Land theft and destruction/Ethnic cleansing
Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, "ICAHD Denounces Israeli Demolitions (and American Enabling)"
Although the pressure to demolish is constant -- the Israeli authorities have demolished 24,000 Palestinian homes since 1967 and new orders are issued daily -- the current wave of demolitions can only be explained on the background of Prime Minister Netanyahu's visit to Washington a few weeks ago.
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.
Israeli forces demolish 2 homes near Hebron
Hebron – Ma'an – The owner of one of two homes demolished southwest of Hebron said he produced paperwork to prove his home was constructed with a permit, but that bulldozers razed his home anyway. Speaking on behalf of the home owner, head of the Abu Al A'rqan-village council Mohammad Ash-Shawamreh said Israeli troops entered the village with orders to demolish the homes of Fathi Mahmoud Ash-Shawamreh and Mustafa Ibrahim Ash-Shawamreh. Fathi is currently being held in an Israeli prison.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
"They want us to be loyal to the occupation": Muhammad Totah interviewed, Max Blumenthal
Muhammad Totah is one of three Palestinian legislators staging a sit-in to protest Israel's decision to expel them from Jerusalem. In an interview with The Electronic Intifada contributor Max Blumenthal, he details the Israeli government's plan for mass deportations of Palestinian citizens of Israel.
http://electronicintifada.net/
Palestinians unite on housing rights
The al-Rajabi family of the Beit Hanina neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem were made homeless on Tuesday, 13 July, after Israeli demolition vehicles razed their home to the ground. Five other homes and structures were destroyed earlier in the day in the Issawiya and Jabal al-Mukabber neighborhoods, also in East Jerusalem.
http://electronicintifada.net/
Solidarity/Activism/Boycott, Sanctions & Divestment
Anti-wall protests continue; 2 injured in Bil'in
Ramallah – Ma'an – Two residents of the West Bank village of Bil'in were injured on Friday, during a protest against Israel's separation wall, which cuts off agricultural lands from farmers, despite a High Court ruling mandating the wall's removal. Israeli forces stationed on the western side of the wall responded to attempts by the villagers to access the lands using tear-gas canisters shot from high-velocity launchers.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Libya's Gaza aid ship unloading in Egypt (AFP)
AFP - A Libyan ship that failed to break Israel's Gaza blockade was being unloaded in the Egyptian port of El-Arish on Friday, a day after docking there, an AFP correspondent at the scene said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Israeli activists ‘bring the blindfolded’ to the Jerusalem Film Fest, Adam Horowitz
Activists from Just Jerusalem (the main Israeli organization working on the Sheikh Jarrah protests) greeted moviegoers attending the opening of the Jerusalem Film Festival with a scene they'll not soon forget. Members of the group acted as "detainees" and "guards" to, in their words, "convey the essence of the occupation to the escapist public." The action was called "Bringing the Blindfolded to Jerusalem Film Festival" and the activists explain, "[The street theater was] simulating what thousands of Palestinians suffer. Our objective was to force Israelis to recognize the reality that is done on our behalf."
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/07/
TIAA-CREF: Divest from the occupation: To sign the TIAA-CREF petiton go to:
http://www.
http://salsa.
Violence/Aggression... past and present
Israeli troops invade village near Jenin, break into homes and vandalise property
An Israeli military force consists of at least 20 armored vehicles invaded the village of Barta'a near Jenin in the northern West Bank and break into residents homes in the early hours of Friday morning.
