Settlers destroy Palestinian properties near Nablus
Nablus – Ma’an – Settlers from the illegal Israeli settlement of Yitzhar south of Nablus in the northern West Bank destroyed Palestinian properties in the nearby area of Ash-Shamiyyat between the villages of Urif and Einabus on Sunday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Jewish settlers seize Palestinian lands in Yabad
Tens of Jewish settlers on Monday seized a large chunk of Palestinian lands in Yabad village, south of Jenin, and installed a fence around it, eyewitnesses reported.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott,
Israeli Army: Bil’in and Ni’lin a Closed Military Zone for a Six Months Period
One week after the head of the Israeli Shin Bet threatened to aggravate the repression of the Palestinian popular struggle, a large military force raided the villages of Bil’in and Ni’ilin at 3:30AM this morning. The sole purpose of the raids was to post decrees designating the land between the Wall and the developed area of the villages as closed military zones between 8AM to 8PM every Friday for a period of half a year. The decrees, which came into effect on February 17th, are signed by the recently appointed commander of the Israeli Central Command, Avi Mizrahi, himself. Closed military zone orders are usually signed by a brigade commander, a much lower rank.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/
Israeli fire wounds seven Palestinians at West Bank demo (AFP)
AFP - At least seven Palestinians were wounded on Monday when Israeli troops fired on dozens of students demonstrating near a West Bank checkpoint, security officials and medics said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Israeli forces attack anti-wall rally near Bethlehem
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli forces attacked on Sunday a non-violent demonstration in the southern West Bank town of Beit Jala near Bethlehem in protest against separation wall construction in the area, according to eyewitnesses. International and Israeli solidarity activists joined the rally which was organized by the Bethlehem anti-wall and settlements committee. Fatah affiliated lawmaker Fayiz As-Saqa partook in the rally along with local Fatah leader Abdul-Fattah Khalil and Palestinian peace activist from inside Israel Mubarak Awad.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Israeli Police Crackdown On Protesters In East Jerusalem, Eleven Civilians Arrested
Eleven protesters were arrested by Israeli officers are they crackdown of a protest organized by Palestinians in East Jerusalem.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
Dozens suffer tear gas inhalation in Bil’in’s protest to protect Palestinian cultural heritage
March 13th, 2010-- This week’s demonstration was held as part of the Palestinian National Culture Week for Jerusalem. Protesters carried posters of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, along with Palestinian flags and banners calling for an end to the occupation and home demolitions in Jerusalem.
http://stopthewall.org/
Israeli forces test new weapons on the protestors in Nabi Saleh
March 13th, 2010-- The villagers of Nabi Saleh today were confronted with a so far unknown highly powerful explosive device the Occupation forces used to intimidate the villagers and deter protests.
http://stopthewall.org/
Ni'lin tries to reach isolated lands armed with animals, tools and Tristan Anderson photos
March 13th, 2010-- Today the villagers had decided to bring their animals and farming tools with them to underline the fact that the Wall and the occupation is effectively not only stealing their farm land but devastating the livelihoods of the people in the village.
http://stopthewall.org/
Protesters Carry Photos of ISM Activist During Weekly Nil'in Protest One Year On From Injury
Dozens of protesters were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation, this Friday, following the weekly demonstration in the central West Bank village of Nil’in, near Ramallah.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
Palestinian Christians Resist Israeli Occupation Government by Entering Jerusalem Without Permits During Easter Week
One of my themes is that while Israel is experiencing a dark night of the soul due to the racism pervading that society, Americans are in the dark about this reality because our media refuse to do the (obvious) story. And so while Haaretz covers the story every other day, sometimes desperately, and Andrew Sullivan is waking up to it here, establishment institutions like the New York Times and the New Yorker (and the Columbia Journalism School, junketing to Yad Vashem) turn a blind eye.
http://www.aljazeerah.info/
Tree Planting in Bethlehem area: New confiscation orders discovered
March 15th, 2010-- A group of Palestinian residents and activists in the Popular Campaign against the Apartheid Wall and the settlements gathered on Saturday March 13 in the village of Jub ath-Theeb, south-west of Bethlehem city. Joined by international activists, including a Cuban delegation, they reclaimed land threatened with confiscation by the Israeli occupation.
http://stopthewall.org/
BDS workshop in Bil’in in occasion of Israeli Apartheid Week
March 15th, 2010-- To mark the Israeli Apartheid Week, which has seen conferences and protests all over the globe from March 1 – 14, the Stop the Wall Campaign organized in cooperation with the Cultural Center of Bil’in a workshop on the role of civil society in the national and international campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel.
http://stopthewall.org/
Dear Congress: What the Purim video reveals about the racism embedded in the Israeli state structure
If granted one simple wish to raise awareness in the US Congress about where America’s annual Israel subsidy goes, it would be this: before the next pro-Israel vote, members of Congress would sit down and watch YNET’s ninety second video of Israeli settlers holding a Purim Party in East Jerusalem in the neighborhood where Israel is forcibly evicting Arabs who have lived there for generations so Israelis like these can move in.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/03/
Mazin Qumsiyeh – Back in Palestine
It was hard to say goodbye to my wife and friends in the US. The last night was very meaningful as we were in New York seeing the performance of Najla Said, daughter of my friend and mentor, the late Professor Edward Said (for an earlier statement from Najla, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?
http://feedproxy.google.com/~
I don't like flags, but....
I don't like flags, and I don't like nationalisms, but...for Palestine and the Palestinians, anything and everything. Look at this picture: it shows why Israel's years are numbered. I mean, a Palestinian woman attacked an armed Israel jeep with a Palestinian flag. And they look scared.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
Pro-Apartheid
Pressure mounts on Swedish clothing chain that finds Israel vogue, Alex Kane
The boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement is turning up the heat on Swedish clothing store H&M. A new H&M store opened in Tel Aviv March 11 to hundreds of Israeli shoppers, Haaretz reported.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/03/
St Patrick's Day Special: Irish army buying Israeli bullets?
Ireland is considered to be somewhat more pro-Palestinian than other EU countries. For example, last year, Ireland was one of the few EU countries to endorse the Goldstone report at the UN. But behind all the talk of the Irish government taking a stronger line on Israel than other European countries, and of being outraged by Israeli use of Irish passports for its terrorist actions, it's business as usual.
http://jewssansfrontieres.
