Shadi Fadda brings us today's headlines relating to Palestine and other news from around the internet.
Settlements/Land Theft and Destruction
White House opposes new Jerusalem-area construction (Reuters)
Reuters - The White House called on Monday for Israel to halt construction of new homes for Jews in East Jerusalem and urged Israel and the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table as soon as possible.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
The Occupied West Bank Latroun Villages
On June 6, 1967, when Israeli forces invaded Gaza and the West Bank, on the second day of the so-called Six-Day War (June 5 - 10, 1967), they entered three Palestinian villages in the Latroun salient - Imwas, Yalo and Beit Nouba, forcibly expelling the residents, numbering over 10,000 at the time. By the next day, most were gone while Israel began razing village lands and erasing their memory in an area well-known for its water resources and fertility, located northwest of Jerusalem along the Green Line. One soldier at the time explained that they.
http://palestinechronicle.com/
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment
Israeli Occupation Forces arrest two village youth during night raid in Bil’in early Tuesday morning
Israeli Occupation Forces arrested two village youth from the small West Bank village of Bil’in early Tuesday morning during a night raid operation there around 2:30 am. Lookouts with the Bil’in Committee for Popular Resistance Against the Wall and Settlements spotted Israeli soldiers near the Southwest gates of the town as well as in the Western groves of olive trees around 1am Tuesday morning and quickly mobilized the rest of the night patrol team.
http://palsolidarity.org/2009/
Gaza aid convoy to change course
Viva Palestina to re-route via Syria to enter Gaza through the Mediterranean.
http://english.aljazeera.net/
Robert Naiman, "Egypt Blocks Americans from Gaza March, Stops Aid Convoy"
The British-initiated aid convoy has at least been mentioned by the BBC, but NPR has not reported on the U.S.-initiated Gaza Freedom March. Wouldn't you be a little bit curious to know what explanations the New York Times, the Washington Post, and NPR would provide for ignoring these developments? Why not ask the Public Editor at the New York Times, ask the Ombudsman at the Washington Post, and ask the Ombudsman at NPR to give it their best shot?
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.
As Gaza Freedom Marchers persist in Cairo, solidarity actions across the globe
Reports from Gaza Freedom March participants in Cairo are rolling in so quickly that I am struggling to keep up. Here are just a few of the reports we've been receiving.
http://endtheoccupationblog.
Demonstrators to protest closure of Beituniya military checkpoint in solidarity with families of Palestinian political prisoners and in support of lawyers’ strike
December 29, 2009 | ShareThis, 29 December 2009, The Popular Struggle Coordination Committee and the Palestinian Society Prisoners’ Club called for a demonstration on Tuesday, 29 December 2009, to protest the closure of the Beituniya checkpoint, the only access route for many families and lawyers of prisoners held at Ofer military prison. All visitors must now go through the Qalandiya checkpoint, which however requires a permit to enter Israel. These permits are frequently denied to family members of political prisoners as well as their lawyers.
http://palsolidarity.org/2009/
Gaza Freedom March Members Gain a Small Taste of the Palestinian Experience
Gaza Freedom March participants, numbering 1,360 people from 42 countries, have assembled in Cairo, Egypt, where they plan to break the Israeli imposed siege on Gaza by delivering humanitarian relief supplies, on December 31st. After passing through the Rafah border crossing which divides Egypt and Gaza, they aim to join 50,000 Palestinians in a march across the Gaza Strip, ending at the Erez border crossing which leads into Israel.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Stymied in Cairo–still something is gelling among the international marchers
The Egyptian authorities have told the organizers of the Gaza Freedom March once, twice, three times and four that we can’t go to Gaza, but the organizers will go back a fifth, sixth and seventh time, Medea Benjamin promised outside the U.N. offices in Cario here today. Still, it doesn’t look good for our year-end march. The chances are “less than zero,” says a friend.
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/12/
Hedy Epstein and others begin hunger strike to pressure Egypt on Gaza, Adam Horowitz
About two weeks ago we posted on Hedy Epstein’s challenge to Elie Wiesel to travel to Gaza. She is now in Cairo trying to get into Gaza, and has embarked on a hunger strike to pressure the Egyptian government to let the Gaza Freedom March enter the occupied territories. Epstein explains, "It is important to let the besieged Gazan people know they are not alone. I want to tell the people I meet in Gaza that I am a representative of many people in my city and in other places in the US who are outraged at what the US, Israeli and European governments are doing to the Palestinians and that our numbers are growing."
