Settlements/Land Theft and Destruction
Official: Israel to confiscate land near Bethlehem
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Israeli forces distributed land confiscation notices on Saturday to residents of Wadi Rahhal, south of Bethlehem, to amend the separation route's wall, a popular committee official said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=268918
Works begins on Jerusalem Museum of Tolerance, despite protests
The Simon Wiesenthal Center said Monday it hopes to start building its Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem in the coming months despite a petition to the United Nations to stop construction because the site was once a medieval Muslim cemetery.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1156684.html
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott,Sanctions and Divestment
Mass protests held across Gaza in solidarity with Jerusalem
Gaza – Ma'an – Demonstrators gathered across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, condemning Israeli policy across East Jerusalem and events in the Old City. In Gaza City, protestors amassed at the Palestinian Legilsative Council square, in defense of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. In the Al-Wusta area, school students gathered from across the Gaza governorates, waving Palestinian flags and banners denouncing Israel's actions in Jerusalem.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=269165
A week of fighting for justice in Palestine
Last Saturday saw the end of "Israeli Apartheid Week" held in over 40 cities all over the world. Beirut joined the activity at the American University of Beirut last Thursday.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=112767
Boycott or censorship?
Critics of the movement for the academic and cultural boycott of Israel -- including Israeli concert producer Shuki Weiss -- have claimed that calling on artists to cancel performances in Israel is a form of censorship. Is the cultural boycott a form of censorship or McCarthyism? Sami Hermez comments for The Electronic Intifada.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11129.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
Spirit of Bil’in travels to London, Alex Kane
Amira Hass of Haaretz reports today that the West Bank villages of Bil’in and Ni’lin have been declared "closed military areas" by Israel in an attempt to further crush the nonviolent resistance carried out by Palestinians and supporters against the illegal separation wall. Mondo has more on this. No matter how the Israeli army tries to suppress the weekly protests in the West Bank, the Bil’in protesters’ spirit has traveled globally, most recently in London.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/03/spirit-of-bilin-travels-to-london.html
Eva Bartlett follows in the footsteps of Rachel Corrie
Gaza, March 16, 2010 (Pal Telegraph, by Pam Bailey) - Today is the seventh anniversary of the death of Rachel Corrie, the 23-year-old International Solidarity Movement (ISM) volunteer who was run over by an Israeli army bulldozer while she was trying to stop the demolition of a home in the Gaza Strip. Her parents, Cindy and Craig Corrie, are still fighting to hold the government to account, and are in Israeli court this week with their civil suit.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/gaza-strip/4824-eva-bartlett-follows-in-the-footsteps-of-rachel-corrie
The writing on the wall
In the context of the Palestinian cause, graffiti takes on new significance as a morale-booster and means of communication.
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100316/ART/703159980/1042/rss
Review: Finkelstein's transformation to victim hero in "American Radical"
With unfettered access to Norman Finkelstein during the most dramatic stage of his career, American Radical: the trials of Norman Finkelstein directors David Ridgen and Nicolas Rossier provide a compelling look at one of the most roundly vilified academics in recent American history. Max Blumenthal reviews the new documentary for The Electronic Intifada.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11134.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
Pro-Apartheid
Stop the Wall releases two reports on Brazil's complicity with Israeli wars and occupation.
March 16th, 2010-- Stop the Wall sends a message to Brazil's Lula da Silva during his visit to Palestine: Free trade and arms trade with Israel rule out effective support for human rights and just peace.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2201.shtml
Violence and AggressionClashes break out in east Jerusalem
Unrest after Hamas movement calls for "day of rage" over reopening of synagogue.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/03/201031642239450987.html
Jerusalem Update: 38 Injured At Least 20 Detained As Police Crackdown On Palestinian Protesters
At least 38 Palestinians civilians were injured by Israeli police fire on Tuesday during the ongoing clashes in East Jerusalem.
http://www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=58220
Nine Wounded in Jerusalem clashes, Four Kidnapped
Clashes were reported on Tuesday morning in several parts of East Jerusalem’s Old City and its surrounding neighborhoods as the Israeli police attacked the areas in question after the residents held a strike to protest Israel’s violations and settlement activities in the city.
http://www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=58219
Ten Injured As Israeli Troops Open Fire At Students Near Ramallah City, Central West Bank
Ten Palestinian university students were injured by Israeli troops fire on Monday during clashes at a military checkpoint near Ramallah city central West Bank.
http://www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=58215
IOF injures 5 Palestinians in Ni’lin
West Bank, March 16, 2010 (Pal Telegraph)- At least five people were injured Tuesday afternoon in the clashes between the Palestinians and Israeli soldiers in Ni'lin village, in the West Bank's Ramallah, following the demonstration which people staged in support of Jerusalem.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/west-bank/4854-iof-injures-5-palestinians-in-nilin
IDF kills Egyptian cigarette smuggler on border
Force spots smugglers from both sides of border meeting south of Mount Harif, orders them to halt. When suspects begin to flee into Israel, troops open fire, seriously injuring Egyptian civilian who dies of wounds in hospital.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3863351,00.html
Israel raids town; builds watchtower in WB
West Bank, March 16, 2010 (Pal Telegraph)- Patrols of Israeli occupation army raided before Tuesday afternoon several streets and neighborhoods in western Hebron's Nuba town, the West Bank. Witnesses said: "A force of Israeli occupation army and heavily armed patrols roamed around the town in a provocative manner, wandered among the town's residences, and pulled out without any arrests."
http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/west-bank/4849-israel-raids-town-builds-watchtower-in-wb
Detainees
URGENT APPEAL: Illegal detention of children inside Israel
On or about 8 March 2010, Israeli authorities transferred at least seven Palestinian children from Ofer Prison, in the West Bank, to Rimonim Prison, inside Israel. This decision occurred after lawyers for DCI-Palestine informed Ofer military court that children were being detained illegally with adult detainees inside Ofer prison. However, the response of the Israeli authorities to transfer the children to Israel amounts to a further contravention of international law. Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits the transfer of detainees out of occupied territory. All of the children transferred were aged 15 or less. Seven of the children transferred are represented by DCI-Palestine and have been detained since 11 February 2010, after being arrested in dawn raids from the Al Jalazun refugee camp, near Ramallah, in the West Bank (see DCI-Palestine Urgent Appeal 1/10).