US Cable Channel Incites Religious War in Israel-Palestine w/Endorsement by George Costanza and Sponsorship from JDate
For the past three days the Israeli Army has sealed off parts of the Old City to prevent radical Jewish settlers from breaking into the Al-Aqsa Mosque to act out their messianic fantasies. The settlers intend to “redeem” the Temple Mount and construct the Third Temple, inciting a religious war in the process.
http://maxblumenthal.com/2010/
Violence/Aggression and Provocation (also see Activism, Solidarity/BSD)
Clashes Reported in Jerusalem’s Old City
The Arabs48 news website reported that violent clashes took place on Sunday at night between Israeli soldiers, policemen and residents of the Old City of Jerusalem. Clashes were also reported in Ras Al Amoud area.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
Two young men severely beaten by Israeli soldiers in al-Masara village
March 13th, 2010-- During the weekly protest today in the village of al Masara, two young men, 24 year old Mahmoud Alaa El Din and 23-year old Ali Zawahra, were severely beaten by Israeli soldiers using the butts of their rifles.
http://stopthewall.org/
IDF troops brutalize Palestinian shepherd at settlers' behest, Amira Hass
The response from the Israel Defense Forces spokesman came surprisingly quickly; a mere two or three hours after the query had been sent by Haaretz, the spokesman replied orally, and then in writing, that "following the reporter's question and after receiving most of the facts, the chief [military] prosecutor, Col. Jana Modzagbrishvili has instructed the military police to look into the matter."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Israeli troops storm Aqsa Mosque, force out 20 Palestinians
Dozens of Israeli troops stormed Sunday evening the southern part of the Aqsa Mosque and forced out 20 Palestinian worshipers who held a vigil inside.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Detainees
Israel detains 15 Palestinians in West Bank
West Bank, March 15, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - Israeli occupation forces raided Monday different areas of the West Bank and detained 15 Palestinians. Local sources said that a large force of Israeli army soldiers raided the cities of Bethlehem, Ramallah, Hebron and Nablus, and then began searching houses and tampering with their contents. After that, they detained 15 Palestinians and took them to Israeli investigation centers. The Israeli army claimed that its forces found an M-16 rifle in the home of one of the detainees. Eyewitnesses reported that the Israeli army also invaded Oreef village south of Nablus and detained a boy, Mustafa Sabah.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/
IOF troops storm home of MP, round up two citizens
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) stormed the home of MP Mohammed Abu Juhaisha in Beit Ola village, west of Al-Khalil, on Sunday, local sources said.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Palestinian prisoner enters 20th year of detention with faltering health
The prisoners' center for studies has appealed to human rights groups to accord more attention to the issue of Mohammed Abu Jalala, who is suffering waning health conditions in Israeli captivity.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Jail ordeal of hundreds of Palestinian children arrested for throwing stones
Rights groups express concern at the rising number of juveniles as young as 12 who are held behind bars and 'treated like terrorists'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Humanitarian Issues/Human Rights/Siege/Restriction of Movement
Israel clamps West Bank closure
Israel has imposed a full closure of the occupied Palestinian territory of West Bank, announcing that no one will be allowed in or out for 48 hours.
http://english.aljazeera.net/
Israel extends West Bank closure until Tuesday
Israeli security forces announced that a full closure on the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank would be extended until Tuesday, supposedly to protect a group of Israeli settlers as they begin construction of a Jewish synagogue on stolen Palestinian land in the Old City of Jerusalem.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
War Criminals
Gaza 'human shield' case in court
Two Israeli soldiers will face charges in a court that they used a young Palestinian boy as a human shield during the country's three-week bombardment of Gaza in 2008-2009. Majed al-Rubah, 10, says soldiers forcibly took him from his family and made him carry out life-threatening tasks during military operations. Many other Palestinians say they have gone through similiar experiences, but this is only the second time Israel has brought charges against its own soldiers. Human-rights groups have accused Israel of committing numerous war crimes against Palestinians during the war on Gaza - in which nearly 1,400 people have died and most of the enclave was left in ruins. Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin reports from Talal al Hawa, al-Rubah's neighbourhood in Gaza.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Gazan woman spends 2 months searching for husband’s remains
Gaza Strip, March 15, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - It was an unusual day, like all the days of war, when the Israeli artillery fired at Yosra Abu El Hussein's house in Rafah, in the northern Gaza Strip. Yosra, 39, and her 10 children left their house, but her husband Ateya, 44, refused, insisting on staying in his own house. "I won't leave my house to them (the Israelis), even if they kill me," he said. "That's what they want."
http://www.paltelegraph.com/
Case of Tristan Anderson may be reopened, adding to Israeli ‘public relations nightmare’, Alex Kane
Add this development to what Mel Frykberg at Inter Press Service calls Israel’s growing “public relations nightmare”: renewed attention to the near-fatal shooting of American activist Tristan Anderson. Just as the media spotlight is glaring down on Israel because of a civil trial in the killing of American peace activist Rachel Corrie comes a decision by Israel’s Justice Ministry to reinvestigate the shooting of Anderson.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/03/
Refugees
Nahr al-Bared Camp Dcoumentary
nahr al-bared refugee camp has still not recovered from the devastating war in 2007 during which it was destroyed. the lebanese army has been keeping a tight grip on the camp and the 20.000 displaced palestinians that have returned so far. the army's siege seriously hampers the camp's economic recovery, as access is restricted and the area was declared a military zone. a recent survey found that the army's presence and measures are considered a difficulty by 98 per cent of nahr al-bared's business owners. the army meanwhile justifies its presence as necessary to the preservation of the safety of the people.
http://a-films.blogspot.com/
Israel's Arab Helpers
PA's betrayal of human rights defenders the unkindest cut
They hail from opposite parts of the globe, but they have much in common: Jewish; experts on and passionate defenders of international law; and pummeling bags for Israel and the Palestinian Authority. And the future of the law of war lies at the heart of the campaigns against them. Nadia Hijab comments how the undermining of Richard Goldstone and Richard Falk.
http://electronicintifada.net/
Some Palestinian Jordanians Lose Citizenship
AMMAN, Jordan — Muhannad Haddad grew up here, went to school here, got a job in a bank here and traveled to foreign countries with a passport from here. Then one day the authorities said he was no longer Jordanian, and with that one stroke they took away his citizenship and compromised his ability to travel, study, work, seek health care, buy property or even drive.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/
Politics and Diplomacy
Zahhar: Dayton’s mission in W. Bank is to keep "peace process" going
Dr. Mahmoud Al-Zahhar stated that the mission of Keith Dayton in the West Bank is to protect the survival of the "peace option" and not to let the option of resistance progress.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
To hell with national unity if it means surrender to Israel
If Fatah truly seeks national reconciliation, it must first stop being at Keith Dayton’s beck and call and immediately put an end to the vicious campaign of witch-hunting against Hamas.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Reports: US wants Israel to cancel building plan (AP)
AP - Israeli media say the U.S. is pressing Israel to scrap a contentious east Jerusalem building project.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Israel-US diplomatic tension rises
Senior Obama adviser describes timing of settlement announcement as an "insult".