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/12/
This is what we’re doing for the Gaza Freedom March in Cairo
An American friend of mine, currently living in Cairo, just sent out this missive about current activities here in the Egyptian capital. I also just returned from the French Embassy protest, witnessing around 1000 riot police surrounding around 300 French protestors, demanding the Egyptian government open the borders into Gaza and allow decency to return to the region.
http://antonyloewenstein.com/
Roger Waters of Pink Floyd has Sent the Gaza Freedom Marchers a Message of Goodwill
My name is Roger Waters. I am an English musician living in the USA. I am writing to express my great admiration for and solidarity with the 1360 men and women from 42 different countries around the World who are gathering in Egypt, preparing for The Gaza Freedom March. We all watched, aghast, the vicious attack made a year ago on the people of Gaza by Israeli armed
forces and the ongoing illegal siege. The suffering wrought on the population of Gaza by both the invasion and the siege is unimaginable to us outside the walls. The aim of The Freedom March is to focus world attention on the plight of the Palestinian people in Gaza in the hope that the scales will fall from the eyes of all, ordinary, decent people round the world, that they
may see the enormity of the crimes that have been committed, and demand that their governments bring all possible pressure to bear on Israel to lift the siege.
http://intifada-palestine.com/
Freedom Marching in Circles While Winding Our Way to Gaza, Emily Ratner
CAIRO, EGYPT — The other day we joined the people of Gaza, the people of all of Palestine, and allies around the world in remembering the anniversary of the inhuman and illegal Israeli attacks that stole the lives of more than 1,400 mothers, fathers, daughters, and sons last December and January. And, in a manner far too appropriately suited to remembering an unfathomably vicious massacre and the preposterous silence of the American and Egyptian governments, we freedom marched in circles throughout the streets of Cairo.
http://dissidentvoice.org/
Stop GAZA Siege Protest
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
[Press TV] Protests in Turkey, Commemorating 1st Anniversary of Gaza War
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Gaza Protest New York City
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
GAZA SHALL NOT DIE (Houston Protest)!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel has more than 500 endorsers!
A press release from US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation member group USACBI: 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://endtheoccupationblog.
Palestinians Practice Non-Violent Resistance In Bilin
The West Bank village of Bilin has become an international symbol of Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation. For the past five years, Palestinian activists and their international supporters have gathered there every Friday. Palestinians say the protests are an example of non-violent resistance, a model they are trying to expand. Israel calls them riots and police have been arresting the movement's leaders.
http://www.npr.org/templates/
Jewish Daily Forward covers Hampshire College divestment, tax-exempt status for settlers
Gal Beckerman of The Jewish Daily Forward recently covered the tax-exempt status that the U.S. arms of Israeli settler organizations enjoy, and how these organizations might be in violation of U.S. tax law (the same topic covered by Andrew Kadi and Aaron Levitt of US Campaign member group Adalah-NY in a recent Guardian article).
http://endtheoccupationblog.
Violence/Aggression and Detainees
'Minibus overturned after settlers threw rocks'
Seven Palestinians lightly injured as vehicle travelling near Yitzhar settlement crashes into ditch; passenger blames Jews for accident.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
PA: Police officer injured by settler stoning
Ramallah – Ma’an – The Palestinian Authority (PA) said on Tuesday one of its police officers was injured by stones thrown by Israeli settlers at his car in the village of Biddu, south of Ramallah. A statement from the general administration of the Palestinian police said settlers blocked the road and threw rocks at the officer’s car, breaking the windshield and injuring the man. The statement added that the officer managed to drive past the settlers to the police station in Biddu, where other officers took him to a hospital.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Witnesses: Israeli forces open fire in north Gaza
Gaza – Ma’an – Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday night and Tuesday morning, witnesses said. Palestinians in the area said Israeli forces shot at farmers at 11:30am in the northern border area. They also said five Israeli tanks entered 300 meters into Palestinian territory and swept the area.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Settler shoots Palestinian north of Hebron
Bethlehem – Ma’an – An Israeli settler on Tuesday shot and injured a Palestinian shepherd near the settlement of Bat Ayin, of the city of Hebron, a witness and the Israeli military said. The settlement is built on lands that were confiscated from Palestinian villages of Al-Jab’a, Safa, and Surif.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
The Israeli military kidnaps five civilians from the West Bank
Five Palestinian civilians were kidnapped by Israeli troops on Tuesday during pre dawn invasions targeting a number of west Bank communities.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
Humanitarian/Human Rights/Siege
A patient dies in the Gaza Strip; death toll due to the siege reaches 367
48 years old Mohamed Jassier had hart condition, he needed life saving medical care out side the Gaza Strip but the Israeli army never gave him the permission to leave, medical sources reported. The Palestinian Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip said that with Jassier dearth, the total number of patients who died because of the Israeli siege has reached 367.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
Inside Story - Gaza Under Siege - 28 Dec 2009
For over two years Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza's 1.5 million inhabitants. The blockade includes bans on materials needed to reconstruct the region after the israeli bombing of 2008-9. 80% of the population of Gaza survives on food aid. Inside story asks what motives are behind the restrictions? And what is the human cost?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
PCHR Publishes New Report: "Israeli Attacks on Palestinian Disabled Persons in the Gaza Strip"
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) has published a new report: "Israeli Attacks on Palestinian Disabled Persons in the Gaza Strip." The report documents crimes committed by Israeli occupation forces against disabled Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during the period (1 September 2003 – 30 November 2009).
