Shadi Fadda brings us today's headlines relating to Palestine and other news from around the internet
Land theft and destruction / Settlers
Israel approves 600 more homes in occupied East Jerusalem
Israel's district planning commission approved the construction of 600 new settlement homes in occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli media reported on Friday. The homes are tipped for construction near the illegal Pisgat Ze'ev settlement and the Palestinian neighborhood of Shu'fat, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported. The number was scaled back to 600 from the original 1,100 when it was revealed that much of the land was owned privately by Palestinians, according to the daily. Meanwhile, two homes in the adjacent Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Hanina were slated for demolition,
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Report: Israel planning Old City renovations without consultations
The Israeli municipal officials in Jerusalem plan to effect a series of changes in the Old City streets and alleyways, from streetlights to gardens, lawyer Qays Nasser explained, without first consulting a single Palestinian official or Jerusalem property owners ... According to Nasser, renovations are planned on 361 lanes and alleys of the Old City, totaling some 10% of the entire area of the ancient quarters. Renovation projects targeting Damascus Gate, the central entrance to the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, could take as long as 24-36 months, Nasser said, closing the entrance to all pedestrian traffic.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Settlers to mark Goldstein's massacre in Ibrahimi Mosque
Israeli settlers in Hebron intend to rally Saturday, commemorating the 1994 massacre that saw a Jewish-American open fire on praying Palestinians, killing 29, the Israeli news site Yedioth Ahronoth reported ... The Israeli settlers who plan to rally Saturday, the news source said, are a group that formed around the veneration of Goldstein. "He knew that Jewish blood was about to be shed, and so he protected his own people. Perhaps some were innocent – but war is war," Yedioth Ahronoth quoted a second settler as saying. [Note that about 5 weeks after this suicide shooting, the suicide bombings in Israel began]
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Protests
Protests: Record numbers out in Nablus, injuries in Nabi Salih
As a group of approximately 300 Palestinian and international protesters marched toward the illegal outposts near the Yitzhar settlement in the northern West Bank, Israeli forces used riot dispersal methods on the crowd injuring two, organizers said. Ralliers walked from the village of Asira Al-Qibilya toward the outposts, in what organizers called a peaceful march that called for an end to land confiscation.
A young protester sustained head wounds during a rally in An-Nabi Salih, organizers said, when a rubber-coated metal bullet struck him near his temple.
Organizers in Nil’in, where approximately 60 demonstrators turned out, also dedicated the day’s rally to the preservation of holy sites on Palestinian lands, with protesters carrying banners denouncing the Israeli move to claim the two shrines. Protesters said soldiers aimed gas canisters at nearby homes, threatening civilians who were not participating in the protest. There were also reports that soldiers fired at power generators outside the houses.
Heavy rains, hail and floods in the central West Bank kept numbers low at the weekly protest in Bil'in, north of Ramallah,
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
The collaborators are outraged / As`ad AbuKhalil
"A senior Fatah official claimed Friday that Israel had confiscated VIP IDs it distributed to half of the members of the organization's central committee, explaining that they had participated in anti-fence protests in the West Bank."
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
Jewish Heritage list controversy
Israeli forces take over home as settlers rally in Hebron
Hebron residents feared to leave their homes as Israeli settlers marched through the former downtown core from the Tel Rumeida settlement to the Beit Hadassah settlement, along Suhada street on Friday, witnesses said. The settlers marched in support of the Sunday announcement by the Israeli cabinet to put the Ibrahimi Mosque, at the center of the Palestinian city of Hebron, on the list of Israeli heritage sites. The group of settlers were accompanied by armed Israeli soldiers ... South of the Old City, clashes erupted between young Palestinian men and Israeli soldiers in the Az-Zahed and Abu Hadid neighborhoods when the men threw stones at Israeli soldiers, who responded with tear-gas canisters and sound grenades.During the clashes soldiers took over the home of Abed Al-A’thim An-Natshah in the Az-Zahed area, using it as a watch tower and confining the family in the home.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Fayyad attends Friday prayers in Ibrahimi Mosque
Palestinian factions called for day of national protest on Friday over Israel's heritage list decision, with caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad participating in Friday prayers at one of the sites in Hebron. Fayyad said his decision to pray in the Ibrahimi Mosque was an act of solidarity with the city, which has seen four days of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces over a number of rallies held against the Israeli cabinet's decision. Rallies are expected throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as Israeli forces increase deployment in Hebron's Old City and around the Ibrahimi Mosque, anticipating a continuation of Thursday's confrontations.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Netanyahu: Heritage decision will not change status quo
... Netanyahu said Thursday that the decision to include two sites in the occupied Palestinian territories on a list of Israeli heritage sites was neither diplomatic nor political ... "We know that it is also a holy place for Muslims; we honor both. It is fitting that there be appropriate prayer arrangements. We are not changing them. We are not changing the status quo at the site and we will not, in any way, harm freedom of worship for Muslims, just as we will preserve freedom of worship for Jews," Netanyahu said. However, Muslims wishing to pray at Rachel's Tomb must acquire permits from Israeli authorities.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Blockade / Humanitarian issues / Human interest
Five injured as Rafah tunnel collapses
Five tunnel workers sustained moderate and light injuries when a smuggling route under the Gaza-Egypt border collapsed Saturday morning, medics said. Eyewitnesses said the tunnel was in the As-Salam neighborhood southeast of Rafah, and described the tunnel collapse as a result of floods.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Gaza crossing see low numbers exit last week
The Rafah crossing on the Egyptian-Gaza border saw the return of 121 Gazans on Thursday and Friday ... zero Palestinians in Gaza were permitted to leave via the crossing.