http://english.aljazeera.net/
Settlement drive 'endangers' Mideast talks: EU chief (AFP)
AFP - EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Monday that Israel's decision to build new settler homes in east Jerusalem "endangers" indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Netanyahu: Israel will keep building in Jerusalem
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said that Israel would continue to build in Jerusalem in the same way that it has over the last 42 years.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Lobby group AIPAC raises alarm over US-Israel spat (AFP)
AFP - A major pro-Israel US lobby group has warned that recent US administration remarks about bilateral ties with Israel were "of serious concern," and urged the White House to ease tension.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Other News
Israeli government allows sale of stolen Palestinian property to Israelis
In response to an inquiry by the Palestinian human rights organization Adalah, the Israeli Justice Ministry has clarified its recent revision of Israeli land law, confirming that the revision allows the sale of seized Palestinian land in the West Bank and East Jerusalem to Jewish citizens of Israel, or to private companies.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
Union of teachers slams PA for cutting salaries of 2,000 teachers
The union of Palestinian teachers strongly denounced the PA in Ramallah for cutting the salaries of two thousand teachers in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank because of their political affiliation.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Capital Anglos mobilize against practice of spitting at Christians
Shocked by growing reports about Ultra-Orthodox Jews spitting at Christians in Jerusalem's Old City, a group of Anglo residents is now mobilizing against this ugly practice.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Egypt forced to cancel football match in Jerusalem
CAIRO // A controversial match between the Egyptian and Palestinian football teams in occupied East Jerusalem was postponed indefinitely yesterday after its announcement sparked outrage in Egypt.
http://www.thenational.ae/
Analysis/Opinion/Human Interest
Israeli Settlement Expansions Continue, Stephen Lendman
Currently, around 500,000 Jews reside illegally in over 120 West Bank and East Jerusalem settlements as well as dozens of outposts. Their numbers grow daily despite occasional pledges to curtail or slow them, the latest last November when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a 10 month freeze, calling it a move to "help launch meaningful negotiations to reach a historic peace agreement that would finally end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians."
http://palestinechronicle.com/
Support Our Troops: Boycott the Israeli Occupation
I don't know about all you commiepinkos, but I believe we should Support Our Troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. General Petraeus, Admiral Mullen, and Vice-President Biden say that Israel's actions toward the Palestinians are putting our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq in danger. That's why, to Support Our Troops, the U.S. government must effectively pressure Israel to end its military occupation of the West Bank. And one thing every American can do to Support Our Troops is to shun products from companies linked to the Israeli occupation.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Akiva Eldar / U.S. row shows Jerusalem is cornerstone of peace
Benjamin Netanyahu is absolutely right. Since 1967 no Israeli government stopped building in Jerusalem, east or west. Since the Eshkol government extended Israeli sovereignty over "Jordanian Jerusalem" and annexed the villages around the city, "United Jerusalem" became an inalienable part of the State of Israel. The prime minister is entitled to order the interior minister to delay the discussions at the Planning and Building Committee on the plans to expand a Jewish neighborhood beyond the Green Line. He can ask the mayor to delay presenting his ideas for changes at the Holy Basin. No Zionist prime minister will dare utter the words "I commit to freezing construction in Jerusalem."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
'U.S.-Israel relations at their worst in 35 years'
Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, has told the country's diplomats there that U.S.-Israeli relations face their worst crisis in 35 years, despite attempts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office to project a sense of "business as usual."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Netanyahu faces 'moment of truth' after US slams Israel 'insult'
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to calm the nation after a series of US officials have called last week's announcement to allow Israelis to build 1,600 homes in East Jerusalem an 'insult' to the US.
http://www.csmonitor.com/
MJ Rosenberg: US Military Demanded Netanyahu Smackdown
An amazing story in Foreign Policy today by Mark Perry, the Middle East expert and security consultant. (Note: the military denies Perry's report which is, of course, to be expected. It would never admit to this kind of involvement in policy. I am relying on Perry's account).
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Editorial / Netanyahu's populist rhetoric is jeopardizing Israel
The Israeli prime minister apparently believed that by conducting two-track negotiations he could make things coalition-friendly: to both espouse the slogan "two states for two peoples" and sabotage the Palestinians' ability to set up their state; to both embrace Vice President Joe Biden and give the U.S. administration the finger; to both ask the administration to get Mahmoud Abbas back to the negotiating table and put thumbtacks on his seat once he's there.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
The miracle on the 32d parallel is over, Philip Weiss
My initial joy over the Biden insult was not misplaced. The Israeli blunder has catalyzed a new moment in the US-Israel special relationship and maybe, just maybe the end of something. The Obama administration is showing remarkable willingness to grab the opportunity to distance itself. Hillary was sharply critical the other day, Joe Biden was critical to Netanyahu’s face, and David Axelrod was critical on the Sunday talk shows: "This was an affront, it was an insult but most importantly it undermined this very fragile effort to bring peace to that region."
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/03/
Biden in Israel: Tiff or Tipping Point?, Jim Lobe
"Condemn" is not a word that rolls trippingly off the tongue of a U.S. politician addressing anything having to do with actions, however objectionable, by Israel.
http://original.antiwar.com/
Naomi Klein calls out an Israeli thinktank for misrepresenting her views, Philip Weiss
Maybe you remember the Israeli thinktank that came up with a semi-deluded battleplan to counter the "delegitimizers" of Israel? In a sign that the boycott movement is having a real effect, and catching on among people of conscience in the west, the Reut Institute has called for mobilizing elites in western societies to counter the grassroots efforts to make Israel accountable for its behavior.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/03/
Israel Crackdown Puts Liberal Jews on the Spot, Chris Hedges
The Israeli government, its brutal war crimes in Gaza exposed in detail in the U.N. report by Justice Richard Goldstone, has implemented a series of draconian measures to silence and discredit dissidents, leading intellectuals and human rights organizations inside and outside Israel that are accused—often falsely—of assisting Goldstone’s U.N. investigators. The government of Benjamin Netanyahu is attempting to shut down Israel’s premier human rights organizations, including B’Tselem, the New Israel Fund (NIF) and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. It is busy expelling or excluding peace activists and foreign nationals from the Palestinian territories. The campaign, if left unchecked, will be as catastrophic for Palestinians as it will be for Israel.
