Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines December 10 -2009 ~

Shadi Fadda brings us todays headlines and other news from around the internet.




Theft and Destruction And The So Called "Freeze"/Settlements
IOF troops bulldoze lands in Gaza
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) advanced east of Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, on Wednesday and bulldozed Palestinian cultivated lands, locals reported.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/

Settlers from Yitzhar burn Palestinian family’s house and cars near Nablus
In the village ‘Einabus south of Nablus, three settlers caused severe damage to Palestinian property, setting a Palestinian house and several cars on fire in the early hours of Sunday, 6 December. In total two tractors were completely destroyed by the fire, as well as one car and a mini-bus. The lower part of a Palestinian house was also destroyed, causing severe damage to the upper part of the house as well. As a result of the fire, cracks appeared in the walls and the ceiling and windows were broken. The furniture in the house as well as the bathroom have been left unusable. The house is constructed in a way that connects it to several other houses. If the fire was not stopped in time it would have spread to the other houses, causing a widespread damage.
http://palsolidarity.org/2009/12/9656

Seven Palestinians Ordered Out Of Jerusalem For 45 Days
The Israeli Authorities decided to expel seven Palestinians, from Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, in East Jerusalem, out of the city for 45 days. The Israeli Police arrested the seven Palestinians following clashes between Palestinians and fundamentalist Jewish settlers who attempted to occupy a Palestinian home in Sheikh Jarrah.
http://www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=57338

Israelis protest settlement freeze - 09 Dec 09
As talks continue over the release of Galid Shalit, the Israeli soldier held captive by Hamas, Israeli settlers have been demanding access to land that does not legally belong to them. Many Israelis are angry at a proposed partial-freeze on building new settlements in some parts of the occuptied West Bank, prompting thousands of protesters to gather in occupied Jerusalem, which incidentially is not part of the building freeze. Al Jazeera's Nicole Johnstone reports from the settlement of Ofra.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GPbqlvnRD0&feature=youtube_gdata

Golan residents: Referendum bill encouraging
After Knesset votes in favor of pushing forward with bill calling for referendum on withdrawal from Israeli territories, residents of Golan Heights express satisfaction, say, 'MKs understand importance of Golan'.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3817854,00.html

Referendum bill / Tying his own hands, Aluf Benn
The "Referendum Law" that the Knesset voted to advance yesterday would restrict the government's freedom of action in negotiations with the Palestinians, Syria and even Lebanon by making it harder to cede East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights or even Shaba Farms, whether unilaterally or by agreement. The bill creates an onerous ratification procedure for any agreement that involves ceding sovereign Israeli territory: approval by the cabinet, by an absolute majority of 61 MKs and finally by a referendum in which voters would be asked whether they are for or against the agreement. The referendum itself would be decided by a simple majority. Only if the Knesset approved an agreement by a majority of 80 MKs - as it did the treaty with Jordan, for instance - would the referendum requirement be waived. The bill would also eliminate the "constitutional lacuna" that currently enables unilateral withdrawals from sovereign Israeli territory. Currently, a simple majority of the Knesset could reverse the annexation of all or part of the Golan, and a 61-MK majority would be enough to alter Jerusalem's municipal boundaries. But the bill would require a referendum on any cession of territory to which Israeli law has been applied, even a unilateral one.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1134026.html

Aluf Benn / Netanyahu tying his own hands with Golan bill
The "Referendum Law" that the Knesset voted to advance Wednesday would restrict the government's freedom of action in negotiations with the Palestinians, Syria and even Lebanon by making it harder to cede East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights or even Shaba Farms, whether unilaterally or by agreement.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1134026.html

'Israel can't hold vote on stolen land'
There was no official Syrian response to a Knesset vote that paved the way to continue legislative work on a bill that would mandate national referenda before any territorial compromise was made in the Golan or Jerusalem, but sources in Damascus said that the law reflected the "extreme tendencies of the Israeli parliament." The bill was approved by an overwhelming majority of 68 to 22. The Syrian sources told the BBC-Arabic radio station that "Israel has already annexed the Golan Heights after conquering the area and as far as we are concerned [the referendum law] makes no difference; every action that Israel would take in the Golan Heights is illegitimate.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1260181033196&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Netanyahu extends benefits to isolated West Bank settlements
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Wednesday that certain settlements outside of the large blocs in the West Bank - enclaves that Israel plans to keep as part of any future arrangement with the Palestinians - would be considered "national priority areas."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1133918.html