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/
From a tent to a mud house in Gaza
Majid al-Athamna, 70, stands next to his new home in Gaza's Izbet Abed Rabbo neighborhood of Jabaliya. Since the Israeli attack one year ago, which destroyed his family's three-story building, he and his family lived in a tent. Rami Almeghari reports from the occupied Gaza Strip.
http://electronicintifada.net/
West Bank water struggles
Most of us don’t think about water, even if we know how precious it is. Water is always with us - from our morning shower to the laundry and dishes we do before we go to bed, a constant supply of clean, fresh water brings ease and comfort to our everyday life. But what if the water were not there? How would this impact the things we do, how would it change the way we live? I recently spent the day visiting three communities in the West Bank living with inadequate water supplies. Each community had its own circumstances and response, but when speaking to people I found a central theme emerged. The lack of water or water networks in these locations was greatly compromising their quality of life.
http://www.alertnet.org/
Gaza's entrepreneurial spirit is crushed by blockade
Every day, the rubble from houses destroyed in the Gaza war finds its way to the Nabeeh brick factory in Jabalya, a city in the northern part of the territory. Here, they are crushed into gravel and pressed into bricks. The raw materials are hard to come by and business, despite the urgent need for building materials, is not good. But, says Ahmed Rajab el-Nabeeh, at least the factory keeps him and his sons in work.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/
Israel declares war on international peace NGOs
One year after the devastating attack on Hamas in Gaza a new wave of reports castigating Israel for war crimes has emerged. Now, Israel is fighting back with a report on the reports, picking on international NGOs such as Amnesty, Christian Aid, Oxfam, Trocaire, Finn Church Aid, Diakonia and Cordaid.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Report: The impact of closure and attacks on the Gaza Strip
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) has released a report highlighting the reality of life in the occupied Gaza Strip, and illustrating the dramatic deterioration in the human rights situation brought about by 928 days of continuous illegal closure, as well as numerous offensives, incursions and attacks.
http://electronicintifada.net/
Israeli occupation authorities deny Gaza Christians permission to travel to Bethlehem at Christmas
Israeli occupation forces prevented young Christians from the Gaza Strip from travelling to the West Bank to celebrate Christmas and the New Year. This restrictions were imposed in the context of Israel’s illegal closure of the Gaza Strip, which has now been in place for 928 consecutive days. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns this form of collective punishment, and calls upon the international community to exert pressure on Israeli occupation authorities to cancel their decision and immediately allow all Christians to move freely, to grant access to the Church of the Nativity and Church of the Resurrection, and to respect the right to freedom of religion.
http://palsolidarity.org/2009/
Report: Apartheid against the Palestinian people
http://www.nodo50.org/csca/
"I live today, but I am afraid of tomorrow"
My name is Sema Onbus. I am 37 years old, from Tulkarem refugee camp. My story starts when my brother was killed, on 6 September 2001, when an Apache [attack helicopter] dropped a bomb on him and his friends. It was the same day that my sister was due to get married, and he was on his way from Ramallah to visit the wedding when he was murdered.
http://electronicintifada.net/
Refugees
LEBANON: Hip-hop Kindles Hopes in Destroyed Refugee Camp
NAHR AL-BARED (North Lebanon), Dec 29 (IPS) - The hip-hop beats ringing through the muddy, unlit streets of this burnt-out Palestinian refugee camp seem incongruous. But the rhymes are camp-grown - and courageous.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.
War on Gaza, One Year Later
US congressmen fighting for Gaza - 29 Dec 09
A year after Israel's war on Gaza, the territory is still struggling to rebuild. In the weeks after the offensive, politicians from around the world visited the Strip and made promises to help. But it appears many of those pledges have not been delivered. Al Jazeera's Todd Baer caught up with two US Democratic congressmen whose efforts to lift the Israeli blockade on Gaza are being met with stiff resistance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Riz Khan - Gaza's Open Wounds - 28 Dec 2009 - pt 1
A year after Israel's crushing offensive on Gaza, Riz Khan looks at the human cost of the war.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Riz Khan - Gaza's Open Wounds - 28 Dec 2009 - pt 2
A year after Israel's crushing offensive on Gaza, Riz Khan looks at the human cost of the war.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
OPT: Cast Lead daily stories - Day 3: Yebna Refugee Camp, Rafah
At about 1am on 29 December 2008, the Al-Absi family home in Yebna Refugee Camp, south of Gaza's southern town of Rafah, was bombed and completely destroyed by an Israeli aircraft. All 10 family members were sleeping at the time. Three of the family's children – Sidqi, aged four, Ahmed, 10, and Mohammad, 12 – were killed. Their four sisters and their parents were injured, some of them very seriously. The children's mother, 41-year-old 'Afaf, went into a coma for two months and her 16-year-old daughter Zakiya still requires further surgery to her left arm. Ne'meh, who is now three, was thrown by the force of the blast onto the roof of the adjacent house. Only one of the children, Mahmoud, now 18, escaped without injury. Al Mezan interviewed, 'Afaf's sister, Samira, 45, about how the family is coping almost one year after the attack.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/
Palestinian Journalist Remembers Israel's Assault on Gaza
One year ago this weekend, Israel began its twenty-two-day assault on the Gaza Strip. Dubbed “Operation Cast Lead,” 1,400 Palestinians and thirteen Israelis were killed in what was Israel’s deadliest attack on Palestinians. We look back on Operation Cast Lead with Palestinian journalist Sami Abu Salem, who was in Gaza during the assault. [includes rush transcript]
http://www.democracynow.org/
This is not humane. We need dignity
A year on from Operation Cast Lead, the Gaza blockade is preventing people from leading a minimally respectable civil life.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Palestinians remember the massacre
Palestinians gathered in Gaza City, with flowers and candles, and remembered the over 1400 martyrs, and over 5000 wounded in the Israeli massacre of Gaza.
