Land Theft and Property Destruction
Netanyahu demands Israeli presence in West Bank
For first time, Bibi declares that Israel must have presence in West Bank even after signing of future peace deal.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3837424,00.html
IOA starts plan to raze Bustan suburb in occupied Jerusalem
Israeli police and border guards on Wednesday distributed demolition notifications to five families in the Bustan suburb in occupied Jerusalem.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
A Day Of Destruction in Khirbet Tana
The Israeli army rolled into Khirbet Tana, a village east of Nablus with a population of about 300, in the morning hours on January 10, 2010. They then destroyed about thirty structures, including a school, homes, and shelter for farm animals. This destruction stems from a court ruling issued in February 2009 that cannot be appealed, stating that all structures in Khirbet Tana must be demolished, and the farmers removed from their land. The Palestine Monitor takes a look at the situation that Khirbet Tana faces, and how the villagers are trying to rebuild their lives.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1238
Sheikh Jarrah: A Case of Systemic Injustice
On the question of justice, Maher, Ya'qub, Muhammad and Abed all express their belief that, in the end, they will be restored to their homes, but their hope seems to be born of despair. "It is against human law to evict families from the homes where they have lived for 55 years," Maher says. "All the more so if these people are refugees!" Ya'qub offers a darker view: "We may lose now, but who can tell what the future will bring? There are so many of us Palestinians, and the whole Arab world around us. And could we ever feel good toward the awful people who took our homes away and are tormenting us every day? The Palestinians will never forget what was done to them. Israel is short sighted!"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ir-amim/sheikh-jarrah-a-case-of-s_b_429375.html
Palestine under the shadow of the wall
Sabah Haider visited the West Bank for ten days over Christmas and New Year 2010 to teach filmmaking to more than a hundred children at the SOS Village orphanage in Bethlehem. Here are some of the photographs that she took in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Hebron and Nablus.
http://mondediplo.com/2010/01/20palestine
Israel to push ahead with settlement university (AFP)
AFP - Defence Minister Ehud Barak decided Wednesday to push ahead with plans to transform a college in the West Bank settlement of Ariel into a university, Israeli officials said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100120/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictisraelsettleruniversity
Jerusalem demolitions halted 'to save settler home' (AFP)
AFP - Plans to raze illegally built houses in east Jerusalem have been halted to avoid having to tear down a building used by Jewish settlers, Israeli army radio said on Thursday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100121/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictjerusalemsettler
Palestinians build Israeli homes
Israel's settlements in the occupied West Bank are one of the main stumbling blocks in the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, is refusing to continue talks until there is a complete freeze in their construction. However, some Palestinian workers have no other way to make ends meet othert than to work for Israeli construction companies building the illegal settlements. Al Jazeera's Jackie Rowland reports from the West Bank. [January 21, 2010]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WqdJm3qjOM&feature=youtube_gdata
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott,Sanctions and Divestment
Three More Arrested in Ni’ilin Night Raid
Three residents of Ni’ilin were arrested in a pre-dawn imilitary incursion into the village of Ni’ilin today. This is the 15th time such a raid was conducted in the past month in order to apprehend Palestinian anti-Wall activists. Today’s arrests are a continuation of a concerted assault on the popular struggle movement and its leadership.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/01/10867
Yet another sign of Israel’s fear of nonviolent activism and journalism: The two leaders of a Christian Peacemaker Team to Israel/Palestine were deported by Israel 3 weeks ago following an interrogation. On Earth Peace reports that the two were repeatedly asked, "What’s the purpose of your trip to Israel?" And it says that the purpose was to acquaint team-members with the realities of the "nonviolent movement" for Palestinian human rights. CPT delayed this report till all members of the team had finished their tour.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/01/2-more-deportees-nonviolent-peacemaking-is-a-threat.html
Santana: Don't entertain Israeli apartheid!
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel to musician Santana, scheduled to perform in Israel this summer: "Your gig in Israel will be a clear contribution to Israel's well-oiled campaign to whitewash its persistent violations of international law and basic Palestinian rights through 're-branding' itself as an enlightened and cultured country."