IDF to stop securing Psagot settlement
Next week will see removal of reserves company stationed between Ramallah, West Bank settlement, leaving residents to deal with Palestinian neighbors on their own. Psagot residents furious, say Defense Minister Ehud Barak abandoned them.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3817750,00.html

Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment
Bil’in leader Abdallah Abu Rahmah arrested during military night raid
As part of a recent escalation of political arrests in Bil’in, Abdallah Abu Rahmah, a school teacher and coordinator of the Bil’in Popular Committee was arrested by Israeli soldiers. At exactly 2 AM last night, seven Israeli military jeeps pulled over at Abdallah Abu Rahmah’s residence in the city of Ramallah. Soldiers raided the house and arrested Abu Rahmah from his bed in the presence of his wife and children. Abu Rahmah is a high school teacher in the Latin Patriarchate school in Birzeit near Ramallah and is the coordinator of the Bil’in Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements. A previous raid targeting Abu Rahmah was executed with such exceptional violence on 15 September 2009, that a soldier was subsequently indicted for assault.
http://palsolidarity.org/2009/12/9652

Israeli forces arrest four prominent grassroots activists during Nablus night raid
The Israeli military kidnapped nine Palestinians from the Nablus region in the early hours of Tuesday, 9 December 2009, including four leading civil society activists. The Israeli army in the force of 200 armed soldiers invaded several districts of Nablus city, refugee camps and a nearby village in a coordinated operation last night, raiding houses of targeted grassroots activists and arrested nine. Eight of them are currently held at the Huwara military detention center, another one has been detained at the Hasharon prison.
http://palsolidarity.org/2009/12/9628

Prison Term for Conscientious Objector Idan Barir
Idan Barir, an activist of Combattants for Peace, was sentenced to 14 days in military prison for refusing to perform reserves service in the Occupied Territories. We received news from our friends in Combattants for Peace that one of their activitsts, Idan Barir, has been imprisoned for his refusal to perform reserves service in the 1967 Occupied Territories. Idan, 29, from the Tel Aviv suburb of Givataim, has been sentenced on Monday (7 Dec.) to 14 days of incarceration, which he is now serving in Military Prison no. 6 near Atlit.
http://www.newprofile.org/english/?p=252

B'Tselem: December 2009: Israel administratively detains activist against Separation Barrier
Muhammad Othman, 33, a resident of Jayyus, Qalqiliya District, was arrested at the Allenby Bridge on 22 September 2009 as he was returning to Ramallah from Norway. Othman, an activist in the struggle against construction of the Separation Barrier, had gone to Norway to hold meetings and give lectures regarding the struggle.
http://www.btselem.org/English/Administrative_Detention/20091206_
Administrative_detention_of_activist_Muhammad_Othman.asp

Nylon products from Israeli settlement confiscated in Salfit
Salfit – Ma’an – Two tons of plastic nylon bought from Israeli settlements were confiscated by customs officers in coordination with the Palestinian police on Wednesday in Salfit.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=245557

Palestinian Christians want BDS
http://antonyloewenstein.com/2009/12/10/palestinian-christians-want-bds/

Executive Summary: Academic Boycott of Israel And the Complicity of Israeli Academic Institutions in Occupation of Palestinian Territories
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/2313-executive-summary-academic-boycott-of-israel-
and-the-complicity-of-israeli-academic-institutions-in-occupation-of-palestinian-territories.html

More investors abandoning Lev Leviev and Africa-Israel
Last month, the second-largest Dutch pension fund PFZW joined an already impressive group of investors that have divested from Africa-Israel. Africa-Israel is the target of an international boycott campaign by Palestine solidarity activists because of its involvement in the construction of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Adri Nieuwhof reports for The Electronic Intifada.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10935.shtml

Peace Now and J Street should join the battle against tax breaks for the West Bank colonists
In a sign that the discourse is changing and taboo subjects are coming inside, The Atlantic considers the case for ending the special relationship of US and Israel, and picks up an important piece in the Guardian by Andrew Kadi and Aaron Levitt about the U.S. tax subsidies extended to the Hebron colonists. Kadi and Levitt focus on the Hebron Fund’s fundraiser at the Mets ballpark last month.
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/12/
peace-now-and-j-street-should-join-the-battle-against-tax-breaks-for-the-west-bank-colonists.html