http://ingaza.wordpress.com/
Horror of Gaza war indelibly burned into world’s collective consciousness
One year has passed since the Israeli military launched an insane war on a defenseless nation in Gaza that shocked the world. The horrific scenes of the war brought more shame for Israel in particular and mankind in general.
http://www.tehrantimes.com/
The Gaza Assault in Perspective
Yesterday marked the one year anniversary of the Israeli assault on Gaza. Note the language- the episode was not a war, nor a conflict; both terms presuppose 2 comparable forces existing in opposition. If an elephant stomps on an ant, this does not qualify as a conflict between the elephant and the ant. Similarly, all attempts to label the attack as a war or a conflict paint an erroneous picture as this having been a contest between 2 vaguely equal belligerents, rather than what it was, namely an assault of possibly the world's most sophisticated military force against a helpless and suffocating largely civilian population. Such an assertion is born out by figures: 1307 Palestinian deaths vs 13 Israeli; 252 under 16's killed vs 0 Israeli, and 773 civilians killed, vs 3 Israeli (all figures from the Israeli NGO B'tselem); as well as other facts and testimony, to which we will return. By the end of the assault, 1 in every 250 Gazans was either dead or significantly injured.
http://www.zcommunications.
Palestinians recall Gaza invasion
Palestine: Thousands of Palestinians living in Gaza Strip recalled on Sunday the first anniversary of the devastating Israeli military offensive against the territory, committing themselves to keep fighting the occupation and Zionist blockade., The mass rally was held in the area surrounding the Palestinian Legislative Council, destroyed by the bombings, and led by Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) leaders. The sirens went at 11:20 am on Sunday, at the same time that the Israeli air force started bombing a police facility, killing at least 30 police agents and wounding a larger number of them.
http://www.dailynews.lk/2009/
Gaza's Untold Story, Mamoon Alabbasi
One year on since Israel's criminally-insane war on Gaza, many are still unaware of the roots of the 'conflict' and the plight of the Palestinian people. Israel would like to have us believe that its latest onslaught was a direct response to resistance rockets or even Hamas's democratic accession to power, forgetting that both of which came into existence as a response to Israeli policies. But even those of us who have seen the true light, and are no longer deceived by the barrage of 'flat earth news', sometimes forget - if we were ever aware of - the depth and complexity of the tragedy. And that is the gap in understanding that veteran American-Palestinian author Ramzy Baroud seeks to fill in his latest book "'My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story" (Pluto Press, London, 2010).
http://www.zcommunications.
Gaza Lives On
One year later, it is very important to remember what happened in Gaza. But it is more important to realize the aspirations of the Palestinian people in Gaza. They deserve our solidarity, respect and reverence. They deserve justice. It is the duty of every person to contribute to break the unprecedented siege and bringing the criminals behind this atrocity to justice. On 27 December 2009, after a year and a half of total siege, the brutal war on Gaza was launched. It was carnage, a disgrace to humanity and civilization, and indictment of the free world. One year later, the siege continues, the disgrace has not been lifted, and the Palestinian people still endure, resist and live. The Zionists either dont understand that, or dont want to. Delusion is a characteristic of mass murders and racist criminals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
“Genocide in Slow Motion”, Alan Hart
December 28, 2009 "Information Clearing House" -- On the first anniversary of the beginning of Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip – in my view it was a demonstration of Israeli state terrorism at its most naked – it’s not enough to say that the governments of the Western powers (and others) are complicit in Israel’s on-going collective punishment of 1.5 million Palestinians, 53% of whom are children. What is actually happening in the blockaded Gaza Strip, and less obviously on the occupied West Bank, is the continuation by stealth of Zionism’s ethnic cleansing of Palestine. My friend Professor Ilan Pappe, Israel’s leading “revisionist” (meaning honest) historian and author of The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, would and has put it another way. What we are witnessing is, in his words, “genocide in slow motion.” And that, really, is what the governments of the Western powers (and others) are complicit in.
http://www.
