Tuesday, March 9

Today in Palestine! ~March 9, 2010 ~

Shadi Fadda brings us today's headlines relating to Palestine and other news from around the internet
Land Theft and Destruction
IOA issues 10 demolition orders against Palestinian property
The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) on Monday issued ten demolition orders against Palestinian homes and animal corrals in the Jordan Valley at the pretext of unlicensed building.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7n%2fGZQSaJbrKXZgZlwNX4LQXBTRc7LcwzG0hTeYRm1t1ntdQUHe6xaKUmxPbm9xiEfSH%2fB2G0ULXMkyXwgpBDbkgq%2bD%2bLRJggS15l4x2pY8c%3d


Israel’s Army Takes Over Land In Central West Bank For The Wall Construction
Israeli troops notified on Tuesday the villagers of Beit liqya, central West Bank, the army intentions to take over part of their land to build the wall.
http://www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=58166

PA condemns authorization of Bethlehem settlements
Ramallah – Ma'an – The Palestinian government in Ramallah condemned Israel's authorization on Monday of dozens of new housing units for a settlement near Bethlehem just hours before US envoy George Mitchell arrived in the region.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=267131


Erekat: More settlements every US visit
Palestinian President Abbas meets with American special envoy Mitchell for five hours, demands that Israel stop embarrassing him with new settlement construction plans. Palestinian source estimates talks damaging leadership's reliability.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3859746,00.html


Jewish settlers attempt to seize water spring in Palestinian village
Tens of armed Jewish settlers on Monday attacked Palestinian citizens' lands in Qarawat Bani Hassan village, Salfit district, and started bulldozing an area where a water spring is located.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7%2f9rxAsWfAoFBGPHoqD%2bjoeFgXxKEY0efkfVqLFPh93SoZITlqDdDe%2baz6jHmkwopWSgz%2focBpERpvB2KrqSR2HzVR4jOFM7GmAvVYpM8UA4%3d

Bkeirat: Israel planning to annex Marwani mosque to its heritage list

The IOA is planning to annex the Marwani mosque, within the Aqsa compound, to the so-called Jewish heritage list, Dr. Najeh Bkeirat, the head of the manuscripts and heritage department, revealed.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s74bcOF6ZmXp9TeDugi%2bvqoxhLjlu5Ri9ZfK4%2fonboWSAKwFYzH6KVOHsQYUny88ytq6XKwneh0bA0SDu5hfETkg9txnqP7kQsgiqYu%2fXTfHg%3d

J'lem deputy mayor endorses Jewish presence in Sheikh Jarrah

David Hadari, close associate of Mayor Barkat, tours east Jerusalem neighborhood, expresses support of Jewish residents.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3860190,00.html

Activism/Solidarity/Boycott,Sanctions and Divestment
Arab, Jewish organizations in the USA ask for detention of Ashkenazi
Maariv newspaper reported Sunday that Arab and Jewish organizations in the US decided to submit a claim to the American administration demanding it to arrest Israeli chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7cYt5VhiUBp18itCzkYJra5jums2P%2bSi2kGssqv9pEF9u2XodWV4RzJD%2bOtKpMWD%2bM0gDi5%2bAv%2fcXBymOc5U7Hm8DS2pLgRE%2ffYqj%2bEZZA0w%3d


As trial begins in suit over Rachel Corrie’s killing, her parents appeal for support, Philip Weiss
Tomorrow in a Haifa court, a trial will commence of the Corrie family’s civil suit against the Israeli government in the killing of Rachel Corrie seven years ago this month in Rafah, Gaza. Rachel’s parents Craig and Cindy (left) have sent out an appeal for support during this challenging time:  The lawsuit is one piece of our family’s seven-year effort to pursue justice for our daughter and sister. We hope this trial will illustrate the need for accountability for thousands of lives lost, or indelibly injured, by occupation—in a besieged and beleaguered Gaza and throughout Palestine/Israel; bring attention to the assault on nonviolent human rights activists (Palestinian, Israeli, and international); and underscore the fact that so many Palestinian families, harmed as deeply as ours, cannot access Israeli courts.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/03/as-trial-begins-in-suit-over-rachel-corries-killing-her-parents-appeal-for-support.html

