Shadi Fadda brings us today's headlines relating to Palestine and other news from around the internet.Land Theft and Destruction
Israel to build new settlement
Tel Aviv approves plans for more illegal housing units in East Jerusalem.
http://english.aljazeera.net//
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment (See also under Aggression/Violence for Israeli responce to Palestinian Activism)
Wanted: Israeli army commander of Bil’in area, Palestine
Palestinian, Israeli, and International activists demonstrated against the apartheid wall and settlements in Bil’in village west of Ramallah. Despite rain and harsh winds demonstrators marched to the wall and were immediately met with tear gas from the Israeli military as they are each week Friday. Soldiers fired heavy aluminum tear gas canisters into the crowd, and veteran activists commented on the extra strength of the gas today. People attempted to distribute “wanted signs” with the face of the local army commander to the soldiers positioned on the other side of the fence.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/
Divestment Resolution Passed
http://info.umdunderground.
AUB to take part in global Israeli Apartheid Week
BEIRUT: The American University of Beirut will launch the first-ever Israeli Apartheid Week on March 1-6. A statement from AUB said Beirut will be joining more than 40 cities around the world in marking the event, which began in 2005. A program of lectures, film screenings, student round tables, workshops and music will response to the call of Palestinian civil society for the "Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions" (BDS) against Israel.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
500 Artists Against Israeli Apartheid
Today, a broad spectrum of Montreal artists are standing in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom and supporting the growing international campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against the Israeli state. Last winter, the Israeli state launched a violent military assault on the Palestinian people of the Gaza Strip, leaving over 1400 Palestinians dead, including over 300 children. Despite the official end of military operations, the blockade continues to this day, with devastating consequences for Gaza’s residents.
http://www.tadamon.ca/post/
Protest at UC Irvine against Israeli official still reverberates
This week Assemblyman Chuck DeVore (R-Irvine) sent a letter to UCI Chancellor Michael Drake requesting that the Muslim Student Union be banned from campus because it goes against "the university's imperative to provide an education in an atmosphere of academic liberty, free of coercion and conducive to meaningful debate and free inquiry." DeVore said he was qualified to weigh in on the matter because, among other things, he studied Arabic overseas and helped secure U.S. support for Israel's antiballistic missile.
http://www.latimes.com/news/
Geographers and academics protest union's Tel Aviv conference
As geographers, faculty, students and people of conscience, we are profoundly dismayed by the International Geographical Union's decision to hold its July 2010 regional conference in Tel Aviv, in violation of the widely endorsed Palestinian civil society call for Boycott, Divestments, and Sanctions against Israel.
http://electronicintifada.net/
NYC, March 9th: Protest Israeli Defense Forces at the 2010 Gala Dinner:Israelis Feast While Palestinians Hunger For Justice
Jews Say No is sponsoring a peaceful protest of the 2010 New York Gala Dinner of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on March 9, 2010, at 5 PM in New York City. Gather at 53rd and Lexington Avenue. Please wear black. Signs will be provided to express a unified message. Click "Read more" for graphic. For updates: jewssayno@gmail.com
http://www.afterdowningstreet.
Rachel Corrie Gets Her Day in Court
On March 10, in the Israeli city of Haifa, American peace activist Rachel Corrie will get her day in court. Rachel's parents, Cindy and Craig Corrie, are bringing suit against the Israeli defence ministry for Rachel's killing by an Israeli military bulldozer in Gaza in March 2003. Four key American and British witnesses who were present at the scene -- members of the International Solidarity Movement -- will be allowed into Israel to testify, despite having been barred previously by the Israeli authorities from entering the country. This reversal by the Israeli authorities is apparently due to U.S. government pressure, the Guardian reports. (Three cheers for any U.S. officials who contributed to this pressure. What else could you make the Israeli government do?)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Gaza not a charity case
KUALA LUMPUR: Palestinians in Gaza want the world to come together to end the Israeli siege instead of just looking at them as a charity case. Free Gaza Movement leader Huwaida Arraf said that while Palestinians appreciated the aid, their main concern was for the siege to end and their suffering to cease. Huwaida: ‘If we just keep giving aid, the suffering will go on forever. We must address the root cause’. “A lot of people think that Gaza is a charity case. If we just keep giving aid, it (the suffering) will go on forever. We must address the root cause.