The Erez crossing, the northernmost border with Israel, saw the travel of 160 Gazans into Israel, including 66 residents, 29 patients with 29 companions, two for visits, and six with work permits, the administration wrote....
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Photoessay: In Gaza / charisma and hospitality
Taxis in Palestine are of two sorts: shared and private ...The private come in handy when in a hurry, or going to a more remote destination. For our work in the border regions and out of the way places, we hire a private. Abu M drives us regularly, sometimes pushing food on us, usually inviting us back to eat with his family, and always sharing his good humour.
http://ingaza.wordpress.com/
Extra-judicial killings
Dubai says DNA of one assassin found
Police chief contacts various countries in attempt to assemble global team to pursue 26 alleged killers -- Dubai police chief Dahi Khalfan Tamim announced Friday he possessed the DNA of at least one of the assassins of senior Hamas figure Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh. "We've (identified) traces of DNA on the scene, belonging to the criminals," he told Al-Arabiya satellite TV. "We have fingerprints and DNA traces and we know what they look like (thanks) to cameras that have revealed the whole operation."
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Dubai police to Mossad chief: Confess to Mabhouh murder or issue denial
Dahi Khalfan Tamim calls on Dagan to 'own up to his crime or deny Mossad's involvement in Mabhouh hit'; urges Arab states to thoroughly check Jews carrying non-Israeli passports
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Britain to investigate passport ordeal in Israel (Reuters)
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The British embassy in Israel said an investigator was flown in this week to interview 10 dual Israeli-British citizens whose British passports may have been used in the assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/
Australia 'not satisfied' with Israeli response
Australia stepped up pressure on Israel Saturday over fake passports linked to the murder of a top Hamas commander, saying it was yet to receive a satisfactory explanation. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said his center-left government had an "absolutely hard line" on defending the integrity of its passport system and took seriously allegations that suspected Mossad assassins had stolen Australian identities.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Dumb Mossad propaganda in Haaretz / As`ad AbuKhalil
Now, the dumb Mossad is planting dumb leaks to try to reduce its public embarrassment: ""The passport photographs of the agents who assassinated Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai were doctored so the agents would not be identified, a Haaretz probe discovered Friday. The discovery casts doubt on claims that the espionage agency that carried out last month's hit on the senior Hamas operative committed grave errors. Various features of the people in the photographs, such as eye color or the line of a lip, were changed - slightly enough so as not arouse suspicion at passport control, but still enough that the real agent could not be recognized.""
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
This is funny: more dumb Mossad disinformation in Israeli media / As`ad AbuKhalil
This is rather funny. They are clearly so nervous and so embarrassed by the global revelations about their dumb terrorist team in Dubai, that now they are trying that the publicity has been good for them. Oh, yeah. And the Lewinsky scandal was good for Clinton, just as Watergate great for the reputation of Nixon.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
Violence / Aggression
Gaza: DFLP, Hamas report clashes with Israeli forces
The National Resistance and Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wings of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Hamas, said combatants clashed with Israeli forces entering Gaza east of Rafah at dawn on Friday... According to the NRB, Israeli troops opened fire against members of the brigade and clashes ensued. The Al-Qassam statement did not clarify which party initiated the clashes, but said militiamen fired mortar rounds at invading Israeli forces ... An Israeli military spokesman confirmed shots fired, saying that "Overnight, IDF soldiers identified a number of suspicious figures walking in close proximity of the security fence in the southern Gaza Strip."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
2 injured at settler's car collides with Palestinian public vehicle
Two Palestinians were hospitalized on Friday following a car collision that onlookers said was deliberately caused by an Israeli settler, near Wad Amiq, west of Hebron. Onlookers said a car driven by an Israeli settler intentionally attempted to run the Palestinian public vehicle, carrying eight, off the road and into the valley.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Detention
IOA renews administrative detention of Hamas leader
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) renewed on Friday the administrative detention of Khaled Al-Haj, one of Hamas's spokesmen in the West Bank, only one day before his scheduled release. Hamas sources in the Negev jail said that the IOA renewed the administrative custody of Haj for three months for the ninth consecutive time. Haj, commenting on the decision, said that it would not weaken his morale and would not deter him from supporting his people's cause. Haj, 45, has been held in IOA custody for 38 months.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Hamas: Occupation wants no role for the PLC
The Change and Reform Bloc of the Palestinian Legislative Council (Hamas) condemned the detention of the head of PLC Speaker Aziz Dweik's office on Friday, and the confiscation of his laptop and mobile phone by the Israeli army. Baha Farah was taken from his Ramallah home early Thursday morning, security sources reported, after Israeli forces broke into the building.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Israel detains AFP photographer
A photographer for Agence France-Presse was briefly detained by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank city of Hebron on Thursday. Marco Longari was arrested for "acting violently toward security forces" and transferred to police custody, an army spokeswoman said ... Longari is the head photographer for AFP, our correspondent in Hebron reported ... Onlookers said Longari was one of three journalists injured during clashes near Hebron's Ibrahimi Mosque on Thursday. The others were identified as Abed Al-Ghani An-Natshah, who reportedly blacked out after inhaling tear gas, and Nasser Shiyoukhi, who was beaten by soldiers.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
War crimes
UN GA passes resolution granting 5 months for Gaza inquiries
The UN General Assembly in New York voted to give the Israeli and Palestinian governments five additional months to conduct independent investigations of alleged war crimes perpetrated during Israel's war on Gaza last winter, or "further action"could be taken. The response of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon at the last meeting of the UNGA after he received reports from Israel, the Palestinian Authority and de facto government in Gaza on the progress they had each made around independent investigations, was met with criticism from Palestinian rights organizations.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Political developments / Diplomacy
Clinton presses Barak on blockade of Gaza Strip (Reuters)
