Shadi Fadda brings us todays headlines and other news from around the internet. Land theft/Settlers
Old City stores in Jerusalem threatened with demolition
Several Palestinian shops inside Jerusalem's Old City in Damascus Gate face the threat of demolition after the Israeli Jerusalem Municipality inspectors handed down notices to owners and tenants on Wednesday ... All were given three days to evacuate the shops. According to the owner’s son, Wael, Israeli municipality store-inspectors do not have the jurisdiction to hand down demolition notices, which is usually executed by license and building inspectors. He added that neither he nor his father or tenants received eviction orders from the Israeli High Court, in accordance with recent Israeli policy.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Al-Ghawi protest tent removed in Sheikh Jarrah
Israeli police took down the protest tent erected by the Al-Ghawi family in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem, following their eviction from their home a year ago on Sunday. The Al-Ghawi tent was dismantled shortly after the detention of Fatima Diab, 45, a resident of Sheikh Jarrah, for allegedly pouring water over far-right Israeli Member of Knesset Micheal Bin Ari, after he visited the area with pro-settler activists recently.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
MK Oron: Gov't backs rightists in East Jerusalem
Meretz chairman says Jews in Sheikh Jarrah 'thuggishly preventing attempts to divide Jerusalem' -- "You cannot claim on the one hand that the Jews have entered Sheikh Jarrah under a court order and on the other hand try to pass a bypass law in the High Court of Justice to prevent the sealing and evacuation of Beit Yehonatan," he told Ynet ... "This is an attempt to create symmetry between Beit Yehonatan and 200 Arab homes, as if in all other areas the Palestinians receive treatment equal to that received by the settlers," Oron said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Israel to resume building separation barrier south of Jerusalem
The Defense establishment has announced plans to resume construction of Israel's separation barrier south of Jerusalem -- a move that has drawn criticism from environmental groups who claim the barrier will cause grave harm to ancient agricultural landscapes in the area. The plan to build the barrier in the area between Har Gilo and the Palestinian village of al-Walajah is also likely to be another point of tension over Jerusalem with the Palestinians. The planned portion of the barrier will extend over four kilometers, and will bring Har Gilo and the Cremisan monastery into Israel, but leave al-Walajah outside of the barrier.
http://haaretz.com/hasen/
Hagee's gifts to pro-settler groups / Richard Silverstein
Recently, Max Blumenthal uncovered that Elie Wiesel accepted a $500,000 gift from John Hagee, the anti-Semitic pro-settler televangelist ... Thanks to Didi Remez, I’ve been doing some digging among Hagee’s other gifts to Israeli organizations. In fairness, he does give gifts to hospitals and absorption centers, which are perfectly reasonable. But it is notable how much money and how extensively he gives to pro-settler and extreme rightist Israeli groups. Besides Im Tirtzu ($200,000 over two years), the radical right smearmeisters who put a horn on Naomi Chazan in a disgusting ad in the Jerusalem Post and Hebrew language press, there are these others (some of which are listed here on page 12): Gush Katif, $200,000;Young Israel, $150,000; Shurat Ha-Din, $100,000; Nefesh B’Nefesh, $1,000,000; Ariel (settlement), $500,000; Gush Etzion, $150,000....
http://www.richardsilverstein.
The turtle and the hare / Adam Keller
Once upon a time there were two friends, a hare and turtle, and they both joined the Jerusalem Police.The swift hare was kept very busy in the police, all the time running here, there and everywhere. He was in Sheikh Jarah, helping to expel Palestinian families and let settlers take over their homes and beating up any demonstrator who dared protest ... His friend the police turtle was given an important task: to approach the settlers in that illegal seven-floor house erected in the middle of Silwan, of telling them that they must at last obey the Supreme Court's ruling and get out of there.