http://www.truthdig.com/
Bashing Islam is Freedom of Speech Criticizing Israel is a Hate Crime
Bashing Islam is not new. In fact it began during the Prophet's own lifetime by those who rejected his message in Arabia only to be followed by Christians, Jews, and followers of other faiths. Saint John of Damascus (7th – 8th C) while ironically working as an administrative officer for the Muslim ruler of Damascus wrote that the Prophet Muhammad (p) was a "false prophet…heretic…an Anti Christ." Such attacks continued throughout historical Christian Europe by men such as Martin Luther, Voltaire, Dante, to , right wing European parties, to the U.S. by such men as Franklin Graham, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Hal Lindsey (who called Allah (God) Satan), and politicians. Bashing Islam has become a respectable political and money making cottage industry.
http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/
America's Rude Awakening
Perhaps, Bibi's insolence is a good thing. Perhaps, good old Benny [better known as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] has taken his utter disregard for courtesy and decency just one step too far. Even by official Israeli admission, it has been 35 years since Israel's relations with the United States have been so sour. It all started with a visit from the second most powerful man in the United States government, Mr. Joe Biden. The US Vice President is the highest ranking official to date from the Obama Administration to visit the region, ostensibly to nudge along the delicately fragile peace process that has only recently wobbled to its feet. Leave it to Israel to make it buckle at the knees, slapping its legs with a settlement stick so hard, the poor baby fell flat on its face.
http://www.miftah.org/Display.
Gaza's Guernica: "Approximately 1500..."
"Approximately 1500..." is a 30 meter long anti-war mural painted by 25 young artists in Gaza. The war against Gaza killed ca 1400 people, 431 children were among the victims. 5038 people were injured, 411 of them badly. The artists painted their own experiences from the war: "We hope the mural will encourage people to say "It's enough!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Iraq
Car bomb in Iraq's Falluja kills 7, wounds 20: police (Reuters)
Reuters - A car bomb in Iraq's western Anbar province killed seven civilians and wounded 20 others on Monday, as Iraq struggles to end years of sectarian violence after a pivotal national vote.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Sunday: 9 Iraqis Killed, 9 Wounded
At least nine Iraqis were killed and nine more were wounded in attacks across northern Iraq. One U.S. soldier was killed and two others were wounded during a mortar attack on a base in Diyala province. Another U.S. soldier died of non-combat causes in Ninewa province.
http://original.antiwar.com/
Iraq PM bolsters chances of retaining post (AFP)
AFP - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's chances of retaining his post appeared strong on Monday, more than a week after a general election that has seen his bloc claim leads in several key Iraqi provinces.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Allawi takes surprising Kirkuk lead
Secular Iraqiya list edges ahead of Kurds as al-Maliki continues to make big gains in south.
http://english.aljazeera.net//
ANALYSIS-Iraq's Maliki risks Sunni ire if he shuns Allawi
* Maliki front-runner to be asked to form government
* Sunnis who voted for Allawi anxious for share of power
* New alignments may emerge from coalition bargaining
http://www.alertnet.org/
Iraq's Arab neighbors wary of Shi'ite sway after vote (Reuters)
Reuters - Iraq's Arab neighbors fear a split Iraqi election could further marginalize minority Sunnis and hope any coalition government formed by the Shi'ite frontrunner will resist Iran's sway.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Capoeira brings joy to displaced Iraqi children at the Al-Tanf refugee camp in Syria
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/
Lebanese hold ceremony to show solidarity with Iraqi Christians
BEIRUT: Christian Lebanese figures concluded activities on Saturday expressing solidarity with Iraqi Christians by holding a religious ceremony. The ceremony at Harissa's Lady of Lebanon church was held to mark the end of a day of events entitled "Iraq's Cross is Bleeding, When is the Resurrection?" The day's activities were attended by Bishop Bshara al-Raii on behalf of Maronite.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Lebanon
March 14 Celebrates Birthday without Hariri, Jumblatt, Gemayel
Five years, full of "dramatic changes" and unexpected developments, have passed… Yet, the fifth birthday of the revolution didn't seem to be one of the "best" given that it was marked by the absence of the "Cedars" of the "Revolution"… Indeed, one month after the remaining of the March 14 forces "failed" to organize a successful rally in the anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, the "event" that caused the "revolution," the alliance "failed" to organize a "simple" gathering or conference…
http://almanar.com.lb/
Britain still doesn't get Lebanon | Matthew Cassel
The UK ambassador's latest foray shows just how little Britain understands the Lebanese people's relationship with Hezbollah. One would think that the British government, considering its history in the Middle East of colonising and partitioning the land and overthrowing governments and its support of undemocratic and dictatorial regimes, would be wary of sending its representatives to offer advice to Arab nations on how best to achieve their right to self-determination. But apparently the British ambassador to Lebanon didn't get the memo.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Whither Hezbollah?
Hezbollah is the guerilla force that stymied the Israeli military in southern Lebanon in the 1990's. The Israeli occupiers and their proxies in the South Lebanon Army finally gave up and withdrew in May 2000. In a return confrontation in July-August 2006, Hezbollah again stood its ground, and the Israeli military was again stunned by a gritty enemy. This time round, it was the Bush administration's open goading -- recall Condoleezza Rice's monstrous declarations ("the birth pangs of the new Middle East") to justify the destruction and the killing [1] -- which pressed Israel to pursue an increasingly futile and elusive finish. In July-August 2006 just as in the 1990's, Hezbollah did not cave in, remained defiant, wore down its more powerful opponent, and fought it to a draw.
http://www.zcommunications.
U.S. and Other World News
Mubarak, Egypt regime change and Israel
A week after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's operation to remove his gall bladder, and there are still only partial updates regarding his condition. According to the latest information from the German hospital in which he underwent the operation, the 81-year-old president's health is improving steadily. He has already been released from intensive care and is now in recovery.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Joseph A. Massad, "Desiring Arabs"
What remains constant . . . is a commitment to an evolutionary temporal schema that recognizes change only within the dyad of turath [heritage] and modernity. Contra al-Jabiri and in line with Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer's view of Enlightenment as myth, what is needed -- not only for Arab intellectuals but especially for their European counterparts -- is a view of turath and modernity that is located outside this dualism, one that is not subject to their temporal peregrinations. . . . While the premodern West attacked the world of Islam's alleged sexual licentiousness, the modern West attacks its alleged repression of sexual freedoms. . . . In addition to the introduction and the conclusion, the book is divided into six chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 provide a detailed intellectual history of how modern Arabs sought to write the history of Arab civilization and culture from the pre-Islamic period to the present and how this civilizational project was implicated in the kinds of sexual desires and practices Arabs and Muslims were said to have enjoyed. The debates over the status of the medieval poet Abu Nuwas in Arab heritage are discussed in detail, especially as I see them as emblematic of the "civilizational" anxiety felt by the modern historians. Chapters 3 and 4 chronicle the kinds of Western intervention brought about by universalizers of Western sexual identities and how Arab intellectuals as well as Arab states reacted to such interventions. Chapter 4 will discuss how the Western-incited discourse on sexual identities elicited a strong Islamist response (theological, medical, criminological, social, inter alia) which interrupted the mostly secular debates that had existed until then, and demonstrates how the Islamists and the Western assimilationists end up as allies imposing a new shared sexual epistemology. Chapters 5 and 6 engage modern Arabic fiction and its representation of the contemporary sexual desires of Arabs. Several seminal novels, some short stories, and one major play are analyzed in detail to demonstrate the effect of the different kinds of discourses on sexual desire that came to bear on the modern Arab world.
http://bit.ly/bVoS5W
Was "Jihad Jane" a Real Terrorist Threat? Or a Mentally Unstable Loner?