The United States pressed Israel on Friday to ease its blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, an issue Arab officials have urged Washington to address at it tries to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters she had an extended discussion with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak about the Mediterranean coastal strip
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Report: Israel asks US to put return of Syria envoy on hold
PM Netanyahu asks US to freeze plans to send ambassador to Syria in wake of Assad-Ahmadinejad meeting, London-based Arab newspaper says; leaders of Assad's type interpret US moves as sign of weakness, Bibi reportedly says
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Israeli Arab rights committee urges OECD to reject Israel
An Israeli Arab rights committee sent a petition to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on Saturday opposing the addition of Israel to the organization. After two years of official talks, the OECD will vote in May on whether to admit Israel. Committee head Mohammed Zeidan told Haaretz that a country like Israel should not be allowed to join the prestigious international organization of developed countries because of racist and discriminatory policies towards Israeli Arabs, about 20 percent of Israel's population, as well as the fact that Israel is an occupying power.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Fayyad: Israel won't drag us to violence
Palestinian prime minister attends Friday prayer in Hebron following riots that broke out due to Israel's new heritage plan, says 'terrorism of settlement project' won't stop his people from 'building positive reality on ground'
http://www.ynetnews.com/
EU says PA made 'enormous progress' in statehood prep
he Palestinian Authority has made “enormous progress” in preparing for statehood based on the rule of law and in the spirit of good governance, “even under the current difficult political environment”, said Christian Berger on Friday, the EU representative in the occupied Palestinian territories.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Gaza independents meet with West Bank Hamas delegation
A delegation of independent figures from Gaza joined their West Bank counterparts for prayer in the Ibrahimi Mosque on Friday, then held meetings with a delegation of Hamas officials in Hebron ... The independents include Muslim scholars, academics, businessmen, intellectuals, professionals, representatives of civil society organizations and the private sector in both the West Bank and Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Despite Hamas denial, Zahar confirms he quit Shalit talks
In an interview, the Gaza and strongman told the German magazine that Israel and Hamas had come close to striking a deal over Shalit and had drafted an agreement for a prisoner swap, which by Christmas Eve 2009 was ready for signature. Zahar traveled to Damascus to present the document to Hamas leaders there, persuading the organization's political chief Khaled Meshal to approve the draft. But Israel backtracked and scuppered the deal at the last minute, Zahar said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Media
Foreign press slams new PR campaign
Journalists say ads trying to involve Israelis in global PR represent them as 'ignorant, gullible' -- Ynet learned Friday that the Foreign Press Association in Israel had met to discuss a new PR website's commercials, which many journalists say represent them as "stupid". At the conclusion of the meeting the members decided not to appeal to Minister of Information and Diaspora Yuli Edelstein, but rather to report in their own countries about the distorted representation. The UK's Telegraph and Reuters also published critiques of the ads.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Royal Television Society recognizes work of Gaza journalists
...The work of Gaza journalists during December and January of 2008-9 ensured "that the world could witness a war that would otherwise have unfolded largely in secret," Royal Television Society judges told Abu Al-Jabin, who represented the newsmen and women of Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Other news
In Photos: Central West Bank under water
Tourists and citizens were soaked Friday, as heavy rains and hail pelted the central West Bank beneath flash lighting and rumbling thunder, flooding streets and driving people indoors.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Floods sweep away border fence between Egypt and Israel
Sweeping floods carried away parts of the fence separating Israeli and Egyptian borders in the Al-Azariq valley on Saturday, and parts of the border fence as far away as the Al-Arish valley, local Bedouin told an Egyptian news source. No casualties have been reported, but fields of wheat and barley in the northern Sinai were likely destroyed, the news site said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Jerusalem's Old City an unexpected haven for rare animal and plant life
...After thousands of years of urbanization, it turns out that animal and plant life still thrives in the Old City - including 44 species of birds, toads, bats and martens, and about 100 types of plants.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
MKs oppose 'abominable meat' ordinance
Knesset members are intensifying their objection to the proposed ordinance presented to the Knesset on Monday, which sets customs rates, exemptions and merchandise tax. As reported on Thursday, the ordinance includes unique items, and especially non-kosher ones. Among the items listed in the ordinance are pig meat, meat from horses, donkeys, rabbits, hares, whales, dolphins, seals, walruses, reptiles, crabs, oysters, octopuses, and even snails.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Comment / Haredi rabbis vs. the Internet, and the Internet is winning
There is no clearer sign that leaders have lost control than when they and their people can no longer trust each other. This breach of trust is at the root of an increasingly frantic campaign on the part of ultra-Orthodox rabbis against the Internet. The latest edict, announced at a gathering of rabbis and senior Haredi educators this week in Jerusalem, demands that all parents enrolling their children in ultra-Orthodox schools sign a written commitment that their home computers are not connected in any way to the poisonous web.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Book review: Visit to the museum of oneself / Zvi Bar'el
"Palestinian Walks: Notes on a Vanishing Landscape" by Raja Shehadeh, Scribner, 224 pages, $15 (paperback) Shehadeh walks along these byways like a stranger in his own land, wondering: "Could our hills, unchanged for centuries, become home within a matter of a few years for around 100,000 Jewish settlers who claim a divine right to them, who ultimately want to drive us away? The hills which had provided the setting for tranquil walks where I felt more freedom than I did anywhere else in the world would eventually become confining, endangered areas and a source of constant anxiety."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Analysis / Opinion
White Lie / Uri Avnery
THIS COMING Wednesday, the Supreme Court of Israel will consider an application by a group of Israeli citizens to compel the Interior Ministry to register them as belonging to the “Israeli nation”. Odd? Indeed. The Israeli Interior Ministry recognizes 126 nations, but not the Israeli nation. An Israeli citizen can be registered as belonging to the Assyrian, the Tatar or the Circassian nation. But the Israeli nation? Sorry, no such thing. According to the official doctrine, the State of Israel cannot recognize an “Israeli” nation because it is the state of the “Jewish” nation.