Israel cracking down on stone-throwing Palestinian teens
Several children in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan were arrested and taken from their homes in handcuffs in the middle of the night over the past few months, as part of a police crackdown on suspected stone-throwers, several teenage residents told B'Tselem and Haaretz. "They told me to get down on my knees and slapped and kicked me, one from behind and one from the front," a 15-year-old told B'Tselem - the Israel Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1155105.html


Sara Benninga’s rousing speech at the Sheikh Jarrah rally: There is a new Left in town!
http://coteret.com/2010/03/08/sara-benningas-rousing-speech-at-the-sheikh-jarrah-rally-there-is-a-new-left-in-town/

Anywhere but here: IDF protest in NY today gets global ink, Philip Weiss
The IDF dinner at the Waldorf tonight and the protest of the fundraiser is being covered in the Jerusalem Post, in right wing Arutz Sheva, on Democracy Now, on Al Bawaba, again in the JPost, in Haaretz by Donna Nevel of Jews Say No, and in the JTA, out of Jerusalem.  A protest against [Gabi] Ashkenazi sponsored by more than 25 American, Jewish and Israeli organizations is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon outside Manhattan’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, the site of the IDF dinner, the Jerusalem Post reported. Protest organizers have described Ashkenazi as the "butcher of Gaza."
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/03/anywhere-but-here-idf-protest-in-ny-today-gets-global-ink.html


Related Deaths/Aggression and Violence
Electric shock kills man in Rafah tunnel
Gaza – Ma'an – A man was shocked to death by a loose wire in a tunnel near the As-Salam neighborhood of Rafah on Monday, medics said.  He was identified by medics as 29-year-old Nidal Mahmud Dahliz.  Officials at the Abu Yousef An-Najjar Hospital in Rafah said he was pronounced dead on arrival.  The smuggling industry, necessitated by a blockade led by Egypt and Israel, is notoriously dangerous.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=267151

Israeli forces raid Qalqiliya school grounds
Qalqiliya – Ma'an – Israeli forces raided the Yasser Arafat school on Monday in Azzun, east of Qalqiliya, a municipality statement said.  Israeli forces entered the school during morning roll call, the municipality said, as administrative staff attempted to compel them to leave.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=266971


IOF raids areas in Hebron
West Bank, March 9, 2010 (Pal Telegraph)- Israeli occupation forces raided at dawn on Tuesday several towns and neighborhoods in the occupied West Bank's Hebron.  According to local sources, tens of Israeli military vehicles raided Yatta, Es-Samu, Al-Zaheria and Dora towns, south of Hebron, and carried out a search campaign in citizens' houses. The sources reported that Israeli forces confiscated 10 vehicles belonging to citizens of Yatta town.  Israeli occupation forces also raided Ras Al-Jora and Bi'r Al-Mahjar neighborhoods, and set up a military checkpoint at the entrance of Ezna town, terrorizing the citizens. No arrests were reported.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/west-bank/4663-iof-raids-areas-in-hebron

Detainees
Amir, ten years old, abducted by Israeli soldiers from his bed 
Amir al-Mohtaseb smiled tenderly when I asked him to tell me his favorite color. Sitting in his family's living room last Thursday afternoon, 4 March, in the Old City of Hebron, the ten-year-old boy with freckles and long eyelashes softly replied, "green." He then went on to describe in painful detail his arrest and detention -- and the jailing of his 12-year-old brother Hasan by Israeli occupation soldiers on Sunday, 28 February.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11120.shtml


