Shadi Fadda brings us today's headlines relating to Palestine and other news from around the internet.
Theft/Destruction/Obstruction of Land & Resources
Settlers Occupy a Palestinian Mountain In Nablus
A group of right-wing, armed, Israeli settlers occupied a 500-Dunam Palestinian mountain south of Nablus city, in the northern part of the West Bank.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
IOF troops bulldoze tracts of land east of Khan Younis
IOF troops, on Thursday, entered the Farahin area to the east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip and bulldozed tracts of land according to local sources.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Settlers Occupy a Palestinian Mountain In Nablus
A group of right-wing, armed, Israeli settlers occupied a 500-Dunam Palestinian mountain south of Nablus city, in the northern part of the West Bank. The settlers intend to create a new illegal settlement outpost on top of the Palestinian mountain. Ghassan Dughlus, the official in charge of the file on settlement construction in the West Bank, stated that the settlers illegally occupied the mountain and installed four mobile homes.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment
Soldiers Attack Anti-Settlement Construction Protest in Central West Bank
Three Palestinian villagers were injured when they were fired upon by Israel soldiers, on Friday, at the village of Nabi Saleh, central West Bank. The villagers of Nabi Saleh, along with their international and Israeli supporters, planed to march to the land of the villages taken by the settlers of the nearby illegal settlement of Halmish.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
Scores suffer tear-gas inhalation at weekly Bil'in rally
Ma'an – Scores of protestors suffered tear-gas inhalation during the weekly anti-wall rally in the Palestinian village of Bil'in near Ramallah on Friday, as they attempted to access land behind the separation wall. Residents of Bil'in and international peace activists made way to the wall's construction site, where Israeli forces were deployed behind cement blocs and a gate closed off by barbed wire. When those present tried to access the area behind the wall, Israeli forces fired tear-gas canisters, sound bombs and rubber bullets, following which a number of participants were injured.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Nil’in’s Weekly Protests Ends After Tear Gas Assault
Local villagers of Nil’in held their weekly non-violent protest, after Friday prayers, despite rainfall. The villagers, who have held demonstrations against the construction of the annexation wall that passes through their land, were joined by members of the international community and Israelis. The group marched towards the gate in the wall, chanting slogans calling for an end to the construction of the annexation wall and settlements throughout the West Bank, managed to raise the Palestinian flag and block the gate.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
Friday Protest in al-Ma’sara Ends Peacefully, Without Clashes
The weekly demonstration against the construction of the annexation wall on Palestinian land, ended with no clashes with the Israeli military, in the West Bank village of al-Ma’sara. After Friday prayers, at midday, the villagers of al-Ma’sara, joined by members of the international community and Israelis, marched towards the construction site of the wall, that seperates the villagers form their farm lands.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
US peace groups to Obama: Ask Israel to lift Gaza closure
Six US-based Middle East peace organizations sent a letter to President Barack Obama on Thursday, urging him to ask Israel to lift its Gaza closure in order to remove a "serious obstacle to restoring hope and making peace" in the region.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Bronner to speak in S’ta Barbara on Monday
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/02/
Boycott and divestment gets mainstream attention in church, on campus
It's good news to see that boycott and divestment campaigns against companies profiting from Israeli occupation and apartheid are becoming increasingly mainstream.
http://endtheoccupationblog.
Maariv: Israel asks to play with Egypt and the Egyptians ignored the call
Palestine, February 03, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) -Maariv newspaper reported today, Tuesday, that the Israel Football Association has sent an invitation to play a friendly match with the Egyptian national team, but the Egyptians ignored the call. The newspaper pointed out that the Israel had sent a similar invitation in May of last year, but has not received any answer from the Egyptian Football Association.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/
Pressure continues on Veolia and Alstom to halt light rail project
French transport giants Veolia and Alstom are involved in the construction and running of a light rail line which connects West Jerusalem to several illegal settlements in or surrounding occupied Palestinian East Jerusalem. The light rail project is part of the "Jerusalem Transportation Master Plan" sponsored by the Israeli government and the Jerusalem municipality. Adri Nieuwhof reports for The Electronic Intifada.
http://electronicintifada.net/
Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Successes and Training Opportunities
The US Campaign is excited to announce two major Danish divestment victories and growing campus activism in North America. We are also pleased to invite you to a series of trainings and workshops in the Southwest and Mid-Atlantic United States.
http://www.endtheoccupation.