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/
We must never forget Gaza / Khalid Amayreh
Despite a slight improvement in the general humanitarian situation, the Gaza Strip remains a disaster area. In fact, in terms of the sheer destruction of homes and infrastructure, the coastal enclave can be compared to quake-stricken Haiti, with the main difference lying in the fact that while the Caribbean island’s calamity was a natural disaster, the Gaza disaster was inflicted by the criminal Israeli regime.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Gaza: A dark comedy / Curtis Doebbler
...The one-year history of how the tragedy in Gaza has been handled at the UN today seems to have devolved to a dark comedy. The Israeli government, their supporters, much of the wider international community, and even the Palestinian authorities themselves have all contributed to the surreal compliance with which the ongoing, man-made disaster in Gaza has been handled ... The only voices still calling for urgent action seem to be those of the people who are suffering. The people of Gaza and their leaders continue to urge action. But rather than attacking the irrefutable justice of their cries, the Israeli, American, European, and even West Bank Palestinian strategy has been to ignore them and when possible to silence their voices.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
The master of pyromania / Yoel Marcus
It's not clear what it is about Benjamin Netanyahu, who in both his terms as prime minister has gotten into trouble - or to be more precise, has gotten the country embroiled in incendiary issues. During his first term he triggered bloody riots all over the country as a result of opening the Western Wall tunnel ("the rock of our existence"). Now he has decided, under pressure from the right-wing forces in his government, to add the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Rachel's Tomb to the list of Jewish heritage preservation sites, thus enabling Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who was in Europe at the time, to warn that Israel is threatening to ignite a religious war.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Iraq
Friday: 4 Iraqis killed, 48 wounded
Excerpt: At least four Iraqis were killed and 48 more were wounded in prayer day violence. It appears that reporters have returned to Mosul after a brief hiatus. Regular reports of attacks have resumed, perhaps in response to a surge in attacks against Christians. In nearby Suleimaniyah, however, reports are having a difficult time leaking out. Also, three mass graves holding hundreds of children killed during the Saddam era were discovered in Kirkuk.
http://original.antiwar.com/
US soldiers kill Iraqi tribal chief's son (AFP)
BAQUBA, Iraq (AFP) – US soldiers killed an Iraqi tribal chief's son and wounded his wife in what the Americans on Saturday called a tragic accident, although local accounts of the incident differed.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/
Evidence against barred Iraq candidates to be released (AFP)
...Ali al-Lami said the evidence was being organised by the Justice and Accountability Committee (JAC) so that it could be presented to the media before the parliamentary election takes place next Sunday. "We have already decided to release these documents this week," he said in an interview in Baghdad. "The most important thing is to release the information before the election."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/
Stay neutral in vote, top cleric tells Iraq clergy (AFP)
NAJAF, Iraq (AFP) – Iraq's top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani called on his fellow clerics on Saturday to stay neutral in next month's general election after one launched a withering attack on close allies of the prime minister.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/
Lebanon
Fatah offical in Lebanon resigns over 'dire' situation in camps
Fatah's Secretary-General in Lebanon, Sultan Abul Enayn, publicly confirmed his resignation from his post over a failure of the Palestinian leadership to heed his warnings of increasingly grim circumstances faced by Palestinian refugees, he said in an interview with Ma'an radio on Saturday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Report: 5 Israeli spy suspects detained in Lebanon (AP)
Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV reported that five Lebanese citizens have been detained on suspicion of spying for Israel, raising the number of suspects captured this week to six.
Lebanese security and military officials contacted by The Associated Press refused to confirm or deny the Lebanese guerrilla group's report.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
U.S.
US Army's Iraq handbook: Avoid war crimes and beware Arab paranoia
A 2003 handbook for the U.S. 1st Infantry Division in Iraq exhorts soldiers to "Do your best to prevent war crimes" and warns that "when an Arab is confronted by criticism, you can expect him to react by interpreting the facts to suit himself or flatly denying the facts." The document, obtained and posted by the National Security Archive at George Washington University, runs nearly 100 pages outlining on the history of Iraq, the customs of Arabs, and the rules of war.
http://tpmmuckraker.