http://adam-keller2.blogspot.Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment
Valentine rhymes with Palestine, on a big day for BDS
While Valentine’s Day weekend is usually a time to buy jewelry or beauty products for your spouse, Palestine solidarity activists in New York used the occasion as an impetus to further the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement targeting Israel. Dozens of activists gathered outside billionaire Lev Leviev’s high-end jewelry store in Manhattan February 13, calling for a boycott of the store because Leviev’s companies construct illegal Jewish-only settlements in occupied Palestine. And CODEPINK’s Stolen Beauty campaign—which targets beauty products made by Ahava because the company’s products exploit Palestinian natural resources and are built in an illegal settlement in the West Bank—urged activists to contact Ricky’s NYC to call on the beauty store to cease carrying products made by Ahava.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/02/
Rads
I was a little freaked out by the student uprisings this week at speeches by Israeli officials at Oxford and at University of California-Irvine. One protest targeted an Israeli deputy foreign minister. The other Israeli ambassador Michael Oren. In both cases there was suppression of free speech, and the rage was palpable. A student at Oxford shouted an Arabic curse involving Jews and later defended it. At UC, on the video, a woman can be heard angrily complaining, as she is led out, about the harassment she suffers in the West Bank. Is anyone surprised that there is rage against the occupation and the Gaza slaughter? At some level the muscularity of the Israel lobby is about suppressing rage that we all know is coming, and is overdue. A former AIPAC staffer was the publisher of a newspaper I once worked for and he said offhand to me years ago, Well we kicked them out of their houses. I was shocked to hear the news, 50 years after it happened. But “We” meant Jews, which equaled Zionists, in my publisher’s view; so now we are inheriting the whirlwind.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/02/
Checkpoint Rock: Songs From Palestine
[ March 8th, 2010 7:30 pm to March 9th, 2010 12:00 am. ] Israeli Apartheid Week 2010 featuring Up Front: 3 Palestinian Women Monday March 8, 2010 screening begins 19h30 Room H-110, 1455 de Maisonneuve west Concordia University, Montreal co-presented by Cinema Politica * Checkpoint Rock A journey through one of the regions which is always in the glare of the world's media, yet one which few of us really know.
http://www.tadamon.ca/post/
Violence/Aggression
Child Wounded By Israeli Fire In Central Gaza
Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported on Sunday evening that a Palestinian child suffered moderate wounds after the Israeli army bombarded a number of homes in Juhr Al Deek area, in central Gaza.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
CPT: ‘My son, my son’
Yesterday a man died in Al Khalil/Hebron. Israeli soldiers shot him, and he died of his injuries. He was a Palestinian of about forty, with a large family. There are different versions of what happened. The Israeli military have reported that the man attempted to stab one or more soldiers with a knife and that the soldiers then shot him. Locals say that this is not true. One report CPTers have heard is that Palestinian kids were throwing stones and the soldiers started shooting; the man had not been involved but was shot while he was trying to escape from danger. We were not there and so do not know.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/
Bomb Detonated by the Monument of Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa in Jabalya
Yesterday morning, unknown persons detonated a bomb under a monument of Abu Ali Mustafa, the late Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip. The monument was partially destroyed.
http://www.pchrgaza.org/
Detentions
IOF kidnaps a woman from Sheikh Jarrah
February 14, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - Israeli occupation forces kidnapped early Sunday a woman from Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in downtown of Jerusalem. Sources in the neighborhood said: "The large force of Israeli police raided the house of Mrs. Fatima Abu Diab, 45, today dawn and took her to Al-Maskobya investigation center in the city. According to sources, the police accused Abu Diab of trying to pour boiled oil on Israeli minister who visited the neighborhood last night in solidarity with the settlers.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/
A Palestinian arrest so ridiculous even the Israeli judges smiled, Amira Hass
Something about 12-year-old Bassam caused two Israelis to smile. Two Palestinians noticed, but did not remember their smiles as being disparaging or arrogant. On the contrary. The Palestinians regarded the smiles as a rare moment in which two Israelis - and not just any Israelis, but military judges - realized how ridiculous the situation was.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
De facto gov't: 4 fishermen detained by Israeli navy off Gaza coast
Israeli naval forces detained four Gazan fishermen off the Sudaniyya coast of northern Gaza, according to Nizar Ayyash, head of the Union of Fishermen in Gaza ... An Israeli military spokesman said the following: "Earlier today two Palestinian fishing boats crossed into an area not permitted for Palestinian sea vessels...."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Hamas: PA security detains 5 affiliates across West Bank
Hamas accused the Palestinian Authority Security Services of detaining five of the movement's affiliates across the West Bank, in a statement issued on Sunday. Those detained include lawyer Murad Azzam from Nablus, Ahmad Saleh Al-Arouri of Birzeit University, Ramallah, An-Najjah University student Anas Raddad from Sayda in Tulkarem and Polytechnic University students Majed Kweistro and Nidal Shawar from Hebron, according to the statement.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Egyptian security denies arresting Gaza fishermen
Egyptian authorities denied arresting four Gazan fishermen off the southern coast of Rafah on Friday, senior Egyptian security sources told Ma'an on Sunday. "The territorial water between Egypt and Gaza did not witness any Palestinian violations [prompting an arrest] over that period of time," the sources said. Egyptian coast guards deal with Palestinian in a humane way; if they cross into Egyptian territorial water, they are turned away without arrest because of the inhumane circumstances Palestinian fishermen are living under."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Detained Journalists
Hamas arrests British journalist in Gaza (Reuters)
Reuters - Hamas police have arrested a British journalist in the Gaza Strip, an official in the ruling Palestinian Islamist movement said Sunday, accusing him of unspecified security offences.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
IOF soldiers detain journalist in WB, others in Gaza win int'l awards
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) manning the border crossing between Jordan and the occupied West Bank kidnapped a Palestinian journalist on his return from Jordan a couple of days ago.