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11018.shtml
The World Cup, the Olympics and the Occupation
The Brazilian authorities in Rio de Janeiro intend to use Israeli surveillance and patrol equipment to police the city’s favelas prior to and during the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games.A New York City-based organization, Adalah-NY, recently led an effort to get the New York Mets and Major League Baseball to cancel a fundraising event at Shea Stadium for the pro-settler Hebron Fund. The world of athletics regularly crosses paths with the occupation in public protests supporting the BDS movement, attacks and restrictions on the Palestinian athletic infrastructure, and soon, in Rio de Janeiro with the use of Israeli surveillance and patrol equipment to police the city’s favelas prior to and during the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games. “The Brazilian government and Rio de Janeiro authorities are running against time to ensure” that Rio “can be cleaned from organized crime and the drug cartels.” [1] Brazil recently purchased the Heron unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from Israel Aerospace Industries, the model’s first use by a city police force, to help achieve this end.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/2395-the-world-cup-the-olympics-and-the-occupation.html
Tree-planting action to be held in At-Tuwani
On Saturday 23 January Palestinians will demonstrate against the recent destruction of a grove of olive trees and plant new trees, in order to show their determination to continue accessing and cultivating their land. On the afternoon of 14 January Palestinians discovered that a family-owned olive grove in Khoruba valley had been destroyed. Twenty mature olive trees were broken at their trunks. The family believes that Israeli settlers from the Ma’on settlement and Havot Ma’on outpost are responsible for the vandalism. This is the fifth time since 1997 that settlers have destroyed the olive trees in this grove. This most recent attack on Palestinian agriculture follows a month of Israeli settler violence and harassment aimed at preventing Palestinian farmers from plowing their fields and thus earning their livelihoods.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/01/10846
Building a Different Middle East
Joel Beinin - The Nation - Haggai, a young Israeli man who was jailed for two years for refusing to be drafted into the army, addresses the soldiers in Hebrew. Showing them a hand-drawn poster-board map of the area, he explains, "You are not in the territory of the state of Israel and you could not do what you are now doing inside Israel. We are demonstrating peacefully on Palestinian land. You are violating international law. Don`t be surprised if, when you repress peaceful demonstrations, some Palestinians resort to violence. You can choose not to obey your orders."
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=37871
Larijani: Iran proud to support the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance
Speaker of the Iranian parliament Ali Larijani expressed his country’s pride to support resistance movements in the region including the Lebanese resistance and the Movement of Hamas.
Aggression/Violence
Jewish settlers destroy tombstones in WB cemetery
Jewish settlers went on the rampage in the Orta village cemetery, east of Nablus city, on Tuesday night and offered rituals on a number of graves, locals reported.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
Israel's assassination policy
TRNN interviews relatives of recently assassinated men in Nablus, Occupied Palestinian Territories.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5_4F45moNE&feature=player_embedded
Detainees
Abbas's militias kidnap 5 Hamas supporters including Sheikh Kharraz
Militias loyal to former PA chief Mahmoud Abbas kidnapped five Hamas supporters over the past 24 hours including Sheikh Maher Al-Kharraz, one of its prominent leaders in Nablus.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
IOF troops round up three Palestinians, one wanted by PA
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) rounded up two Palestinians in Ramallah city at dawn Wednesday at the pretext they were wanted for interrogation.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
Humanitarian Issues/Siege
Resheq: Egypt should exercise its sovereignty over its land by opening crossings
Ezzat Al-Resheq said that Egypt has to exercise sovereign right over its territory through opening the Rafah border crossing instead of exercising this right through building the steel wall.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
European MPs raise issue of Gaza siege in their parliaments
The European lawmakers, who visited Gaza during this month, started their moves to convey the suffering of Gaza people to their parliaments and peoples in order to end the blockade imposed on them.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
Industrial Fuel – Needs Vs. Supply – 20/12/09 – 16/1/10
http://www.gazagateway.org/2010/01/industrial-fuel-needs-vs-supply-201209-16110/
Goods – Needs Vs. Supply – 20/12/09 – 16/1/10
http://www.gazagateway.org/2010/01/goods-needs-vs-supply-201209-16110/
Gaza’s Strawberries Taste Europe
Since the end of December 2009, 36 trucks loaded with strawberries and cut carnation flowers were permitted to leave Gaza for Israel’s Ashdod port, from which they were shipped to Europe. This is the first time since January 2008 that strawberries have managed to leave the 41 kilometer-long Strip. The flowers have been a little luckier – prior to December 2009, Israel permitted the export of 19 truckloads of flowers during the past 2.5 years of closure, mostly around Valentine’s Day.