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/AZHU-83KNZ2?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P
Alert: Israeli occupation forces arrest activist from al Ma’sara
March 15th, 2010-- The Stop the Wall Campaign denounces the arrest of Omar Alaa Ed Din, 25 years, one of the members of the popular committee in al Ma’sara. This morning Omar was crossing the Container checkpoint, which closes off the southern part of the West Bank, including Bethlehem and Hebron, from the central part of it. Like always, the military checked the identities of the passengers in the collective taxis. They checked as well his ID card, arrested him and took him to a still unknown place.
http://www.stopthewall.org/
The Israeli Military Detains 16 Palestinians In The West Bank
Sixteen Palestinian civilians were detained by Israeli troops on Monday during invasions targeting West Bank communities.
http://www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=58216
Israel kidnaps Palestinian in Hebron
Hebron, March 16, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - Israeli occupation forces kidnapped Tuesday a citizen from Dura village, southwest of Hebron in the West Bank, after raiding his house. Local sources said that Israeli occupation forces detained Hamdan Abd Allah Al- Rajoub, 42 years. His family confirmed that the Israeli occupation forces searched the house and stayed around an hour.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/west-bank/4829-israel-kidnaps-palestinian-in-hebron
Palestinian detained, soldier injured at clash near school
Bethlehem - Ma'an - An Israeli soldier was lightly injured by rocks after clashes broke out at a school southeast of Bethlehem on Tuesday, onlookers said. Pupils at the Teqoa High School for Boys threw rocks at soldiers, who responded by firing tear-gas canisters, rubber-coated bullets, and stun grenades, witnesses said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=269182
War Criminals
Eye witness testifies: Israeli military investigator tried to influence my statement
Today, March 15, 2010, the Haifa District Court saw the third day of testimony in the civil lawsuit filed by Rachel Corrie’s family against the State of Israel for her unlawful killing in Rafah, Gaza. Rachel was crushed to death on March 16, 2003 by a Caterpillar D9R bulldozer. She had been nonviolently demonstrating against Palestinian home demolitions with fellow members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a Palestinian-led movement committed to resisting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land using nonviolent, direct action methods and principles. Today’s only testimony came from British citizen Alice Coy, a nurse, who was an eyewitness to the killing. The state spent most of the day trying to establish that contrary to all eyewitness accounts and human rights reports, the Israeli Military had no intention of demolishing homes in the area on the day Rachel was killed.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/03/11790?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+palsolidarity+%28International+Solidarity+Movement%29
Nil’in commemorates year anniversary of Tristan Anderson shooting: two arrested
On Friday, March 13th, the one year anniversary of the critical injury of international activist Tristan Anderson, approximately 100 Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals gathered for the weekly demonstration in Ni’lin to claim justice for Tristan. Anderson, a 38 year old U.S. citizen who was volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement, was hit in the forehead by a high-flying tear gas projectile during a demonstration in Ni’lin last year. The projectile was fired against IOF regulations, as soldiers shot the canisters directly at demonstrators rather than in an arcing fashion. According to the manufacturer of the tear gas canisters, the projectile was designed to penetrate walls and to be used in confined spaces; neither was necessary at the open-air demonstration demonstration in 2009. Tristan sustained serious brain damage, and remains hospitalized in Tel Aviv, his condition too serious for him to be moved home to the US.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/03/11793?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+palsolidarity+%28International+Solidarity+Movement%29
Soldiers accused of 'using' child in Cast Lead unaware of charges
Two Givati soldiers accused of ordering child to open bags suspected of being booby-trapped received no notice from IDF, learned of indictment in media.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3863278,00.html
Humanitarian Issues/Human Rights/Restriction of Movement
Fatah official: Banned by de facto forces from leaving Gaza
Gaza – Ma'an – A Gaza member of Fatah's Revolutionary Council accused the de facto government security services of preventing him to travel to Jordan for treatment, he said on Monday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=268996
European Union found guilty at first session of Russell Tribunal
The first session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine (RTP) was heard in Barcelona, Spain earlier this month. The RTP is a peoples' legal initiative designed to systematically try key actors responsible for the perpetuation of human rights violations in Palestine. In the frame this time was the European Union (EU). Two days and 21 expert witness testimonies later, the RTP found individual states and the EU as a whole guilty of persistent violations and misconduct with regards to international and internal EU law. Ewa Jasiewicz and Frank Barat comment for The Electronic Intifada.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11135.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
Cancer increases by considerable percentage in Gaza Strip
Gaza, March 16, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - He plays with his small bicycle in the corridors of the hospital with his four cousins, who have the same age and name. Ahmed Dardouna, 6 years old and resident of the Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, is spending his fourth day in the hospital. He suffers from cancer of the blood and lymph nodes, as well as a hole in the heart. His suffering started a few months ago, when his blood volume dropped from 12 to 6 or 7 units. When Ahmed's blood volume plummeted more than five times in one month, doctors told his mother that he might be suffering from malnutrition.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/hot-topic/4847-cancer-increases-by-considerable-percentage-gaza-strip
Israel's Arab Helpers
Egypt arrests Islamist students in anti-Israel protests (AFP)
AFP - Egyptian police arrested on Monday 15 students affiliated with the banned Muslim Brotherhood during a protest at Cairo University against Israeli settlements, a security official said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100315/wl_mideast_afp/egyptarrestsoppositionprotest
Khreisha: PA in Ramallah pursuing Netanyahu's vision
