professor Richard Falk describes himself as an American Jew, but it is his support of Palestinian rights that has earned him the profile and abuse that is threatening to overshadow five decades of achievements as a lawyer, an academic and an author. One year after Israel's war on Gaza, Al Jazeera talks to the UN special rapporteur on Palestine and asks him about his views on that war, the impact of the Obama presidency and the future of the peace process.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Talk to Al Jazeera - Richard Falk - 27 Dec 09 - Part 2
Professor Richard Falk describes himself as an American Jew, but it is his support of Palestinian rights that has earned him the profile and abuse that is threatening to overshadow five decades of achievements as a lawyer, an academic and an author. One year after Israel's war on Gaza, Al Jazeera talks to the UN special rapporteur on Palestine and asks him about his views on that war, the impact of the Obama presidency and the future of the peace process.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Israeli ammunition 'causes birth defects' - 27 Dec 09
Israeli bombings of the Gaza Strip in 2006 and in the war this year have left a high concentration of toxic metals in its soil, according to the findings of a study by a weapons research group made up of independent doctors and scientists based in Italy. Doctors in Gaza believe the toxic waste, along with the trauma of war, is the reason they're seeing a high number of babies with birth defects. Sherine Tadros reports from Gaza.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
The Children of Gaza share their experiences of "Cast Lead" - 27 Dec 09
The first Israeli airstrikes of "Operation Cast Lead" took the people of Gaza by surprise. School children were among those going about their ordinary lives on the day of the attack. Their world was flung quickly into chaos. Some of them told Al Jazeera their recollections of the horror.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Police recruits retell their experiences of "Cast Lead" - 27 Dec 2009
One year ago the unsuspecting people of Gaza had their lives torn apart by the military offensive that Israel dubbed "Operation Cast Lead". When the first attack struck, police officers were training on their parade ground in Gaza City. Within seconds, dozens of them friends lay dead or severely injured. Three of them told Al Jazeera their recollections of that day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Witness - Gaza Fixer 2 - 27 Dec 09 - Part 1
Raed Atharmneh has been the right-hand man for journalists covering Gaza for many years, providing essential knowledge, contacts and logistical backup for a number of reporters. In 2006 he became part of the news story himself, when 18 members of his family were killed by an Israeli bomb. In Gaza Fixer 2, filmmakers George Azar and Mariam Shahin return to see how Raed and his family are surviving in the aftermath of the 2008/9 Gaza war.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Witness - Gaza Fixer 2 - 27 Dec 09 - Part 2
Raed Atharmneh has been the right-hand man for journalists covering Gaza for many years, providing essential knowledge, contacts and logistical backup for a number of reporters. In 2006 he became part of the news story himself, when 18 members of his family were killed by an Israeli bomb. In Gaza Fixer 2, filmmakers George Azar and Mariam Shahin return to see how Raed and his family are surviving in the aftermath of the 2008/9 Gaza war.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Child born into a life of conflict in Gaza
Mariam al-Sharif was born a year ago into a world of conflict and violence. Her extended family marks her first birthday, crowding around a cake with one pink candle on it. The walls of their front room in northern Gaza are still riddled with bullet and mortar shell holes. Israel began a three-week long assault on Gaza a couple of hours after Mariam came into the world.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/
Gaza war mother tells how she and her 'miracle baby' survived against the odds
At the aniversary of the three-week Israeli war, a Beit Lahia resident describes how, revived from a coma, she met her new son delivered by caesarean after she was almost left for dead
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Attacked by an Israeli drone
In a short film by Medical Aid for Palestinians, Wafa al-Radia tells how she and her sister were attacked by an Israeli drone last year during the Gaza conflict
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Gisha: One Year Since Gaza War: No Access By the Numbers
Despite the fact that a year has passed since the start of the Gaza military operation, the damage caused by three weeks of war and the near total closure preceding it has yet to be repaired. The reason: Israel's ongoing policy blocking goods from entering the Gaza Strip, including a near total ban on reconstruction materials.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/
One Year After Israeli Invasion of Gaza, World Leaders Fail to Act but Global Citizens Step Forward
One year ago, the brutal Israeli 22-day invasion of the Gaza Strip shocked the world, leaving some 1,400 people dead, thousands more wounded, as well as hospitals, schools, prisons, UN facilities, factories, agricultural processing plants and some 20,000 homes damaged or destroyed. As we mark the one-year anniversary of the invasion, the plight of the people of Gaza continues unabated.
http://www.zcommunications.