--
www.TheHeadlines.org
Israel approves 600 more homes in occupied East Jerusalem
Israel's district planning commission approved the construction of 600 new settlement homes in occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli media reported on Friday. The homes are tipped for construction near the illegal Pisgat Ze'ev settlement and the Palestinian neighborhood of Shu'fat, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported. The number was scaled back to 600 from the original 1,100 when it was revealed that much of the land was owned privately by Palestinians, according to the daily. Meanwhile, two homes in the adjacent Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Hanina were slated for demolition,
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Report: Israel planning Old City renovations without consultations
The Israeli municipal officials in Jerusalem plan to effect a series of changes in the Old City streets and alleyways, from streetlights to gardens, lawyer Qays Nasser explained, without first consulting a single Palestinian official or Jerusalem property owners ... According to Nasser, renovations are planned on 361 lanes and alleys of the Old City, totaling some 10% of the entire area of the ancient quarters. Renovation projects targeting Damascus Gate, the central entrance to the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, could take as long as 24-36 months, Nasser said, closing the entrance to all pedestrian traffic.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Settlers to mark Goldstein's massacre in Ibrahimi Mosque
Israeli settlers in Hebron intend to rally Saturday, commemorating the 1994 massacre that saw a Jewish-American open fire on praying Palestinians, killing 29, the Israeli news site Yedioth Ahronoth reported ... The Israeli settlers who plan to rally Saturday, the news source said, are a group that formed around the veneration of Goldstein. "He knew that Jewish blood was about to be shed, and so he protected his own people. Perhaps some were innocent – but war is war," Yedioth Ahronoth quoted a second settler as saying. [Note that about 5 weeks after this suicide shooting, the suicide bombings in Israel began]
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Protests
Protests: Record numbers out in Nablus, injuries in Nabi Salih
As a group of approximately 300 Palestinian and international protesters marched toward the illegal outposts near the Yitzhar settlement in the northern West Bank, Israeli forces used riot dispersal methods on the crowd injuring two, organizers said. Ralliers walked from the village of Asira Al-Qibilya toward the outposts, in what organizers called a peaceful march that called for an end to land confiscation.
A young protester sustained head wounds during a rally in An-Nabi Salih, organizers said, when a rubber-coated metal bullet struck him near his temple.
Organizers in Nil’in, where approximately 60 demonstrators turned out, also dedicated the day’s rally to the preservation of holy sites on Palestinian lands, with protesters carrying banners denouncing the Israeli move to claim the two shrines. Protesters said soldiers aimed gas canisters at nearby homes, threatening civilians who were not participating in the protest. There were also reports that soldiers fired at power generators outside the houses.
Heavy rains, hail and floods in the central West Bank kept numbers low at the weekly protest in Bil'in, north of Ramallah,
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
The collaborators are outraged / As`ad AbuKhalil
"A senior Fatah official claimed Friday that Israel had confiscated VIP IDs it distributed to half of the members of the organization's central committee, explaining that they had participated in anti-fence protests in the West Bank."
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
Jewish Heritage list controversy
Israeli forces take over home as settlers rally in Hebron
Hebron residents feared to leave their homes as Israeli settlers marched through the former downtown core from the Tel Rumeida settlement to the Beit Hadassah settlement, along Suhada street on Friday, witnesses said. The settlers marched in support of the Sunday announcement by the Israeli cabinet to put the Ibrahimi Mosque, at the center of the Palestinian city of Hebron, on the list of Israeli heritage sites. The group of settlers were accompanied by armed Israeli soldiers ... South of the Old City, clashes erupted between young Palestinian men and Israeli soldiers in the Az-Zahed and Abu Hadid neighborhoods when the men threw stones at Israeli soldiers, who responded with tear-gas canisters and sound grenades.During the clashes soldiers took over the home of Abed Al-A’thim An-Natshah in the Az-Zahed area, using it as a watch tower and confining the family in the home.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Fayyad attends Friday prayers in Ibrahimi Mosque
Palestinian factions called for day of national protest on Friday over Israel's heritage list decision, with caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad participating in Friday prayers at one of the sites in Hebron. Fayyad said his decision to pray in the Ibrahimi Mosque was an act of solidarity with the city, which has seen four days of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces over a number of rallies held against the Israeli cabinet's decision. Rallies are expected throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as Israeli forces increase deployment in Hebron's Old City and around the Ibrahimi Mosque, anticipating a continuation of Thursday's confrontations.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Netanyahu: Heritage decision will not change status quo
... Netanyahu said Thursday that the decision to include two sites in the occupied Palestinian territories on a list of Israeli heritage sites was neither diplomatic nor political ... "We know that it is also a holy place for Muslims; we honor both. It is fitting that there be appropriate prayer arrangements. We are not changing them. We are not changing the status quo at the site and we will not, in any way, harm freedom of worship for Muslims, just as we will preserve freedom of worship for Jews," Netanyahu said. However, Muslims wishing to pray at Rachel's Tomb must acquire permits from Israeli authorities.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Blockade / Humanitarian issues / Human interest
Five injured as Rafah tunnel collapses
Five tunnel workers sustained moderate and light injuries when a smuggling route under the Gaza-Egypt border collapsed Saturday morning, medics said. Eyewitnesses said the tunnel was in the As-Salam neighborhood southeast of Rafah, and described the tunnel collapse as a result of floods.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Gaza crossing see low numbers exit last week
The Rafah crossing on the Egyptian-Gaza border saw the return of 121 Gazans on Thursday and Friday ... zero Palestinians in Gaza were permitted to leave via the crossing.