Palestinians from Europe among Gaza Freedom March delegates
Brussels – Ma’an – Palestinian members of the Council of Europe will participate in the Gaza Freedom March, which is scheduled to enter the Gaza Strip on 31 December, in an attempt to break the crippling siege imposed on the Strip for three consecutive years. The march will coincide with the first anniversary of the Israeli military offensive against the Gaza Strip.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=245377

A Portrait of Nonviolent Resistance in One Palestinian Village
At no time since its 1967 West Bank occupation have Israel’s seizures of Palestinian land and water resources seemed as shocking as the ones attending its construction of “the wall,” begun in 2002. Vast, complex, and shifting in form, the wall appears most dramatically as 25-foot-high concrete slabs punctuated by militarized watch towers, supplemented by electronically monitored electrified fences stretching over vast distances.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ellen-cantarow/a-portrait-of-nonviolent_b_384780.html

Letter to family and friends: Bir Idd, West Bank
I have now been in the village of Bir Idd for three weeks. This has been a great time of connecting with the people here, helping with chores with the sheep, going out in the hills with the sheep, and helping rebuild the village. Israeli settlers attacked a flock of sheep on Saturday, November 28. About 30 Israeli soldiers and police came and did nothing except to remove all the Israeli peace activists from the area.
http://palsolidarity.org/2009/12/9626

Mustafa Barghouthi Talks About Israeli Apartheid Regime At The PES Congress
“As Israel's apartheid regime and policies of aggression continue, the occupation of Palestine has become the longest in modern history,” declared Dr Mustafa Barghouthi on Tuesday in Prague, during the European Socialist Party Conference. The 8th Congress of the PES was held in Prague on 7-8 December and brought together leaders from all member parties, 1500 delegates, organisations, MEP's and activists as well as Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1197

Violence and Aggression
Testimony: Soldiers assault elderly farmer
In his testimony to B'Tselem, Ahmad Ghanem, 75, a resident of Deir al-Ghusun, states that while working his land near the Separation Barrier, two soldiers severely beat him and left without giving him first-aid. B'Tselem informed the Military Police Investigators.
http://www.btselem.org/English/Testimonies/20091202_
Soldiers_assault_elderly_faremr_Ahmad_Ghanem_in_Deir_al_Ghusun.asp

Education Denied
For Immediate Release: Wednesday, December 9, 2009: Israel's High Court Decides: Berlanty Azzam Not Allowed to Finish Her BA at Bethlehem University
http://jewssansfrontieres.blogspot.com/2009/12/case-of-berlanty-azzam.html

Israel top court upholds deportation of Palestinian to Gaza (AFP)
AFP - Israel's top court on Wednesday upheld a decision under which a Palestinian student was deported from Bethlehem to Gaza just two months before she was due to complete her bachelor's degree.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091209/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictcourteducation

Humanitarian/Human Rights/Siege
Weekly report on Israeli human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territory 03 Dec - 09 Dec 2009
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/SKEA-7YLJ6H?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P

Dweik Calls On EU Parliamentarians To Launch International Campaign Against The Siege
Head of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Dr. Aziz Dweik, called on European Parliamentarians to hold an international campaign against the illegal Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip and to support the Palestinian people and their elected leadership.
http://www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=57339

Ground-breaking report documents forced prostitution in Palestinian society, Amira Hass
Palestinian women are being forced into prostitution in both Ramallah and Jerusalem - including in Jewish neighborhoods of the city, according to a report prepared by the Palestinian organization SAWA, which fights violence against women.
The report, released yesterday, says the victims come from various parts of the West Bank - mostly urban areas - as well as the Gaza Strip and Israel. It also notes that some eastern European women who were originally trafficked to Israel to work as prostitutes are ocassionally sent to the West Bank.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1134036.html

Detainees
Israeli Police Kidnaps 214 Palestinian Workers in Israel
The Israeli Police and the so-called Border Guards carried out a comprehensive campaign targeting Palestinian workers who ‘illegally’ entered Israel seeking work to provide food for their families, and kidnapped 214 of them.
http://www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=57341