Siege/Blockade/Movement restriction
Congressman says US should break Gaza blockade (AP)
AP - The United States should break Israel's blockade of Gaza and deliver badly needed supplies by sea, a U.S. congressman told Gaza students.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Tightened security enforced on checkpoints in key West Bank cities
Israeli forces imposed heightened security measures on the military checkpoints on the main road between Nablus and Ramallah in the West Bank on Sunday, while the container checkpoint in Bethlehem saw similar restrictions. Locals told Ma'an that hundreds of cars were held up at the Huwwara and Za'tara checkpoints south of Nablus as well as at the Atara checkpoint north of Ramallah.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Medical convoy worth $2.5 million enters Gaza via Rafah
The Union of Arab Doctors announced that a medical convoy transporting 2.5 million US dollars worth of medical aid entered Gaza via the Rafah crossing on Saturday. The convoy consists of medicine for cancer and heart patients, 20,000 of fabric for operating rooms and equipment and supplies for heart surgeries. Muhammad Al-Majdalawi, UAD manager, said "the Egyptian authorities allowed the convoy into Gaza through Rafah. The convoy was sent by the Emergency Relief Committee in the Federation of Arab doctors in Egypt." Al-Majdalawi said that the medical convoy is the largest Gaza has seen since Israel's war on the costal enclave in 2009. [End]
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
One Gaza crossing partially open for limited export, fuel transfers
Israeli authorities opened the Kerem Shalom crossing into southern Gaza to allow the transfer of humanitarian aid and commercial goods, as well as the limited export of Gaza flowers on Sunday, border crossings official Raed Fattouh said. Between 57 and 67 truckloads of humanitarian aid and commercial goods will be delivered to the besieged coastal strip via Kerem Shalom, Fattouh said. The same crossing point will see the export of two truckloads of cut carnations and the vital transfer of limited quantities of domestic gas and industrial fuel.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Israeli human rights groups complain of state crackdown
Israel has long prided itself on being a country where dissent is tolerated and the highest institutions can be freely criticised. More recently, however, some Israelis have started to question whether that picture is still accurate. They point out that several Israeli human rights groups and non-governmental org-anisations have become the targets of high-profile - and occasionally vicious - campaigns by rightwing groups and politicians. The groups are worried about government attempts to curb foreign donations to NGOs that criticise the Israeli army and state.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/
State to seek housing for Gazan girl paralyzed in strike
Three-and-a-half years after injury from IDF strike on her home in Strip, eight-year-old Maria Amen's family still cannot find apartment that meets her medical needs. State tells High Court will appoint representative to solve housing problem for family that currently resides in Jerusalem hospital
http://www.ynetnews.com/
The invisible maladies
not for the first time, yesterday i meet a father whose child needs treatment outside of Gaza. he mentions it to me, not because i appear to be a medical expert, but because he is desperate. “my son was hit by a car 2 years ago and had severe damage to his head. he’s had operations in gaza and in israel, but is still very bad off now.” he explains that moayyed has a build-up of fluid in his head putting pressure on his brain, causing extreme pain and disorientation ... we part, me promising to contact groups like PCRF and PHR-Israel to see what is possible for the 8 year old. the father can’t thank me enough and i’m embaressed: in what other place is this acceptable, that a parent can live in desperation, worrying for his/her child, having no means of seeking medical care for the child?