In favor of academic boycott: Recognition of Ariel college as a university a purely political move
About two years ago, Yigal Cohen-Orgad, chancellor of the college in Ariel, asked me to come and visit. Cohen-Orgad feels, correctly, that we have similar views – for example, against the trend of private colleges. Colleagues spoke in praise of Cohen-Orgad’s performance as finance minister. And I’m always curious to peek into what is happening in the territories. So I went.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Violence and Aggression and Siege Related Deaths
Gazan dies of injuries sustained in 2003 Israeli airstrike
Gaza – Ma'an – Abdul Rahman Maher Taym, 22, died on Thursday morning in An-Nusseirat Refugee Camp in Gaza, as a result of injuries he sustained during an Israeli airstrike in 2003. Mu'awiya Hassanein, head of ambulance and emergency services in Gaza, said Taym's car was targeted by two missiles east of the refugee camp in 2003 during an Israeli airstrike. The second missile destroyed the car, scattering fragments around the area, he said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Settlers invade Tuwani and Soldier break the Nose of a Palestinian Farmer (video)
I just finished 13 days in Tuwani as half of a two-person CPT team. In case you were wondering what that's like, I can tell you it's fairly exhausting. But I have a day off now and am catching up on the blog...and my laundry. Here's a video of the most significant thing to happen in Tuwani over the last two weeks: 15-20 settlers came into At-Tuwani, accompanied by soldiers. The settlers threw stones at Palestinians while a soldier punch a Palestinian farmer in the face. His nose is now broken and he needs an operation - the sort of expense that no one in this area can afford. But at least for once the news media has picked up the story.
http://inpalestine.blogspot.
Locals: Settlers surround Tulkarem area village
Tulkarem - Ma'an - Israeli settlers surrounded the village of Kherbet Al-Hammam, 5 kilometres east of An-Nazlah Ash-Sharqeiyah, north of Tulkarem, locals reported. Resident Mohammad Al-Jaluli told Ma'an that "settlers, reinforced by Israeli soldiers, invaded the village on Wednesday," forcing him to destroy a sheep pen, he said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Arab Population Accuses: Israel Systematically Acting to Impose Violent Confrontation
This coming Friday, 5 February 2010, a public campaign will be launched to defend the Arab population under the slogan “Meeting challenges and defending existence.” The campaign is organized by the Public Committee for Defending Liberties, under the auspices of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee. All political parties and movements, in addition to civil society organizations, are partners in this campaign.
http://alternativenews.org/
Palestinians use "floating bombs"
Palestinian armed groups have used a new type of bomb in their fight against Israel. Two barrels with explosives that washed up on Israeli coasts earlier this week - but were defused safely - are being called "floating bombs". A number of Palestinian armed factions say their motive for the bomb attempt was to avenge an Israeli raid in the West Bank last month that killed 3 Fatah members. Israel says it's taking the threat seriously. From Gaza, Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin reports. [February 4, 2010]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Bomb Detonated near ICRC Convoy in Northern Gaza Strip
Today afternoon, unknown persons detonated a bomb near a convoy of vehicles belonging to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) near Beit Hanoun town in the northern Gaza Strip. A vehicle was damaged, but no casualties were reported. This latest attack is part of the state of security chaos and proliferation of weapons plaguing the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/
Detainees
Hamas: PA security detains 11 supporters
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Hamas accused the Palestinian Authority security forces of detaining 11 of the movement's supporters across the West Bank in a statement issued on Friday. PA forces detained the Hamas supporters in Nablus, Ramallah, Tulkarem and Qalqiliya, according to the statement.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Human Rights/Humanitarian Issues/Siege
Weekly report on Israeli human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territory 28 Jan.- 03 Feb. 2010
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/
Gaza power plant to cease operations
Gaza – Ma'an – The Gaza Strip's sole power plant will cease all operations late Friday night due to a lack of fuel, officials warned.