Hamas: PA detains 8 supporters
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Hamas said on Thursday that Fatah-allied Palestinian Authority (PA) forces detained eight members of the Islamic movement in the West Bank during the last two days. Hamas said in a statement that the PA arrested eight Hamas members from Nablus, Tulkarem and Qalqilya.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=245669

Israeli court bans family visits for Gaza prisoners
Bethlehem – Ma’an – The Israeli Supreme Court rejected on Wednesday evening a petition requesting that Palestinians from Gaza be allowed to visit relatives in Israeli prisons. Israel Radio reported the petition was brought by the Palestinian-Israeli human rights group Adalah. It added that the judges ruled that family visits do not fall under the ‘minimum humanitarian needs’ Israel is committed to allow in and out of Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=245704

Israeli prisons as revolutionary universities
As a Palestinian political prisoner who has spent the past 20 years in Israeli jails I would like to highlight some of the general characteristics of the prisoners' movement's struggle to build a system of self and collective education as a central part of developing a patriotic and revolutionary culture that can be a pillar of the liberation movement. Khaled al-Azraq writes from Nafha prison.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10936.shtml

Prisoner Deal
Jailed Fatah chief emerges as Palestinian presidential contender
Marwan Barghouti, the senior Fatah leader who could be set free in a prisoner swap with Israel, appears to be already testing the waters for a possible bid to succeed the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/
jailed-fatah-chief-emerges-as-palestinian-presidential-contender-1837392.html

Fadi Elsalameen: Areikat: Israel and Hamas kept us in the dark on Shalit deal
Areikat said that Israel has kept the Palestinian Authority in the dark on the talks with Hamas to free Shalit. Israel is negotiating with Hamas a prisoner swap deal to free Gilad Shalit using German mediation. Speculations surfaced about the possible release of Marwan Barghouti, the popular Fatah leader, and whether or not he will be the President Abbas' replacement as the President of the Palestinian Authority.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/fadi-elsalameen/areikat-israel-and-hamas_b_386283.html

Political Developments
EU move seen as Palestinian gain
Mid-East papers agree that Palestinians stand to benefit from a joint EU statement on Jerusalem.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/middle_east/8403319.stm

Palestinian officials rule out Abbas quitting presidency soon
RAMALLAH, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Senior Palestinian officials ruled out on Thursday that Mahmoud Abbas would quit his post as Palestinian president during the upcoming meeting of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Central Council on Dec. 15.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/10/content_12626881.htm

Other News
Quriea: PA was wrong about Obama
Bethlehem – Ma’an – The US has disappointed the PLO leadership by failing to pressure Israel to stop expanding settlements on land taken from Palestinians, top PLO official Ahmad Qureia said on Wednesday night. He told Palestine TV in an interview that the PA and PLO were mistaken in thinking that US President Barack Obama would change US policy significantly.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=245721

Israeli forces disrupt UNRWA chief's farewell
Jerusalem – Ma’an – Israeli police ordered outgoing UNRWA Commissioner-General Karen AbuZayd to leave an East Jerusalem home on Thursday during her last official visit as the head of the relief agency.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=245768

Erdogan: Turkey will strongly retaliate if Israel violates its airspace
Turkish premier Recep Erdogan warned that his country would strongly respond if Israel violated its airspace, saying that this retaliation would be like an “earthquake.”
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/

Expired food seized in Gaza City
Gaza – Ma’an – Customs officials from the Gaza City Municipality destroyed 856 kilograms of expired meat and other produce on Wednesday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=245510

Police: 10 drug traffickers arrested in Qalqiliya
Qalqiliya – Ma’an – The anti-narcotics unit in Qalqiliya detained 10 alleged traffickers on Wednesday, according to a statement from the public relations department of the Palestinian police.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=245612

Body of a Palestinian man killed in 1976 by Israeli troops to be released
The Israeli authorities agreed to release the body of Mashour Al-Arouri, a Palestinian killed by Israeli troops in 1976, Palestine News Agency reported on Wednesday. The Israeli high court ruled that the body should be released after Israel kept it for 33 years for unknown reasons.
http://www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=57334

Palestinian racers head to Jordan to race
Ramallah – Ma’an – Palestinian car racers left the occupied Palestinian territories on Monday with their own cars to participate in the Aqaba race on Friday, sponsored by Jordanian Prince Faisal Ben Al-Husein, the head of the Jordanian board of motorsports.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=245531