http://www.imemc.org/article/
Mother of five killed by Israeli artillery fire close to Gaza buffer zone
Three relatives also wounded in shelling on Gaza border, as family say no rockets were heard being fired before attack. A mother of five was killed by Israeli artillery fire when she went to fetch her two-year-old son from outside her village home close to the "buffer zone" created by Israel along its border with Gaza. Three of her relatives were wounded in the shelling earlier this week, but Red Crescent ambulances were not permitted to reach the family for several hours.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
12 July '10: Military Police to investigate killing of Bil'in demonstrator from firing of tear-gas canister 15 months ago
Three videos prove the canister was fired directly at Bassem Abu-Rahmeh, but the army ordered the investigation only after threat of High Court petition. The Judge Advocate General (JAG), Maj.-Gen. Avichai Mandelblit, ordered the Military Police Investigation Unit to investigate the circumstances of the killing of Bassem Abu-Rahmeh, from the West Bank village of Bil'in , who was killed when a high-velocity tear-gas canister struck him during an anti-barrier demonstration in the village on 17 April 2009. Until today, the JAG's Office refused to order a criminal investigation into the incident. The JAG announced the change in his position in a letter to the Abu-Rahmeh family's attorney, Michael Sfard, who had threatened to petition the High Court of Justice, and after receiving the findings of forensic special imaging experts, proving that the canisters were fired directly at the protester in violation of the open-fire regulations.
http://www.btselem.org/
'Tape proves Shin Bet tried to coerce me to commit murder'
In newly released recordings, alleged Shin Bet agent can be heard urging Chaim Pearlman to assassinate Sheik Ra'ad Salah.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/
Victim's son: I hope Pearlman's daughter doesn't get to know him
Son of Kheiri Alkam, first victim of suspected 'Jewish terrorist' Haim Pearlman, tells Ynet of emotions after learning of killer's arrest, 12 years after father's murder: It was like he was murdered all over again.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Friend of alleged Jewish terrorist: Shin Bet is panicking
Israeli forces search Pearlman's parents home; Pearlman: Shin Bet encouraged me to commit violent acts.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/
Detainees
CPT: Israeli Police Invade Palestinian Home, Arrest Father in Hebron’s Old City
On July 13, 2pm about 20 Israeli police and soldiers invaded the Awewi family home in Hebron’s Old City. They forced the mother and the eight children into the kitchen and arrested the father, who is a Palestinian Authority (PA) police officer. The mother attempted to force the door of the kitchen open to give her husband his shoes and trousers, but a soldier pushed her against the counter in spite of her obvious pregnant status. She threw the shoes down the stairwell, hoping her husband could retrieve them.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/
IOA reduces food to Palestinian captives in Negev prison
The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) has decided Thursday to reduce the amount of food it gives to the Palestinian captives in the Negev desert prison.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Hamas: PA forces arrest 5 West Bank affiliates
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Officials from within the Hamas movement released a statement on Friday, accusing Palestinian Authority police and security officer of detaining five party affiliates from areas in the northern West Bank. The detentions were said to have occurred between Thursday and Friday morning, and were reportedly carried out based on political motives to repress the Hamas movement, the statement said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
6 illegal Palestinians workers arrested at old age home
Six Palestinians illegally working in Israel were caught in Petah Tikva on Friday. All of the workers were working at a senior citizens' home with false identity papers. The owners of the old age home are being investigated by police for illegally employing Palestinian workers.
http://www.jpost.com/
The Siege (Gaza & West Bank)/Humanitarian and Human Rights
Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory 07 - 14 July 2010
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/
Position paper: Suppression of demonstrations
The Separation Barrier causes severe violations of human rights, and gave rise to popular Palestinian resistance. In a new position paper, B'Tselem examines the army's increased efforts to quell these demonstrations, in light of the right to demonstrate.
http://www.btselem.org/
Waiting in line becomes full-time job in the West Bank - Feature
Bethlehem, West Bank - "We wait here like animals," Khalid Arouri complains, tossing his cigarette stub against the imposing, eight-metre-tall border wall.It is 5 am and the sun is just rising over Bethlehem. Already, the Palestinian man's neck veins are bulging with anger.The 43-year-old migrant worker from the West Bank is in a hurry. His job in Jerusalem starts in less than three hours and he can not be late. Yet, the line of people in front of him is not budging.At Checkpoint 300 between Bethlehem and Jerusalem, this is part of everyday life. The border crossing is part of the fence erected by Israel in 2003 in response to a wave of suicide bombing attacks.