Gaza, a year later by Adam Horowitz
There are several ways to look at the legacy of the Israeli assault on Gaza last winter. One way is simply to look at the numbers. Two recent reports put the devastating effect of the attacks in perspective. Mohammad Alsaafin has a useful post over on Kabobfest breaking down the statistics from the recent report from international humanitarian and human rights organizations – "Failing Gaza: No rebuilding, no recovery, no more excuses." After that, the Israeli NGO Gisha looks at the damage wrought by the war and how Israel has, or hasn’t, facilitated reconstruction.
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/12/
Gaza, Never Forget
http://maxblumenthal.com/2009/
I will pay the price for this testimony when I return'
Bethlehem – Ma'an – An estimated 300 Palestinians were killed in the first 48 hours of Israel's winter assault on the Gaza Strip, which entered its second day one year ago today. With an increased focus on Rafah, Israeli warplanes bombarded around 100 more targets on 28 December 2008, leaving about 70 more Palestinians dead, and raising the child death toll to 22 and the civilian toll to 60, including nine women. Israeli jets struck Islamic University in Gaza City, the offices of de facto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, and the Saraya prison, ironically killing four members of Hamas' domestic rival Fatah, as well as three mosques and 11 homes and apartments.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Gaza: Countdown To Genocide, Sonja Karkar
They came one cold December day. Not fearless warriors but fearsome hoards hell-bent on destruction of the genocidal kind that leaves no room for regeneration. That was one year ago in Gaza. The attack shocked a complacent world into finally seeing Israel's merciless ferocity against the Palestinians already hounded, herded and imprisoned in compounds throughout their land, if not actually driven out. More than sixty years of Western devotion to Israel's security was blown wide open as truth shattered spin in three weeks of carnage and devastation.
http://www.zmag.org/znet/
Gaza: 'We'll Never Forget' [Video]
http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/
Gaza 2009: We Will Never Forget [different than above]
Dec. 27, 2009 is the one year anniversary of the illegal Israeli invasion of Gaza. This video documents some of the illegal Israeli violations, atrocities and crimes against humanity, it is only a small part of the ongoing Israeli military aggression.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
An International Crime Called Gaza, Dr. Elias Akleh
A fully pre-meditated international crime of genocide has been taking place during the last 62 years in the heart of the Arab World. The victims are the Palestinian people especially those in the Gaza Strip. The assassin is the worst ever terrorist group deceptively called the Israeli Defense Forces under the leadership of the theocratically most racist "god's chosen" deceitfully self-proclaimed "democratic Jewish-only" Israel. Israel had been created, financed, armed, and politically protected by, mainly, British and American rapture-vision-obsessed Talmudist power elites consisting of profit-seeking financiers and military-industrial complex.
http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/
Humanitarian/Human Rights/Siege
Israel chokes Gazan fishing sector
In the Oslo Accords, Israel promised to allow Gazans to fish 37 km from the coast, yet has gradually reduced the distance to a mere 5.5 km. The restriction severely harms tens of thousands of persons who live off fishing and affiliated industries.