Golda Meir told Poland: Don't send sick or disabled Jews to Israel
In 1958, then-foreign minister Golda Meir raised the possibility of preventing handicapped and sick Polish Jews from immigrating to Israel, a recently discovered Foreign Ministry document has revealed.
http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1133751.html

Culture
Palestinians revive embroidery in refugee camps
When the Palestinians came to Lebanon as refugees, they left behind almost everything. Six decades later, however, many still cling to aspects of their past, be it a local dish, accent or rusty key, to remind those who drove them into exile that although the Palestinians have been deprived of a nation, they still have a rich history and culture.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=109626

Analysis/Op-ed/Human Interest
Gideon Levy / Let's face the facts, Israel is a semi-theocracy
The storm over remarks made by Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman is in many respects a tempest in a teapot, which has for a long time taken on holier aspects than it seems. Neeman wants Torah law, or in other words, he wants Israel to be a country governed by Jewish religious law, halakha. In any event, Israel is already a semi-theocracy. The Israelis who were frightened by the minister's remarks and who love viewing their country as liberal, Western and secular are forgetting that our life here is more religious, traditional and halakhic than we are prepared to admit.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1134047.html

Man who could be unify Palestinians – and be next leader
WHEN I met him at his modest offices in 1999 – a year before the second intifada uprising exploded – Marwan Barghouthi expressed a grudging admiration for the state-building abilities of Israeli founding father David Ben-Gurion. That is the league this very ambitious Palestinian prisoner, now being hailed as a possible messiah for his people and their peace prospects, believes he is in. Mr Barghouthi, who hopes to be freed in a looming prisoner swap with Israel, is already testing the waters for a possible bid to succeed Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. He is casting himself simultaneously as a resistance advocate and peace proponent.
http://news.scotsman.com/news/Man-who-could-be-unify.5899060.jp

What will Brian Baird do next?
Brian Baird, the crusading Washington congressman, announced his retirement today, after six terms in the House. "Tough loss," says my tipster, Felson. But I don’t think this is the last we’ve seen of Baird, 53, who was changed by Gaza, and understands the key foreign-policy issue of our time. "The time has now come to pursue other options, other ways of serving," he said.
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/12/what-will-brian-baird-do-next.html

‘We sought international pressure to stop expulsions of Palestinians. We failed.’
David Shulman’s report from the Sheikh Jarrah evictions in East Jerusalem ran a few days ago at Ibn Ezra. His story is upsetting and important. It is worth noting that the our press has done a lousy job of covering this continuing outrage, at a time when liberal forces in Israeli and Palestinian society are crying out for help against intolerance and human-rights abuses. (Though I believe the family with which Shulman begins his account was documented by Rina Castelnuovo at the Times.)
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/12/
we-sought-international-pressure-to-stop-expulsions-of-palestinians-we-have-failed.html

Haaretz columnist Gideon Levy on CNI radio, Dec. 10th!
Our “CNI: Jerusalem Calling” radio show is picking up steam. On Thursday, Dec. 10, Haaretz columnist Gideon Levy will join host Alison Weir to discuss the social and political climate in Jerusalem. The show will be aired live online from Noon to 1 pm EST (5 pm to 6pm GMT). To listen and join in, go to www.wsradio.com/cni and click on the “Listen Live” button for Studio A, at the top left. To call in to the show with questions, call toll-free: 877-474-3302. International users can join using Skype by entering WSRADIOSTUDIO into the dial box.
http://www.cnionline.org/

Hajj Amin and Hitler
This has become a recycled Zionist propaganda. The response should be: 1) Hajj Amin was not an Islamist leader who can be connected to the Islamists of today. He was a nationalist leader. 2) there was no alliance between Hitler (who hated and despised Arabs) and the Palestinian national Movement. There was one contact: a contact--as repugnant was it was--is not the same as an alliance. British officials had more contact with Hitler and yet we dont speak of an alliance between the British government and Hitler. 3) Zionist leaders had contacts with the Nazi movement too: read Lenni Brenner and read Eichmann in Jerusalem by Arendt. 4) There was one meeting, ands Hajj Amin and not the Palestinian leader should be blamed for it. 5) Hajj Amin was meeting with the enemy of his enemy who kicked him out of his homeland, and not with friend of the Palestinian people. 6) There are a lot of lies contained in the Zionist literature on the matter: don't believe them when they allege that Hajj Amin or others had anything to do with Nazi murders and genocide. As if the Zioinists would not have presented the evidence, if one existed. Instead, they do what Zionist hooligans always do: they lie and fabricate. 7) Friends of Israel were much closer to Hitler than Hajj Amin: like House of Saud and Vatican. And Answar Sadat was--unlike the lousy Hajj Amin--an unrepentant Nazi, and yet centers are named after him in the usurping entity called Israel. 8) Israel and Zionists are desperate: they are now on the defensive. They have nothing to show to rebut charges of war crimes by the terrorist state called Israel. So they recycle the Zionist propaganda of the 1960s. 9) There is no evidence that Hajj Amin met with Eichmann: but there is evidence that Zionist leaders had contacts with him.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/12/hajj-amin-and-hitler.html

Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem
David Shulman - Last Friday we were here, Eileen and I, in this very courtyard, before the court ruling; we spoke at some length with the eloquent, moderate father of the al-Kurd family, who told us the story in gentle Arabic. He had told it many times that day. "We were refugees from Haifa in 1948. Everyone in this neighborhood is a refugee, some from Lydda and Ramla, some from Jaffa. After the 1948 war, the Jordanian government gave us these plots of land to build on, in exchange for our UNRWA cards. The cards were worth a lot of money, but we wanted to live normal lives in our own houses, so we gave up our status as refugees. We have lived in this home since the 1950`s.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=37121

Bronner publishes Israeli self-justification on prisoners
Ethan Bronner’s piece in the Times today on the likely prisoner-exchange deal for Gilad Shalit underscores the lack of diversity in the Times reporting staff. The article is written completely from an Israeli and Jewish perspective. It repeatedly refers to Palestinian prisoners–there are over 10,000–as "murderers" and "terrorists," when we all know that this number includes a great number of political prisoners, like Mohammad Othman.

http://mondoweiss.net/2009/12/bronner-publishes-israeli-self-justification-on-prisoners.html

Another EU policy statement will not stop Israel's colonization
Israel started a preemptive campaign against a EU statement on the Middle East session even before it was formally presented for discussion by EU ministers this week on whether to adopt it. Israeli spokesmen expressed outrage at what they saw as an EU effort to "divide" Jerusalem, and claimed that the European position would "harm the peace process," as if it is only Israel that has been carefully protecting it from the harmful moves of others. Hasan Abu Nimah comments.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10934.shtml

Palestinians want more than words
The EU's policy statement on a future Palestinian state now needs to be acted on, writes Khaled Amayreh from occupied Jerusalem.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2009/976/fr1.htm

Marwan Barghouti: The Equalizer
Conflicting inhabitants of the Holy Land, if nothing else, must surely agree that the universe works in strange ways. God by any name operates beyond human understanding. Deep inside an Israeli prison cosmic balance awaits in Marwan Barghouti, Fatah strongman and political game-changer, who sits a step away from freedom.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=15607

Palestinian feud
Alan Johnston reports on a family divided politically.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/middle_east/8402326.stm

Let My Kafka Go! Israel’s Ridiculous Ownership Claims
I doubt that anyone has read that devastating incipit from Kafka’s “The Trial” without feeling a bolt of emotion. In its naked simplicity, crude force and powerful arrangement, we see facets of an entire universe in one sentence, where an internal state of mind clashes head-on with a deed taking place. Where a sense of confusion and disparagement meets with the reality of an arbitrary act. The subject attempts to immediately rationalise and understand a situation of a grave personal violation, and we, the reader, without knowing anything at all, sympathise with him, basically under the assumption that whatever follows, we will be on his side.
http://palestinethinktank.com/2009/12/09/let-my-kafka-go-israel%E2%80%99s-
ridiculous-ownership-claims/

Iraq
Wednesday: 9 Iraqis Killed, 28 Wounded
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki asked for patience following yesterday’s massive bombings in Baghdad. The attacks continued today, but they were not as successful. At least nine Iraqis were killed and 28 more were wounded in the new violence.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2009/12/09/wednesday-9-iraqis-killed-28-wounded/

In Wake Of Blasts, Assessing Iraq Security
A series of coordinated attacks hit the Iraqi capital Tuesday, killing more than 100 people and wounding hundreds others. Retired Lt. Col. Doug Ollivant, who was in Baghdad last August during the previous coordinated bombing attacks, offers his insight.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121255359&ft=1&f=1010