http://thestar.com.my/news/
"The ground is shifting": An interview with comedian Ivor Dembina
Ivor Dembina's one-man show This is Not a Subject for Comedy has been running, growing and developing for more than five years. First performed in 2004, and reviewed by The Electronic Intifada in April 2005, the show's subject matter includes Dembina's upbringing in a 1960s "mainstream Jewish household" broadly supporting the Zionist cause. Despite his discovery of socialism, Dembina avoided his comrades' occasional criticisms of Israel.
http://electronicintifada.net/
Pro-Apartheid
Canada's neoconservative turn
Conservatives have launched a more extreme phase of Israel advocacy. Groups in any way associated with the Palestinian cause have been openly attacked and Ottawa has taken a more belligerent tone towards Iran. In the beginning of February, Ottawa delighted Israeli hawks by canceling $15 million in funding for the UN agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). The money has been reallocated to Palestinian Authority judicial and security reforms in the West Bank. At the same time, Canada doubled the number of troops involved in US Lt. General Keith Dayton's mission to train a Palestinian force to strengthen Fatah against Hamas and to serve as an arm of Israel's occupation. Yves Engler comments.
http://electronicintifada.net/
Violence and Aggression/Detainees
Israeli military respond with tear gas to Open Shuhada Street demonstration
CPT Hebron - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Although there was brief localised stone throwing by Palestinian boys watching the demonstrators walk through their neighbourhood, the Palestinian leadership was determined that the demonstration would be free from violence. Despite the Israeli military’s prolonged and repeated use of tear gas and percussion grenades the demonstrators’ discipline held and the action remained non-violent throughout. Tear gas was fired in succession at different points into and beyond the crowd, in some instances blocking off routes of escape for those attempting to leave the scene. Several demonstrators and passers-by suffered ill effects from the tear gas and were taken to hospital in Palestinian ambulances in attendance. There are unconfirmed reports that the military detained two Israeli activists. Towards the end of the action, Israeli special forces rushed into the crowd and detained an international activist. The demonstrators dispersed around 1645.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_
Protest in Hebron 25 February 2010
On the afternoon of February 25, 2010 about 300 Palestinian, Israeli, and International activists met at the Hebron municipality where they made posters, distributed t-shirts and hats, and spoke with media personnel before they began the march towards Shuhada Street in Hebron. The protesters marched in the rain waving flags, linking arms, and chanting slogans in Arabic, Hebrew, and English. The protesters remained true to their commitment to nonviolence, yet they were met by a very heavy army presence which was quick to deploy harsh crowd dispersal techniques that included a heavy amount of tear gas and stunt grenades. The tear gas canisters were fired from all directions, often coming very close to hitting people. A few elderly protesters fainted and were evacuated by ambulance. Protestors scattered and rain in all directions to avoid the tear gas, but the army appeared to be surrounding the protest and shooting from all sides. The army continually tried to push the protesters further back by creating a human wall and physically pushing the protesters who, in response, formed their own wall to withstand the pressure. Three Israelis were picked out the crowd at random, taken away by the police and detained temporarily. One international activist was arrested and then released several hours later. The clashes between the military, police, protesters, and a few notorious settlers continued for about an hour and 45 minutes until a final barrage of tear gas caused everyone to retreat.