No one knows quite what to make of Colleen LaRose. But get ready to hear a lot more about "homegrown terrorism" -- and why we need more surveillance to stop it.
http://www.alternet.org/
www.TheHeadlines.org
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Israeli Police Crackdown On Protesters In East Jerusalem, Eleven Civilians Arrested
Eleven protesters were arrested by Israeli officers are they crackdown of a protest organized by Palestinians in East Jerusalem.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
Dozens suffer tear gas inhalation in Bil’in’s protest to protect Palestinian cultural heritage
March 13th, 2010-- This week’s demonstration was held as part of the Palestinian National Culture Week for Jerusalem. Protesters carried posters of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, along with Palestinian flags and banners calling for an end to the occupation and home demolitions in Jerusalem.
http://stopthewall.org/
Israeli forces test new weapons on the protestors in Nabi Saleh
March 13th, 2010-- The villagers of Nabi Saleh today were confronted with a so far unknown highly powerful explosive device the Occupation forces used to intimidate the villagers and deter protests.
http://stopthewall.org/
Ni'lin tries to reach isolated lands armed with animals, tools and Tristan Anderson photos
March 13th, 2010-- Today the villagers had decided to bring their animals and farming tools with them to underline the fact that the Wall and the occupation is effectively not only stealing their farm land but devastating the livelihoods of the people in the village.
http://stopthewall.org/
Protesters Carry Photos of ISM Activist During Weekly Nil'in Protest One Year On From Injury
Dozens of protesters were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation, this Friday, following the weekly demonstration in the central West Bank village of Nil’in, near Ramallah.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
Palestinian Christians Resist Israeli Occupation Government by Entering Jerusalem Without Permits During Easter Week
One of my themes is that while Israel is experiencing a dark night of the soul due to the racism pervading that society, Americans are in the dark about this reality because our media refuse to do the (obvious) story. And so while Haaretz covers the story every other day, sometimes desperately, and Andrew Sullivan is waking up to it here, establishment institutions like the New York Times and the New Yorker (and the Columbia Journalism School, junketing to Yad Vashem) turn a blind eye.
http://www.aljazeerah.info/
Tree Planting in Bethlehem area: New confiscation orders discovered
March 15th, 2010-- A group of Palestinian residents and activists in the Popular Campaign against the Apartheid Wall and the settlements gathered on Saturday March 13 in the village of Jub ath-Theeb, south-west of Bethlehem city. Joined by international activists, including a Cuban delegation, they reclaimed land threatened with confiscation by the Israeli occupation.
http://stopthewall.org/
BDS workshop in Bil’in in occasion of Israeli Apartheid Week
March 15th, 2010-- To mark the Israeli Apartheid Week, which has seen conferences and protests all over the globe from March 1 – 14, the Stop the Wall Campaign organized in cooperation with the Cultural Center of Bil’in a workshop on the role of civil society in the national and international campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel.
http://stopthewall.org/
Dear Congress: What the Purim video reveals about the racism embedded in the Israeli state structure
If granted one simple wish to raise awareness in the US Congress about where America’s annual Israel subsidy goes, it would be this: before the next pro-Israel vote, members of Congress would sit down and watch YNET’s ninety second video of Israeli settlers holding a Purim Party in East Jerusalem in the neighborhood where Israel is forcibly evicting Arabs who have lived there for generations so Israelis like these can move in.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/03/
Mazin Qumsiyeh – Back in Palestine
It was hard to say goodbye to my wife and friends in the US. The last night was very meaningful as we were in New York seeing the performance of Najla Said, daughter of my friend and mentor, the late Professor Edward Said (for an earlier statement from Najla, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?
http://feedproxy.google.com/~
I don't like flags, but....
I don't like flags, and I don't like nationalisms, but...for Palestine and the Palestinians, anything and everything. Look at this picture: it shows why Israel's years are numbered. I mean, a Palestinian woman attacked an armed Israel jeep with a Palestinian flag. And they look scared.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
Pro-Apartheid
Pressure mounts on Swedish clothing chain that finds Israel vogue, Alex Kane
The boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement is turning up the heat on Swedish clothing store H&M. A new H&M store opened in Tel Aviv March 11 to hundreds of Israeli shoppers, Haaretz reported.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/03/
St Patrick's Day Special: Irish army buying Israeli bullets?
Ireland is considered to be somewhat more pro-Palestinian than other EU countries. For example, last year, Ireland was one of the few EU countries to endorse the Goldstone report at the UN. But behind all the talk of the Irish government taking a stronger line on Israel than other European countries, and of being outraged by Israeli use of Irish passports for its terrorist actions, it's business as usual.
http://jewssansfrontieres.
US Cable Channel Incites Religious War in Israel-Palestine w/Endorsement by George Costanza and Sponsorship from JDate
For the past three days the Israeli Army has sealed off parts of the Old City to prevent radical Jewish settlers from breaking into the Al-Aqsa Mosque to act out their messianic fantasies. The settlers intend to “redeem” the Temple Mount and construct the Third Temple, inciting a religious war in the process.
http://maxblumenthal.com/2010/
Violence/Aggression and Provocation (also see Activism, Solidarity/BSD)
Clashes Reported in Jerusalem’s Old City
The Arabs48 news website reported that violent clashes took place on Sunday at night between Israeli soldiers, policemen and residents of the Old City of Jerusalem. Clashes were also reported in Ras Al Amoud area.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
Two young men severely beaten by Israeli soldiers in al-Masara village
March 13th, 2010-- During the weekly protest today in the village of al Masara, two young men, 24 year old Mahmoud Alaa El Din and 23-year old Ali Zawahra, were severely beaten by Israeli soldiers using the butts of their rifles.