IOF round up five Palestinians including two children
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) rounded up five Palestinians including two children in different West Bank areas on Monday night and at dawn Tuesday, local sources reported.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7NnjV1t3um3UeaOAbwPft%2b7ZVt5bk5AHz2A373Sn0MyQc0pMLA9%2b5nBmM%2fZdawoCywhEIwQgnfkj0QQVWek8RvIdHANpsN0UkxomdL2mn9os%3d
Family appeals for release of detainee with cancer
Salfit – Ma'an – The Palestinian Detainees Center on Monday called on human rights organizations to intervene for the release of a Palestinian prisoner suffering from cancer.  The center said Kayed Hassan Hiron, from Nablus, was detained on 1 January 2003 and was sentenced to nine years. The Israeli Prison Service in Meggido prison transfered Hiron to Soroko Hospital, where his cancer diagnosis was confirmed and described as serious.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=267008

Humanitarian Issues/Human Rights/Siege
Irish FM: 'medieval siege conditions unacceptable'
Ireland, March 8, 2010 (Pal Telegraph; by Micheál Martin) - Last week I visited Gaza, the first European Union foreign minister to do so in over a year. My purpose was very much a humanitarian one, to see for myself the impact of a blockade that has now been imposed on the people of Gaza for some two-and-a-half years and to meet with the courageous and dedicated staff of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), including its director of operations, Irishman John Ging. They play an indispensable role in maintaining vital humanitarian services to the people of Gaza.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/opinions/views/4657-irish-fm-medieval-siege-conditions-unacceptable

Israel to let UN chief, EU official into Gaza (AP)
AP - Israel says it will allow the U.N. secretary general and the European Union's foreign policy chief to enter the Gaza Strip.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100308/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_gaza


Families fight 'racist' Israeli citizenship law

"To leave my children, I would die. I couldn't do it," says Lana Khatib. Five years ago, Israel's controversial citizenship law marred her first year of marriage and still looms large over everything from supermarket shopping to her fears the family might face the prospect of separation. Adnan, who is three, and one-year-old Yosra squabble over their toys.  Born and raised in Israel, they are too young to understand that their parents both consider themselves Palestinian, but their father Taiseer is an Israeli citizen while their mother is from the occupied West Bank. And that means, under the current law, Mrs Khatib cannot apply for citizenship.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8552816.stm


Life in the Gazan "Buffer Zone"
When I wrote last, I was still in Cairo, beginning to lose hope. However, shortly after, a friend at the UN Relief & Works Agency (UNRWA) was miraculously able to get me into Gaza through Israel's Erez Crossing. In a shockingly quick two days, I was in! Among my first activities was this protest….  The Israelis call it the "buffer zone." Gazan NGOs often call it the "hot zone." But to the Palestinians who live near this wide swath of land alongside the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, it is fertile land where their children played and they made a decent living by raising wheat and olives. That is, until Israel declared the land off limits to Palestinians.
http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2010/03/08/life-in-the-gazan-buffer-zone/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SabbahsBlog+%28Sabbah+Report%29

Leila Khaled and Shireen Said Interviewed by Sukant Chandan, "Palestinian Revolutionaries on International Women's Day"
Finally, Khaled's message focused on the women of Palestine, particularly those in the West Bank and Gaza, and their role in unifying the factions, especially Hamas and Fatah, a process of reconciliation and unity in which the PFLP has been playing a central role: "In this political moment the most important issue is that of unifying our people to face the terrors of the occupation, and the main basis of unity must be fighting the occupation. Fighting the occupation demands that Palestinian factions are united. It is important to understand the role of the Palestinian masses in achieving this unity by putting pressure through democratic and civil means on the Palestinian factions focusing on Hamas and Fatah. Palestinian women are adversely affected by these divisions as many of their families are divided, which is why I am adamant that Palestinian women recognise the importance of the unity in the Palestinian struggle and their role in achieving this unity."
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2010/ks080310.html