Israelis One Year Later
Hebrew University bans student conference on anniversary of Gaza invasion
A student group affiliated with the socialist 'Hadash' party in Israel had organized a conference commemorating and condemning the Israeli invasion of Gaza one year ago, but the Hebrew University administration banned the conference, saying that it violates the University's principles.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
Egyptians in the Service of Israel
Egypt detains 4 Palestinians entering via tunnels
Al-Arish – Ma’an – Egyptian security forces detained four Palestinians in Rafah after they allegedly snuck into the country via smuggling tunnels running from the Salah Ad-Din border area.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Egypt Denies Gaza Freedom March Access to Border, Hundreds Protest in Cairo
In Egypt, hundreds of solidarity activists from around the world are being prevented by the Egyptian government from entering Gaza. Dubbed the Gaza Freedom March, organizers were planning to cross the border last Sunday to commemorate the first anniversary of Israel’s assault on Gaza that killed 1,400 Palestinians and thirteen Israelis. We get a report.
http://www.democracynow.org/
Egypt criticizes French activists protesting in Cairo
CAIRO, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Egypt criticized on Monday French activists protesting in front of their country's embassy in Cairo, who asked to enter the Gaza Strip via the Rafah crossing to participate in the march of solidarity with Gaza people. Those activists did not respect their commitment as they entered Egypt with tourist visas and carried out political activism by organizing a march which violates the conditions of entry, Egypt's MENA news agency quoted Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki as saying.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/
Israel PM in Cairo for talks on peace process (AFP)
AFP - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu travels to Cairo on Tuesday for talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak amid US efforts to revive stalled Middle East peace talks.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
The Egyptian Puppet State, By SAM HUSSEINI
Just after midnight I couldn't sleep. Went out to get a bite to eat or maybe a glass of wine to help me sleep. See several CodePink people and others with the Gaza Freedom March, say they are going to the French embassy -- they had put out an alert: "As we are writing this hundreds of French delegates are camped outside the French Embassy, pitching tents and sleeping bags on the sidewalk, chanting 'Palestine Freedom!' The French Ambassador and his wife are outside negotiating with the delegates and the police and Egyptian authorities. It is a powerful action and the French invite solidarity and support - come wherever you can! This is a critical situation and the police are surrounding the group. Check it out if you can. We will send out an update when possible."
http://www.counterpunch.org/
No Friends in Egypt, Ahmed Amr
This just in - read all about it in Al Ahram - Egypt's semi-official paper. A multi-millionaire, Yehia El Komy, denied marrying Kheloud al Onzy. I ran across this earth shattering news while scanning the front pages of the government operated rag looking for something - anything - relating to the "Viva Palestina" convoy that is now stranded in Jordan. I can't say I was terribly disappointed, but I did expect some mention of the hundreds of French citizens who were protesting in front of their embassy in Cairo. Apparently, these foreign agitators are also making outrageous demands to deliver aid to Gaza. You'd think some genius at Al-Ahram might have noticed that little development and scribbled a few lines about it.
http://palestinechronicle.com/
Palestinians in the Service of Israel
The PA collaboration regime offers its services"
...The PA on Saturday complained to the U.S. that during the raid Israel had unjustly invaded area A, for whose security the Palestinians are solely responsible. The PA demanded that the Americans voice their own position on the matter. Over the weekend, the Palestinians also protested to the coordinator of government activities in the territories, Maj. Gen. Eitan Dangot, that IDF soldiers had entered area A in Nablus and had not allowed PA security forces to arrest the wanted men".