Hasan Khreisha has accused the PA in Ramallah of pursuing the Israeli premier's vision on means of settling the Palestinian-Israeli conflict mainly concentrating on the economic factor.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s70dh8mq72dSSTUVFrJuJvhiOGMxR9a5hThFDETFG9E%2fDycSqv0BCK7eNT1ek6HNOFculvfGX4eHqGeodgXIltfdef3mJmIK%2blyhDoclZHBzc%3d
Politics and Diplomacy
PA cabinet condemns settlement expansion, child detentions
Ramallah – Ma'an – During its weekly cabinet meeting on Monday, the Palestinian Authority condemned Israeli settlement expansion in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=269018
Qrei'a: Intifada will come if Israeli policy persists
Jerusalem – Ma'an – PLO Executive Committee member Ahmad Qrei'a said Monday that if Israeli practices in East Jerusalem continues , a third uprising would ensue. "If matters remain at this level, regardless of whether we take the decision or not, it [an intifada] is coming. If Israel continues these practices, it is coming," he told reporters during a news conference in his Abu Diss office in East Jerusalem.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=268980
US waiting for 'formal' Israeli response
State Department spokesman says Mideast envoy Mitchell may reconsider planned trip to region due to crisis over Israel's east Jerusalem construction plan. 'This is a fluid situation,' Crowley says.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3863192,00.html
Obama runs out of patience with Israel
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday strongly defended Jewish settlement construction in East Jerusalem in the face of US pressure and what one of his own top diplomats described as the worst crisis in relations with Washington for more than three decades.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/obama-runs-out-of-patience-with-israel-1921812.html
US envoy postpones Israel visit
US envoy George Mitchell puts off a visit to Israel amid a row over settlements, as clashes erupt in Jerusalem.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/middle_east/8569548.stm
US criticism of Israel ignites firestorm (AP)
AP - The Obama administration's fierce denunciation of Israel last week has ignited a firestorm in Congress and among powerful pro-Israel interest groups who say the criticism of America's top Mideast ally was misplaced.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100315/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_us_mideast_israel
Republicans slam Obama's hard line on Israel (AFP)
AFP - Republican lawmakers came out swinging Monday against President Barack Obama's hard line toward Israel over its controversial plans to expand a settlement in disputed East Jerusalem.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100315/pl_afp/mideastisraelusdiplomacypolitics
Netanyahu defies U.S. over Jerusalem settlement (Reuters)
Reuters - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday rejected any curbs on Jewish settlement in and around Jerusalem, defying Washington in Israel's deepening crisis with U.S. President Barack Obama's administration.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100315/wl_nm/us_palestinians_israel_usa
Israeli FM 'boycotts Brazil head'
Israel's foreign minister is reported to have boycotted a visit by the Brazilian President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/americas/8569471.stm
Israel FM blasts international community (AFP)
AFP - Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman blasted the international community on Tuesday following a telephone conversation with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100316/wl_mideast_afp/mideastdiplomacyisraelun
Inside Story - The EU's role in the Middle East
Striving to make the European Union relevant to the Middle East peace process, Catherine Ashton, the new EU foreign policy chief, visits the region. With an ambitious plan to meet key players in six countries, can the Europeans succeed in what the Americans have failed to achieve over decades? Will the current tension between the US and Israel help or hinder a real European role in Middle East peace process?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7ZxrkR_7_c&feature=youtube_gdata
Other News
Arab rights group planning visit to Temple Mount, Hebron
A delegation of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee is planning to visit the Temple Mount and Hebron on Tuesday to protest the settlement policies of the Israeli government. Members of the committee plan to meet with Waqf officials in Jerusalem to discuss the recent tensions in the city and the limitations on entry to the Temple Mount compound.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1156579.html
Rightists vow revenge if Jerusalem Arabs riot
Amid heighted tensions in Old City, right-wing elements threaten to retaliate to any act of Palestinian violence. 'Policy of restraint is over,' they say.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3863100,00.html
Analysis/Opinion/Human Interest
Oren sounds the alarm
It is interesting to note who’s writing about the mind-blowing news that General Petraeus wants to put I/P under his command because the Palestinian grievance is endangering the U.S. Akiva Eldar, Andrew Sullivan, MJ Rosenberg, and Spencer Ackerman all noted the news. it will be interesting to see how the MSM responds.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/03/petraeus-watch.html
If serious about peace, Israel should drop housing plan
THE SPAT between the Obama administration and the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu isn’t over diplomatic etiquette. It’s over whether Israel is serious about pursuing a peace agreement with the Palestinians, a process that is essential to US national security. When the Israeli government upstaged a good-will visit by Vice President Joe Biden to announce plans to build 1,600 new housing units for Jews in a neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem, it thumbed its nose at the peace process. It doesn’t matter whether these are new plans for housing or old ones; it’s about the message of extreme resistance sent by the announcement. The only way to undo the damage is to cancel the 1,600 units. Such a move would be a blow to Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition partners, but it would also establish Netanyahu as a prime minister who cares about peace. He should cancel the housing plans now.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2010/03/16/if_serious_about_peace_israel_should_drop_housing_plan/
’48 my love
Sima Kadmon - Yediot - If Jews can sue Arabs for ownership of property before 1948, what will prevent Arabs, who own hundreds if not thousands of properties in West Jerusalem, to claim their ownership of them?
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=38813
The Poodle Gets Kicked
Actually, Joe set himself up. From the moment he set foot on Israeli soil, our vice president was in full pander mode. First, he headed to Yad Vashem memorial, where he put on a yarmulke and declared Israel “a central bolt in our existence.”