Baghdad security chief out after deadly car bombings
BAGHDAD — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki Wednesday removed the chief military official responsible for security in the capital and prepared for a public grilling about security lapses after five car bombs killed 127 people in Baghdad a day earlier.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/80349.html

Iraqi oil greater threat to Iran than Saudi Arabia
The geopolitical power balance in the Middle East faces upheaval if Iraq succeeds in tripling oil output, and fellow Shiite power Iran will feel more threatened than rival Sunni oil giant Saudi Arabia.Iraq's potential leap into the ranks of the top three global oil producers could result in a strengthened Shiite front within OPEC if Baghdad aligns supply policy with Tehran.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=3&article_id=109598

Halabja Reunion Bolsters Search for Lost Kids
Mother and son together again after 21 years thanks to new DNA matching scheme. By Falah Najim in Halabja (ICR No. 315, 9-Dec-09)
http://www.iwpr.net/EN-icr-f-358119

Arab IDPs seek new lives in Erbil
Ali Awad goes to sleep each night without locking his front door. When the father of three arrived in Erbil two years ago, it was to find sanctuary from the sectarian violence of Baghdad. Now, the Kurdish capital, Erbil, has become not only a safe haven for his family, but also their home. "We are safe here," Awad said. "I know that my family is safe."
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/DKAN-7YKSGN?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P

Spy Chief: We Knew Iraq Dismantled Weapons
The UK knew Iraq had dismantled its long-range missile before the war, an intelligence chief has told an official inquiry into the invasion.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Politics/Iraq-War-Inquiry-Dodgy-Dossier-Intelligence-Chief-
Sir-John-Scarlett-To-Give-Evidence-To-Chilcot/Article/200912215495845

On Syria border: No sign of Saddam loyalists (AP)
AP - Iraq's border with Syria runs for hundreds of miles through barren land patrolled by a relative scattering of security forces. But despite claims about exiled Saddam Hussein loyalists sneaking across to disrupt Iraq's upcoming elections, the only evidence around one key outpost is faded slogans of Saddam's banned Baath Party painted on the wall of a decaying grain elevator.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091210/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq_syrian_border

Iraq to transfer Iranian dissident group (AFP)
AFP - Baghdad is to move exiled Iranian dissidents based at a camp close to the two states' border to south Iraq before deporting them, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said in remarks released on Thursday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091210/wl_mideast_afp/iraqiranoppositionjustice

Lebanon
Nasrallah's Speech
I knew it. I knew it. I knew that MEMRI's version of Nasrallah speech will exclude the part when he said that "our problem" with Israel has nothing to do with them being Jewish, and that the conflict is not religious or ethnic. Miraculously, that part of the speech did not appear in MEMRI's version. MEMRI on the Middle East is as reliable as North Korean press is about...North Korea.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/12/nasrallahs-speech.html

Sectarianism, Hizbullah's arms top debate at Parliament
Lebanese MPs held a second day of debate on Wednesday on the cabinet's policy statement, with opposition lawmakers underlining the need to adopt consensual democracy as the basis of Lebanon's political regime.Meanwhile, majority MPs criticized article six of the statement, stressing that clauses relating to security issues inthe Taif Accord were more pressing than the abolishment of political sectarianism.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=109634

Women's group asks Berri to back nationality law
A delegation of the National Gathering for Eliminating Discrimination against Women presented a letter to Speaker Nabih Berri Wednesday asking him to include the issue of nationality laws on the Parliament's agenda. The letter was presented in the name of the campaign "My Nationality: a Right for me and my Children" and in the name of all Lebanese women with foreign husbands.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=109628

Hit on Youtube: Mini-Hariri
This is a huge hit on Youtube in Lebanon now. Mini-Hariri can't read.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA3QIrkp-3c

Afghanistan
Afghan government says NATO raid killed six civilians
NATO officials on Tuesday disputed a report by the Afghan government that a NATO raid in eastern Afghanistan earlier in the day had killed six civilians.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/southasia/news/article_1517753.php/

General: Attack may have killed Afghan civilians
The No. 2 commanding general in Afghanistan acknowledged Wednesday that a NATO-led attack the day before in eastern Afghanistan possibly resulted in civilian deaths.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_AFGHANISTAN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME
&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-12-08-03-51-18