http://www.btselem.org/
Locked in: Life in Gaza - 25 Dec 09 - Part 1
Munzer al-Dayyeh is a mechanic living in Gaza. In a land of ruin and disrepair, Munzer is kept busy fixing generators and repairing motorbikes. In June 2007, Israel placed Gaza under siege and imposed an unprecedented blockade on nearly all movement and supplies in and out of the Gaza Strip. Munzer is a traditional man from a conservative society where inter-marriage is common. In Munzer's case, inter-breeding has brought hereditary problems most of his children are either visually impaired or physically handicapped. But, Munzer can not find any way to get his children out of Gaza to get medical treatment. This film offers an insight into an everyday man struggling to make a living and to find a solution for his family in the unique difficulties of the Gaza Strip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Locked in: Life in Gaza - 25 Dec 09 - Part 2
Munzer al-Dayyeh is a mechanic living in Gaza. In a land of ruin and disrepair, Munzer is kept busy fixing generators and repairing motorbikes. In June 2007, Israel placed Gaza under siege and imposed an unprecedented blockade on nearly all movement and supplies in and out of the Gaza Strip. Munzer is a traditional man from a conservative society where inter-marriage is common. In Munzer's case, inter-breeding has brought hereditary problems most of his children are either visually impaired or physically handicapped. But, Munzer can not find any way to get his children out of Gaza to get medical treatment. This film offers an insight into an everyday man struggling to make a living and to find a solution for his family in the unique difficulties of the Gaza Strip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Is it illegal to go to school?, Posted on: December 25, 2009
Is it illegal to go to school? That question has been asked many times in occupied Palestine., On 20 December 2009, the Israeli military confiscated a Palestinian vehicle used to transport children to and from school in al-Fakheit in the southern tip of the West Bank, as they were returning from school. Israeli soldiers stopped the vehicle, forced the children to walk home, and took the vehicle to a nearby military base across the Green Line in Israel.
http://palsolidarity.org/2009/
Racism and Discrimination
Israeli linguist wants Arab train stations to have Hebrew names
Dr. Avshalom Kor, the expert on Hebrew grammar and semantics, whose name perhaps is a household word for his language corner on Israel Radio, is proposing Hebracizing the names of all 19 stations in Jerusalem's new light rail, even in Arab areas and never mind any non-Hebrew landmarks nearby. Kor puts forth his ideas in a proposal to the joint governmental-municipal task force overseeing the light rail project. It will cross Jerusalem from Mount Herzl in the west to Pisgat Ze'ev in the east, passing through some neighborhoods that are mostly Arab. Kor says he prefers names that "endow Israel's legacy."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Political Developments
'Netanyahu near deal with U.S. on renewed Mideast peace talks'
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is close to finalizing an agreement with the administration of United States President Barack Obama for peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, lasting two years, that will discuss the Palestinian demand for borders based on the 1967 lines and will include an exchange of territory and suitable security arrangements, former justice minister Yossi Beilin told the Meretz party leadership yesterday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Netanyahu: No more excuses - time is ripe for Mideast peace
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that the "conditions are ripe" for renewing peace negotiations with the Palestinians, adding that he planned to raise the issue with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak during his visit to Cairo this week.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
US asks Israel to clarify deadly West Bank raid (AFP)
AFP - Washington has questioned Israel over a deadly West Bank raid over the weekend that killed three members of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah movement, an Israeli official said on Sunday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
PA under pressure to cut ties with Israel
Gaza – Ma’an – The Palestinian Authority came under pressure on Saturday to end security cooperation with Israel in the wake of the slaying of six Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. "It was a message to the Palestinian rivals to unify their efforts to confront the occupation," said Mustafa Sawwaf, the editor of Gaza’s Filastin (Palestine) newspaper.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Fatah Warns of 3rd Intifada - This Time Directed against PA
The killing of the three Fatah operatives in Nablus by the Israeli occupation army over the weekend could trigger a third intifada, Fatah officials warned on Sunday. But the new intifada, they said, would be different from the first two -this time it would be directed against the Palestinian Authority. During the funerals of the three men, all veteran members and leaders of Fatah's armed wing, the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, thousands of Palestinians chanted slogans accusing the PA of collusion with Israel and calling for an end to security coordination with Israel and the dismantling of the PA.