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/antiwar-original/~3/0vaqJLF9pUY/
Israel doesn't need to grovel for U.S. forgiveness
So sorry! Very sorry! Very, very sorry! We apologize! This will never happen again! The prime minister, cabinet members and senior bureaucrats repeated this over and over again last week in an attempt to set right what seemed to them to have been a major blunder, one they thought had spoiled what should have been a dramatic goodwill visit by the vice president of the United States, Joe Biden. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might have been humming "I'm just a soul whose intentions are good, Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood," while he sat waiting for the arrival of Biden, who vented his anger over what he considered an insult by being deliberately late for dinner.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1156783.html
Spy Takes US/Israeli Secrets to Grave
Extensive evidence now exists that Begin’s preference for Reagan led the Israelis to join in a covert operation with Republicans to contact Iranian leaders behind Carter’s back, interfering with the President’s efforts to free the 52 American hostages before the November 1980 elections.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24987.htm
Murdoch's Kind of Arabs: Sleeping with the Enemy, Jeremy Salt – Ankara
Rupert Murdoch, perhaps the greatest defender of free speech and the free flow of communications in recorded human history, or so you would think to read his speeches, and the praise heaped on him by his flatterers, pleaded at the inaugural Abu Dhabi Media Summit last week for an end to media censorship in the Middle East so that the entire region could benefit from the 'powerful wind' of creative energy that was blowing through it. He warned his Arab media hosts not to bury inconvenient stories because 'in the long run this is very counterproductive'. For someone who has spent his life burying inconvenient truths this is certainly amusing.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=15809
UK continues its betrayal of Palestine
Jerusalem, March 16, 2010 (Pal Telegraph, by Khalid Amayre) - Last week, a few Palestinian journalists and I had the opportunity to meet with Martin Day, a spokesman of the British government. The meeting, which was hosted by the Arabic Media Internet Network (AMIN), took place in Ramallah. In his introductory remarks, Day gave the impression that the imminent renewal of peace talks between the almost completely helpless Palestinian Authority (PA) and a brazenly insolent Israel, ruled by the most hawkish government in the Jewish state's history, will eventually achieve peace and lead to the establishment of a viable Palestinian state. He also lauded the Obama administration, underscoring its "sincerity" towards resolving the enduring Palestinian cause. Day's remarks were received with disbelief and dismay by the small audience of journalists, writers and cameramen who thought that Day either didn't know what he was talking about, or he did know what he was saying but was detached not only from truth but from reality as well.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/opinions/views/4852-uk-continues-its-betrayal-of-palestine
Joe Biden's Empty Desert, BOUTHIANA SHAABAN
Vice President Biden’s speech in Israel on March 11 sounded like an official American statement, providing absolute support to all the crimes committed by Israel. Biden’s speech was full of anachronisms aimed at polishing the image of Zionism tarnished by the blood of civilians, particularly children. Biden was not hypocritical like most Western politicians. He was candid and transparent.
http://www.counterpunch.com/shaaban03162010.html
Israeli Apartheid and the Nakba – video by Anthony Lawson
http://palestinethinktank.com/2010/03/16/israeli-apartheid-and-the-nakba-video-by-anthony-lawson/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PalestineThinkTank+%28Palestine+Think+Tank%29
Iraq
Deadly bomb attacks in Iraqi town
Eight people have been killed and 11 injured by two bombs in the Iraqi town of Mussayab, police say.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/middle_east/8570370.stm
Monday: 15 Iraqis Killed, 39 Wounded
Attacks in Sunni areas of Iraq and in Mosul overshadowed election news. At least 15 Iraqis were killed and 39 more were wounded across the country. Meanwhile, the U.S. prison in Taji and its 2,900 Iraqi detainees were handed over to Iraqi authorities. Also, a Shi'ite group that held a British hostage for over two years denied any claims of abuse.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/03/15/monday-15-iraqis-killed-39-wounded/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+antiwar-original+%28Antiwar.com+Original+Articles%29
Iraqi PM pulls ahead of poll rivals
Early poll results in Iraq's national elections show a strong lead for State of Law, the bloc led by Nouri al-Maliki, the country's incumbent prime minister, after about a third of total votes have been counted. The party is ahead in oil-rich Basra and Karbala, two of Iraq's three biggest provinces, which have Shia Muslim majorities. Al-Maliki's State of Law is also holding on to leads in Baghdad, whose 70 seats account for more than a fifth of Iraq's 325-member Council of Representatives, as well as Babil, Najaf, Wasit and Muthanna. The poll results have put Iyad Allawi, the head of Iraqiya, a cross-sectarian bloc, ahead in the disputed oil-rich province of Kirkuk, against the expectations of analysts who had predicted it would probably be won by a Kurdish bloc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bdOJv5sUd0&feature=youtube_gdata
Iraqi PM's bloc accuses election official of fraud (AP)
AP - The Iraqi prime minister's coalition has accused an election official of manipulating vote counts and called for a recount.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100316/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq
Is Iraq returning to its secular roots
The results from the general elections indicate that the sectarian equation brought about in the aftermath of the occupation of Baghdad may no longer hold. We have seen Iraqis rallying behind groups which puts national interests above sectarianism. Some even go on saying that the equation has lost its balance. The evidence they cite are the results in provinces such as Nineveh, Salahuddeen, Anbar and Diyala where the electorate chose a secular coalition at the expense of an Islamist party.
http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news \2010-03-15\kurd.htm
Lebanon
Syria wants 'to open new page' with Lebanese Druze chief (AFP)
AFP - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is ready to to turn a page on the past by meeting Lebanon's Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, Hezbollah, which is mediating between the former arch-foes, said on Monday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100315/wl_mideast_afp/lebanonsyriapoliticsdruze
Syria agrees to receive Druze leader: Hezbollah (Reuters)
Reuters - Syria's President Bashar al-Assad will meet Druze leader Walid Jumblatt in Damascus after he made conciliatory remarks about the Syrian leader, Hezbollah, which had been mediating between the two, said on Monday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100315/wl_nm/us_lebanon_syria_jumblatt
Jumblatt apologises to al-Assad
Walid Jumblatt, a Lebanese MP and leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, has made a public apology for "indecent comments" he made in the past against Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/03/2010314111023700949.html
Syrian still in UAE jail fears execution for Hariri murder
Six months after finishing his sentence for using a fake passport, Mohammed Zuhair al Siddiq remains in prison as Syria and Lebanon seek extradition.
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100316/NATIONAL/703159824/1040/rss
U.S. and Other World News
Afghan government claims coalition troops killed 12 civilians
President Hamid Karzai’s deputy spokesperson Hamed Elmi said the casualties, which included women and children, occurred during two separate airstrikes in the country’s Kandahar and Kunar provinces.