http://www.earthtimes.org/
Human Rights Committee considers report of Israel
The Human Rights Committee has concluded its consideration of the third periodic report of Israel on the measures undertaken by that country to implement the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Aharon Leshno Yaar, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations Office at Geneva, in opening remarks, said that Israel was proud of its long-lasting recognition of the inherent dignity, and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family, which, as proclaimed by the Charter of the United Nations, and reemphasized within the Covenant itself, was the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. Even in the face of serious threats to its national security, Israel had maintained its commitment to sustain its policy of opening itself to international scrutiny by United Nations' human rights treaty bodies, other mechanisms and civil society, so as to continuously enhance and improve its compliance with its international commitments and obligations. But some understanding of Israel's pressing security, political and social situation was clearly necessary to recognize the context in which it had made advancements, as well as to identify those challenges that still lay ahead.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/
Global Open Day: Women in the Gaza Strip Highlight the Impact of the Humanitarian Crisis
Gaza — The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert Serry, received a group of 20 women leaders and peace activists in Gaza on 12 July, for a consultation on their concerns regarding peace and security in the Gaza Strip. The meeting was the last in a series of Global Open Days for Women and Peace, held around the world in the context of the 10th anniversary of Security Council resolution 1325.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/
Gaza tunnels going out of business
Tunnels used to smuggle in goods to Gazans are closing down after Israel eased its blockade.
http://english.aljazeera.net/
'No comment' on arbitrary treatment
Qalqiliya – Ma'an – A father of five from Azzun Atma village in the northern West Bank was told by Israeli soldiers manning the single civilian crossing into the area that on Tuesday, 50kgs of flour was too much and he could not bring it home. Hassen Mahmoud Qadus was also told to leave two kilograms of meat, purchased for his family, at the checkpoint to rot. The quantity of meat, a soldier told him, was above what was permitted for personal consumption.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Palestinians Suffer as Courts' Authority Hits All-time Low, Jonathan Cook - Nazareth
The Israeli government is facing legal action for contempt over its refusal to implement a Supreme Court ruling that it end a policy of awarding preferential budgets to Jewish communities, including settlements, rather than much poorer Palestinian Arab towns and villages inside Israel. The contempt case on behalf of Israel’s Palestinian minority comes in the wake of growing criticism of the government for ignoring court decisions it does not like -- a trend that has been noted by the Supreme Court justices themselves.
http://palestinechronicle.com/
Driver: 'No black Ethiopians on my bus'
An Egged bus driver is being sued for NIS 200,000 after allegedly slandering, insulting, and verbally and physically assaulting an Ethiopian passenger, according to a statement released by Tebeka, an advocacy organization for Ethiopian Israelis. The Ethiopian college student waited at a bus stop in Rishon Leziyyon, and tried to board the bus, but the driver closed the door in her face, refusing to let her on. She managed to get on the bus anyway, and the driver yelled at her, saying "I don't let black Ethiopians on my bus," and "these blacks - who let you into Israel?
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/
Palestinians may soon have to swear loyalty to 'Jewish' state
The cabinet is expected to approve measures on Sunday that would make it harder for Palestinians to acquire permanent residency or citizenship in Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-
Tibi: Racist law will face no obstacle
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Palestinian MK Ahmad Tibi confirmed reports that the Israeli cabinet is set to pass a law requiring Arab residents to swear allegiance to a Jewish State. The law would be one of a series of measures poised to be voted into law on Sunday by the Israeli cabinet, all of which would make it more difficult for Palestinians to be granted permanent residency or citizenship in Israel.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Israeli Delusions, See Article Below: MESS Report / New cars, a sign of West Bank good life
The multitude of car dealerships springing up in cities like Nablus and Jenin reflect the economic growth that is taking place in the West Bank.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-
West Bank poverty 'worse than Gaza'
Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith reports on how the poor pay a heavy price in the West Bank. Children living in the poorest parts of the West Bank face significantly worse conditions than their counterparts in Gaza, a study conducted by an international youth charity has found. The report by Save the Children UK, due to be released on Wednesday, says that families forced from their homes in the West Bank are suffering the effects of grinding poverty, often lacking food, medicine and humanitarian assistance.