http://www.gazagateway.org/2010/01/gaza%e2%80%99s-strawberries-taste-europe/
Palestinians rally for Haiti
With one in five Gazans living in abject poverty, according to the United Nations, extra money and food are hard to come by. Still, some are putting together what they can to donate to the people of Haiti. On Monday, a local group began a drive to collect money, blankets, food and other items for donation to Haiti through the Red Cross, the Palestinian Maan news agency reported. However, getting goods into and out of the Gaza Strip is difficult due to the Israeli blockade, and food and clothing donations have been turned away.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laplaza/2010/01/palestinians-rally-for-haiti.html
"Humanity cannot be divided": Gaza shows solidarity with Haiti
"We have been living a man-made disaster actually for the past 62 years," said Palestinian parliamentarian Jamal al-Khudari, a chairman of the Gaza-based Committee to Break the Siege. "We would like to send out a message of solidarity to the people of Haiti, who are now facing a natural disaster." Rami Almeghari reports from the occupied Gaza Strip.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11021.shtml
War Crimes
We must not renege on war crime laws
We are shocked at suggestions by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office minister Ivan Lewis and foreign secretary David Miliband that Britain may consider changing its laws to avoid any future attempts to prosecute suspected war criminals, Israeli or otherwise. The UK must not renege on its international treaty obligations, particularly those under the fourth Geneva convention to seek out and prosecute persons suspected of war crimes wherever and whoever they are, whatever their status, rank or influence, against whom good prima facie evidence has been laid. We reject any attempt to undermine the judiciary's independence and integrity. A judge who finds sufficient evidence of a war crime must have power to order the arrest of a suspect, subject to the usual rights to bail and appeal.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/16/war-crimes-universal-jurisdiction-israel
Commenters have pointed out that the best defense of the Goldstone Report has been published by a friend of this site, Jerome Slater, at his new blog (Jerome Slater: On the U.S. and Israel): Part I, and Part II. In which Slater goes after Moshe Halbertal’s attack on Goldstone in the New Republic and fully supports Goldstone’s conclusion that the three weeks of intensive Israeli attacks that began in December 2008 were “designed to punish, humiliate and terrorize a civilian population, radically diminish its economic capacity to work and to provide for itself, and force upon it an ever increasing sense of dependency and vulnerability.” Slater distinguished himself as an academic by helping to bring the Israeli New Historians to the U.S., and in the following incisive excerpts he expands Goldstone’s analysis by linking recent Israeli policy to historical policies of the Jewish settlement vis-a-vis the Palestinians and so reveals a pattern of "deliberate attacks on civilians."
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/01/
we-struck-the-civilian-population-consciously-gazas-historical-pedigree.html
Get a grip — unless Israel launches its own credible investigation now, it faces the full brunt of universal jurisdiction
Gadi Taub - Yediot Ahronot - If war crimes were committed in Operation Cast Lead, we have a right to know about them, and their perpetrators should stand trial here in Israel. But it is no less important that we not leave this manipulative report unanswered, and leave those who were sent to defend our security exposed to prosecution and imprisonment. If the IDF is proud of the fact that it does not forsake its soldiers in the hands of the enemy, it should understand that we have enemies of a new kind, and they are damaging our ability to defend ourselves.