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world/afghan-government-claims-coalition-troops-killed-12-civilians_100334689.html
Afghan family killed as special forces defy night raid ban
The body of his cousin, a 32-year-old construction engineer who had taken a break from his job in a far-off province to visit his family, lay sprawled next to those of his wife and their seven-year-old son. Blood ran in dark pools on the mud floor of the terrace outside their door.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/afghanistan/article7061069.ece
Noam Chomsky on Obama’s Foreign Policy
Chomsky talks about President Obama’s foreign and national security policies, the lessons of Vietnam, and his own activism. “You just can’t become involved part-time in these things,”
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24986.htm
In Egypt, rumors of President Hosni Mubarak demise fuel uncertainty. Who will lead next?
Egypt has been churning with speculation after President Hosni Mubarak had surgery in Germany last week, despite official reports that he's recovering well. He has ruled the country for nearly three decades.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2010/0315/In-Egypt-rumors-of-President-Hosni-Mubarak-demise-fuel-uncertainty.-Who-will-lead-next
How the western press distorts the Mideast (Part 1)
Egyptians are justifiably proud that Cairo is one of the safest big cities in the world, but you are rarely going to read that in the mainstream U.S. press. In a democratic Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood would probably be the largest single political party; the Brotherhood remains committed to nonviolence even though the American-supported Mubarak regime continues to arrest, torture and imprison its members. But you are not going to see long interviews with its leaders on U.S. television.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/03/how-the-western-press-distorts-the-mideast-part-1.html
www.TheHeadlines.org
Official: Israel to confiscate land near Bethlehem
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Israeli forces distributed land confiscation notices on Saturday to residents of Wadi Rahhal, south of Bethlehem, to amend the separation route's wall, a popular committee official said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Works begins on Jerusalem Museum of Tolerance, despite protests
The Simon Wiesenthal Center said Monday it hopes to start building its Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem in the coming months despite a petition to the United Nations to stop construction because the site was once a medieval Muslim cemetery.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott,
Mass protests held across Gaza in solidarity with Jerusalem
Gaza – Ma'an – Demonstrators gathered across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, condemning Israeli policy across East Jerusalem and events in the Old City. In Gaza City, protestors amassed at the Palestinian Legilsative Council square, in defense of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. In the Al-Wusta area, school students gathered from across the Gaza governorates, waving Palestinian flags and banners denouncing Israel's actions in Jerusalem.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
A week of fighting for justice in Palestine
Last Saturday saw the end of "Israeli Apartheid Week" held in over 40 cities all over the world. Beirut joined the activity at the American University of Beirut last Thursday.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Boycott or censorship?
Critics of the movement for the academic and cultural boycott of Israel -- including Israeli concert producer Shuki Weiss -- have claimed that calling on artists to cancel performances in Israel is a form of censorship. Is the cultural boycott a form of censorship or McCarthyism? Sami Hermez comments for The Electronic Intifada.
http://electronicintifada.net/
Spirit of Bil’in travels to London, Alex Kane
Amira Hass of Haaretz reports today that the West Bank villages of Bil’in and Ni’lin have been declared "closed military areas" by Israel in an attempt to further crush the nonviolent resistance carried out by Palestinians and supporters against the illegal separation wall. Mondo has more on this. No matter how the Israeli army tries to suppress the weekly protests in the West Bank, the Bil’in protesters’ spirit has traveled globally, most recently in London.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/03/
Eva Bartlett follows in the footsteps of Rachel Corrie
Gaza, March 16, 2010 (Pal Telegraph, by Pam Bailey) - Today is the seventh anniversary of the death of Rachel Corrie, the 23-year-old International Solidarity Movement (ISM) volunteer who was run over by an Israeli army bulldozer while she was trying to stop the demolition of a home in the Gaza Strip. Her parents, Cindy and Craig Corrie, are still fighting to hold the government to account, and are in Israeli court this week with their civil suit.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/
The writing on the wall
In the context of the Palestinian cause, graffiti takes on new significance as a morale-booster and means of communication.
http://www.thenational.ae/
Review: Finkelstein's transformation to victim hero in "American Radical"
With unfettered access to Norman Finkelstein during the most dramatic stage of his career, American Radical: the trials of Norman Finkelstein directors David Ridgen and Nicolas Rossier provide a compelling look at one of the most roundly vilified academics in recent American history. Max Blumenthal reviews the new documentary for The Electronic Intifada.
http://electronicintifada.net/
Pro-Apartheid
Stop the Wall releases two reports on Brazil's complicity with Israeli wars and occupation.
March 16th, 2010-- Stop the Wall sends a message to Brazil's Lula da Silva during his visit to Palestine: Free trade and arms trade with Israel rule out effective support for human rights and just peace.
http://stopthewall.org/
Violence and AggressionClashes break out in east Jerusalem
Unrest after Hamas movement calls for "day of rage" over reopening of synagogue.
http://english.aljazeera.net/
Jerusalem Update: 38 Injured At Least 20 Detained As Police Crackdown On Palestinian Protesters
At least 38 Palestinians civilians were injured by Israeli police fire on Tuesday during the ongoing clashes in East Jerusalem.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
Nine Wounded in Jerusalem clashes, Four Kidnapped
Clashes were reported on Tuesday morning in several parts of East Jerusalem’s Old City and its surrounding neighborhoods as the Israeli police attacked the areas in question after the residents held a strike to protest Israel’s violations and settlement activities in the city.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
Ten Injured As Israeli Troops Open Fire At Students Near Ramallah City, Central West Bank
Ten Palestinian university students were injured by Israeli troops fire on Monday during clashes at a military checkpoint near Ramallah city central West Bank.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
IOF injures 5 Palestinians in Ni’lin
West Bank, March 16, 2010 (Pal Telegraph)- At least five people were injured Tuesday afternoon in the clashes between the Palestinians and Israeli soldiers in Ni'lin village, in the West Bank's Ramallah, following the demonstration which people staged in support of Jerusalem.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/
IDF kills Egyptian cigarette smuggler on border
Force spots smugglers from both sides of border meeting south of Mount Harif, orders them to halt. When suspects begin to flee into Israel, troops open fire, seriously injuring Egyptian civilian who dies of wounds in hospital.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Israel raids town; builds watchtower in WB
West Bank, March 16, 2010 (Pal Telegraph)- Patrols of Israeli occupation army raided before Tuesday afternoon several streets and neighborhoods in western Hebron's Nuba town, the West Bank. Witnesses said: "A force of Israeli occupation army and heavily armed patrols roamed around the town in a provocative manner, wandered among the town's residences, and pulled out without any arrests."