Mullen: 'US is losing the war in Afghanistan'
US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen painted a disturbing picture on Tuesday, bluntly telling US troops at Ft. Campbell, Ky. - including some bound for Afghanistan - that "we are not winning, which means we are losing and as we are losing, the message traffic out there to insurgency recruits keeps getting better and better and more keep coming."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1260181018583

Gates claims victory near in Afghanistan
Despite record-high violence and an increasing number of casualties, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the war in Afghanistan is moving in the right direction and towards success.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=113295&sectionid=351020403

Afghans' anger at Obama's Nobel peace prize win - 10 December 09
Barack Obama, the US president, is due to receive the Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in Oslo - days after he ordered an escalation of US involvement in the war in Afghanistan. In making Obama the third sitting US President to win the award, the Norwegian Nobel Committee praised Obama's co-operative approach to global issues. But many critics say that Obama's resume is too thin to stand scrutiny with other Nobel peace laureates. And for many Afghans, Obama's strategy of even more troops does not fit into their vision of what will bring peace. From Kabul, Steve Chao reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBHrnQTinGY&feature=youtube_gdata

U.S. and Other World News
U.S. sends Kuwaiti detainee home from Guantanamo
WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - A Kuwaiti detainee held in the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for almost eight years was sent home after a federal judge ordered him freed in September, the Justice Department said on Wednesday.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N09179075.htm

Emails Show bin Laden was Bush Talking Point, not Target
“Missing” White House emails retrieved from Bush administration records indicate that top Bush Justice Department officials had little interest in the pursuit of Osama bin Laden or Mullah Mohammed Omar, head of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
http://www.populist.com/09.22.burns.html

Prof. Howard Zinn: America to Blame for 9-11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PgiQpk-16I&feature=player_embedded

Full text of Obama Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1134166.html

Afghan war clouds Obama's Nobel Peace prize - 10 Dec 09
Barack Obama, the US president, is set to receive the Nobel Peace prize in Norway, joining the distinguished list of Nobel laureates including Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, Mother Teresa and the Red Cross organisation. But Obama's recent move to escalate the war in Afghanistan has raised questions as to whether he deserves the honour, and so early into his presidency too. Al Jazeera's Sebastian Walker captures the debate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNWLDcdJAaE&feature=youtube_gdata

On Obama's Peace Prize
On December 10, you will award the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to President Barack Obama, citing “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between people.” We the undersigned are distressed that President Obama, so close upon his receipt of this honor, has opted to escalate the U.S. war in Afghanistan with the deployment of 30,000 additional troops. We regret that he could not be guided by the example of a previous Nobel Peace Laureate, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who identified his peace prize as “profound recognition that nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral question of our time -- the need for man [sic] to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression.”
http://www.counterpunch.org/nobel12092009.html

Chomsky says Israel, 'US military base'
Renowned American sociopolitical analyst Noam Chomsky says Israel functions as Washington's main weapons storage base in the Middle East. "Israel is essentially a US military base, the US positions weapons there, that's a very close military and intelligence tie," the Jewish academic told Press TV on Wednesday while explaining the complexity of relations between Washington and Tel Aviv.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=113360&sectionid=3510203

Egypt wants Rosetta stone back - 09 Dec 09
The Egyptian government is demanding the return of an ancient stone tablet which was key to deciphering Heiroglyphics. The Rosetta Stone is currently on display in Britain, but the head of Egypt's supreme council of antiquities wants it back after initially asking for the stone to be loaned back to Cairo, Egypt's capital. Al Jazeera's Jessica Baldwin reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XnMcTa5Vd8&feature=youtube_gdata

The women who guard other women in conservative Egypt
Her hair neatly tucked under a Muslim headscarf, Dawlat al-Amine practices aikido regularly in a Cairo gym where she and her female colleagues learn martial arts to protect other women.The blackclad "ladyguards" provide a niche service to women who have broken through the Arab world's glass ceiling and achieved fame and fortune.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=109615

Sarkozy is half right: all Europeans must understand the Swiss mistake
What really matters is not minarets, but that we all, Muslims included, commit to the essentials of a free society.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/dec/09/switzerland-minarets-ban-culture-war

City of Life - Film Trailer
A Dubai produced International Feature Film by Ali F Mostafa.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3m3I7iMnvw&feature=player_embedded