NGOs, the De-politicization of Palestinian Women's Movements and Learning in Struggle"
Third World feminist theory sheds light on how the process of NGO-ization has led to a de- politicization of women's struggles in Palestine and can be understood as a "continuation of the colonial encounter" (Jad, 2003, p. 5) whereby development is continuous with and contemporary neoliberalism. . . . In an interview with Smith (2007), Atef Said states that "NGOization often competes with grassroots organizing work" (p. 175). Central to this competition is the different use of tactics. While NGOs that are dependant upon funding for their existence tend to discourage potential clashes with the oppressors or people in power, grassroots movements may choose to engage in direct forms of action for social change. Said (as cited in Smith 2007) goes on to say that NGO leaders who were previously members of left wing social movements have been co-opted into the "NGO world because they can be funded (including personal benefits like travel and luxury hotel accommodations)" (p. 175). . . . As Hilhorst (2003) suggests, "NGOs and social movements may have much more in common than we have come to believe in the 1990s" (p. 28). . . . On the other hand, one can not lose sight of the current fact that "eighty percent of the infrastructure in Palestine is funded by international granting agencies. These agencies stifle critiques of capitalism and try to normalize the free market economy in the occupied territories" (Smith, 2007, p. 177). Currently, women's NGOs in Palestine operate under this framework where their focus continues to be on the political and social 'empowerment' of women through the perpetuation of the illusion of the creation civil society while under occupation.
http://bit.ly/cIGAEs


War Criminals
UN expert Richard Falk: PA told me to quit
Chicago – Ma’an – Richard Falk, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, said on Monday the Palestinian Authority (PA) urged him to step down after he criticized the PA’s treatment of a UN war crimes report.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=267176


Deck the halls: Finkelstein to speak on Goldstone at Harvard Law School, Philip Weiss
Great news in the ongoing thaw of the ice age of permanent war: Norman Finkelstein will be talking about Gaza at Harvard Law School in two weeks, and critical legal theorist Duncan Kennedy will be moderating the talk. Wow. Beautiful. This is not just a sign that pro-Goldstone speech is ebbing into elite precincts, it is a sign that a gifted scholar, Norman Finkelstein, who has been harshly treated by the American academy, is getting some overdue props.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/03/deck-the-halls-finkelstein-to-speak-on-goldstone-at-harvard-law-school.html

Helping Israel's Arab Helpers

Report: Israel pardons 77 Fatah men
Palestinian sources say list does not include senior Al-Aqsa Brigades gunmen; most of those pardoned required to remain in area controlled by PA.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3860057,00.html


Politics and Diplomacy
Haneyya, resistance leaders refuse PLO decision on negotiations
Premier Ismail Haneyya met with leaders of the resistance factions and discussed with them the latest political developments especially the serious decision taken by Ramallah to resume peace talks.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7oVfurS6gk4xtN4dsv5%2fAOAULT1BHNp%2b8E63uHZNBAI5dEgqosQeW4tiDt90xeBAF2%2fQEvj0t5JdmFLqn6L1LPv2FN23K690jOYSxtGPMwrE%3d

Fresh Israeli-Palestinian talks run into brick wall
Amid an American diplomatic offensive comprising visits by the vice-president, Joe Biden, and the US Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, Israel and the Palestinian Authority have agreed to hold indirect negotiations after more than a year of deep freeze. But even before ties could begin to thaw, Israel's move to expand illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank a day after agreeing to talks, has turned things frosty again. Tom Ackerman reports on how the latest talks may not even get off the ground (09 Mar 2010).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1n4kMDVdxs&feature=youtube_gdata


Talk to Hamas now
Israel must talk to Hamas. Not secretly. Not indirectly. Not for a politician to rehabilitate himself on the way to taking over the leadership of a party, as Kadima's Shaul Mofaz tried to do, but openly and seriously. Just as the United States regularly talks to the Israeli opposition, Israel should maintain a dialogue with the Palestinian opposition. The dialogue should cover all core issues including a final settlement.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1155112.html