http://www.paltelegraph.com/
Detainees
URGENT APPEAL: Illegal detention of children inside Israel
On or about 8 March 2010, Israeli authorities transferred at least seven Palestinian children from Ofer Prison, in the West Bank, to Rimonim Prison, inside Israel. This decision occurred after lawyers for DCI-Palestine informed Ofer military court that children were being detained illegally with adult detainees inside Ofer prison. However, the response of the Israeli authorities to transfer the children to Israel amounts to a further contravention of international law. Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits the transfer of detainees out of occupied territory. All of the children transferred were aged 15 or less. Seven of the children transferred are represented by DCI-Palestine and have been detained since 11 February 2010, after being arrested in dawn raids from the Al Jalazun refugee camp, near Ramallah, in the West Bank (see DCI-Palestine Urgent Appeal 1/10).
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/
Alert: Israeli occupation forces arrest activist from al Ma’sara
March 15th, 2010-- The Stop the Wall Campaign denounces the arrest of Omar Alaa Ed Din, 25 years, one of the members of the popular committee in al Ma’sara. This morning Omar was crossing the Container checkpoint, which closes off the southern part of the West Bank, including Bethlehem and Hebron, from the central part of it. Like always, the military checked the identities of the passengers in the collective taxis. They checked as well his ID card, arrested him and took him to a still unknown place.
http://www.stopthewall.org/
The Israeli Military Detains 16 Palestinians In The West Bank
Sixteen Palestinian civilians were detained by Israeli troops on Monday during invasions targeting West Bank communities.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
Israel kidnaps Palestinian in Hebron
Hebron, March 16, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - Israeli occupation forces kidnapped Tuesday a citizen from Dura village, southwest of Hebron in the West Bank, after raiding his house. Local sources said that Israeli occupation forces detained Hamdan Abd Allah Al- Rajoub, 42 years. His family confirmed that the Israeli occupation forces searched the house and stayed around an hour.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/
Palestinian detained, soldier injured at clash near school
Bethlehem - Ma'an - An Israeli soldier was lightly injured by rocks after clashes broke out at a school southeast of Bethlehem on Tuesday, onlookers said. Pupils at the Teqoa High School for Boys threw rocks at soldiers, who responded by firing tear-gas canisters, rubber-coated bullets, and stun grenades, witnesses said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
War Criminals
Eye witness testifies: Israeli military investigator tried to influence my statement
Today, March 15, 2010, the Haifa District Court saw the third day of testimony in the civil lawsuit filed by Rachel Corrie’s family against the State of Israel for her unlawful killing in Rafah, Gaza. Rachel was crushed to death on March 16, 2003 by a Caterpillar D9R bulldozer. She had been nonviolently demonstrating against Palestinian home demolitions with fellow members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a Palestinian-led movement committed to resisting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land using nonviolent, direct action methods and principles. Today’s only testimony came from British citizen Alice Coy, a nurse, who was an eyewitness to the killing. The state spent most of the day trying to establish that contrary to all eyewitness accounts and human rights reports, the Israeli Military had no intention of demolishing homes in the area on the day Rachel was killed.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/
Nil’in commemorates year anniversary of Tristan Anderson shooting: two arrested
On Friday, March 13th, the one year anniversary of the critical injury of international activist Tristan Anderson, approximately 100 Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals gathered for the weekly demonstration in Ni’lin to claim justice for Tristan. Anderson, a 38 year old U.S. citizen who was volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement, was hit in the forehead by a high-flying tear gas projectile during a demonstration in Ni’lin last year. The projectile was fired against IOF regulations, as soldiers shot the canisters directly at demonstrators rather than in an arcing fashion. According to the manufacturer of the tear gas canisters, the projectile was designed to penetrate walls and to be used in confined spaces; neither was necessary at the open-air demonstration demonstration in 2009. Tristan sustained serious brain damage, and remains hospitalized in Tel Aviv, his condition too serious for him to be moved home to the US.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/
Soldiers accused of 'using' child in Cast Lead unaware of charges
Two Givati soldiers accused of ordering child to open bags suspected of being booby-trapped received no notice from IDF, learned of indictment in media.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Humanitarian Issues/Human Rights/Restriction of Movement
Fatah official: Banned by de facto forces from leaving Gaza
Gaza – Ma'an – A Gaza member of Fatah's Revolutionary Council accused the de facto government security services of preventing him to travel to Jordan for treatment, he said on Monday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
European Union found guilty at first session of Russell Tribunal
The first session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine (RTP) was heard in Barcelona, Spain earlier this month. The RTP is a peoples' legal initiative designed to systematically try key actors responsible for the perpetuation of human rights violations in Palestine. In the frame this time was the European Union (EU). Two days and 21 expert witness testimonies later, the RTP found individual states and the EU as a whole guilty of persistent violations and misconduct with regards to international and internal EU law. Ewa Jasiewicz and Frank Barat comment for The Electronic Intifada.