http://josephdana.com/2010/02/
Israeli forces commemorate Goldstein Massacre with tear gas and sound bombs
On 25 February 2010 eight ISM volunteers gathered at the Hebron Municipality building alongside Hebron residents, Israeli activists and other international volunteer groups. Television crews were already interviewing local organizers and political leaders; Israeli activists scrambled to finish the last of their demonstration placards with phrases in Hebrew saying “Open Shuhada Street,” “There is No Holiness in an Occupied City,” and “Ibrahim’s Mosque is a Bi-national holy Site;” Shebab (young Palestinian boys) danced a few steps of dabke, a traditional Palestinian dance, to a popular Arabic song playing from a cell phone projected through a megaphone.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/
Israeli Troops Detain 20 People From The West Bank
Twenty Palestinian civilians were detained by Israeli troops during military invasions targeting a number of West Bank communities on Thursday morning.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
Israel's Arab Helpers
PA arrests four PFLP members in Nablus
Nablus – Ma’an – Fatah-allied Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces arrested four members of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in the West Bank city of Nablus on Thursday. Senior PFLP officials said PA forces deployed across the city and arrested Muhammad At-Teriaqi, 17, Muhammad Jihad An-Natur, 18, Omer Tayseer Abdul Haq, 18, and Muhammad Al-Madani, 17.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Lebanon arrests six suspected of spying for Israel (Reuters)
Reuters - The Lebanese army has arrested six more people on suspicion of spying for Israel, a security source said on Friday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Israel won't drag Palestinians to violence: Fayyad (Reuters)
Reuters - Israel's plan to include West Bank religious sites in a Jewish heritage plan is a clear provocation but the Palestinians will not be dragged into violence, the Palestinian prime minister said Friday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Siege/Humanitarian/Human Rights/Abuse
Israel seals West Bank for holiday
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered a total closure of the West Bank effective Thursday night and continuing through the Jewish holiday of Purim until Monday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Four decades of occupation in Hebron
I have been to Hebron three times, but each visit was like entering a different city. In May of 1967, the entire West Bank including Hebron was under Jordanian rule. On the occasion of the anniversary of the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre, Iris Keltz recalls her three visits to Hebron since the days before Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967.
http://electronicintifada.net/
Close Gaza tunnels? Some Palestinians say yes.
Gaza tunnels to Egypt provide Palestinians with needed goods that account for at least 80 percent of Gaza's total imports. While many see it as a lifeline, others say smuggling can destabilize.
http://www.csmonitor.com/
The tax siege of Shu'fat refugee camp
Jerusalem – Ma'an – The scene greeting those entering the Shu'fat refugee camp is one of severe dilapidation, its streets overwhelmed by its closed-in residents. Children are making their way home from school, passing through the Israeli military checkpoint at the camp's entrance.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
War Crimes
Israel compensation payment to UN ignores rights of Gaza victims
Amnesty International - Amnesty International has said it is concerned that the United Nations (UN) accepted US$10.5 million compensation from Israel for UN buildings damaged during last year`s Gaza conflict without securing compensation for any of the actual victims of the attacks.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_
Will the UN put off the Goldstone report another five months? (The Christian Science Monitor)
The Christian Science Monitor - Apparently no less a hot potato than it was three months ago, the Goldstone report that accused both Israel and Hamas of war crimes during Israel's December 2008 incursion into Gaza is expected to be kicked off the international agenda for another five months.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Political Developments and Diplomacy
Palestinians threaten to adopt one-state solution
The Palestinian Authority has warned that it may abandon its support of the 1993 Oslo Accords, which outlines a two-state solution to the conflict with Israel, and instead pursue the creation of a binational state between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea, according to a document drafted by the PA's veteran chief negotiator.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
IDF practices 2-front war
Senior officers complete drill involving war against Hezbollah in north, Hamas in south.
Israeli PM tries to ease 'heritage site' tensions (AP)
AP - Israel's prime minister tried Thursday to calm tensions over the addition of two West Bank shrines to a list of national heritage sites, a decision that has sparked clashes with the Palestinians and drawn widespread international criticism.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Bribery and corruption: Deputy FM: Israel will increase aid to S. America in return for support
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said "Israel intends to increase the aid it sends to South American and Latin American states, but in return it expects support from them in the UN."
http://www.