http://www.almanar.com.lb/
Haneya says prisoner exchange deal "imminent"
GAZA, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Deposed Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haneya on Sunday said a prisoner exchange deal between his Islamic movement and Israel would be reached soon. "We are regarding the imminent swap as a prelude to the hope and the national joy that are beyond political gains," Haneya said in a televised speech on the first anniversary of Israel's offensive on the Gaza Strip. Haneya hinted out the goal of the swap, in which Hamas will free the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, is to secure the release "of prisoners who have been waiting to be freed from Israeli jails for long years."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/
Gaza factions regroup and rearm after war - 27 Dec 09
It's one year to the day since Israel unleashed a military camapign on the Gaza Strip. The stated goal of the action was to stop rocket attacks from the strip into southern Israel. There has been a dramatic decrease over the previous year, but Palestinian factions claim this is a result of the ceasefire, rather than decreased ability. As Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin reports from Gaza, factions remain adamant that their capabilities have only improved.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Analysis/Op-ed/Human Interest
The lies of the New York Times: and the sneaky correction and editing of headlines and articles on the website
This should be a regular feature: how the New York Times now regularly changes headlines and texts after they appear in the paper edition of the Times. The headline of the article of Ethan Bronner (the chief justifier of Israeli killings and murder for the paper, assisted by a couple of token natives who sign their names to articles, before they complain in private about the articles themselves) as it appeared in my morning edition of the Times was: "Israeli Army Kills Suspects in Jewish Settler's Death". Now the article was quite outrageous on many levels. So even when the Palestinians are killed, the story feature an Israeli "victim". But the headline was also outrageous on another level: Israel killed six Palestinians in total: three in the West Bank and three in Gaza, but the headline makes a generalization about the killing of the six, as if it was one "operation" in response to the killing of an Israeli "victim". Another level is the use of the word "suspect". So for the Times, if you are a suspect, it is justifiable to kill you. The headline was later changed on the website to read: "Israel Kills Six Palestinians." But the damage has already been done despite the sneaky changing of the headline. But it does not end there.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
Remembering Tiberias
In memory of Anis Sayigh who died the other day, I am posting an interview with him regarding his memory of Tiberias. When Palestine is liberated, we need to name a library or a university after him in Palestine.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
Ex-Mossad Agent with pictures of his servants
Look at the pictures of his servants behind him. PS I have posted this picture before when it first appeared in the Israeli press two years or so ago, but I am re-posting because some of you have not seen it before. For those who asked me, the Mossad servant to the right, is none other than Mustafa Barazani.
Isabel Kershner’s recent piece in the NYT, "Tough Military Stance Stirs Little Debate in Israel," reports Israel’s current war doctrine, whereby "as long as the targets are legitimate ones, the whole point is to try to overwhelm the enemy with maximum force." But what about civilian casualties? "Israel says that while mistakes were made, it chose its targets on purely military merits and went to extraordinary lengths to warn civilians in Gaza to leave areas under attack." In op-eds and in their blogs, the Hasbara troupe dutifully agrees. If the civilians were warned and didn’t leave, then they’re responsible for their own deaths. But the Zionist line was very different a few years ago.
Israel resembles a failed state
A year after Israel's attack and after more than two-and-a-half years of blockade, the Palestinian people in Gaza have not surrendered. Instead they have offered the world lessons in steadfastness and dignity, even at an appalling, unimaginable cost. Ali Abunimah comments.
http://electronicintifada.net/
Britain’s Jews in crisis over national loyalty, identity and Israel: Whistleblowers say top Zionist institutions in unprecedented crisis
Britain’s leading Jewish institutions are facing their worst crisis in living memory as their loyalty to the United Kingdom and support for basic universal principles of human rights and common decency come under growing scrutiny. In recent weeks Redress Information & Analysis has been approached by a number of existing and former employees and volunteers of prominent Jewish bodies, all pointing to an acute internal crisis within their institutions.