http://ingaza.wordpress.com/
Abu Hein: 100,000 children in Gaza traumatized by the Israeli war
Director of the mental health program in the Gaza Strip Fadel Abu Hein said Saturday that more than 100,000 Palestinian children were traumatized as a result of the Israeli war on Gaza.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Despite fear, Gaza children still have hope
Gaza Strip, 14 February, 2010 (Pal Telegraph)- Gaza children have already been suffering a lot under Israel's cruel siege. Maybe they had some hope that someday everything would become better, but then the war on Gaza destroyed this hope, replaced by fear, and now they are trying to return to normal life, yet still under increasingly tightening siege. The first attack hit Gaza in the morning when schools were in session. Everything was quiet; they were attending their lessons, when all of a sudden, a terrible explosion shocked the children .... One of the aims of that Israeli war was to destroy them physically and emotionally, however, the rest of Gaza's children still have their hopes of fulfilling their dreams.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/
Photoessay: reclaiming Gaza's land
Local Initiative has been leading demonstrations in the Israeli-imposed “buffer zone” -- (a 300 m stretch of land flanking Gaza's border with Israel from north to south, but in reality extending up to 2 km in some area. Israeli authorities say anyone within 300 m of the border fence risk being shot.) In the tradition of Bil’in and Ni’lin, in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian and international protesters march non-violently on Palestinian land, in protest of Israel’s unilateral annexation of this land ... Laetaemat, east of Khan Younis: across treeless fields, beyond the Israeli military jeeps and border fence, life flourishes on 1948 land, where irrigation equipment, water, crop dusters and tractors are all available and functioning. In Israel there is no ban on irrigation piping, on cement, on fertilizers, on seeds…
http://ingaza.wordpress.com/
War Crimes
Rights orgs call Goldstone implementation 'challenge to UN system'
A group of 18 rights groups sent a letter to the UN General Assembly expressing "concerns about the effectiveness of the endeavors undertaken" in order to ensure the allegations brought up in the Goldstone report are justly considered.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Refugees
Civil Rights for Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon
Friends of Palestine and supporters of basic civil rights, wherever they live, can help this happen without violence or martyrs by signing and distributing the Online Petition and by twinning with a Palestinian Refugee in Lebanon.”
http://www.petitiononline.com/
Collaborators
Egyptian authorities raid 6 tunnels
Egyptian authorities raided six tunnels on the Gaza-Egypt border and confiscated goods intended for smuggling, security sources told Ma'an on Sunday. Security services stormed the tunnels 120 meters from the Rafah border crossing after receving a tip-off that increased attempts to transfer goods into the Strip were reported near the Salah Ad-Din terminal, particularly in residential areas near the subterranean metal wall, the sources said. Spare parts for computers were confiscated during the operation, the sources added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Israeli Druze minister: Syria should give water to Golan towns
An Israeli Druze minister vowed Sunday to work toward reaching an agreement with Syria over the supply of water to towns in the Golan Heights, Israel Radio has reported. Currently, 10 percent of the water in the Israeli Druze town of Majdal Shams is supplied by Syria, sourced at the Ein-al-Toufah spring. Syria has allowed the town to use water from this spring for the past 25 years.
http://haaretz.com/hasen/
Mossad propaganda in the Times of London
I suspected that this is a propaganda leak by the Mossad in order to send a message of effectiveness and skill that this lousy terrorist organization does not deserve. Just last week, they kidnapped a little boy in South Lebanon because they thought he was a senior Hizbullah commander. But when I read this line, I became convinced it is a leak by the Mossad: I mean, since when Dahlanists are credible sources on Hizbullah and Hamas? "a senior Palestinian official in Ramallah told The Times."
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
Israel rewarded for its assassination in Dubai
"Shahar Peer of Israel will play in the Dubai Tennis Championships, a year after she was denied an entry visa for the tournament. She will join a field Sunday that includes Venus Williams, the defending champion. “There is no question that what happened last year was unfortunate on many fronts,” said Salah Tahlak, the tournament director."