Arab source: Mitchell wanted to quit over U.S. bias for Israel
An Arab political source said Friday that special U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell has requested to resign due to his frustration with the way the Obama administration has been handling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to a Nazareth-based daily.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Extra-Judicial Assassination
'International police force' to hunt Mabhuh killers (AFP)
AFP - An international police unit with officers from the Emirates and at least seven other countries will hunt for the killers of a top Hamas militant suspected of being Israeli agents, Dubai's police chief said in comments published on Friday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Australian report: Israel warned in past about fake passports
Ex-foreign minister: Israel was warned in past against forging passports for intelligence missions.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Hamas assassination: Australia outraged at identity theft, Israel ambassador summoned
The Hamas assassination investigation widened on Wednesday, when Dubai added 15 suspects to the list of those accused of arranging the murder of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. On Thursday, Australia summoned Israel's ambassador and delivered a stark warning.
http://www.csmonitor.com/
France: Dubai assassins stole French identities
Earlier Thursday, Australia warned Israel that if it was involved in the alleged use of three forged Australian passports in the assassination of a Hamas leader in Dubai, it would not be considered the act of a friend.
http://haaretz.com/hasen/
The Mossad hit and Israel's path of self-destruction
The assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a Hamas official in Dubai, almost certainly by a death squad dispatched by Israel's Mossad, is by no means the first such aggression against the sovereignty of another state. While Israel has literally gotten away with murder thousands of times, was this one killing too far? Hasan Abu Nimah comments.
http://electronicintifada.net/
NYTime's/Media Watch
Biases of the Times, As`ad AbukhalilThe thing about the religious bigotry and political bias and ethnic/racial preference of the New York Times is such that any Israeli--no matter what he/she does in life--can say anything and write anything and be published without any editing in that paper. An Arab could not be published, and any submission by an Arab would get edited down so bad that they are capable of turning George Habash's submission into a submission indistinguishable from a submission by Muhammad Dahlan or Sari Nusseibeh. That is why I urge Arabs to not submit contributions to this enemy paper. Look at this vapid and lousy piece by this Israeli. They can say anything, as in: "Israelis still look back at the attacks by Arab armies in 1948, 1967 and 1973..." Just like that. So Arab armies now attacked Israel in 1967? I wish that was true. I just wish. Forget about politics, is there any history book anywhere in the world in any language that would state that Arab armies struck at Israel first in 1967? In reality, all Arab-Israeli wars were UNFORTUNATELY started by Israel except one. UNFORTUNATELY, the Arabs only started the 1973 war.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
Your words are meaniningless, As`ad Abukhalil
When Ian Black is not printing Mossad disinformation, he allows Israelis--only Israelis--to speak. So he does not mind if the Nakbah is writing about, provided it is written about by Israeli Jews. Only the occupiers can speak about the plight of the natives. To paraphrase Marx in theses on Feuerbach, the task of Israeli critics of Israel is not to offer words or flowers, but to either join the Palestinian resistance movement, or at least pack and vacate the occupied homes. Short of that, they are the enemy. "Condemned bluntly by another Israeli novelist as "anti-Zionist," it won the prestigious Sapir prize last summer, though it was quickly withdrawn amid accusations of bias by the judges. "I feel as if the author is using language as a weapon against us," complained one Jewish reader. "Disgusting," thundered another. "How low will you stoop?" Hilu, now promoting the English translation of The House of Rajani, makes no apology for what he calls his "narrative of the other," which foreshadows the nakbah – the dispossession and flight of the Palestinians during Israel's 1948 war of independence."