http://stopthewall.org/
IDF troops brutalize Palestinian shepherd at settlers' behest, Amira Hass
The response from the Israel Defense Forces spokesman came surprisingly quickly; a mere two or three hours after the query had been sent by Haaretz, the spokesman replied orally, and then in writing, that "following the reporter's question and after receiving most of the facts, the chief [military] prosecutor, Col. Jana Modzagbrishvili has instructed the military police to look into the matter."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Israeli troops storm Aqsa Mosque, force out 20 Palestinians
Dozens of Israeli troops stormed Sunday evening the southern part of the Aqsa Mosque and forced out 20 Palestinian worshipers who held a vigil inside.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Detainees
Israel detains 15 Palestinians in West Bank
West Bank, March 15, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - Israeli occupation forces raided Monday different areas of the West Bank and detained 15 Palestinians. Local sources said that a large force of Israeli army soldiers raided the cities of Bethlehem, Ramallah, Hebron and Nablus, and then began searching houses and tampering with their contents. After that, they detained 15 Palestinians and took them to Israeli investigation centers. The Israeli army claimed that its forces found an M-16 rifle in the home of one of the detainees. Eyewitnesses reported that the Israeli army also invaded Oreef village south of Nablus and detained a boy, Mustafa Sabah.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/
IOF troops storm home of MP, round up two citizens
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) stormed the home of MP Mohammed Abu Juhaisha in Beit Ola village, west of Al-Khalil, on Sunday, local sources said.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Palestinian prisoner enters 20th year of detention with faltering health
The prisoners' center for studies has appealed to human rights groups to accord more attention to the issue of Mohammed Abu Jalala, who is suffering waning health conditions in Israeli captivity.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Jail ordeal of hundreds of Palestinian children arrested for throwing stones
Rights groups express concern at the rising number of juveniles as young as 12 who are held behind bars and 'treated like terrorists'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Humanitarian Issues/Human Rights/Siege/Restriction of Movement
Israel clamps West Bank closure
Israel has imposed a full closure of the occupied Palestinian territory of West Bank, announcing that no one will be allowed in or out for 48 hours.
http://english.aljazeera.net/
Israel extends West Bank closure until Tuesday
Israeli security forces announced that a full closure on the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank would be extended until Tuesday, supposedly to protect a group of Israeli settlers as they begin construction of a Jewish synagogue on stolen Palestinian land in the Old City of Jerusalem.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
War Criminals
Gaza 'human shield' case in court
Two Israeli soldiers will face charges in a court that they used a young Palestinian boy as a human shield during the country's three-week bombardment of Gaza in 2008-2009. Majed al-Rubah, 10, says soldiers forcibly took him from his family and made him carry out life-threatening tasks during military operations. Many other Palestinians say they have gone through similiar experiences, but this is only the second time Israel has brought charges against its own soldiers. Human-rights groups have accused Israel of committing numerous war crimes against Palestinians during the war on Gaza - in which nearly 1,400 people have died and most of the enclave was left in ruins. Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin reports from Talal al Hawa, al-Rubah's neighbourhood in Gaza.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Gazan woman spends 2 months searching for husband’s remains
Gaza Strip, March 15, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - It was an unusual day, like all the days of war, when the Israeli artillery fired at Yosra Abu El Hussein's house in Rafah, in the northern Gaza Strip. Yosra, 39, and her 10 children left their house, but her husband Ateya, 44, refused, insisting on staying in his own house. "I won't leave my house to them (the Israelis), even if they kill me," he said. "That's what they want."
http://www.paltelegraph.com/
Case of Tristan Anderson may be reopened, adding to Israeli ‘public relations nightmare’, Alex Kane
Add this development to what Mel Frykberg at Inter Press Service calls Israel’s growing “public relations nightmare”: renewed attention to the near-fatal shooting of American activist Tristan Anderson. Just as the media spotlight is glaring down on Israel because of a civil trial in the killing of American peace activist Rachel Corrie comes a decision by Israel’s Justice Ministry to reinvestigate the shooting of Anderson.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/03/
Refugees
Nahr al-Bared Camp Dcoumentary
nahr al-bared refugee camp has still not recovered from the devastating war in 2007 during which it was destroyed. the lebanese army has been keeping a tight grip on the camp and the 20.000 displaced palestinians that have returned so far. the army's siege seriously hampers the camp's economic recovery, as access is restricted and the area was declared a military zone. a recent survey found that the army's presence and measures are considered a difficulty by 98 per cent of nahr al-bared's business owners. the army meanwhile justifies its presence as necessary to the preservation of the safety of the people.
http://a-films.blogspot.com/
Israel's Arab Helpers
PA's betrayal of human rights defenders the unkindest cut
They hail from opposite parts of the globe, but they have much in common: Jewish; experts on and passionate defenders of international law; and pummeling bags for Israel and the Palestinian Authority. And the future of the law of war lies at the heart of the campaigns against them. Nadia Hijab comments how the undermining of Richard Goldstone and Richard Falk.
http://electronicintifada.net/
Some Palestinian Jordanians Lose Citizenship
AMMAN, Jordan — Muhannad Haddad grew up here, went to school here, got a job in a bank here and traveled to foreign countries with a passport from here. Then one day the authorities said he was no longer Jordanian, and with that one stroke they took away his citizenship and compromised his ability to travel, study, work, seek health care, buy property or even drive.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/
Politics and Diplomacy
Zahhar: Dayton’s mission in W. Bank is to keep "peace process" going
Dr. Mahmoud Al-Zahhar stated that the mission of Keith Dayton in the West Bank is to protect the survival of the "peace option" and not to let the option of resistance progress.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
To hell with national unity if it means surrender to Israel
If Fatah truly seeks national reconciliation, it must first stop being at Keith Dayton’s beck and call and immediately put an end to the vicious campaign of witch-hunting against Hamas.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Reports: US wants Israel to cancel building plan (AP)
AP - Israeli media say the U.S. is pressing Israel to scrap a contentious east Jerusalem building project.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Israel-US diplomatic tension rises
Senior Obama adviser describes timing of settlement announcement as an "insult".
http://english.aljazeera.net/
Settlement drive 'endangers' Mideast talks: EU chief (AFP)
AFP - EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Monday that Israel's decision to build new settler homes in east Jerusalem "endangers" indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Netanyahu: Israel will keep building in Jerusalem
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said that Israel would continue to build in Jerusalem in the same way that it has over the last 42 years.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Lobby group AIPAC raises alarm over US-Israel spat (AFP)
AFP - A major pro-Israel US lobby group has warned that recent US administration remarks about bilateral ties with Israel were "of serious concern," and urged the White House to ease tension.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Other News
Israeli government allows sale of stolen Palestinian property to Israelis
In response to an inquiry by the Palestinian human rights organization Adalah, the Israeli Justice Ministry has clarified its recent revision of Israeli land law, confirming that the revision allows the sale of seized Palestinian land in the West Bank and East Jerusalem to Jewish citizens of Israel, or to private companies.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
Union of teachers slams PA for cutting salaries of 2,000 teachers
The union of Palestinian teachers strongly denounced the PA in Ramallah for cutting the salaries of two thousand teachers in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank because of their political affiliation.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Capital Anglos mobilize against practice of spitting at Christians
Shocked by growing reports about Ultra-Orthodox Jews spitting at Christians in Jerusalem's Old City, a group of Anglo residents is now mobilizing against this ugly practice.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Egypt forced to cancel football match in Jerusalem
CAIRO // A controversial match between the Egyptian and Palestinian football teams in occupied East Jerusalem was postponed indefinitely yesterday after its announcement sparked outrage in Egypt.