Politics and Diplomacy
Netanyahu turns fire on Abbas as US envoy flies in
* Netanyahu lays out case to deflect any U.S. pressure
* Defends settlements, says Palestinians holding up talks
* U.S. envoy Mitchell to hold talks in coming days
* Netanyahu lays out case to deflect any U.S. pressure
* Defends settlements, says Palestinians holding up talks
* U.S. envoy Mitchell to hold talks in coming days
George Mitchell to meet with Abbas in Ramallah
U.S. special Middle East envoy George Mitchell will meet on Thursday with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, following a round of meetings in Lebanon and Syria. Mitchell met with two Lebanese officials, President Michel Suleiman and Nabih Berri, speaker of the parliament, as well as Syrian President Bashar Assad. The results of the meeting have not been disclosed.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1144114.html
Fayyad as 'participant' at the "premier Israeli security conference'"
Salam Fayyad will participate in a Herzliya conference panel early next month with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, conference organizers wrote today. "I have just been advised that Palestinian National Authority Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, will be participating in the 'Prospects of Peace: The Israeli Palestinian Track' plenary session (Tuesday [February 2nd] 20:30) alongside Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak and Conference head Danny Rothschild," Herzliya conference spokesman Jeremy Ruden wrote. It wasn't immediately clear if Fayyad would participate in person or remotely. The annual conference is Israel's premier national security and strategy powwow, convened in the past by Uzi Arad, now national security advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/laurarozen/0110/Palestinian_
PM_to_participate_in_Israeli_security_conference.html?showall
Peres to Abbas: Resume talks or face new intifada
President Shimon Peres recently warned Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that continuing the deadlock in negotiations with Israel could lead to a third intifada and that in delaying, Abbas was "playing with fire." On Wednesday, U.S. special envoy George Mitchell came to the region in another attempt to jump-start talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
At a meeting at the President's Residence on Sunday, Peres told Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store about his discussions with Abbas.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1144176.html
Rejoub: Washington threatened Fatah with siege if reconciliation reached
The US administration threatened Fatah faction that it would face a siege if it signed a reconciliation agreement with the Hamas Movement, Jibril Al-Rejoub revealed.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
Abbas to U.S.: Negotiate with Israel on our behalf
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has proposed that the Obama administration negotiate the final borders of a Palestinian state with Israel, a Palestinian official said Wednesday, as a U.S. envoy headed to the region for another attempt to restart Mideast peace talks.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1143951.html
Abbas: cessation of Jewish settlements gateway to talks resumption
RAMALLAH, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday that a complete cessation of Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories is the right gateway to resuming peace negotiations. Achieving a comprehensive peace that ends the Israeli- Palestinian conflicts "can only be done by halting all settlement activities," Abbas was quoted by the Palestinian official news agency Wafa as saying.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-01/21/c_13144548.htm
Erekat: Netanyahu is sabotaging two-state solution
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is working to end the possibility of a two-state solution by insisting on a continued Israeli presence along a future Palestinian state's borders, chief Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat told Israel Radio on Thursday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1144204.html
MKs furious over Netanyahu Holocaust reference in political row
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the opposition on Wednesday of submitting a no-confidence motion against the government on the same day in which Israel and Germany held a historic joint cabinet session in Berlin.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1143940.html
Other News
Malsin: No such thing as voluntary deportation
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Upon landing in New York on Thursday, Ma'an News Agency's Jared Malsin, a US citizen, said Interior Ministry staff pressured him into dropping a legal challenge against his deportation order just two hours after his lawyer left for the day.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=255690
Jordan's prosecutor accepts case against two Israeli MKs
Jordan's public prosecutor has accepted a petition presented by a group of Jordanian lawyers against two Israeli legislators whom they accused of committing "a crime" against the Hashemite Kingdom, one of the lawyers said Wednesday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1143952.html
U.S. Jew indicted as possible spy for Israel
New documents presented in federal court in Washington, D.C. reveal deep ties (more than was known) between Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Dr. Stewart David Nozette, an American astronomer accused of spying for Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1144093.html
Reporters Without Borders questions Malsin expulsion
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Reporters Without Borders on Wednesday condemned the suspicious circumstances surrounding Israel’s expulsion of US journalist Jared Malsin, chief English editor at Ma'an. “The journalist was expelled after giving up his right of appeal. This decision was taken in dubious circumstances in that the journalist’s lawyer was not present,” the worldwide press freedom organization said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=255680
Analysis/Op-ed/Human Interest
Comment / Barak is legitimizing the evils of Israeli occupation
The settlers and their allies should be thanking their God for their good fortune. Ehud Barak, of all people, was appointed defense minister and is doing their dirty work. Anyone else - Benjamin Netanyahu, for example, or even Avigdor Lieberman wouldn't have been able to pull it off. They wouldn't have dared. But Labor's chairman - the moderate, balanced man in the cabinet - has no inhibitions about what people will say. Everything, it seems, has already been said about him and his flip-flops and deceit. His skin has grown so tough that arrows of criticism slip off his oily complacency. What difference would another arrow, more or less, make?