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
Analysis/Opinion
Senate race in California, As`ad Abukhalil
"Rivals in the race for the Republican nomination are questioning whether former Rep. Tom Campbell is sufficiently supportive of Israel. They base their criticisms on his voting record, statements about a Palestinian homeland and capital, and some of his past associates. Their allegations have raised enough concerns for Campbell that he plans to meet Monday with the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee. He also is reaching out to other Jewish leaders. His campaign's honorary chairman, former U.S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz, weighed in to call Campbell's support for the nation "unwavering." "He clearly understands the very real threats facing the Israeli people, all the more urgent now as Iran rushes toward nuclear arms," Shultz said in a statement released to The Times. "Tom Campbell's record of action tells you where he stands, and I stand with him."" Well, let me say this. I don't care who wins and who loses in US senate races. I could care less. But I have met Campbell: I did a TV show with him once, or twice. He is a rather well-informed person, who knows quite a bit about foreign policy and his views on the Middle East are not as insane and ignorant as the rest of the bunch. Of course, that is in itself a disqualification in American politics.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
Dispersing white phosphorous clouds over Gaza
Gideon Levy - Haaretz - There you`ll find an innovation of global proportions - propaganda intended to mislead propagandists and public relations to deceive PR experts, rather than the target audience. Nicolae Ceausescu couldn`t have phrased it better, and the Cairo radio station that broadcast threats in pidgin Hebrew before the Six-Day War never sounded as ludicrous. The Information Ministry presents: an insult to intelligence, contempt of reason - not only to the intelligence of "people overseas," to whom this cheap propaganda is geared, but to us, self-declared Israeli "ambassadors."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
No light ahead
Israel's rightwing government is not pursuing peace but rather sabotaging it, writes Khaled Amayreh in the West Bank
Hamas assassination: Australia outraged at identity theft, Israel ambassador summoned
The Hamas assassination investigation widened on Wednesday, when Dubai added 15 suspects to the list of those accused of arranging the murder of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. On Thursday, Australia summoned Israel's ambassador and delivered a stark warning.
http://www.csmonitor.com/
France: Dubai assassins stole French identities
Earlier Thursday, Australia warned Israel that if it was involved in the alleged use of three forged Australian passports in the assassination of a Hamas leader in Dubai, it would not be considered the act of a friend.
http://haaretz.com/hasen/
The Mossad hit and Israel's path of self-destruction
The assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a Hamas official in Dubai, almost certainly by a death squad dispatched by Israel's Mossad, is by no means the first such aggression against the sovereignty of another state. While Israel has literally gotten away with murder thousands of times, was this one killing too far? Hasan Abu Nimah comments.
http://electronicintifada.net/
NYTime's/Media Watch
Biases of the Times, As`ad AbukhalilThe thing about the religious bigotry and political bias and ethnic/racial preference of the New York Times is such that any Israeli--no matter what he/she does in life--can say anything and write anything and be published without any editing in that paper. An Arab could not be published, and any submission by an Arab would get edited down so bad that they are capable of turning George Habash's submission into a submission indistinguishable from a submission by Muhammad Dahlan or Sari Nusseibeh. That is why I urge Arabs to not submit contributions to this enemy paper. Look at this vapid and lousy piece by this Israeli. They can say anything, as in: "Israelis still look back at the attacks by Arab armies in 1948, 1967 and 1973..." Just like that. So Arab armies now attacked Israel in 1967? I wish that was true. I just wish. Forget about politics, is there any history book anywhere in the world in any language that would state that Arab armies struck at Israel first in 1967? In reality, all Arab-Israeli wars were UNFORTUNATELY started by Israel except one. UNFORTUNATELY, the Arabs only started the 1973 war.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
Your words are meaniningless, As`ad Abukhalil
When Ian Black is not printing Mossad disinformation, he allows Israelis--only Israelis--to speak. So he does not mind if the Nakbah is writing about, provided it is written about by Israeli Jews. Only the occupiers can speak about the plight of the natives. To paraphrase Marx in theses on Feuerbach, the task of Israeli critics of Israel is not to offer words or flowers, but to either join the Palestinian resistance movement, or at least pack and vacate the occupied homes. Short of that, they are the enemy. "Condemned bluntly by another Israeli novelist as "anti-Zionist," it won the prestigious Sapir prize last summer, though it was quickly withdrawn amid accusations of bias by the judges. "I feel as if the author is using language as a weapon against us," complained one Jewish reader. "Disgusting," thundered another. "How low will you stoop?" Hilu, now promoting the English translation of The House of Rajani, makes no apology for what he calls his "narrative of the other," which foreshadows the nakbah – the dispossession and flight of the Palestinians during Israel's 1948 war of independence."