Mitchell to Israel, PA: Annapolis accord non-binding
The Obama administration announced Monday night that Israel and the Palestinian Authority have agreed to resume the peace process by means of indirect negotiations, facilitated by U.S. special envoy for the Middle East George Mitchell.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1155106.html

Joe Biden offers Israel full US support

In talks with Binyamin Netanyahu, US vice-president stresses need to prevent Iran obtaining nuclear weapons.  The US vice-president, Joe Biden, promised the Israeli government today that it had the strong support of Washington and said the US was committed to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.  "There is no space between the US and Israel when it comes to Israel's security," Biden said, after meeting the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem. Their talks appeared to focus on Iran and its nuclear ambitions, rather than on the new round of low-key, indirect peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians that was agreed yesterday.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/09/joe-biden-middle-east-talks

Extra-Judicial Assassination

Dubai accuses Israel of 'vast falsification' of passports (AFP)
AFP - Dubai's police chief on Tuesday accused Israel of "vast falsification" of travel documents, noting that dozens of false passports were uncovered following a Hamas leader's murder in the emirate.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100309/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflicthamasisrael

Israel: Did the Alleged Mossad Hit in Dubai Really Help? (Time.com)

Time.com - While all the signs point to Mossad as the perpetrator and the Israelis are hardly denying it, the killing of a top Hamas operative may have caused the Israelis problems on other fronts.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100309/wl_time/08599197058600

Fourth Australia passport linked to Hamas killing (AFP)
AFP - Foreign Minister Stephen Smith Tuesday said a fourth Australian passport-holder had been drawn into the murder of a Hamas leader in Dubai, after Interpol issued an alert for a suspect using the man's name.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100309/wl_asia_afp/mideastconflicthamasaustralia

Other News
Israel's tight visa restrictions blocking Palestine investment
RAMALLAH, Occupied West Bank: Israeli visa restrictions are the main obstacle to foreign investment in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Palestine Trade Center (PALTRADE) said in a report on Monday.The trade group affiliated with the World Bank said that potential investors in the Palestinian economy, including many European Union and United States citizens.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=112509

PCBS: 15% of women in Palestinian labor force

Bethlehem - Ma'an - The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) released a report on indicators of woman's equality in Palestine on the occasion of International Woman's Day on Monday., The statistics were presented by Ola Awad, the acting president of PCBS, who spoke of the importance of recognizing the contributions of women in Palestinian life, "as a mother, wife, sister, daughter, worker, and struggler."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=266898


Gazan hairdressers protest Hamas restrictions (AP)
AP - Gaza's male hairdressers have filed a complaint with a human rights group over a Hamas edict banning them from cutting women's hair.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100309/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_palestinians_coiffeur_clampdown


OECD is ushering Israel in too easily | Seth Freedman
Despite all the diplomatic disquiet over Israeli policy towards the Palestinians, actions speak far louder than words when it comes to Israel's international status. In May, the country seems set to be ushered into the OECD, following years of campaigning from successive Israeli governments. Such a move would be another step in welcoming Israel in from the cold, and demonstrates certain states' willingness to overlook Israel's questionable behaviour as an occupier in favour of enhanced fiscal and political ties.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/09/israel-policy-economic-oecd

Some Americans Jews sit out recession in Israel
* High-tech and biotech sectors booming in Israel
* Demand high for college-educated English speakers
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N08182209.htm


Analysis/Opinion/Human Interest
The Pro-Israel Lobby And The New Israel
Got that? Now I have no idea what Maureen means when she says that a settlement freeze "wasn’t the most important condition to Arabs." Much that I've read seemed to suggest that the various Sunni Arab regimes were looking for precisely a freezing of further Israeli colonization of the West Bank as proof that Obama really was going to break from the whatever-Israel-wants policy of the previous eight years.
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/03/the-fundamentalists-of-israel.html