The Erez crossing, the northernmost border with Israel, saw the travel of 160 Gazans into Israel, including 66 residents, 29 patients with 29 companions, two for visits, and six with work permits, the administration wrote....
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Photoessay: In Gaza / charisma and hospitality
Taxis in Palestine are of two sorts: shared and private ...The private come in handy when in a hurry, or going to a more remote destination. For our work in the border regions and out of the way places, we hire a private. Abu M drives us regularly, sometimes pushing food on us, usually inviting us back to eat with his family, and always sharing his good humour.
http://ingaza.wordpress.com/
Extra-judicial killings
Dubai says DNA of one assassin found
Police chief contacts various countries in attempt to assemble global team to pursue 26 alleged killers -- Dubai police chief Dahi Khalfan Tamim announced Friday he possessed the DNA of at least one of the assassins of senior Hamas figure Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh. "We've (identified) traces of DNA on the scene, belonging to the criminals," he told Al-Arabiya satellite TV. "We have fingerprints and DNA traces and we know what they look like (thanks) to cameras that have revealed the whole operation."
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Dubai police to Mossad chief: Confess to Mabhouh murder or issue denial
Dahi Khalfan Tamim calls on Dagan to 'own up to his crime or deny Mossad's involvement in Mabhouh hit'; urges Arab states to thoroughly check Jews carrying non-Israeli passports
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Britain to investigate passport ordeal in Israel (Reuters)
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The British embassy in Israel said an investigator was flown in this week to interview 10 dual Israeli-British citizens whose British passports may have been used in the assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/
Australia 'not satisfied' with Israeli response
Australia stepped up pressure on Israel Saturday over fake passports linked to the murder of a top Hamas commander, saying it was yet to receive a satisfactory explanation. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said his center-left government had an "absolutely hard line" on defending the integrity of its passport system and took seriously allegations that suspected Mossad assassins had stolen Australian identities.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Dumb Mossad propaganda in Haaretz / As`ad AbuKhalil
Now, the dumb Mossad is planting dumb leaks to try to reduce its public embarrassment: ""The passport photographs of the agents who assassinated Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai were doctored so the agents would not be identified, a Haaretz probe discovered Friday. The discovery casts doubt on claims that the espionage agency that carried out last month's hit on the senior Hamas operative committed grave errors. Various features of the people in the photographs, such as eye color or the line of a lip, were changed - slightly enough so as not arouse suspicion at passport control, but still enough that the real agent could not be recognized.""
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
This is funny: more dumb Mossad disinformation in Israeli media / As`ad AbuKhalil
This is rather funny. They are clearly so nervous and so embarrassed by the global revelations about their dumb terrorist team in Dubai, that now they are trying that the publicity has been good for them. Oh, yeah. And the Lewinsky scandal was good for Clinton, just as Watergate great for the reputation of Nixon.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
Violence / Aggression
Gaza: DFLP, Hamas report clashes with Israeli forces
The National Resistance and Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wings of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Hamas, said combatants clashed with Israeli forces entering Gaza east of Rafah at dawn on Friday... According to the NRB, Israeli troops opened fire against members of the brigade and clashes ensued. The Al-Qassam statement did not clarify which party initiated the clashes, but said militiamen fired mortar rounds at invading Israeli forces ... An Israeli military spokesman confirmed shots fired, saying that "Overnight, IDF soldiers identified a number of suspicious figures walking in close proximity of the security fence in the southern Gaza Strip."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
2 injured at settler's car collides with Palestinian public vehicle
Two Palestinians were hospitalized on Friday following a car collision that onlookers said was deliberately caused by an Israeli settler, near Wad Amiq, west of Hebron. Onlookers said a car driven by an Israeli settler intentionally attempted to run the Palestinian public vehicle, carrying eight, off the road and into the valley.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Detention
IOA renews administrative detention of Hamas leader
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) renewed on Friday the administrative detention of Khaled Al-Haj, one of Hamas's spokesmen in the West Bank, only one day before his scheduled release. Hamas sources in the Negev jail said that the IOA renewed the administrative custody of Haj for three months for the ninth consecutive time. Haj, commenting on the decision, said that it would not weaken his morale and would not deter him from supporting his people's cause. Haj, 45, has been held in IOA custody for 38 months.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Hamas: Occupation wants no role for the PLC
The Change and Reform Bloc of the Palestinian Legislative Council (Hamas) condemned the detention of the head of PLC Speaker Aziz Dweik's office on Friday, and the confiscation of his laptop and mobile phone by the Israeli army. Baha Farah was taken from his Ramallah home early Thursday morning, security sources reported, after Israeli forces broke into the building.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Israel detains AFP photographer
A photographer for Agence France-Presse was briefly detained by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank city of Hebron on Thursday. Marco Longari was arrested for "acting violently toward security forces" and transferred to police custody, an army spokeswoman said ... Longari is the head photographer for AFP, our correspondent in Hebron reported ... Onlookers said Longari was one of three journalists injured during clashes near Hebron's Ibrahimi Mosque on Thursday. The others were identified as Abed Al-Ghani An-Natshah, who reportedly blacked out after inhaling tear gas, and Nasser Shiyoukhi, who was beaten by soldiers.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
War crimes
UN GA passes resolution granting 5 months for Gaza inquiries
The UN General Assembly in New York voted to give the Israeli and Palestinian governments five additional months to conduct independent investigations of alleged war crimes perpetrated during Israel's war on Gaza last winter, or "further action"could be taken. The response of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon at the last meeting of the UNGA after he received reports from Israel, the Palestinian Authority and de facto government in Gaza on the progress they had each made around independent investigations, was met with criticism from Palestinian rights organizations.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Political developments / Diplomacy
Clinton presses Barak on blockade of Gaza Strip (Reuters)