http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1144110.html
"Port-au-Hasbara, Philip Weiss
Lots o’ Haiti hasbara. O, where to begin? Very interesting piece on ABC News the other night. Diane Sawyer and their medical correspondent did an extended and unflattering comparison between the activities of the Israeli medical team in Haiti and the lack of same by the U.S. military," writes Mike Desch. "Of course, it is great that the IDF responded to this disaster but the piece had a real feel of p.r. to it as well. Israel’s Hasbara crew understands that they have a huge p.r. problem post-Gaza and so they are always on the lookout for opportunities to present Israel in a more favorable light."
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/01/port-au-hasbara.html
Israel Finds a New Way to Play the Victim
A report released by the United Nations last year says that Israeli settlers, angered over the destruction of Jewish outposts, could exact revenge on up to a quarter million Palestinians in the West Bank. It’s not just vague speculation. The report, issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Occupied Palestinian Territory, names 22 specific Palestinian communities, with a total population of 75,900, that are “highly vulnerable” to revenge attacks, and another 59, with about 175,000 residents, that are “moderately vulnerable.” It also names numerous road segments and junctions where Palestinians are especially at risk.
http://original.antiwar.com/chernus/2010/01/20/israel-finds-a-new-way-to-play-the-victim/
Preserving Palestine’s Roots of Resistance
Anyone who has reveled in Middle Eastern or Mediterranean cuisine knows the important role olives play in giving their taste buds cause to cheer. Whether eaten whole or through their oil, olives complete nearly any meal. Yet, here in Palestine in particular, zaytoun (olives) provide flavor to our lives beyond simply satisfying our palates. They are a vital part of the Palestinian economy, and are the nation’s largest commercial crop. According to UN figures, olive trees account for more than 45 percent of all farmland and 80 percent of all orchards in Palestine. They also happen to be a consistent target for Israeli settler and military attacks.
http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=21516&CategoryId=13
The Merchants of Fear: Israel's Profiting from Homeland Insecurity
In the wake of the weird Christmas Day "underwear bomber" incident on Northwest Flight 253, former Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff, as if on cue, was all over the mainstream media touting whole-body scanners as the answer to America's airline security problems. Since leaving public office in 2009, Chertoff had co-founded the Chertoff Group, a security and risk-management firm whose clients include a manufacturer of body-imaging screening machines. While some in the media noted this rather commonplace conflict of interest, ignored by all was a far more significant abuse of the American public's trust.