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
Analysis/Opinion
Senate race in California, As`ad Abukhalil
"Rivals in the race for the Republican nomination are questioning whether former Rep. Tom Campbell is sufficiently supportive of Israel. They base their criticisms on his voting record, statements about a Palestinian homeland and capital, and some of his past associates. Their allegations have raised enough concerns for Campbell that he plans to meet Monday with the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee. He also is reaching out to other Jewish leaders. His campaign's honorary chairman, former U.S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz, weighed in to call Campbell's support for the nation "unwavering." "He clearly understands the very real threats facing the Israeli people, all the more urgent now as Iran rushes toward nuclear arms," Shultz said in a statement released to The Times. "Tom Campbell's record of action tells you where he stands, and I stand with him."" Well, let me say this. I don't care who wins and who loses in US senate races. I could care less. But I have met Campbell: I did a TV show with him once, or twice. He is a rather well-informed person, who knows quite a bit about foreign policy and his views on the Middle East are not as insane and ignorant as the rest of the bunch. Of course, that is in itself a disqualification in American politics.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
Dispersing white phosphorous clouds over Gaza
Gideon Levy - Haaretz - There you`ll find an innovation of global proportions - propaganda intended to mislead propagandists and public relations to deceive PR experts, rather than the target audience. Nicolae Ceausescu couldn`t have phrased it better, and the Cairo radio station that broadcast threats in pidgin Hebrew before the Six-Day War never sounded as ludicrous. The Information Ministry presents: an insult to intelligence, contempt of reason - not only to the intelligence of "people overseas," to whom this cheap propaganda is geared, but to us, self-declared Israeli "ambassadors."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
No light ahead
Israel's rightwing government is not pursuing peace but rather sabotaging it, writes Khaled Amayreh in the West Bank
Reframing myths and reality
The Israeli Ministry of Hasbara and Diaspora Affairs has started a new project to recruit Israelis traveling abroad to the cause of ‘explaining’ the kinder, gentler side of Israel. The Hebrew website (http://www.masbirim.gov.il) is called ‘masbirim,’ which literally means ‘we explain.’ The word comes from the same Hebrew root as Hasbara (explanation). For some reason, Israel translates Hasbara as ‘public diplomacy,’ but there is no diplomacy involved at all.
http://www.muzzlewatch.com/
Beyond Ignorance and Prejudice: Five Films Portray Palestinan Lives
Imagine that every time you wanted to visit your mother in Albany, you had to submit to questioning by an 18-year-old flaunting a loaded automatic weapon and with the power to send you back home. This, or worse, is everyday reality for four million Palestinians who have lived in territories under military occupation by Israel for 43 years. Israel claims the controls are necessary to stop “Palestinian terrorists.” Yet Israel’s policies—continuously stealing land and water resources from the native Palestinians for Jewish settlement, using a tightly knit system of abusive regulations and restrictions—have clearly provoked, rather than protected against, terrorism.
http://www.
Xilla: What do you remember about the conversations you had with the residents there and how was it being in the projects?
Richard Gere: You know the first image that comes from the outside was when I went to the West Bank, in Palestinian territories, I went to Ramallah and it was during a curfew and no one was going from the Israeli side into Ramallah. It was curfew time, you see, Israeli troops where everywhere all the roadblocks were up and we some how got in. When I showed up in Ramallah they were like children in their openness of just thank you for coming. The only time we see westerners here they’re yelling at us or selling us guns. That’s it. In a way I felt that way in the projects it was like, what you guys are really here, you’re not just here to beat us up or yell at us or pass through, you’re actually here? You’re actually talking to us it was kind of that same revelatory feeling of you know we are all just human beings and we are all trying do the best we can to get by. We have real issues. I was walking around saying these building that this could be an incredible art center because I know there are great dancers and great musicians that could really lift the community so we would get into discussions with locals and I know for them it was like wow someone is really thinking about us in a deeper way rather than just afraid of us.
http://globalgrind.com/
Challenging History: Why the Oppressed Must Tell Their Own Story, Ramzy Baroud
When American historian Howard Zinn passed away recently, he left behind a legacy that redefined our relationship to history altogether. Professor Zinn dared to challenge the way history was told and written. In fact he went as far as to defy the conventional construction of historical discourses through the pen of victor or of elites who earned the right of narration though their might, power and affluence. This kind of history might be considered accurate insofar as it reflects a self-seeking and self-righteous interpretation of the world by a very small number of people. But it is also highly inaccurate when taking into account the vast majority of peoples everywhere.