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
Hamas: PA security detained seven affiliates in West Bank
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Palestinian Authority security services detained seven Hamas affiliates from locations in Hebron, Nablus and Qalqiliya overnight, party officials said Tuesday. Among those detained were the mother and daughter of a Palestinian currently being held by Israel. The women were identified as Nahla Samara and her granddaughter daughter Fida Samara by Hamas sources.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Abbas's militias kidnap seven citizens including a mother and her daughter
Militias loyal to Mahmoud Abbas, the former PA chief, rounded up seven Palestinians over the past couple of days in the districts of Qalqilia, Nablus and Al-Khalil including a mother and her daughter.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Prisoner Abu Al-Heija slams Abbas’s militias for kidnapping his wife and son
Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jails Jamal Abu Al-Heija strongly denounced Mahmoud Abbas’s militias for summoning his wife for interrogation and kidnapping his son Abdelsalam.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
PA: Hamas Is Responsible For Gaza War
The Palestinian Authority presidency has issued an announcement marking the first anniversary of the Gaza war, blaming Hamas for the heavy damage caused to Palestinians in Gaza. It said that if Hamas had not taken over Gaza by coup, its residents would not have suffered so greatly. Source: Al-Hayat Al-Jadia, Palestinian Authority, December 28, 2009
http://www.thememriblog.org/
The PA stands accused
It is widely assumed that the PA security apparatus played a certain role in the hideous murder by the criminal Israeli occupation army of three Fatah operatives in Nablus a few days ago.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
PA moves to arrest Palestinian Journalists Syndicate head
In an unprecedented move, the Palestinian Authority prosecutor-general on Monday issued an arrest warrant against the chairman of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, Naim Toubassi, on charges of financial corruption and slander. The decision to arrest Toubassi, a veteran pro-Fatah journalist and editor, triggered protests from dozens of Palestinian journalists who staged a demonstration outside the PA government offices in Ramallah.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/
PA fears Hezbollah infiltrating Fatah
Palestinian Authority discovers proof Hezbollah behind shooting attack that killed Meir Hai.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
He wants to liberate Palestine with a beauty pageant
"The Palestine beauty pageant would have been a powerful statement to the world that Palestinians will not surrender to the occupation nor allow the suffering to dictate how they live their lives. It also would have been a powerful statement to themselves to energize their inner spirit and allow them to find strength just when strength is needed most." Forget about his irrelevant and useless political views--if that is what they are--but somebody needs to break the news to Ray Hanania. You are not funny, man. Not funny at all. And notice that when he speaks about zealotry in the Jerusalem Post, of all places, he is only talking about zealotry among Palestinians because he won't be permitted to speak against Israeli zealotry. I wonder if he has an unfunny joke about that.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
Saudis in the Service of Israel
The Saudi-Israeli honeymoon
I normally avoid linking to the Saudi sleaze website, Elaph. It lures visitors with sexist and sleazy pictures and then promotes Saudi and Israeli propaganda interests. And I find more evidence of Israeli-planted propaganda stories in Elaph than I find in any other Saudi propaganda outlet. It is very clear that there is a presence of Israeli propagandists at the site. And when you see an Israeli propaganda story, lie, or opinion it is always signed by what appears to be a fake name. Here, there is an article headlined "Israel: the state of economic miracles." And in Israeli propaganda in Elaph, there is no subtlety. If Israel is such an economic miracle, why do successive Israeli governments come groveling and crawling in Washington, DC begging for more financial aid?
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
Political Developments
Shin Bet chief: Shalit deal won't topple Abbas
Closing the Shalit deal will be a great achievement for Hamas but it will not bring down Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Shin Bet security chief Yuval Diskin said Monday. Speaking to Israeli ambassadors gathered at the Foreign Ministry, Diskin said the Shin Bet security service does not believe a third intifada is about to break out in the territories at this stage. "The Shalit deal would be a slap in the face for Abbas and a great public opinion achievement for Hamas," Diskin said. He was answering Dorit Shavit, the Foreign Ministry's Deputy Director General for Latin America, who asked how the Shalit deal would effect Abbas' status.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Why Netanyahu really wants Livni in his cabinet, Akiva Eldar
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is resurrecting the ghosts of Menachem Begin and Levi Eshkol, who created a unity government on the eve of the Six-Day War. The publication in Haaretz Monday of Yossi Beilin's report to the Meretz leadership the day before has opened the ministers' eyes a bit.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Lieberman urges diplomats: Show world Israel has done enough for peace
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Sunday urged Israeli diplomats to show the world that Israel has "done enough" in its efforts to try to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians. Lieberman told the more than 100 diplomats gathered at his office not to expect the Palestinians to sign a peace agreement with Israel in the next 10 years.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Other News
Retired judge: Neglect of Arab youth 'a ticking bomb'
The neglect of Arab youth in Israel as a whole and in East Jerusalem in particular is "a ticking bomb from the social perspective, and if not dealt with will become worse." This unusual statement was made by Judge Awni Habash, vice president of the Jerusalem District Court who retired on Sunday after 15 years on the bench.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Court lets Palestinians use major Israeli highway (AP)
AP - Israel's Supreme Court ordered the military on Tuesday to allow Palestinians to travel on the part of a major highway that runs through the West Bank, handing Palestinians their biggest victory yet against Israel's practice of reserving some roads for Jews.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Palestinian intellectual Anis Sayegh dies of heart failure at age 78
Anis Sayegh, a Palestinian intellectual who suffered serious injuries from a 1972 letter bomb that was sent to him by Israeli agents, has died at age 78.The founder of the Palestine Research Center died of heart failure in a Jordanian hospital on Saturday.Sayegh, a close confidant of former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, had alleged in his memoirs that Israel targeted him.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Haaretz finds methods of killing "exciting"
"Military censorship prevents disclosure of the Israeli arms industries' most exciting and futuristic devices, but a good picture of what can be expected can be compiled using what is already in the public domain." First notice, that Israeli media never complain about military censorship (and notice that they call it "military censorship" to make it more benign than "censorship" as if military censorship is not censorship, it is as offensive and illogical as the term "date rape"), and then notice that Haaretz finds new weapons system "most exciting." I bet Haaretz reporters and columnists are excited and exhilarated when they see pictures of butchered Palestinian children.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
Skin whitening cream finds new popularity among Palestinian women
Palestinian women are using skin whitening treatments as popular media are reasserting a 'fair-is-beautiful' bid. But the message is not new and can be found even in old Arabic poetry.
http://www.csmonitor.com/
Israeli Parallel Universs/Zionism
COMMENT / Settlement freeze is like racial segregation in U.S.