http://www.redress.cc/zionism/
Akiva Eldar / Israel has a double standard on freeing 'terrorists', Akiva Eldar
In a few years, hopefully not too many, Palestine's education minister will publish a letter to students ahead of the launch of the new curriculum his ministry initiated, in cooperation with the Arafat Heritage Center. The curriculum will extol the work of the Palestinian freedom fighters who were executed by the Israeli occupation forces. The program will include an essay contest on the life's work of Raad Sarkaji, Adnan Subuh and Ghassan Abu Shreikh, three young men from Nablus who were shot to death by Israeli soldiers on December 26, 2009, on suspicion of assassinating a Jewish settler on the land of Palestine. "I hope this curriculum, which tells of the devotion of the martyrs to Palestinian independence, will strengthen the students' bond to and knowledge of the Palestine Liberation Organization's struggle to establish the state," the Palestinian minister will write. "I believe that the stories of the martyrs, and their faith and willingness to sacrifice will set an example for our youth." True, these lines, with the appropriate changes, are taken from the salutation by Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar, who has initiated new educational activities on the 12 Jewish men who were sent to the gallows or committed suicide during the British Mandate.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
'Footnotes in Gaza' by Joe Sacco
Joe Sacco's "Footnotes in Gaza" is not a sequel to his 1996 book " Palestine," although it's tempting to read it as such. Both are works of comic-book journalism that take place in the occupied territories, and both offer a ground's-eye-view of situations that seem too big, too incomprehensible for us to wrap our minds around. But while "Palestine" is a portrait of its moment, an account of Sacco's visit to the West Bank and Gaza during the early 1990s, "Footnotes in Gaza" is a more expansive effort. Built around two forgotten incidents (the 1956 mass killings of Palestinians in Rafah and Khan Younis), it is a book that digs deep, exploring the relationship of past and present, memory and experience -- rigorously reported yet always aware of the elusive nature of testimony, the way that stories solidify and harden over time.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/
Iraq
Sunday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 42 Wounded
Officials estimate that six to eight million pilgrims were in Karbala for the climax of Ashura observances and rituals. Over 100,000 of them were foreigners. Although no incidents were reported there, attacks against pilgrims returning to their homes continued. At least seven Iraqis were killed and 42 more were wounded across the country.
http://original.antiwar.com/
Four Iraqi Shiites killed in Ashura attack (AFP)
AFP - A bomb Sunday ripped through a procession marking Shiite Islam's solemn Ashura ceremonies, killing four people and wounding 19 in a town near the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk, police said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Iraq Youth Minister escapes death
During Ashura, Iraqi Youth Minister Jassem Mohammed Jaafar escaped death due to a bomb explosion in Toz Kharmeto. Five were killed and 27 were wounded among mourners observing Ashura, a security source reported
http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/
Iraq poll critical for stability - 28 Dec 09
After months of delay, Iraq finally set an election date for March 2010. The vote is seen as a critical step towards the withdrawal of US troops. But can it herald a new era for a country besieged by years of violence and unrest? Al Jazeera's Mosab Jasim reports on Iraqis' hopes for the upcoming ballot, but David Mack, a former US diplomat in Iraq, tells Al Jazeera that if political reconciliation cannot be reached, the election could cause more instability.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Iraq to separate boys and girls in schools
Strict traditions and social conventions are back in the spotlight in Iraq with the decision of Iraq's Education Ministry to separate boys and girls in Sadr City schools. The Ministry’s surprising decision spurred mounting debates. Decision advocators confirm that social and religious status in Sadr City does not permit to mix boys and girls in schools. Protestors say they have yield to the decision though it contradicts their personal convictions, the director general of Al Sadr Directorate Education, Hussein Al Abudi, said. The decision to segregate primary school children in Sadr City has been condemned by human activists and social researchers. They said that was contrary to Iraq's Constitution which guaranteed freedoms and rights to both sexes. "We think that the decision was hasty and it did not take Iraq's circumstances in consideration," said Hassan Shabaan, an Iraqi human rights activist and social researcher.
http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/
Disappointments in Samarra
Hazlitt got gloomily drunk for a fortnight after the battle of Waterloo, accurately anticipating that decades of reaction lay ahead, now that Boney had been definitely put away, with the Holy Alliance in the saddle and the French contagion safely bottled up. Smart fellow, that Hazlitt. He should have stayed drunk for a month. Sometimes, on the edge of a new decade, things look dismal but one has the feeling that something good just might be around the corner. The 70s for example: at their onset, Nixon was in the high noon of his first term, drenching Vietnam in blood, while his attorney general John Mitchell pored over plans to lock up the left at home. It looked as though darkest night was falling.