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
Political Developments/Diplomacy
Erdogan: There will be no peace while Gaza under siege
Turkish premier Recep Erdogan slammed the western countries and the UN for using the policy of double standards, warning that there would be no peace in the region while the Gaza Strip is under siege.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Prime Minister Erdoğan warns Egypt over Gaza, urges UN to act
Nearly a year has passed since an aid conference was held on the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, calling on the international community to honor promises made at the conference in Sharm el-Sheikh last March. Erdoğan was speaking at a joint press conference following his talks with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber Al-Thani, when he was asked to comment on Egypt's stance vis-à-vis transportation of humanitarian assistance to Gaza. “At the moment, there are four entrances to Gaza. One of them is the entrance from Egypt. But there is unfortunately no permission to enter through any of these entrances with materials necessary for construction. Permission is given from time to time for other assistance, such as medicine and food.
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-
Pakistan assures Palestinians of unequivocal support
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday assured the people of Palestine of its unequivocal support for their struggle for an independent and sovereign Palestinian state with Al Quds as its capital. “Pakistan believes that peace will remain elusive in the Middle East unless the Palestinian issue is resolved,” President Asif Ali Zardari told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Presidency, who is on a one-day visit to Islamabad.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/
Clinton: US can't force Israel, PA into talks
Washington – Ma’an – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday made an unusual acknowledgement of frustrations with the long-frozen Palestinian-Israeli negotiation process. Speaking at the US-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar, on the first day of a trip to the Middle East, Clinton said, know people are disappointed that we have not yet achieved a breakthrough.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
On Mash'al's heels, Netanyahu arrives in Moscow
Washington – Ma’an – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Moscow early on Monday morning for a three-day visit that follows by less than a week a trip by Hamas leader Khalid Mash’al. Russia is an ally of Israel, but is also the only member of the diplomatic Quartet that has open relations with Hamas. The other members of the peace negotiations-sponsoring Quartet – the US, EU, and UN – boycott the Islamic group.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
5 factions call on Hamas to sign Egyptian proposal
Five Palestinian factions called on Hamas to sign the Egyptian reconciliation document during a meeting at the Popular Struggle Front's Gaza headquarters on Saturday. The factions in attendance included the Palestinian Liberation Front, Fida, the Arab Liberation Front, the Palestinian-Arab Front and the Popular Struggle Front. Members of the various factions demanded that Hamas sign the proposal as it represents "a lifeline" for the Palestinian people.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
13 Palestinian factions to meet in Gaza
...sources told Ma'an that, following the visits of Fatah Central Committee member Nabil Sha'ath and secretary-general of the Palestinian Peoples' Party, Bassam As-Salihi to Gaza, a general meeting will be held in the Strip on Sunday including all 13 Palestinian factions which participated in the Cairo talks on ending inter-Palestinian rivalry.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Palestinian group rejects peace talks until references are clarified
A group of prominent Palestinian academics and personalities have organized a campaign calling for the rejection of resuming peace talks until appropriate terms of reference are put forward, and national reconciliation is achieved, a statement issued on Saturday read. "We see the resumption of talks under the current situation as a danger to the Palestinian cause ... Resuming these negotiations, directly or indirectly, on any level, will provide a cover for the policies of the Israeli occupation in Jerusalem, settlement expansion and the construction of the wall ... The signatories of the memorandum were as follows: 1. Iyad As-Sarraj 2. Hani Al-Masri ....
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Abbas to Boycott Arab Summit if Meshaal Attends?!
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas plans to boycott the Arab League summit planned for March 27 if Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Meshal attends, a report on Al-Jazeera said on Saturday. According to the report, senior PA officials said they have received information that Libya, which is hosting the summit, is planning a bid to have the two leaders sign a reconciliation agreement. The report said that Abbas is wary of Egypt's response to such a reconciliation effort. Egypt has been mediating reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas that have thus far been unsuccessful. Abbas has notified Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan that he objects to meeting the Hamas chief unless he signs the reconciliation deal mediated by Egypt. Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi invited Abbas for an official visit to discuss reconciliation prior to the summit's start. However, PA officials have said that the meeting would take place only if Egypt gives a green light. The Al-Jazeera report added that the PA wants Russia to pressure Hamas to sign an accord and that Abbas even discussed the matter with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who met this week with Meshal in Moscow.