http://palestinechronicle.com/
Lebanon
Israeli spies in Lebanon, Not such a success
WITH a lot less exposure in the world’s press than it got for its recent Dubai operation, Israel has quietly suffered a string of setbacks in Lebanon, a front-line state with which it has often been at war. Lebanon’s security service says that since November 2008 it has broken up no fewer than 25 Israeli spy rings. The reported arrest this month of a colonel in Lebanese army intelligence, identified solely by the initials GS, brings the number of those charged to 70-plus; 40 of them are in Lebanese police custody.
http://www.economist.com/
Spy Wars heat up!
The long-simmering Spy Wars between Israel on the one hand, and Iran and its allies in the Jebhat al-Mumana'a (Blocking Front) on the other, have been heating up a lot over the past couple of weeks. Does all this accelerating string of revelations and counter-revelations indicate that the two sides are doing some deck-clearing preparatory to a military encounter that perhaps both of them now see as increasingly inevitable, or is there another explanation for what's been happening?
http://justworldnews.org/
Israel's nighttime overflights heighten Lebanon tensions
BEIRUT: Israeli warplanes performed incessant maneuvers over Lebanese airspace on Wednesday evening, in operations labeled inflammatory by United Nations officials. The Lebanese Army issued a statement Thursday morning detailing the extent of overflights, noise from which could be heard across large swathes of the country. "Continuing their violations of Lebanese sovereignty and [UN Security Council] Resolution 1701.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Sayyed Nasrallah Meets Assad, Ahmadinejad; Discusses Israeli Threats
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday evening joined Syrian President Bashar Assad for dinner in Damascus, Al-Manar TV reported. The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency also said Friday that the three leaders met during a dinner Assad hosted in honor of Sayyed Nasrallah and Ahmadinejad.
http://almanar.com.lb/
Iraq
Thursday: 5 Iraqis Killed, 4 Wounded
At least five Iraqis were killed and four more were wounded in the latest violence. A blast in Fallujah could increase those figures as details about the bombing emerge later. Meanwhile, a leading Sunni party has decided to participate in next month's elections despite the barring of one of its most popular members.
http://original.antiwar.com/
Lack of religious backing illustrates Iraq Shiite split (AFP)
AFP - Iraq's Shiite religious elite have refused to back any of the country's political factions in the run-up to elections next month, highlighting a stark political split in Iraq's majority community.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Iraqi elections: Why one candidate says he faces a US death threat
Abu Mahdi al Mohandas is one of more than 6,000 candidates on the ballot in the Iraqi elections on March 7. But the Shiite politician, now hiding in Iran, says the US considers him a terrorist and a weapons supplier to Iraq militia groups.
http://www.csmonitor.com/
Sulaimaniyah Braced for Tense Poll
Kurdish city expected to be a key electoral battleground with much at stake for main contenders. By Shorish Khalid in Sulaimaniyah (ICR No. 325, 25-Feb-10)
http://www.iwpr.net/EN-icr-f-
Iraq to reinstate 20,000 officers from Saddam's army (AFP)
AFP - More than 20,000 army officers who served under deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein are to be reinstated, a defence ministry spokesman said on Thursday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Iraqi journalist sees threats to press freedom
Before the U.S.-led invasion, billed as the liberation of Iraqis, newspaper journalist Nadjha Khadum was as close to a trailblazer in her field as the era permitted.
http://feeds.washingtonpost.
Baghdad printers working flat out ahead of Iraq polls (AFP)
AFP - Business has never been so good for Iraq's printers in the runup to the March 7 election, but the boom has its own headaches in a country short on printing presses and rife with religious sensitivities.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
The new name “Operation New Dawn”
There is no way to know how the U.S. code-names its foreign wars. And we have no information on whether there has been any investigation after the failure of a military campaign on whether the names given to it match the reality of the situation on the ground.