The United States pressed Israel on Friday to ease its blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, an issue Arab officials have urged Washington to address at it tries to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters she had an extended discussion with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak about the Mediterranean coastal strip
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Report: Israel asks US to put return of Syria envoy on hold
PM Netanyahu asks US to freeze plans to send ambassador to Syria in wake of Assad-Ahmadinejad meeting, London-based Arab newspaper says; leaders of Assad's type interpret US moves as sign of weakness, Bibi reportedly says
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Israeli Arab rights committee urges OECD to reject Israel
An Israeli Arab rights committee sent a petition to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on Saturday opposing the addition of Israel to the organization. After two years of official talks, the OECD will vote in May on whether to admit Israel. Committee head Mohammed Zeidan told Haaretz that a country like Israel should not be allowed to join the prestigious international organization of developed countries because of racist and discriminatory policies towards Israeli Arabs, about 20 percent of Israel's population, as well as the fact that Israel is an occupying power.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Fayyad: Israel won't drag us to violence
Palestinian prime minister attends Friday prayer in Hebron following riots that broke out due to Israel's new heritage plan, says 'terrorism of settlement project' won't stop his people from 'building positive reality on ground'
http://www.ynetnews.com/
EU says PA made 'enormous progress' in statehood prep
he Palestinian Authority has made “enormous progress” in preparing for statehood based on the rule of law and in the spirit of good governance, “even under the current difficult political environment”, said Christian Berger on Friday, the EU representative in the occupied Palestinian territories.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Gaza independents meet with West Bank Hamas delegation
A delegation of independent figures from Gaza joined their West Bank counterparts for prayer in the Ibrahimi Mosque on Friday, then held meetings with a delegation of Hamas officials in Hebron ... The independents include Muslim scholars, academics, businessmen, intellectuals, professionals, representatives of civil society organizations and the private sector in both the West Bank and Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Despite Hamas denial, Zahar confirms he quit Shalit talks
In an interview, the Gaza and strongman told the German magazine that Israel and Hamas had come close to striking a deal over Shalit and had drafted an agreement for a prisoner swap, which by Christmas Eve 2009 was ready for signature. Zahar traveled to Damascus to present the document to Hamas leaders there, persuading the organization's political chief Khaled Meshal to approve the draft. But Israel backtracked and scuppered the deal at the last minute, Zahar said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Media
Foreign press slams new PR campaign
Journalists say ads trying to involve Israelis in global PR represent them as 'ignorant, gullible' -- Ynet learned Friday that the Foreign Press Association in Israel had met to discuss a new PR website's commercials, which many journalists say represent them as "stupid". At the conclusion of the meeting the members decided not to appeal to Minister of Information and Diaspora Yuli Edelstein, but rather to report in their own countries about the distorted representation. The UK's Telegraph and Reuters also published critiques of the ads.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Royal Television Society recognizes work of Gaza journalists
...The work of Gaza journalists during December and January of 2008-9 ensured "that the world could witness a war that would otherwise have unfolded largely in secret," Royal Television Society judges told Abu Al-Jabin, who represented the newsmen and women of Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Other news
In Photos: Central West Bank under water
Tourists and citizens were soaked Friday, as heavy rains and hail pelted the central West Bank beneath flash lighting and rumbling thunder, flooding streets and driving people indoors.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Floods sweep away border fence between Egypt and Israel
Sweeping floods carried away parts of the fence separating Israeli and Egyptian borders in the Al-Azariq valley on Saturday, and parts of the border fence as far away as the Al-Arish valley, local Bedouin told an Egyptian news source. No casualties have been reported, but fields of wheat and barley in the northern Sinai were likely destroyed, the news site said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Jerusalem's Old City an unexpected haven for rare animal and plant life
...After thousands of years of urbanization, it turns out that animal and plant life still thrives in the Old City - including 44 species of birds, toads, bats and martens, and about 100 types of plants.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
MKs oppose 'abominable meat' ordinance
Knesset members are intensifying their objection to the proposed ordinance presented to the Knesset on Monday, which sets customs rates, exemptions and merchandise tax. As reported on Thursday, the ordinance includes unique items, and especially non-kosher ones. Among the items listed in the ordinance are pig meat, meat from horses, donkeys, rabbits, hares, whales, dolphins, seals, walruses, reptiles, crabs, oysters, octopuses, and even snails.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Comment / Haredi rabbis vs. the Internet, and the Internet is winning
There is no clearer sign that leaders have lost control than when they and their people can no longer trust each other. This breach of trust is at the root of an increasingly frantic campaign on the part of ultra-Orthodox rabbis against the Internet. The latest edict, announced at a gathering of rabbis and senior Haredi educators this week in Jerusalem, demands that all parents enrolling their children in ultra-Orthodox schools sign a written commitment that their home computers are not connected in any way to the poisonous web.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Book review: Visit to the museum of oneself / Zvi Bar'el
"Palestinian Walks: Notes on a Vanishing Landscape" by Raja Shehadeh, Scribner, 224 pages, $15 (paperback) Shehadeh walks along these byways like a stranger in his own land, wondering: "Could our hills, unchanged for centuries, become home within a matter of a few years for around 100,000 Jewish settlers who claim a divine right to them, who ultimately want to drive us away? The hills which had provided the setting for tranquil walks where I felt more freedom than I did anywhere else in the world would eventually become confining, endangered areas and a source of constant anxiety."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Analysis / Opinion
White Lie / Uri Avnery
THIS COMING Wednesday, the Supreme Court of Israel will consider an application by a group of Israeli citizens to compel the Interior Ministry to register them as belonging to the “Israeli nation”. Odd? Indeed. The Israeli Interior Ministry recognizes 126 nations, but not the Israeli nation. An Israeli citizen can be registered as belonging to the Assyrian, the Tatar or the Circassian nation. But the Israeli nation? Sorry, no such thing. According to the official doctrine, the State of Israel cannot recognize an “Israeli” nation because it is the state of the “Jewish” nation.