http://electronicintifada.net/
Cancer increases by considerable percentage in Gaza Strip
Gaza, March 16, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - He plays with his small bicycle in the corridors of the hospital with his four cousins, who have the same age and name. Ahmed Dardouna, 6 years old and resident of the Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, is spending his fourth day in the hospital. He suffers from cancer of the blood and lymph nodes, as well as a hole in the heart. His suffering started a few months ago, when his blood volume dropped from 12 to 6 or 7 units. When Ahmed's blood volume plummeted more than five times in one month, doctors told his mother that he might be suffering from malnutrition.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/
Israel's Arab Helpers
Egypt arrests Islamist students in anti-Israel protests (AFP)
AFP - Egyptian police arrested on Monday 15 students affiliated with the banned Muslim Brotherhood during a protest at Cairo University against Israeli settlements, a security official said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Khreisha: PA in Ramallah pursuing Netanyahu's vision
Hasan Khreisha has accused the PA in Ramallah of pursuing the Israeli premier's vision on means of settling the Palestinian-Israeli conflict mainly concentrating on the economic factor.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Politics and Diplomacy
PA cabinet condemns settlement expansion, child detentions
Ramallah – Ma'an – During its weekly cabinet meeting on Monday, the Palestinian Authority condemned Israeli settlement expansion in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Qrei'a: Intifada will come if Israeli policy persists
Jerusalem – Ma'an – PLO Executive Committee member Ahmad Qrei'a said Monday that if Israeli practices in East Jerusalem continues , a third uprising would ensue. "If matters remain at this level, regardless of whether we take the decision or not, it [an intifada] is coming. If Israel continues these practices, it is coming," he told reporters during a news conference in his Abu Diss office in East Jerusalem.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
US waiting for 'formal' Israeli response
State Department spokesman says Mideast envoy Mitchell may reconsider planned trip to region due to crisis over Israel's east Jerusalem construction plan. 'This is a fluid situation,' Crowley says.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Obama runs out of patience with Israel
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday strongly defended Jewish settlement construction in East Jerusalem in the face of US pressure and what one of his own top diplomats described as the worst crisis in relations with Washington for more than three decades.
http://www.independent.co.uk/
US envoy postpones Israel visit
US envoy George Mitchell puts off a visit to Israel amid a row over settlements, as clashes erupt in Jerusalem.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-
US criticism of Israel ignites firestorm (AP)
AP - The Obama administration's fierce denunciation of Israel last week has ignited a firestorm in Congress and among powerful pro-Israel interest groups who say the criticism of America's top Mideast ally was misplaced.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Republicans slam Obama's hard line on Israel (AFP)
AFP - Republican lawmakers came out swinging Monday against President Barack Obama's hard line toward Israel over its controversial plans to expand a settlement in disputed East Jerusalem.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Netanyahu defies U.S. over Jerusalem settlement (Reuters)
Reuters - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday rejected any curbs on Jewish settlement in and around Jerusalem, defying Washington in Israel's deepening crisis with U.S. President Barack Obama's administration.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Israeli FM 'boycotts Brazil head'
Israel's foreign minister is reported to have boycotted a visit by the Brazilian President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-
Israel FM blasts international community (AFP)
AFP - Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman blasted the international community on Tuesday following a telephone conversation with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Inside Story - The EU's role in the Middle East
Striving to make the European Union relevant to the Middle East peace process, Catherine Ashton, the new EU foreign policy chief, visits the region. With an ambitious plan to meet key players in six countries, can the Europeans succeed in what the Americans have failed to achieve over decades? Will the current tension between the US and Israel help or hinder a real European role in Middle East peace process?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Other News
Arab rights group planning visit to Temple Mount, Hebron
A delegation of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee is planning to visit the Temple Mount and Hebron on Tuesday to protest the settlement policies of the Israeli government. Members of the committee plan to meet with Waqf officials in Jerusalem to discuss the recent tensions in the city and the limitations on entry to the Temple Mount compound.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Rightists vow revenge if Jerusalem Arabs riot
Amid heighted tensions in Old City, right-wing elements threaten to retaliate to any act of Palestinian violence. 'Policy of restraint is over,' they say.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Analysis/Opinion/Human Interest
Oren sounds the alarm
It is interesting to note who’s writing about the mind-blowing news that General Petraeus wants to put I/P under his command because the Palestinian grievance is endangering the U.S. Akiva Eldar, Andrew Sullivan, MJ Rosenberg, and Spencer Ackerman all noted the news. it will be interesting to see how the MSM responds.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/03/
If serious about peace, Israel should drop housing plan
THE SPAT between the Obama administration and the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu isn’t over diplomatic etiquette. It’s over whether Israel is serious about pursuing a peace agreement with the Palestinians, a process that is essential to US national security. When the Israeli government upstaged a good-will visit by Vice President Joe Biden to announce plans to build 1,600 new housing units for Jews in a neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem, it thumbed its nose at the peace process. It doesn’t matter whether these are new plans for housing or old ones; it’s about the message of extreme resistance sent by the announcement. The only way to undo the damage is to cancel the 1,600 units. Such a move would be a blow to Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition partners, but it would also establish Netanyahu as a prime minister who cares about peace. He should cancel the housing plans now.
http://www.boston.com/
’48 my love
Sima Kadmon - Yediot - If Jews can sue Arabs for ownership of property before 1948, what will prevent Arabs, who own hundreds if not thousands of properties in West Jerusalem, to claim their ownership of them?
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_
The Poodle Gets Kicked
Actually, Joe set himself up. From the moment he set foot on Israeli soil, our vice president was in full pander mode. First, he headed to Yad Vashem memorial, where he put on a yarmulke and declared Israel “a central bolt in our existence.”
http://feedproxy.google.com/~
Israel doesn't need to grovel for U.S. forgiveness
So sorry! Very sorry! Very, very sorry! We apologize! This will never happen again! The prime minister, cabinet members and senior bureaucrats repeated this over and over again last week in an attempt to set right what seemed to them to have been a major blunder, one they thought had spoiled what should have been a dramatic goodwill visit by the vice president of the United States, Joe Biden. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might have been humming "I'm just a soul whose intentions are good, Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood," while he sat waiting for the arrival of Biden, who vented his anger over what he considered an insult by being deliberately late for dinner.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Spy Takes US/Israeli Secrets to Grave
Extensive evidence now exists that Begin’s preference for Reagan led the Israelis to join in a covert operation with Republicans to contact Iranian leaders behind Carter’s back, interfering with the President’s efforts to free the 52 American hostages before the November 1980 elections.
http://www.