The invasion of Iraq took place under the rubric “Operation Iraqi Liberation”, although U.S. discourse at the U.N. and U.N. Security Council was performed under the rubric of “weapons of mass destruction.”
http://www.azzaman.com/
Tailor of Baghdad
Iraq tries to the restrict market in military uniforms.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-
U.S. and other world news
US military spied on Planned Parenthood, civilian phone calls
plannedparenthood3 US military spied on Planned Parenthood, civilian phone callsUnited States military intelligence spied on Planned Parenthood and other domestic groups as part of US security preparations for the 2002 winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, according to a recently declassified military document obtained by a civil liberties group Thursday.
http://rawstory.com/2010/02/
Bush’s torture psychologists wanted to use ‘mock burials’: report
Bushs torture psychologists wanted to use mock burials: reportTwo psychologists working on the Bush administration's enhanced interrogation techniques pushed for the use of "mock burials" on terror suspects, according to documents released by the Department of Justice. Blogger Marcy Wheeler reports that the Department of Justice rejected a request from psychologists Bruce Jessen and James Mitchell to give the CIA the power to pretend to bury terror suspects during interrogations in the years after the 9/11 attacks.
http://rawstory.com/2010/02/
US says not seeking 'crippling sanctions' on Iran
State Department spokesman: US seeking ways to pressure Tehran government while protecting Iranian people.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Scahill: Blackwater used shell company to defraud US government
blackwater Scahill: Blackwater used shell company to defraud US governmentBlackwater set up a shell company to "defraud the government" by leading it to believe it wasn't contracting with the notorious security contractor, investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill says. "In Afghanistan, they set up this shell company, Paravant, in collaboration with mammoth war giant Raytheon, which held the prime contract" for training Afghan security forces, Scahill told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow.
http://rawstory.com/2010/02/
Occupation 'killed 346 Afghan kids' in 2009
"131 of these were by aerial strikes, 22 by search-and-raid by Special Forces; 128 were killed by anti-Government elements, including assassinations and suicide bombings," she said during a visit to Kabul.
http://news.theage.com.au/
Nato admits that deaths of 8 boys were a mistake
Ten children and teenagers died when occupation force troops stormed a remote mountain compound near the border with Pakistan in December.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/
Officials puzzle over millions of dollars leaving Afghanistan by plane for Dubai
A blizzard of bank notes is flying out of Afghanistan -- often in full view of customs officers at the Kabul airport -- as part of a cash exodus that is confounding U.S. officials and raising concerns about the money's origin.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
The Assault on Illhem, By TARIQ ALI
Forgive an outsider and staunch atheist like myself who, on reading the recent French press comments relating to Ilhem Moussaid the hijab-wearing NPA candidate in Avignon, gets the impression that something is rotten in French political culture. Let’s take the debate at face-value. A young Muslim woman joins the NPA [New Anti-Capitalist Party]. She obviously agrees with its program that defends abortion, contraception, etc, i.e. a woman’s right to choose. She is then told that despite this she does not have the right to choose what she wears on her head. It’s astonishing. There is no Koranic injunction involved. The book says: "Draw their (women's) veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty", which can be interpreted in several ways but is disregarded most blatantly by hijab-wearing Egyptian women I see in Cairo and Karachi wearing tight jeans and T-shirts that contradicted the spirit of the Koranic message.
http://www.counterpunch.com/
Gaddafi for jihad on Switzerland
Libyan leader blames the Swiss for ban on construction of minarets.
http://english.aljazeera.net/
Egypt's Nuclear Option
Mohammad ElBaradei returned to a hero’s welcome and the jubilation of thousands at Cairo’s International Airport last week. Some carried signs reading, “ElBaradei is the whole nation's hope,” and “ElBaradei for president of Egypt” while others chanted, “You can’t go back, we need you!” and “We want change!”
http://www.counterpunch.com/
How did Jordan overtake Israel in the race for foreign tourists?
Beside the palm trees at the entrance to the Jordanian city of Aqaba lays a system of purple pipes, purifying sewage water for use in the city's public parks.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
www.TheHeadlines.org
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