http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2010/01/20/the-merchants-of-fear-
israels-profiting-from-homeland-insecurity/
Zionism's destabilizing force: "Israeli Exceptionalism" reviewed
In his new book Israeli Exceptionalism: The Destabilizing Logic of Zionism, M. Shahid Alam successfully argues that the moral force behind the Zionist movement is a sense of Jewish, and consequently Israeli, exceptionalism. This claim of exceptionalism underpins what he calls the "destabilizing logic of Zionism." According to Alam, Zionism "could advance only by creating and promoting conflicts between the West and the Islamicate." Ahmed Moor reviews for The Electronic Intifada.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11020.shtml
Iraq
Three killed, dozens wounded in Iraq violence
In Mosul, meanwhile, a suicide car bomber targeted an Iraqi army base, wounding at least 30 people including 20 members of the security forces, a military official said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100120/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrest
Wednesday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 61 Wounded
At least seven Iraqis were killed and 61 more were wounded in recent violence. Most of the attacks were in northern Iraq, but one bold robbery attempt in Baghdad ended in a shootout. Meanwhile, the De-Ba'athification process came under fire again. Also, a lawyer for Tariq Aziz is looking for international help in freeing his infirm client.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/01/20/wednesday-7-iraqis-killed-61-wounded
Tuesday: No Iraqi Casualties Reported
No reports of violence escaped Iraq today; however, there were other important news stories. Among them, U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill promises that he is not in Arbil to encourage Kurds to make concessions to the Arab-led central government. Meanwhile, Iraq is cracking down on shops that sell military and police uniforms. Also, Amnesty International has asked for a halt the increasing passage of death sentences.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/01/20/iraq-no-casualties-reported
Up to 10 percent of Iraqis disabled by war, sanctions
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Amputee Hamza Hameed is a living reminder of the U.S. "shock and awe" bombardment during the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, one of up to three million Iraqis disabled after years of war, sanctions and economic deprivation. He lost his right leg, amputated just below the hip, and the index finger on his left hand when he was wounded in a marketplace during what he says was a nearby U.S. bombing run.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/21/AR2010012101037.html
Up to 10 percent of Iraqis disabled by war, sanctions
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Amputee Hamza Hameed is a living reminder of the U.S. "shock and awe" bombardment during the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, one of up to three million Iraqis disabled after years of war, sanctions and economic deprivation. He lost his right leg, amputated just below the hip, and the index finger on his left hand when he was wounded in a marketplace during what he says was a nearby U.S. bombing run.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/21/AR2010012101037.html
Iraq list of excluded candidates has more Shi'ites (Reuters)
Reuters - More Shi'ite candidates than Sunnis have been barred from Iraq's election because of links to Saddam Hussein's Baath party, politicians said on Wednesday, potentially defusing a row that threatened to reopen sectarian wounds.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100120/wl_nm/us_iraq_baath
List of candidates excluded from polls on Alsumaria News
Alsumaria received from informed sources the final list of candidates excluded from Iraq Parliamentary elections as ratified by the Justice and Accountability Commission and handed to the Independent High Electoral Commission. To view the list of names, go to www.alsumarianews.com
http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Iraq-News/1-43483-
List-of-candidates-excluded-from-polls-on-Alsumaria-News.html
Iraqis protest in support of 'Saddam' candidates ban (AFP)
AFP - Thousands of Iraqis held rallies in the mainly Shiite cities of Basra, Karbala and Najaf on Thursday in support of a decision to bar election candidates linked to executed dictator Saddam Hussein.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100121/wl_mideast_afp/iraqvoteprotest
Baghdad plans 75,000 apartments to modernize slum (Reuters)
Reuters - The city of Baghdad asked foreign companies on Thursday to sign up for a project to design and build 75,000 apartments, the first phase of a $10 billion plan to rebuild the Iraqi capital's sprawling Sadr City slum.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100121/wl_nm/us_iraq_housing
Israeli hand in Iraq's Abu Ghraib exposed
Retired US army colonel Janis Karpinski says that Israeli agents were recruited by the US military at Abu Ghraib to interrogate the prisoners suspected of attacking US forces in Iraq.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116642§ionid=3510203
List-of-candidates-excluded-from-polls-on-Alsumaria-News.html
Iraqis protest in support of 'Saddam' candidates ban (AFP)
AFP - Thousands of Iraqis held rallies in the mainly Shiite cities of Basra, Karbala and Najaf on Thursday in support of a decision to bar election candidates linked to executed dictator Saddam Hussein.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100121/wl_mideast_afp/iraqvoteprotest
Baghdad plans 75,000 apartments to modernize slum (Reuters)
Reuters - The city of Baghdad asked foreign companies on Thursday to sign up for a project to design and build 75,000 apartments, the first phase of a $10 billion plan to rebuild the Iraqi capital's sprawling Sadr City slum.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100121/wl_nm/us_iraq_housing
Israeli hand in Iraq's Abu Ghraib exposed
Retired US army colonel Janis Karpinski says that Israeli agents were recruited by the US military at Abu Ghraib to interrogate the prisoners suspected of attacking US forces in Iraq.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116642§ionid=3510203
Sami Moubayed, "Iraq: Maliki Grasping at Shi'ite Straws"
The clampdown on Sunnis coincides with the release of Qais Khazali, the popular Shi'ite cleric who has been in jail since March 2007. A former associate of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, Khazali was expelled from the Mahdi Army in 2004 and many now believe that he will be used by Maliki in the March elections to counterbalance the Sadrist bloc. Muqtada's team is running for parliament in March in a coalition that that does not include Maliki. His coalition, the Iraqi National Alliance (INA), was founded last August, and includes influential Shi'ite parties like the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC), the Badr Brigade, the Sadrists, ex-prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and the Fadila Party. . . .