The plant had already shut down services to all but 30-40 percent of the coastal strip by nightfall on Thursday, the Gaza Energy Authority said, noting that the sudden cold front in the region spent the remaining fuel faster than expected.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
OPT: Gaza schoolchildren struggling to learn
Source: IRIN Nearly half a million children in Gaza returned to overcrowded and dilapidated schools on 1 February, many attending in a shift system, with missing textbooks, stationery or uniforms.
http://www.alertnet.org/
BU student recounts forced deportation to Carnegie Endowment in DC
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Bethlehem University student Berlanty Azzam, forcibly removed from the West Bank in October, was hosted via video-link in Washington on Wednesday by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where she spoke about the right to education in Palestine. The event, titled "The Right of Palestinians to Study and Travel: A Discussion" had Berlanty recount her abrupt seizure, where she was blindfolded and handcuffed on the road from Ramallah to Bethlehem, held four hours then ejected into Gaza, where her family lives. Israeli military personnel said she was living illegally in the West Bank and 'deported' her to Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Targeting of Human Rights Organizations Destroys Democracy
Thirteen Israeli human rights organizations sent an urgent letter to the president, the Knesset speaker and the prime minister, protesting the increasing and systematic campaign against human rights organizations in Israel.
http://www.btselem.org/
Rabbis for Human Rights: witchhunt endangers the state of Israel, Philip Weiss
A few times now I’ve referred to the democracy crisis that Israel is experiencing over the official threats to the New Israel Fund for its support of dissident groups inside Israel. Below is a letter from Arik Ascherman, a leading rabbi with Rabbis for Human Rights, who is extremely concerned about the situation. Even if you don’t share our criticism of Gaza, he says, you must be alarmed by a McCarthyite campaign that will "endanger the state and abandon our children." (I must say that there has been a crisis of Israeli democracy long before these attacks on Jewish Israelis, but this is a good fight.)
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/02/
Principles and Mechanisms to Hold Business Accountable for Human Rights Abuses: Potential Avenues to Challenge Corporate Involvement in Israel’s Oppression of the Palestinian People
Palestinians would not be a people displaced, dispossessed and oppressed in 2010 if states and the UN had held Israel accountable for its massive violation of international law and the Nakba over 60 years ago. However, not only governments and the UN, but also business corporations continue to render aid and assistance to Israel's unlawful policies and practices until today. By conducting business as usual with Israel's official and private sector, foreign enterprises help maintain a situation in which Israel abuses Palestinians' basic human rights on a massive scale. Many of those engaged in efforts for justice, have therefore focused their efforts on holding corporations accountable.
http://www.alternativenews.
Gazans Denied Justice as Rights Take a Beating, Mel Frykberg
RAMALLAH — Gazans hoping for a modicum of justice following Israel’s indiscriminate military assault on the coastal territory during December 2008 and January 2009 — which left 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, dead — could be waiting in vain. The Israeli government has taken the offensive in the propaganda battle and attacked United Nations-appointed Justice Richard Goldstone’s report into war crimes committed during the war. The report alleges that Israel was responsible for the lion’s share of human rights abuses.