http://almanar.com.lb/
Yasser Arafat's successor will likely be a Fatah security figure
Although it appeared that the leadership transition inside the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), the Palestinian Authority, and the Fatah movement was resolved smoothly with the January 2005 election of Mahmoud Abbas following the death of Yasser Arafat, many Palestinians continue to view Abbas' election as only an interim solution to Palestinian problems.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Other news
Muslim firebrands challenge Hamas rule in Gaza (AP)
AP - They preach global jihad, or holy war, adhere to an ultraconservative form of Islam and are becoming a headache even for Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Abbas dismisses Rafiq Husseini, appoints investigation committee
President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Rafiq Husseini, his chief of staff, on Sunday following the leak of a videotape that apparently shows Husseini propositioning a job applicant for sex in Ramallah. Abbas said he has formed an investigation committee headed by the Fatah Central Committee's secretary-general, Abu Maher Ghneim, and including committee member Azzam Al-Ahmad and the head of the Palestinian high court, Rafiq An-Natsheh.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Report: Kahana’s JDL reorganizing to provide Amb. Oren security at US public events
On Thursday (February 11, 2010,) we reported on the involvement of Kahanists in anti-NIF advocacy in the US. The story below, from this morning’s Israel Hayom (a tabloid owned by Sheldon Adelson,) reports that (apparently following the UC Irvine incident) they are now organizing to provide security for Ambassador Michael Oren and other Israeli dignitaries at US public events. Hopefully, the results of this initiative will not resemble scenes from The Altamont Free Concert.
http://coteret.com/2010/02/14/
Barak, Steinitz refuse to pay for fence
A month after the approval of the plan to set up a fence on the Egyptian border, the start of the construction works is being delayed due to a budgetary disagreement: Defense Minister Ehud Barak's objection is preventing progress in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's prestigious project – setting up a fence on the Israel- Egypt border.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Group suspected of forging entry permits for Palestinians
Israeli farmers, Interior Ministry, Civil Administration workers and Palestinians arrested on suspicion of fraudulently issuing hundreds of entry permits to Israel, selling them to Palestinian workers for millions of shekels
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Netanyahu seeking compromise on expat bill
Sunday's Knesset committee discussion on a bill that would allow Israelis abroad the right to vote will likely not end in a decision, as Prime Minister Netanyahu aims to secure a compromise on the controversial law, officials at the PM's Office said late Saturday. Netanyahu wishes to reach a compromise that would only allow Israelis who lived abroad for no longer than five years to cast a ballot, thereby eliciting the backing of more Knesset factions.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Our government in Miami / Assaf Gefen
Granting voting rights to expats would enable them to save us -- The benefits of granting voting rights to Israelis living abroad are still seemingly unclear. The idea of granting such rights to people who will not be paying the inflated prices that come with these rights - missiles, taxes, or watching election ads on television
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Gush Shalom weekly ad: Voters abroad
In the Biberman state, / Voters abroad / Who will not spill / Their own blood / Nor sacrifice / Their own sons / Will vote on war. / In the Biberman state, Voters abroad / Who do not pay / Taxes in Israel / Will vote on occupation / And settlements.
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/
New: Palestinian Authority-controlled "Palestine Network" hand picked "grassroots" participants
My back and forth exchange with the Palestinian Authority-controlled "Palestine Network" continues. Ms. Fatima AbdelKarim, on behalf of the Palestine Network Secretariat in Israeli-occupied Ramallah, has answered a blog post I wrote yesterday entitled "Abbas-backed "Palestine Network" responds to my comments; here's my reaction and their unpublished 'concept paper.'"
http://aliabunimah.posterous.
Nuzha Nusseibeh named Knight of Jerusalem
Nuzha Nusseibeh was named Knight of Jerusalem during a ceremony celebrating her lifetime achievements in education, women and prisoners' rights, at the Dar At-Tifl school and orphanage in Jerusalem on Saturday evening, organized by the Jawwal Theatre Group.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Bronner Watch
'Times' troika of Keller, Hoyt & Bronner were involved in earlier conflict of interest / Philip Weiss
In September 2007 The New York Times Magazine ran a lengthy profile of diamond merchant Lev Leviev, written by former Israeli government spokesman Zev Chafets. The piece, titled "Missionary Mogul," somehow completely failed to mention Leviev’s investments in building several settlements on the West Bank that are illegal under international law. Disturbed by the puff-piece, Adalah NY, which has conducted a boycott against Leviev precisely because of this illegal-settlement activity, sent a courteous and informative letter to Times management urging the paper to cover Leviev’s activities "which the public deserves to know." It got no response.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/02/
The New York Times and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: the Bronner affair / Jerome Slater
the central issue in this dispute is less that of Ethan Bronner than it is of the New York Times itself. Close observers of the Times news coverage and commentary about Israel have long known that it is typically slanted in a "pro-Israel" direction and therefore is quite unreliable as a guide to understanding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I have written about this at some length in a professional journal; what follows is a brief summary of my argument: The bias and downright disingenuousness--it can't be merely ignorance--of the Times has played a major role in perpetuating the mythology about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that is still dominant in Israel and the United States--even though it has been decisively discredited by serious Israeli, U.S., and European historians, academicians and journalists.