http://bit.ly/89rj7I
The curious case of Chemical Ali
Ali Hassan al-Majid earned the nom de guerre of Chemical Ali for unleashing the worst chemical weapons attack on civilians in history, which killed more than 5,000 people in a day. As the military hitman for his cousin, Saddam Hussein, Chemical Ali orchestrated the murder of some 100,000 Kurds in a single year. Yet even as he finally faces the hangman's noose, he may have one last role to play in Iraqi politics. - Charles McDermid and Rebaz Mahmood.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/LA22Ak03.html
Lebanon
Hezbollah chief discusses regional "threats" with Iraq Shiite leader in Beirut
BEIRUT — The leader of Lebanon's Shiite Muslim Hezbollah and the head of the largest Shiite political party in Iraq are focusing on unity amid what they call threats facing the Mideast. Sheik Hassan Nasrallah and Ammar al-Hakim, who heads the Iranian-backed Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, are two of Tehran's closest allies in the region. They met Wednesday in Beirut.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5hDk5tWkkmO8Bgsvuo2HYK2oS9RdA
Hariri fears fresh aggression by Israel against Lebanon
BEIRUT: Prime Minister Saad Hariri started a state visit to Paris with talks with French House Speaker Raymond Forni on Wednesday. Hariri will discuss with French top officials on Thursday bilateral cooperation between Lebanon and France and the need to pressure Israel to commit to UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which put an end to the summer 2006 war with Israel.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=110925
Mitchell: US Won't Support Naturalization of Palestinians
Indeed, it was the turn of US special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell to land in Beirut on Monday where he played well his role in renewing his administrations "pledges" and "promises" to stand at the side of the Lebanese during the upcoming stage. Mitchell, who arrived on Tuesday in Beirut and met with PM Saad Hariri and foreign minister Ali Al-Shami, met on Wednesday with President Michel Sleiman and Speaker Nabih Berri.
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=120702&language=en
Other World News
Militaries use US Biblical weapon sights
Revelations that US troops have been using guns with a Biblical reference inscribed on part of the weapon throws the claim that their military is a secular force into question. The Pentagon has been buying scopes from a company called Trijicon for at least five years. It is South African founder started the practice three decades ago. The company has continued to insrcribe the parts ever since. Al Jazeera's David Chater has more on the gun sights which are being used in Afghanistan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDN_StEX-hs&feature=youtube_gdata
Official Says U.S. Has Lifted Ban on Muslim Scholar
The U.S. has lifted a ban on a planned visit by a leading European Muslim critic of the Iraq war, a U.S. official said, in a move hailed by a rights group as a victory for civil liberties.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/01/20/world/international-us-usa-scholar.html
Solar-powered Bibles sent to Haiti
As international aid agencies rush food, water and medicine to Haiti's earthquake victims, a United States group is sending Bibles.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/19/2796032.htm
'Illegal' Saudi women's gym shut: media
RIYADH: Health authorities in Jeddah have shut down an "illegal" women's fitness centre attached to a hospital, closing one of the few venues where women are able to exercise, local media said on Wednesday. Although health officials have repeatedly blamed the high rates of heart disease and diabetes in the kingdom on poor diets and lack of exercise, health authorities said women's fitness centers were not allowed.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=110893
Saudi 'sorcerer' who raped 100 sentenced to death
RIYADH: A Saudi man reported to have raped more than 100 women after posing as a spell-caster to lure them into his clutches has been sentenced to death, Saudi media reported on Wednesday. The "Qatif sorcerer" was originally sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes, but after more victims came forth the sentence was changed to execution, Al-Riyadh newspaper reported.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=110910
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