http://original.antiwar.com/
War Criminals
Dubai could seek Netanyahu arrest over Hamas murder (AFP)
AFP - Dubai will issue an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if Israel is found to be implicated in the murder of a top militant Palestinian in the emirate, The National newspaper reported on Friday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Few Israeli soldiers charged in abuse cases: rights group (AFP)
AFP - Only six percent of all investigations into alleged abuse of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers led to prosecutions over the past decade, an Israeli human rights group said on Thursday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
UN chief uncertain if 'credible' Gaza probes underway (AFP)
AFP - UN chief Ban Ki-moon said Thursday he could not determine whether Israel and the Palestinians have met UN demands to carry out credible, independent probes of alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Former Israeli sergeant criticises Gaza Strip invasion
Soldiers who took part in the operation were asked, “What were your rules of engagement?” and their unanimous response was, “There were no rules of engagement.” One of the soldiers said: “We were at war: you just shoot.” Mr Shaul said he did not believe innocent civilians were deliberately targeted but the position was “very, very far” from the official claim that everything was done to avoid harm to civilians. When he was a soldier, he was taught that, where there was doubt, you refrained from shooting but in Gaza the approach was: “You have doubts: you pull the trigger.” “The IDF itself has proven to us there are other ways of conducting military operations,” Mr Shaul added, pointing to Operation Warm Winter, which was launched in Gaza in February 2008 and “did not leave even 10 per cent of the destruction of [Operation] Cast Lead”. Several committee members congratulated Mr Shaul on speaking out. Mr Durkan said the recent Israeli refusal to allow Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin into Gaza was “not a positive thing from an Israeli point of view.”
http://www.irishtimes.com/
Livni Vows To Visit Britain Despite Arrest Warrant
Israeli Foreign Minister, opposition leader, Tzipi Livni, vowed to visit Britain soon even if the country refrains from changing its laws regarding the arrest and prosecution of leaders accused of committing war crimes.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
Goldstone co-author: The court of world opinion is determined to see the report prevail
The best statement I can make about that is the one that Richard Goldstone made when an American spokesperson for the State Department said it was a very biased, flawed report and he said to them by way of response, “Show us where the bias is and where the flaw is and we’ll do our best to correct it.” That invitation stands. I have subsequently issued the same invitation in a Dutch newspaper and elsewhere; so far, no substantive critique of the report has been received.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/02/
The return of Goldstone
Israel's vicious counter-campaign against the UN fact-based report on its war on Gaza continues as the time approaches when further action will be considered, writes Amira Howeidy.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/
Israel's report to the UN misstates the truth
The report praises the military's investigative and judicial systems, ignoring essential flaws in their operation. To date, only one soldier who participated in Operation Cast Lead has been prosecuted - for stealing a credit card.
http://www.btselem.org/
Did you know? Gaza
CJPME Gaza video. On December 27, 2008, Israel launched an Assault on the Gaza Strip. The attack of Dec. 27 caused the deadliest one-day death toll in 60 years of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Over 3 weeks, 1,417 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Political Developments/Diplomacy
Former PJS official slams 'illegitimate' elections
Gaza – Ma'an – A former board member of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate rejected Friday's scheduled elections as illegitimate, speaking out after it came to light they would not include members from the Gaza Strip. The official, Zakariyah At-Telmes, said the long-delayed vote should take place simultaneously throughout the occupied territories.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Netanyahu assures Syria after Israeli FM's threat (Reuters)
Reuters - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reassured Syria on Thursday that Israel sought peace after his fiery foreign minister threatened to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in any future war.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Netanyahu associates: Bibi backs Lieberman