http://www.counterpunch.com/
Lebanon
Hariri urges 'real' ties with Syria
Saad al-Hariri, the Lebanese prime minister, has called for a renewal of ties with Syria following a landmark visit to the country. Speaking at a news conference in Damascus at the end of his two day visit on Sunday, al-Hariri said "we want privileged, sincere and honest relations ... it is in the interest of both countries and both peoples". Regional commentators, including Hassan Nasrallah, Lebanon's Hezbollah chief, have welcomed the visit as a significant ice-breaking development.
http://english.aljazeera.net/
Nasrallah: Israel's greed, brutality have no borders
Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah has urged Muslims to be vigilant against the "borderless Israeli greed and brutality." "Israel is an entity that has stolen Palestine and Jerusalem Al-Quds. This entity's greed, terrorism and brutality have no borders," said Nasrallah who was addressing thousands of people in Beirut on Sunday as part of ceremonies held to mark the Ashura anniversary. "Millions of refugees in Palestine and outside Palestine have been living far away from their homes for decades. More than 11,000 prisoners and detainees are living in very harsh conditions in Israeli prisons," he noted. "[Palestinian] houses are being demolished and agriculture is being destroyed in order to force Palestinians to flee," Nasrallah said.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.
Sayyed Nasrallah: Despite Longtime Challenges, Hezbollah Is At Its Best
26/12/2009 Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah congratulated at the beginning of his speech on Friday night the Muslims and Christians of the birth of Jesus Christ (peace be upon him), the doer of miracles, which restored to the people the true faith in their creator, pointing out that the Christ was holding a message of jihad and sacrifices. Marking the ninth night at the Sayyed al-Shouhadaa' compound in Beirut's southern suburb, Sayyed Nasrallah said that the Jews were the ones who hindered the Jesus and accused him and conspired against him, noting that Jesus Christ peace be upon him was a blessing to the people, but that the problem was with the religious, political and financial elite formed by the Jews who found that his mission was a threat to them so they decided to confront him.
http://www.almanar.com.lb/
Sayyed Nasrallah: We Will Not Be Provoked; We'll Achieve No Less Than Victory
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah marked the Ashura commemoration and gave a speech in Beirut’s southern suburb on Sunday. “Today in Dahiyeh, the land of sacrifice, steadfastness, and resistance, we stand along with our people to clearly determine and announce our options. We declare that the American scheme of hegemony threatens our nation, values, and the future of our peoples. We condemn its schemes and wars on our countries and peoples. We condemn its full partnership with Israel in those crimes. We also call upon the nation to be aware of the real nature of this enemy and this plot and not to be mislead by the fake slogans about freedom.”
http://jnoubiyeh.blogspot.com/
U.S. and other world news
As US power dwindles, Middle East politics will continue to shift
I believe the Middle East is experiencing broad strategic political realignments, with insurgent forces gaining in strength, and entrenched forces entering a period of stagnation. Unsurprisingly, the regional flux is being driven by the decline of empire, and the attendant regional state opportunism. If current trends continue, the next decade will likely see a regionally diminished Egypt, an increasingly isolated Israel, and eventually less American interventionism and sponsorship. Concurrently, Syrian power and prestige will increase, Lebanon will consolidate Hezbollah’s moral authority, and Turkey will increasingly emphasize its Eastern and Islamic roots to enhance its regional role. What happens in Iran depends in large part on whether America and Israel attack, I believe. The assumption that the American empire is in decline is crucial to this analysis, so it’s worth spending time explaining its basis.
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/12/
Iran seizes opposition figures
Outspoken critics of the government arrested after a day of violent clashes in Tehran.
http://english.aljazeera.net//
Afghan children killed in air raid
Suspected Western air strike has reportedly left 10 civilians dead in Kunar province.
http://english.aljazeera.net/
www.TheHeadlines.org
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