http://www.thenational.ae/
Analysis/Opinion/Human Interest
Israeli Settlement Expansions Continue, Stephen Lendman
Currently, around 500,000 Jews reside illegally in over 120 West Bank and East Jerusalem settlements as well as dozens of outposts. Their numbers grow daily despite occasional pledges to curtail or slow them, the latest last November when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a 10 month freeze, calling it a move to "help launch meaningful negotiations to reach a historic peace agreement that would finally end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians."
http://palestinechronicle.com/
Support Our Troops: Boycott the Israeli Occupation
I don't know about all you commiepinkos, but I believe we should Support Our Troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. General Petraeus, Admiral Mullen, and Vice-President Biden say that Israel's actions toward the Palestinians are putting our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq in danger. That's why, to Support Our Troops, the U.S. government must effectively pressure Israel to end its military occupation of the West Bank. And one thing every American can do to Support Our Troops is to shun products from companies linked to the Israeli occupation.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Akiva Eldar / U.S. row shows Jerusalem is cornerstone of peace
Benjamin Netanyahu is absolutely right. Since 1967 no Israeli government stopped building in Jerusalem, east or west. Since the Eshkol government extended Israeli sovereignty over "Jordanian Jerusalem" and annexed the villages around the city, "United Jerusalem" became an inalienable part of the State of Israel. The prime minister is entitled to order the interior minister to delay the discussions at the Planning and Building Committee on the plans to expand a Jewish neighborhood beyond the Green Line. He can ask the mayor to delay presenting his ideas for changes at the Holy Basin. No Zionist prime minister will dare utter the words "I commit to freezing construction in Jerusalem."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
'U.S.-Israel relations at their worst in 35 years'
Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, has told the country's diplomats there that U.S.-Israeli relations face their worst crisis in 35 years, despite attempts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office to project a sense of "business as usual."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Netanyahu faces 'moment of truth' after US slams Israel 'insult'
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to calm the nation after a series of US officials have called last week's announcement to allow Israelis to build 1,600 homes in East Jerusalem an 'insult' to the US.
http://www.csmonitor.com/
MJ Rosenberg: US Military Demanded Netanyahu Smackdown
An amazing story in Foreign Policy today by Mark Perry, the Middle East expert and security consultant. (Note: the military denies Perry's report which is, of course, to be expected. It would never admit to this kind of involvement in policy. I am relying on Perry's account).
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Editorial / Netanyahu's populist rhetoric is jeopardizing Israel
The Israeli prime minister apparently believed that by conducting two-track negotiations he could make things coalition-friendly: to both espouse the slogan "two states for two peoples" and sabotage the Palestinians' ability to set up their state; to both embrace Vice President Joe Biden and give the U.S. administration the finger; to both ask the administration to get Mahmoud Abbas back to the negotiating table and put thumbtacks on his seat once he's there.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
The miracle on the 32d parallel is over, Philip Weiss
My initial joy over the Biden insult was not misplaced. The Israeli blunder has catalyzed a new moment in the US-Israel special relationship and maybe, just maybe the end of something. The Obama administration is showing remarkable willingness to grab the opportunity to distance itself. Hillary was sharply critical the other day, Joe Biden was critical to Netanyahu’s face, and David Axelrod was critical on the Sunday talk shows: "This was an affront, it was an insult but most importantly it undermined this very fragile effort to bring peace to that region."
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/03/
Biden in Israel: Tiff or Tipping Point?, Jim Lobe
"Condemn" is not a word that rolls trippingly off the tongue of a U.S. politician addressing anything having to do with actions, however objectionable, by Israel.
http://original.antiwar.com/
Naomi Klein calls out an Israeli thinktank for misrepresenting her views, Philip Weiss
Maybe you remember the Israeli thinktank that came up with a semi-deluded battleplan to counter the "delegitimizers" of Israel? In a sign that the boycott movement is having a real effect, and catching on among people of conscience in the west, the Reut Institute has called for mobilizing elites in western societies to counter the grassroots efforts to make Israel accountable for its behavior.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/03/
Israel Crackdown Puts Liberal Jews on the Spot, Chris Hedges
The Israeli government, its brutal war crimes in Gaza exposed in detail in the U.N. report by Justice Richard Goldstone, has implemented a series of draconian measures to silence and discredit dissidents, leading intellectuals and human rights organizations inside and outside Israel that are accused—often falsely—of assisting Goldstone’s U.N. investigators. The government of Benjamin Netanyahu is attempting to shut down Israel’s premier human rights organizations, including B’Tselem, the New Israel Fund (NIF) and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. It is busy expelling or excluding peace activists and foreign nationals from the Palestinian territories. The campaign, if left unchecked, will be as catastrophic for Palestinians as it will be for Israel.
http://www.truthdig.com/
Bashing Islam is Freedom of Speech Criticizing Israel is a Hate Crime
Bashing Islam is not new. In fact it began during the Prophet's own lifetime by those who rejected his message in Arabia only to be followed by Christians, Jews, and followers of other faiths. Saint John of Damascus (7th – 8th C) while ironically working as an administrative officer for the Muslim ruler of Damascus wrote that the Prophet Muhammad (p) was a "false prophet…heretic…an Anti Christ." Such attacks continued throughout historical Christian Europe by men such as Martin Luther, Voltaire, Dante, to , right wing European parties, to the U.S. by such men as Franklin Graham, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Hal Lindsey (who called Allah (God) Satan), and politicians. Bashing Islam has become a respectable political and money making cottage industry.
http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/
America's Rude Awakening
Perhaps, Bibi's insolence is a good thing. Perhaps, good old Benny [better known as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] has taken his utter disregard for courtesy and decency just one step too far. Even by official Israeli admission, it has been 35 years since Israel's relations with the United States have been so sour. It all started with a visit from the second most powerful man in the United States government, Mr. Joe Biden. The US Vice President is the highest ranking official to date from the Obama Administration to visit the region, ostensibly to nudge along the delicately fragile peace process that has only recently wobbled to its feet. Leave it to Israel to make it buckle at the knees, slapping its legs with a settlement stick so hard, the poor baby fell flat on its face.
http://www.miftah.org/Display.