Prime minister's aides say Netanyahu is not criticizing foreign minister's belligerent statements vis-a-vis Syria, but timing of declarations unwise.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Lieberman warns Syrian president, his family
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman threatened Syrian President Bashar Assad and his family on Thursday, speaking at a business forum hosted by Tel Aviv's Bar Ilan University. "If you declare war on Israel, you and your family will lose your reign," he said, according to a statement circulated by the university, which is considered among the more right-wing institutions in Israel.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Other News
Abbas's militia humiliates Palestinian women in the West Bank
The PA security forces in the West Bank have summoned Layla Saqar for interrogation in a bid to pressure her husband Ahmad Nabhan Saqar who has been languishing in Israeli jails for ten years now.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Police: Fatah official's office set ablaze near Ramallah
Jerusalem – Ma'an – A Fatah official's office in Qalandiya refugee camp was the target of an apparent arson on Thursday, police said. Palestinian Authority security forces opened an investigation into the incident, police said, refusing to identify whose office was targeted.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Authorities say 161 return to Gaza Strip
Gaza – Ma'an – The crossings administration in Gaza said Thursday that 161 people returned to the coastal enclave over the past 48 hours. In its daily report, the administration said 28 people left Gaza for Egypt during the same period. At the Erez crossing, 155 travelers, including 101 Gazans, 49 internationals, and five Palestinians from Israel crossed over, the report said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
More air strikes in Gaza: the fruits and blessings of the Herzliya Conference
Israeli fighter jets late on Tuesday 2nd February attacked several targets in southern Gaza Strip, including on what used to be Gaza’s International Airport in southern Gaza. Minutes later, F-16 planes dropped bombs on a tunnel located on Palestinian-Egyptian border in Rafah. The raids did not result in any human casualties at the Gaza International Airport, but Abu Yousef Al Najjar hospital confirmed at least one Palestinian was wounded in the shelling of the tunnel.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.
Crackdown: ‘JPost’ fires Naomi Chazan
We’re following the war between Israelis over the right to dissent from misguided state policies. (Why, it may even portend a war inside Israel over the occupation.) The focus of this war has been the New Israel Fund, which has funded human-rights organizations that contributed to the Goldstone report on the Gaza war and which has supported the demonstrations against house evictions in East Jerusalem. Naomi Chazan, a former speaker of the Knesset, is the head of the New Israel Fund.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/02/
VIDEO / Ultra-Orthodox 'Modesty Guard' suspected of beating Jerusalem woman
A group of men who police suspect were hired by an ultra-Orthodox gang recently broke into a Jerusalem woman's home and beat her because they deemed her immodest. The so-called "Modesty Guard" is suspected of being behind the incident. The gang has been known to unleash extortion, mercenaries, violence and surveillance on less religious Jews they deem sacrilegious. They claim to do it all in the name of God.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Israel 'vengeful' on Rabin killer
The killer of ex-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin says the state is keeping him in solitary confinement out of vengeance.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-
Dubai may seek Bibi's arrest over Hamas man's assassination
Dubai to issue arrest warrant for Netanyahu should it turn out that Mossad killed al-Mabhouh, senior official says.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Breast cancer awareness goes to the West Bank
American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) in cooperation with ICF International has launched the Breast Cancer Awareness Project in the West Bank to educate women about the importance of self-examination and early detection. Some 8,000 women have benefited from the screening and education sessions led by health workers from the Palestinian Medical Relief Society.
http://palestinenote.com/cs/
Analysis/Op-ed/Human Interest
A Fanatic Zionist staunchly defends the Dahlan Task Force For Israel: highly deserved praise indeed
"Because the ATFP is a breath of fresh air in the Arab-American community. I think it is exactly what I and others in the pro-Israel community have been hoping for: an Arab or Palestinian advocacy group that offers no apologias for terrorists and genuinely wants to meet us half-way."