Every bad thought you have had about Ethan Bronner

Has not been wrong. After seeing the spurious evenhandedness of his comments tonight on Matthews in Jerusalem. And the complacent smile with which he showed himself well satisfied with his performance.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/03/every-bad-thought-you-have-had-about-ethan-bronner.html

The People of Gaza and a Reporter: Victims of the NY Times' Stubbornness
The people of Gaza appear to have been the recent victims of the arrogance (or what some believe to be the bias) of the NY Times. The stubbornness of Bill Keller, the executive editor of the NY Times, in refusing to relocate his Jerusalem reporter has caused a considerable drop in the paper's coverage of Gaza. The Times has refused to relocate their reporter covering Israel and Palestine after the appearance of a conflict of interest surfaced. The Electronic Intifada and the US media watchdog FAIR first reported the conflict of interest case in January 25th and 27th respectively.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daoud-kuttab/the-people-of-gaza-and-a_b_488660.html


Our love is blind
Eyal Megged - Ynet - To this day, when I arrive in east Jerusalem, at least twice a week – whether to the Old City or to the city outside the ancient walls – it looks unbelievable. This city is the Levant, Arabia, the big world outside, and it’s a walking distance from my home; a sort of Damascus, or Amman, or Baghdad. I love wandering through it, eating there, and getting lost in the crowd. It is a hospitable Arab town that usually welcomes guests. Yet we must keep in mind that this city is not part of the Jewish people’s eternal capital, but rather, an Arab city.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=38681


Egg donor and recipient must be of same religion, you-know-where, Philip Weis
In weeks to come, I am going to insist on the importance of Shlomo Sand’s book, the Invention of the Jewish People. Caricatured in the U.S. as a tract on the Khazar theory of Jewish genetics, the book is in fact a liberal’s assault on the racial politics of identity in Israel and the diaspora, a work of brilliant synthetic scholarship about nationalism and identity construction and the roots of Zionism that will resonate in Jewish and Palestinian life for decades. (By the way, the other criticism of Sand, that he was recycling others’ discoveries about the migration of the Jewish religion through Europe, is horse feathers. Yesterday I heard Robert Wright talking religion on Krista Tippett’s great show, Speaking of Faith. The fact that he is popularizing scholars’ work is nothing against his ideas.)
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/03/egg-donor-and-recipient-must-be-of-same-religion-you-know-where.html

"Palestinian cinema is a cause": an interview with Hany Abu-Assad
Nazareth-born filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad is best known internationally for his 2005 film Paradise Now about two young, attractive Palestinian men from Nablus in the occupied West Bank who are drawn into a suicide bombing mission in Tel Aviv. It was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language Film category. The Electronic Intifada contributor Sabah Haider spoke with Hany Abu Assad about how his films are received, Palestinian cinema and the challenges of filmmaking.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11119.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29


Iraq
Monday: 6 Iraqis Wounded
After yesterday's spasm of violence, Iraq was unusually quiet. Only six people were wounded in overnight violence.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/03/08/monday-6-iraqis-wounded/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+antiwar-original+%28Antiwar.com+Original+Articles%29


Riz Khan - A new chapter in Iraq?
What changes will the Iraqi elections bring? And has Iraq weathered the worst of the sectarian divide that threatened to plunge the country into utter chaos three years ago?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOfq-fLofEc&feature=youtube_gdata


Inside Story - Is Iraq ready for democracy?
Inside Story asks if Iraq's elections were truly democratic and if the country is even ready for democracy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-Cf6IkBDM0&feature=youtube_gdata

In Iraq, the Methboub family waits – and copes
The Methboub family, which the Monitor has followed since 2002, work to free a son from jail and anguish over a daughter’s soured marriage. They had little hope Sunday's election in Iraq would change their lives significantly.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2010/0308/In-Iraq-the-Methboub-family-waits-and-copes