Gaza's Guernica: "Approximately 1500..."
"Approximately 1500..." is a 30 meter long anti-war mural painted by 25 young artists in Gaza. The war against Gaza killed ca 1400 people, 431 children were among the victims. 5038 people were injured, 411 of them badly. The artists painted their own experiences from the war: "We hope the mural will encourage people to say "It's enough!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Iraq
Car bomb in Iraq's Falluja kills 7, wounds 20: police (Reuters)
Reuters - A car bomb in Iraq's western Anbar province killed seven civilians and wounded 20 others on Monday, as Iraq struggles to end years of sectarian violence after a pivotal national vote.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Sunday: 9 Iraqis Killed, 9 Wounded
At least nine Iraqis were killed and nine more were wounded in attacks across northern Iraq. One U.S. soldier was killed and two others were wounded during a mortar attack on a base in Diyala province. Another U.S. soldier died of non-combat causes in Ninewa province.
http://original.antiwar.com/
Iraq PM bolsters chances of retaining post (AFP)
AFP - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's chances of retaining his post appeared strong on Monday, more than a week after a general election that has seen his bloc claim leads in several key Iraqi provinces.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Allawi takes surprising Kirkuk lead
Secular Iraqiya list edges ahead of Kurds as al-Maliki continues to make big gains in south.
http://english.aljazeera.net//
ANALYSIS-Iraq's Maliki risks Sunni ire if he shuns Allawi
* Maliki front-runner to be asked to form government
* Sunnis who voted for Allawi anxious for share of power
* New alignments may emerge from coalition bargaining
http://www.alertnet.org/
Iraq's Arab neighbors wary of Shi'ite sway after vote (Reuters)
Reuters - Iraq's Arab neighbors fear a split Iraqi election could further marginalize minority Sunnis and hope any coalition government formed by the Shi'ite frontrunner will resist Iran's sway.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Capoeira brings joy to displaced Iraqi children at the Al-Tanf refugee camp in Syria
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/
Lebanese hold ceremony to show solidarity with Iraqi Christians
BEIRUT: Christian Lebanese figures concluded activities on Saturday expressing solidarity with Iraqi Christians by holding a religious ceremony. The ceremony at Harissa's Lady of Lebanon church was held to mark the end of a day of events entitled "Iraq's Cross is Bleeding, When is the Resurrection?" The day's activities were attended by Bishop Bshara al-Raii on behalf of Maronite.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Lebanon
March 14 Celebrates Birthday without Hariri, Jumblatt, Gemayel
Five years, full of "dramatic changes" and unexpected developments, have passed… Yet, the fifth birthday of the revolution didn't seem to be one of the "best" given that it was marked by the absence of the "Cedars" of the "Revolution"… Indeed, one month after the remaining of the March 14 forces "failed" to organize a successful rally in the anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, the "event" that caused the "revolution," the alliance "failed" to organize a "simple" gathering or conference…
http://almanar.com.lb/
Britain still doesn't get Lebanon | Matthew Cassel
The UK ambassador's latest foray shows just how little Britain understands the Lebanese people's relationship with Hezbollah. One would think that the British government, considering its history in the Middle East of colonising and partitioning the land and overthrowing governments and its support of undemocratic and dictatorial regimes, would be wary of sending its representatives to offer advice to Arab nations on how best to achieve their right to self-determination. But apparently the British ambassador to Lebanon didn't get the memo.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Whither Hezbollah?
Hezbollah is the guerilla force that stymied the Israeli military in southern Lebanon in the 1990's. The Israeli occupiers and their proxies in the South Lebanon Army finally gave up and withdrew in May 2000. In a return confrontation in July-August 2006, Hezbollah again stood its ground, and the Israeli military was again stunned by a gritty enemy. This time round, it was the Bush administration's open goading -- recall Condoleezza Rice's monstrous declarations ("the birth pangs of the new Middle East") to justify the destruction and the killing [1] -- which pressed Israel to pursue an increasingly futile and elusive finish. In July-August 2006 just as in the 1990's, Hezbollah did not cave in, remained defiant, wore down its more powerful opponent, and fought it to a draw.
http://www.zcommunications.
U.S. and Other World News
Mubarak, Egypt regime change and Israel
A week after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's operation to remove his gall bladder, and there are still only partial updates regarding his condition. According to the latest information from the German hospital in which he underwent the operation, the 81-year-old president's health is improving steadily. He has already been released from intensive care and is now in recovery.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Joseph A. Massad, "Desiring Arabs"
What remains constant . . . is a commitment to an evolutionary temporal schema that recognizes change only within the dyad of turath [heritage] and modernity. Contra al-Jabiri and in line with Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer's view of Enlightenment as myth, what is needed -- not only for Arab intellectuals but especially for their European counterparts -- is a view of turath and modernity that is located outside this dualism, one that is not subject to their temporal peregrinations. . . . While the premodern West attacked the world of Islam's alleged sexual licentiousness, the modern West attacks its alleged repression of sexual freedoms. . . . In addition to the introduction and the conclusion, the book is divided into six chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 provide a detailed intellectual history of how modern Arabs sought to write the history of Arab civilization and culture from the pre-Islamic period to the present and how this civilizational project was implicated in the kinds of sexual desires and practices Arabs and Muslims were said to have enjoyed. The debates over the status of the medieval poet Abu Nuwas in Arab heritage are discussed in detail, especially as I see them as emblematic of the "civilizational" anxiety felt by the modern historians. Chapters 3 and 4 chronicle the kinds of Western intervention brought about by universalizers of Western sexual identities and how Arab intellectuals as well as Arab states reacted to such interventions. Chapter 4 will discuss how the Western-incited discourse on sexual identities elicited a strong Islamist response (theological, medical, criminological, social, inter alia) which interrupted the mostly secular debates that had existed until then, and demonstrates how the Islamists and the Western assimilationists end up as allies imposing a new shared sexual epistemology. Chapters 5 and 6 engage modern Arabic fiction and its representation of the contemporary sexual desires of Arabs. Several seminal novels, some short stories, and one major play are analyzed in detail to demonstrate the effect of the different kinds of discourses on sexual desire that came to bear on the modern Arab world.
http://bit.ly/bVoS5W
Was "Jihad Jane" a Real Terrorist Threat? Or a Mentally Unstable Loner?
No one knows quite what to make of Colleen LaRose. But get ready to hear a lot more about "homegrown terrorism" -- and why we need more surveillance to stop it.
http://www.alternet.org/
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