http://frontpagemag.com/2010/
Abbas at a loss
His political credibility wagered on the peace process, Palestinian President Abbas is not coping well with Israel's perpetual intransigence, writes Khaled Amayreh in Ramallah.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/
Several birds, one stone
Israel's assassination of a top Hamas official is clearly aimed at forcing the resistance group into a military response, writes Saleh Al-Naami.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/
Progressive NY attitude on gays in military should be portable to Palestine, but it isn’t, Philip Weiss
Yesterday Brian Lehrer, the smart host of a public radio talk show in New York, had on Scott Garrett, a Republican congressman from New Jersey, to talk about economic policy. Lehrer also made a point of bringing up an issue dear to his listeners’ concerns: gays in the military. Lehrer supports repeal of don’t-ask-don’t-tell. (So do I.) He quizzed Garrett intently about Garrett’s opposition to repeal. He bored in on him, as a good questioner does. Garrett said that he would vote for repeal only if it was not politically-motivated, if commanders and soldiers convinced him that the change would have "absolutely no impact whatsoever" on the daily performance of their duties.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/02/
Israel: When the Gun Turns, Shafiq Morton
If you're a budding student of surrealism, I would recommend Israel. It will prove to be your greatest project. I can assure you that Israel's bizarre political landscape will provide you with material beyond your wildest dreams. Described by the Oxford dictionary as an “expression of the sub-conscious mind through imagery”, surrealism communicates its meaning through absurd, irrational and capricious nonsense. It is a metaphor in which nothing is what it seems. And if we weren’t addressing one of the modern era’s most vexing conflicts, we would all be laughing by now. For the issue of Erez Israel, the “greater” Israel, is a serious one.
http://palestinechronicle.com/
Cracks in Israel's Armor, James Gundun
America and Israel are fond of comparing similarities. Religious persecution, the desire to found new worlds, democracy, high technology - they seem to share all their strengths. They share a few critical weaknesses too. Stubbornness is one of them. The Israeli press claims a fierce internal debate remains undecided on outside examination into Operation Lead Cast, but this may not be relevant. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly favors independent investigations from the military as recommended by the Justice and Foreign ministries.
http://palestinechronicle.com/
Israel: Occupation or Apartheid?
The dreaded "A-Word" has once again made its way into Israeli media, not by a leftist "self-hating Jew", but by a prominent Israeli politician, the Minister of Defense, who is a decorated soldier and a former prime minister as well. "A" is for Apartheid. An awful word that evokes awful memories, presumably left behind in the annals of history in places such as Soweto and Cape Town. A word that has invited rage, insults, and attacks against a former US president who received a Nobel Peace Prize.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Dr. Norman Finkelstein at the University of Waterloo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Iraq
Bombings hit Iraq Shia pilgrims
Suicide bombers kill 27 Shia pilgrims and injure dozens during a major ceremony in the Iraqi city of Karbala, police say.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-
Thursday: 5 Iraqis Killed, 1 Wounded
At least five Iraqis were killed and one more was wounded even as Shi'ite pilgrims observe Arbaeen rituals in Karbala. Meanwhile an election blacklist thought struck down only a day ago could still be implemented. Also, Iraq wants to implement news rules on media outlets.
http://original.antiwar.com/
Throngs defy attacks to deck Iraqi holy city in black
KERBALA, Iraq, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Chanting and flailing themselves in mourning for Imam Hussein, hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite Muslims defied suicide bombs and bone-crushing crowds to gather in Iraq's holy city of Kerbala on Thursday.
http://www.alertnet.org/
Iran hands over Iraqi soldiers remains
Iran handed over to Iraq the remains of nine Iraqi soldiers killed in the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war in a second official handover.
The exchange was made in the presence of Human Rights Ministry representative and 14th Division Commander Brigadier General Abdul Aziz Al Ghanemi, Defense Ministry reported. The handover occurred at the border crossing point of Shalamcha in southern Iraq, as part of Iraq-Iran’s memorandum in this regard. Three of the nine bodies are identified while the remaining six await the completion of DNA tests for identification, said Mehdi Al Timimi, head of the Human Rights office in Basra.
http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/
Inside Iraq - Toppling Saddam a crime or a mistake?
When toppling Saddam, did Bush and Blair destroy a tyrant or commit the crime of the century? Should they be celebrated or hanged for crimes against humanity?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
An Iraqi woman's taste of freedom turns sour
Sarah never wanted to work for the Americans, but soon their military base became her second home, and a confidence she never dreamed of took root. How could they believe she would betray them?
http://www.latimes.com/news/
"Loss and nostalgia in the Middle East: A foreign correspondent's reflections on conflict and change in the region" - Anthony Shadid
"Loss and nostalgia in the Middle East: A foreign correspondent's reflections on conflict and change in the region" by Anthony Shadid, Washington Post Middle East Correspondent, award-winning author, and 2007-08 "Writer-in-Residence Fellow" at IFI-AUB.