http://www.jeromeslater.com/
Analysis/Opinion
Arieli is a man with a plan. The trouble is, it's a map of Israel / Robert Fisk
Shaul Arieli runs his fingers over a keyboard and his desktop screen produces a mass of green and orange and red that turns out to be a map of the West Bank. How do you make sense of it, this liver-sized mess with its weird Areas A, B and C, the first being Palestinian-"controlled", the second shared between Palestinian police and Israeli troops, and the third – by far the largest part – occupied by the Israeli army? How do you persuade, cajole, force the 300,000 Jewish colonists and the 200,000 Jewish settlers in east Jerusalem to up sticks and leave so that the Palestinians can live independently in the 22 per cent of mandate Palestine that is left to them? Since Barack Obama demanded a permanent freeze to these vast concrete cities and towns – and was crushed by Bibi Netanyahu's refusal – a Palestinian state is a non-starter. I should add that Arieli was one of those Israeli officials responsible for portioning out Areas A and B back in 1994.
http://www.independent.co.uk/
Touring 'Operation Attila the Hun', Finkelstein tells the schmuck joke
I asked him to elaborate, and he said: In the index of Benny Morris’s Righteous Victims, he lists all Israel’s military operations, and each has a name. I’ve studied this to the point of, I won’t say lunacy because people will nail me on it, but tedium, and even I can’t keep the names straight. But each operation is just an exercise in massive death and destruction. Two years ago it was Operation Summer Rains. Succeeded a few months later by Operation Autumn Clouds. It’s just nonstop destruction and death, and these names they dream up, if they had any honesty they would call it Operation Attila the Hun, followed by Operation Genghis Kahn, followed by Operation Murder, Incorporated. "It’s a vandal state. You know how hysterical any one of us becomes when we lose everything on our computer. Well every few months everything these people have managed to accumulate is systematically destroyed again and again. It’s not just your C-drive."
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/02/
Questioning Our Special Relationship with Israel
A "regional economic power." That's how ANIMA, the Euro-Mediterranean Network of Investment Promotion Agencies encompassing 70 governmental agencies and international networks, described Israel in its January 2010 Mediterranean Investment Map. The report analyzed the economies of the 27 European Union countries as well as 9 "partner countries."
http://palestinechronicle.com/
My Father Was A Freedom Fighter – Book Review
In the foreword to Ramzy Baroud’s book, Palestinian scholar Salman Abu Sitta refers to a bold assertion by David Ben Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, in June 1948 – soon after the declaration of the state of Israel and in the midst of large-scale cleansing of Palestinians from their homeland. “Not one refugee will return,” proclaimed Ben Gurion, “The old will die. The young will forget.”
http://palestinechronicle.com/
Iraq
Sunday: 10 Iraqis Killed, 11 Wounded
Light violence vexed Iraq, while the election blacklist continued to dominate the headlines. At least 10 Iraqis were killed and 11 more were wounded in the latest attacks. Meanwhile, a war of words is breaking out between the current and former vice presidents of the United States.
http://original.antiwar.com/
Three killed in attacks in Baghdad, north Iraq (AFP)
AFP - Three people including Christians were killed and nine others wounded on Sunday in attacks that took place in Baghdad and northern Iraq, officials said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Only 1 in 5 blacklisted Iraqi candidates to run (AP)
AP - Only one in five candidates accused of being loyalists to Saddam Hussein's regime successfully fought an order banning them from running in Iraq's national elections next month, officials said Sunday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Chalabi accuses US of interfering in Iraq election
BAGHDAD — A former Iraqi deputy prime minister who encouraged the United States to topple dictator Saddam Hussein said Sunday that Washington had interfered in the war-torn country's March 7 general election. Ahmed Chalabi said US Vice President Joe Biden and Washington's ambassador to Baghdad Christopher Hill applied pressure to a committee responsible for vetting candidates and on judges who ruled on who could stand for office.