Once upon a time there was a black woman; her name was Rosa Parks. There were racially discriminating laws in the United States, but she continued to sit on the bus even when she was told to vacate her seat for a white person. She was arrested, which set off a process whose end saw the abolishment of racial segregation on American buses. How is it possible that one little black woman, a dressmaker by profession, could change history simply because she remained sitting? Her protest was stronger than any demonstration, op-ed piece or Knesset vote. She opted for the natural choice; that is why she was triumphant.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Vanunu arrested for meeting foreigner
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Israeli police arrested nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu for meeting with foreigners in violation of his parole. Vanunu was arrested Monday by Jerusalem police in a hotel in the capital city following an alleged meeting with a Norwegian national, who he says is his girlfriend. He was transferred to house arrest on Tuesday afternoon, according to reports.
http://jta.org/news/article/
Discrimination and contempt
The affair surrounding discrimination against Mizrahi students at the Beit Yaakov girls' school in the West Bank settlement of Immanuel crossed yet another threshold this week. As the Noar Kahalakha nonprofit organization again petitioned the High Court (this time over Ashkenazi students' contempt of court in refusing to attend class following the ruling requiring the school's integration), Religious Services Minister Yaakov Margi of Shas said that "there is a Sephardi school - there is no longer discrimination."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Analysis/Op-ed/Human Interest
A Single State, with Liberty and Justice for All, Susan Abulhawa with Ramzy Baroud
Prior to the establishment of Israel, Palestine had been multi-religious and multi-cultural. Christians, Muslims and Jews, Armenians, Greek Orthodox, to name a few, all had a place there; and all lived in relative harmony. Other nations fought wars and waged epic struggles to attain the kind of coexistence that was already a reality in Palestine.But while the world strives toward the noble truths that we are all created equal, Israel legislates the notion of a Chosen People with exclusive rights and privilege for Jews. Where countries have worked to integrate their citizens to create the richness of diversity, Israel is working in reverse, employing racist policies to "Judaize" the land whereby property and resources are confiscated from Christians and Muslims for the exclusive use of Jews. Where there is consensus that certain human rights are inalienable, Palestinians have lived subject to the whims of soldiers at checkpoints; of airplanes and helicopters raining death onto them with impunity; of curfews and restrictions and denials; and of violent armed settlers who fancy themselves disciples of God.
http://palestinechronicle.com/
Tail barks at dog
Remember Haaretz informing us that every Obama appointee must be vetted by the pro-Israel organizations? Here Jeffrey Goldberg praises an Israeli, Shmuel Rosner, for writing that an Obama appointee (a Jewish woman who calls Israel her "homeland," no less) should be canned because she won’t get along with Jewish organizations. (Thanks to Sullivan, who conflates "neocons" and the "lobby," and Voskamp.)
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/12/
The ‘war’ for legitimacy is a war Israel may never win
While there is no doubt that Israel holds military superiority over any possible armed force it might go to war with, there is another threat that Israel appears to have no response for – moral outrage. The Jerusalem Post covers a new report which outlines Israel’s true Achilles heal. From the article "Hubs of delegitimization"
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/12/
How Israelis mark the birth of Christ
With self-detonating grenades, thinking bullets and robot warriors, humans on the frontline could soon be a thing of the past. When armies clash in the not-too-distant future, remotely-operated robotic weapons will fight the enemy on land, in the air and at sea, without a human soldier anywhere on the battlefield. The first robotic systems are already being used by the Israel Defense Forces and other armies across the world, and only budgetary constraints seem to be keeping science fiction from becoming reality.
http://www.normanfinkelstein.
Iraq
Gunmen kill 5 Sunni guards, including 1 by beheading, in central Iraqi village
BAGHDAD — Gunmen killed five Sunni security guards - including one by beheading - in a gruesome pre-dawn slaying Tuesday at a village checkpoint in central Iraq, officials said. The five victims were members of the Sons of Iraq, or Awakening Councils - a Sunni-dominated security force now on the government payroll that has been targeted in revenge attacks after helping turn the tide against al-Qaida.
http://www.google.com/
Monday: 4 Iraqis Killed, 1 Wounded
Violent attacks tapered off overnight, even though returning Ashura pilgrims could still be easy targets for gunmen. Only four Iraqis were killed and one more was wounded today. Curiously, all the attacks took place in or near Mosul. Approximately 40 Iranian prisoners jailed in Nasariya are on a hunger strike and demanding access to Iranian embassy officials.