Murdoch's Kind of Arabs: Sleeping with the Enemy, Jeremy Salt – Ankara
Rupert Murdoch, perhaps the greatest defender of free speech and the free flow of communications in recorded human history, or so you would think to read his speeches, and the praise heaped on him by his flatterers, pleaded at the inaugural Abu Dhabi Media Summit last week for an end to media censorship in the Middle East so that the entire region could benefit from the 'powerful wind' of creative energy that was blowing through it. He warned his Arab media hosts not to bury inconvenient stories because 'in the long run this is very counterproductive'. For someone who has spent his life burying inconvenient truths this is certainly amusing.
http://palestinechronicle.com/
UK continues its betrayal of Palestine
Jerusalem, March 16, 2010 (Pal Telegraph, by Khalid Amayre) - Last week, a few Palestinian journalists and I had the opportunity to meet with Martin Day, a spokesman of the British government. The meeting, which was hosted by the Arabic Media Internet Network (AMIN), took place in Ramallah. In his introductory remarks, Day gave the impression that the imminent renewal of peace talks between the almost completely helpless Palestinian Authority (PA) and a brazenly insolent Israel, ruled by the most hawkish government in the Jewish state's history, will eventually achieve peace and lead to the establishment of a viable Palestinian state. He also lauded the Obama administration, underscoring its "sincerity" towards resolving the enduring Palestinian cause. Day's remarks were received with disbelief and dismay by the small audience of journalists, writers and cameramen who thought that Day either didn't know what he was talking about, or he did know what he was saying but was detached not only from truth but from reality as well.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/
Joe Biden's Empty Desert, BOUTHIANA SHAABAN
Vice President Biden’s speech in Israel on March 11 sounded like an official American statement, providing absolute support to all the crimes committed by Israel. Biden’s speech was full of anachronisms aimed at polishing the image of Zionism tarnished by the blood of civilians, particularly children. Biden was not hypocritical like most Western politicians. He was candid and transparent.
http://www.counterpunch.com/
Israeli Apartheid and the Nakba – video by Anthony Lawson
http://palestinethinktank.com/
Iraq
Deadly bomb attacks in Iraqi town
Eight people have been killed and 11 injured by two bombs in the Iraqi town of Mussayab, police say.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-
Monday: 15 Iraqis Killed, 39 Wounded
Attacks in Sunni areas of Iraq and in Mosul overshadowed election news. At least 15 Iraqis were killed and 39 more were wounded across the country. Meanwhile, the U.S. prison in Taji and its 2,900 Iraqi detainees were handed over to Iraqi authorities. Also, a Shi'ite group that held a British hostage for over two years denied any claims of abuse.
http://original.antiwar.com/
Iraqi PM pulls ahead of poll rivals
Early poll results in Iraq's national elections show a strong lead for State of Law, the bloc led by Nouri al-Maliki, the country's incumbent prime minister, after about a third of total votes have been counted. The party is ahead in oil-rich Basra and Karbala, two of Iraq's three biggest provinces, which have Shia Muslim majorities. Al-Maliki's State of Law is also holding on to leads in Baghdad, whose 70 seats account for more than a fifth of Iraq's 325-member Council of Representatives, as well as Babil, Najaf, Wasit and Muthanna. The poll results have put Iyad Allawi, the head of Iraqiya, a cross-sectarian bloc, ahead in the disputed oil-rich province of Kirkuk, against the expectations of analysts who had predicted it would probably be won by a Kurdish bloc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Iraqi PM's bloc accuses election official of fraud (AP)
AP - The Iraqi prime minister's coalition has accused an election official of manipulating vote counts and called for a recount.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Is Iraq returning to its secular roots
The results from the general elections indicate that the sectarian equation brought about in the aftermath of the occupation of Baghdad may no longer hold. We have seen Iraqis rallying behind groups which puts national interests above sectarianism. Some even go on saying that the equation has lost its balance. The evidence they cite are the results in provinces such as Nineveh, Salahuddeen, Anbar and Diyala where the electorate chose a secular coalition at the expense of an Islamist party.
http://www.azzaman.com/
Lebanon
Syria wants 'to open new page' with Lebanese Druze chief (AFP)
AFP - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is ready to to turn a page on the past by meeting Lebanon's Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, Hezbollah, which is mediating between the former arch-foes, said on Monday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Syria agrees to receive Druze leader: Hezbollah (Reuters)
Reuters - Syria's President Bashar al-Assad will meet Druze leader Walid Jumblatt in Damascus after he made conciliatory remarks about the Syrian leader, Hezbollah, which had been mediating between the two, said on Monday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Jumblatt apologises to al-Assad
Walid Jumblatt, a Lebanese MP and leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, has made a public apology for "indecent comments" he made in the past against Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president.
http://english.aljazeera.net/
Syrian still in UAE jail fears execution for Hariri murder
Six months after finishing his sentence for using a fake passport, Mohammed Zuhair al Siddiq remains in prison as Syria and Lebanon seek extradition.
http://www.thenational.ae/
U.S. and Other World News
Afghan government claims coalition troops killed 12 civilians
President Hamid Karzai’s deputy spokesperson Hamed Elmi said the casualties, which included women and children, occurred during two separate airstrikes in the country’s Kandahar and Kunar provinces.
http://www.thaindian.com/
Afghan family killed as special forces defy night raid ban
The body of his cousin, a 32-year-old construction engineer who had taken a break from his job in a far-off province to visit his family, lay sprawled next to those of his wife and their seven-year-old son. Blood ran in dark pools on the mud floor of the terrace outside their door.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/
Noam Chomsky on Obama’s Foreign Policy
Chomsky talks about President Obama’s foreign and national security policies, the lessons of Vietnam, and his own activism. “You just can’t become involved part-time in these things,”
http://www.
Egypt has been churning with speculation after President Hosni Mubarak had surgery in Germany last week, despite official reports that he's recovering well. He has ruled the country for nearly three decades.
http://www.csmonitor.com/
How the western press distorts the Mideast (Part 1)
Egyptians are justifiably proud that Cairo is one of the safest big cities in the world, but you are rarely going to read that in the mainstream U.S. press. In a democratic Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood would probably be the largest single political party; the Brotherhood remains committed to nonviolence even though the American-supported Mubarak regime continues to arrest, torture and imprison its members. But you are not going to see long interviews with its leaders on U.S. television.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/03/
www.TheHeadlines.org
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