http://www.google.com/
Lebanon
Murr tells Ban Israel biggest violator of Resolution 1701
Lebanon's Defense Minister Elias Murr rejected in a meeting with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon attempts to compare some incidents in southern Lebanon with thousands of Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace and sovereignty.An-Nahar newspaper reported on Saturday that Ban expressed satisfaction with the Lebanese government's commitment to Security Council Resolution 1701.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
U.S. and other world news
Obama, The War President, Helen Thomas
President Barack Obama does have a foreign policy. It's called war.
http://www.timesunion.com/
Iraq: Raid On "Arms Smugglers" in Iraq Kills 10 Civilians
Maytham Lafta, a Maysan provincial council lawmaker, said at least 10 people were killed — including two women — and five others were wounded. Lafta identified the dead as "all innocent people."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/
Karzai says 10 civilians killed in Afghan assault
Ten civilians have been killed during a major US-led military offensive to clear a southern Afghan region of Taliban militants, the Afghan president said Sunday.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/
Johann Hari: Obama's secret prisons in Afghanistan endanger us all
Osama bin Laden's favourite son, Omar, recently abandoned his father's cave in favour of spending his time dancing and drooling in the nightclubs of Damascus. The tang of freedom almost always trumps Islamist fanaticism in the end: three million people abandoned the Puritan hell of Taliban Afghanistan for freer countries, while only a few thousand faith-addled fanatics ever travelled the other way. Osama's vision can't even inspire his own kids. But Omar bin Laden says his father is banking on one thing to shore up his flailing, failing cause - and we are giving it to him.
http://license.icopyright.net/
Moazzam Begg: 'British intelligence were there at every stage of my detention'
British Muslim held at Guantánamo Bay says Binyam Mohamed revelations are no surprise considering his own experience.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Israel is accused of waging covert war across the Middle East
Israel is waging a covert assassination campaign across the Middle East in an effort to stop its key enemies co-ordinating their activities.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/
Despite Netanyahu pressure, Russia defends Iran missile deal
On the eve of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Moscow, senior Russian security officials were speaking out on defense-related issues that have provoked tensions between the two countries.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Hillary Clinton's Middle East tour: It's all about Iran
Adm. Mike Mullen and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton kicked off an eight-nation swing Sunday through the Middle East. The focus of the trip? Iran's nuclear ambitions.
http://www.csmonitor.com/
Interview: Iran pursuing the bomb
Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, has indicated there is "accumulating evidence" that Iran is pursuing a nuclear bomb. Just a week ago, a White House spokesman dismissed Iran's claims it could enrich weapons grade uranium. Al Jazeera's Sami Zeidan spoke to state department spokesperson PJ Crowley about Clinton's latest comments.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Sami Moubayed, "Israel's War Drums 2010"
When the ceasefire went into effect on the Lebanese-Israeli border in 2006, nobody believed -- not for a moment -- that this was the end of conflict between Hezbollah and Israel. After all, none of Israel's objectives were met in 2006: Israel Defense Forces' soldiers were still held captive in Lebanon; and far from being annihilated or weakened, Hezbollah emerged from the war stronger than before, even by testimony of the Israel army. Anybody familiar with the guiding ideology behind the Zionist State understands why 2006 was such a problem for Tel Aviv. The Israelis, simply said, cannot afford to "not win" a war with the Arabs. . . . Since then we have been hearing of a Phase II scenario between the two countries, speculated for the summers of 2006-2009. Why summer? One reason is that all of Israel's wars have been in the summer, when the skies are clear and the soil is strong for Israeli army tanks, in 1967, 1982, and 2006. Only in March 1968 did the Israelis go into a winter battle with the Arabs -- the Palestinians at Karameh in Jordan -- and back then, bad weather prevented their air force from intervening, and led to a retreat of their ground forces, after a 10-hour battle. Once again, the drums of war are vibrating throughout the region, as tension escalates between Hezbollah and Israel, signaling that a new war will break out in the summer of 2010.
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.
Not guilty plea in Egypt Copt trial
Three Egyptian Muslims accused of shooting six Coptic Christians and a security guard have pleaded not guilty at the start of their trial in southern Egypt. The suspects are accused of carrying out an attack on worshippers emerging from a church on the eve of the Coptic Orthodox Christmas on January 6 in the southern village of Nagaa Hammadi.
http://english.aljazeera.net//
www.TheHeadlines.org
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