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/
We must never forget Gaza / Khalid Amayreh
Despite a slight improvement in the general humanitarian situation, the Gaza Strip remains a disaster area. In fact, in terms of the sheer destruction of homes and infrastructure, the coastal enclave can be compared to quake-stricken Haiti, with the main difference lying in the fact that while the Caribbean island’s calamity was a natural disaster, the Gaza disaster was inflicted by the criminal Israeli regime.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Gaza: A dark comedy / Curtis Doebbler
...The one-year history of how the tragedy in Gaza has been handled at the UN today seems to have devolved to a dark comedy. The Israeli government, their supporters, much of the wider international community, and even the Palestinian authorities themselves have all contributed to the surreal compliance with which the ongoing, man-made disaster in Gaza has been handled ... The only voices still calling for urgent action seem to be those of the people who are suffering. The people of Gaza and their leaders continue to urge action. But rather than attacking the irrefutable justice of their cries, the Israeli, American, European, and even West Bank Palestinian strategy has been to ignore them and when possible to silence their voices.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
The master of pyromania / Yoel Marcus
It's not clear what it is about Benjamin Netanyahu, who in both his terms as prime minister has gotten into trouble - or to be more precise, has gotten the country embroiled in incendiary issues. During his first term he triggered bloody riots all over the country as a result of opening the Western Wall tunnel ("the rock of our existence"). Now he has decided, under pressure from the right-wing forces in his government, to add the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Rachel's Tomb to the list of Jewish heritage preservation sites, thus enabling Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who was in Europe at the time, to warn that Israel is threatening to ignite a religious war.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Iraq
Friday: 4 Iraqis killed, 48 wounded
Excerpt: At least four Iraqis were killed and 48 more were wounded in prayer day violence. It appears that reporters have returned to Mosul after a brief hiatus. Regular reports of attacks have resumed, perhaps in response to a surge in attacks against Christians. In nearby Suleimaniyah, however, reports are having a difficult time leaking out. Also, three mass graves holding hundreds of children killed during the Saddam era were discovered in Kirkuk.
http://original.antiwar.com/
US soldiers kill Iraqi tribal chief's son (AFP)
BAQUBA, Iraq (AFP) – US soldiers killed an Iraqi tribal chief's son and wounded his wife in what the Americans on Saturday called a tragic accident, although local accounts of the incident differed.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/
Evidence against barred Iraq candidates to be released (AFP)
...Ali al-Lami said the evidence was being organised by the Justice and Accountability Committee (JAC) so that it could be presented to the media before the parliamentary election takes place next Sunday. "We have already decided to release these documents this week," he said in an interview in Baghdad. "The most important thing is to release the information before the election."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/
Stay neutral in vote, top cleric tells Iraq clergy (AFP)
NAJAF, Iraq (AFP) – Iraq's top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani called on his fellow clerics on Saturday to stay neutral in next month's general election after one launched a withering attack on close allies of the prime minister.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/
Lebanon
Fatah offical in Lebanon resigns over 'dire' situation in camps
Fatah's Secretary-General in Lebanon, Sultan Abul Enayn, publicly confirmed his resignation from his post over a failure of the Palestinian leadership to heed his warnings of increasingly grim circumstances faced by Palestinian refugees, he said in an interview with Ma'an radio on Saturday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Report: 5 Israeli spy suspects detained in Lebanon (AP)
Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV reported that five Lebanese citizens have been detained on suspicion of spying for Israel, raising the number of suspects captured this week to six.
Lebanese security and military officials contacted by The Associated Press refused to confirm or deny the Lebanese guerrilla group's report.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
U.S.
US Army's Iraq handbook: Avoid war crimes and beware Arab paranoia
A 2003 handbook for the U.S. 1st Infantry Division in Iraq exhorts soldiers to "Do your best to prevent war crimes" and warns that "when an Arab is confronted by criticism, you can expect him to react by interpreting the facts to suit himself or flatly denying the facts." The document, obtained and posted by the National Security Archive at George Washington University, runs nearly 100 pages outlining on the history of Iraq, the customs of Arabs, and the rules of war.
http://tpmmuckraker.
--
www.TheHeadlines.org
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