Anthony Shadid is the first "Writer- in-residence" fellow at AUB-IFI for the Academic Year 2007-08. Shadid has had a distinguished career with the Washington Post, the Boston Globe and the Associated Press, serving in Washington, Cairo, Los Angeles, Baghdad, and Beirut. He won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for his international reporting that year, primarily from Iraq. His recent book, "Night Draws Near: Iraq's People in the Shadow of America's War", has also been widely acclaimed. Shadid took a year off from his duties as Beirut-based Middle East correspondent for the Washington Post newspaper, and used his stay at AUB to research and write a book on his family's migration from Lebanon to Oklahoma. An American of Lebanese descent, he is a native of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA, and a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and Columbia University.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Kissinger on Iraq, By BARRY LANDO
It is amazing how Henry Kissinger has been able to retain his aura of invincible genius in international relations, continuing to counsel presidents, foreign governments and major global businesses, while occasionally writing lofty Op Ed pieces advising the U.S. on what it should or should not be doing next. This mind you, despite Kissinger’s own history of monumental cynicism and duplicity when he was guiding foreign policy for President’s Nixon and Ford. Indeed, it’s a tribute to the ability of mainstream American media to forgive and forget.
http://www.counterpunch.org/
Naseer Shamma and the music of resistance
Celebrated Iraqi musician Naseer Shamma plays emotive compositions in beautiful tones on the oud to major audiences across the Middle East, stirring musical reflections on human realities in US-occupied Iraq. Although Iraqi current affairs are clearly interwoven into Shamma's sound, it is also unique musical talent that has earned Shamma a reputation as one of the world's preeminent oud players. Stefan Christoff profiles Shamma for The Electronic Intifada.
http://electronicintifada.net/
Lebanon
Sayyed Nasrallah: 'Fake Kidnapping' Aimed at Causing Sedition
04/02/2010 Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah warned on Thursday that there were different sides seeking to cause sedition in Lebanon and the region, pointing to the 'fake kidnapping' incident that was witnessed in Lebanon last week and that could have caused a catastrophe in the country. His eminence denounced the bombings that targeted visitors in Iraq and called on the nation to have a firm stance towards them, condemning the fact that such acts became something "usual." Sayyed Nasrallah was speaking through a TV screen while marking the Arba'een (memorial) of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) during the ceremony held by Hezbollah at the Sayyed As-Shouhadaa' complex in Beirut's southern suburb.
http://almanar.com.lb/
Who's afraid of big, bad Hezbollah?
We judge that, unlike al-Qa'ida, Hizballah, which has not directly attacked US interests
overseas over the past 13 years, is not now actively plotting to strike the Homeland. However, we cannot rule out that the group would attack if it perceives that the US is threatening its core interests.
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/
U.S. and Other World News
Riz Khan - The role of the ICC - Pt 1
What is the International Criminal Court's impact on conflicts and politics worldwide?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Riz Khan - The role of the ICC - Pt 2
What is the International Criminal Court's impact on conflicts and politics worldwide?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Aafia Siddiqui's "missing years"
Aafia Siddiqui, the Pakistani scientist found guilty of attempting to kill American servicemen by a US court, "disappeared" from Karachi in March 2003. Her family says she was held at the US military's Bagram airbase in Afghanistan. But her first husband says she spent five years on the run with her children, before being arrested in 2008 with her adopted son in Afghanistan. Al Jazeera's David Chater reports on Siddiqui's "missing years".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
While Gaza Starves: Top Egyptian cleric issues Facebook fatwa
Social networking site 'breaks up families', says Cairo Sheikh after survey links online surfing to divorce.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
www.TheHeadlines.org
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