Sunnis Who Fled Iraq, Remain In Exile
Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, about 4 million Iraqis fled their homes. About 2 million fled the country entirely — and many are still outside its borders. Throughout the war, NPR's Deborah Amos has spent much of her time with Iraqis, who fled to Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. She has new book out: Eclipse of the Sunnis: Power, Exile, and Upheaval in the Middle East.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124481202&ft=1&f=1010


105,000 Tattoos: Iraqi Artist Wafaa Bilal Turns His Own Body Into A Canvas to Commemorate Dead Iraqis & Americans

The official death toll from the war is 100,000, but it is widely estimated to be much higher, perhaps even as high as 1 million. In his latest piece of art work Iraqi-American artist Wafaa Bilal tries to grapple with the enormity of these numbers It’s a 24-hour live tattooing performance called " … and Counting" that began at the Elizabeth Foundation For The Arts gallery in New York Monday night. By tonight Bilal’s back will be tattooed with the names of Iraqi cities, 5000 red dots representing dead American soldiers and 100,000 dots in invisible ink representing the official death toll for Iraqis. The dots representing the Iraqi death toll will only be visible under ultra violet light.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/9/105_000_tattoos_iraqi_artist_wafaa


Lebanon
Lebanese women still face discrimination - study
BEIRUT: Women in Lebanon have made considerable strides toward gender equality in education and the workplace but continue to face significant discrimination in many other facets of society, a study said this week.  As calculated by the study, Lebanese women enjoy the fourth greatest degree of freedom in the Middle East and North Africa region.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=112519


U.S. and Other World News
Karzai offers families ‘blood money’ for sons killed in raid
The President paid relatives Afs100,000 (£1,300) for each of the victims — eight students from one family, a 12-year-old shepherd boy who was the family’s guest and a farmer from a neighbouring compound.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/afghanistan/article7052982.ece


Turkey rejects Israel's offer of post-quake aid
Ankara declines Jerusalem's proposal to assist search and rescue operations following 6.0-magnitude earthquake which hit country's east.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3859699,00.html

Egypt releases blogger facing trial by military court
Ahmed Mostafa was facing jail after he after he published a post alleging nepotism within the armed forces. Amnesty International has welcomed the release of an Egyptian blogger, who was facing jail after he published a post alleging nepotism within the armed forces.  The organization said it remains concerned that the release of Ahmed Mostafa was conditional on him agreeing to apologise and on removing the March 2009 posting from his Matha Assabaka ya Watan (What happened to you, oh nation?) blog.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/egypt-releases-blogger-facing-trial-military-court-2010-03-09

Inside Story - Egypt's political future
With Hosni Mubarak's health now being examined under a microscope, people fear his illness or death could leave a power vacuum. With no vice-president, no successor and no peaceful transfer of office, could Egypt tailspin into chaos? And what will be the impact on the wider Arab world?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkZH4U-MV9U&feature=youtube_gdata

Kuwaiti women complain of ongoing discrimination
KUWAIT CITY: Women in Kuwait complained on Monday of gender discrimination in employment and other sectors despite making key strides in politics after four females were elected to Parliament. Marking International Women's Day at a day-long symposium, women's rights' activists and MPs said women in this oil-rich Gulf state are still barred from becoming judges.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=112492

Robert Fisk: Living proof of the Armenian genocide
It's only a small grave, a rectangle of cheap concrete marking it out, blessed by a flourish of wild yellow lilies. Inside are the powdered bones and skulls and bits of femur of up to 300 children, Armenian orphans of the great 1915 genocide who died of cholera and starvation as the Turkish authorities tried to "Turkify" them in a converted Catholic college high above Beirut. But for once, it is the almost unknown story of the surviving 1,200 children – between three and 15 years old – who lived in the crowded dormitory of this ironically beautiful cut-stone school that proves that the Turks did indeed commit genocide against the Armenians in 1915.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-living-proof-of-the-armenian-genocide-1918367.html

www.TheHeadlines.org
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