http://original.antiwar.com/
Lebanon
Israeli warplanes fly over Lebanon, draw army fire
BEIRUT, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Lebanon's army said on Tuesday it fired anti-aircraft rounds at four Israeli warplanes which flew at low altitude over south Lebanon.
http://www.alertnet.org/
Blood flows freely in Nabatieh as Shiites mark Ashura
Mohammad Hassan covered his head screaming while his father approached him with a razor to wound him as part of a religious ritual to commemorate Ashura.Hundreds of Shiite believers flocked to Nabatieh in the south on Sunday to commemorate Ashura and remember the death of the Prophet Mohammad's grandson, Imam Hussein bin Ali bin Abi Taleb.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Two former South Lebanese Army helpers return from Israel
BEIRUT, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- Two Lebanese citizens crossed the border from Israel into Lebanon on Tuesday, nine years after escaping to Israel following its withdrawal from south Lebanon in 2000, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported. The International Red Cross handed over to the Lebanese army Nadim Abu Rafeh and Khalil Hanna Abu Hamad after they crossed the border from Israel in the Ras Naqoura area in south Lebanon, the NNA said. Rafeh, 50, and Abu Hamad, 90, were previous South Lebanon Army (SLA) collaborators who escaped to Israel after its withdrawal from the area in 2000.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/
U.S. and other world news
Washington Reaffirms Sanctions on Syria as Gift to Israel
Airbus’ refusal to sell planes to Syria is a clear sign of how bad relations remain between Washington and Damascus, despite a year of Obama engagement. The French promised the Syrians that they would try to get the sale OK’ed by Washington. Some 10% of Airbus parts are bought from the US, making the sale of Airbus planes to third parties subject to US sanction laws. The decision by European governments to purchase Airbus parts from the US may have seemed like good business and political practice in the past. It has EU politicians gnashing their teeth today. Sarkozy must be considering changing Airbus’ purchasing percentages. Little wonder that today’s headline about Sarkozy is: Sarkozy cool on relationship with Obama.
http://joshualandis.com/blog/?
Pakistan blast hits Shia procession - 28 Dec 09
A suicide bomber has blown himself up in Karachi. The attack happened during a procession of Shia Muslims on their holiest day. Citizens unleashed their anger on buildings, shops and cars, setting them ablaze, and attacked local police. Paramilitary forces have now taken control, and officials are appealing for calm, but already 30 people are dead, and more than 80 others injured. Al Jazeera's Roza Ibrahimova reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Israel to issue gas masks to population
The gas mask distribution has, however, raised questions as to Israel's potential plans to launch an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.
http://www.bioprepwatch.com/
Body of Mousavi's nephew taken from Tehran hospital
The body of the nephew of Iran's opposition leader – slain in the deadliest day of anti-government protests in months – disappeared from hospital yesterday, and security forces detained at least seven prominent activists, according to opposition reports.
http://www.independent.co.uk/
Iran: Revolution versus Revolution
Yesterday, I was expecting to be mad at Aljazeera. I was expecting that the relations between the Qatari Emir and the Iranian government would produce lame reports that would downplay the significance of the protests in Iran. Aljazeera--yet again--pleasantly disappointed me. It is not in any way covering up what is going on in Iran, and it is even citing--in the tradition of the journalistic standards of the New York Times--opposition websites. Al-Arabiyya TV (the private station of King Fahd's brother-in-law which now is largely run by the entourage of Prince `Azzuz) is going crazy. The propaganda work of AlArabiyya is out of all bounds now: there is no attempt even of covering news anymore: not in Iran, not in Yemen, and not in Palestine. It is really naked and vulgar House of Saud propaganda all day long, 24 hours a day. Aljazeera's coverage has been straightforward although it would have liked more discussion and lengthy reports.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
Giraldi: US Intel Found Iran Nuke Document Was Forged
U.S. intelligence has concluded that the document published recently by the Times of London, which purportedly describes an Iranian plan to do experiments on what the newspaper described as a "neutron initiator" for an atomic weapon, is a fabrication, according to a former Central Intelligence Agency official.
http://original.antiwar.com/
Obama vows to catch bomb plotters - 29 Dec 09
A group calling itself al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has claimed responsibility for the attempted attack on a transatlantic US airliner on December 25. Speaking from Hawaii where he is vacationing, Barack Obama, the US president, has vowed to track down all those behind the botched attack. Al Jazeera's Rosiland Jordan reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Airport security 'not effective' - 29 Dec 09
In 2006 former CIA agent Bob Baer conducted an investigation into security at European Airports, including Amsterdam's Schipol Airport. Later that year he warned a Northwest flight from Amsterdam to the US could become the target of an attack. He spoke to Al Jazeera's Anand Naidoo about the growing threat facing air travel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
www.TheHeadlines.org
0 Have Your Say!:
Post a Comment