http://english.aljazeera.net/
Political/Other Developments
We will continue to shield Israel, militarily and diplomatically, U.S. official says
Speaking during a reception for outgoing Israeli UN envoy Shalev, U.S. envoy Susan Rice says that Washington remains fully and firmly committed to Israel's security.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/
Despite diplomatic tensions, U.S.-Israeli security ties strengthen
This week, Israel successfully conducted a test of a new mobile missile-defense system designed to shield Israeli towns from small rockets launched from the Gaza Strip. When the "Iron Dome" system is fully deployed in the next year, about half the cost -- $205 million -- will be borne by U.S. taxpayers under a plan advanced by the Obama administration and broadly supported in Congress.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Abbas unlikely to agree to direct talks soon, say Ramallah sources
Mitchell in region to meet Palestinian president and PM Netanyahu, in latest bid to see direct peace negotiations resume.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/
Fatah rejects direct talks with Israel as US envoy visits (AFP)
AFP - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas should not hold direct talks with Israel because indirect negotiations had yielded nothing, his Fatah movement said on Thursday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Dahlan: No direct talks until issues addressed
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Palestinians will not enter direct talks until Israel addresses issues raised in proximity talks, Fatah leader Muhammad Dahlan said Thursday. Speaking to Ma’an Radio, Dahlan affirmed news reports that US President Barack Obama had agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pressure the Palestinian side into direct talks, but said a specific date or agenda had not been set.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Arab League chief voices doubts over peace process
BEIRUT: Arab League chief Amr Moussa voiced doubts Thursday over the progress of indirect negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, and talked down the possibility of direct talks between the two sides. On an official visit to Damascus to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad and other top level officials, Moussa said: “I am very pessimistic over the future of this process.”
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
World parliaments criticize Israel, Cambodia
GENEVA — Representatives of world parliaments on Thursday criticized Israel, Cambodia and 19 other countries for their treatment of lawmakers. The chair of the Inter-Parliamentary Union's human rights committee, Rosario Green, urged Israel not to deport Palestinian lawmakers Mohammed Abu Teir, Mohammed Totah and Ahmed Abu Atoun after they were recently released from prison. The three were ordered expelled from Jerusalem for links to Hamas. But Green, a former Mexican foreign minister, said the expulsion violates the lawmakers' human rights.
http://www.google.com/
Report: Lieberman wants Gaza as independent entity
Bethlehem - Ma'an/Agencies - Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman plans to absolve Israel of responsibility for Gaza, Israeli press reported Friday. Lieberman reportedly intends the move to achieve the international recognition the 2005 unilateral pullout from Gaza - when Israeli forces removed 21 settlements and thousands of soldiers from the enclave - was envisioned as. Israel's continued presence on Gaza's land and sea borders as well as airspace, prevented the international community from recognizing an end to the occupation.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Hamas rebuffs Israel's plan to isolate Gaza
GAZA, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Gaza Strip-ruling Islamic Hamas movement on Friday rebuffed an Israeli plan to isolate the costal enclave and turn it into a complete separated entity. Sami Abu Zuhri, Gaza-based Hamas spokesman, said in a press statement that "Although the actual occupation of the Gaza Strip territories has ended in 2005, but legally and practically, it is still under the occupation."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/
Other News
Int'l lawyers meet to defend Gaza flotilla activists
ISTANBUL, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Sixty lawyers from 25 countries met here on Friday to defend 577 activists onboard Mavi Marmara, the flagship of the aid flotilla that tried to break through the Gaza blockade and was violently intercepted by Israeli naval forces, local Dogan News Agency reported. The lawyers, coming from many Western countries as well as Muslim ones and even Israel, met here to discuss a common strategy to defend the activists from 36 countries, said the report.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/
Jerusalem Christians support Hamas ministers
Jerusalem - Ma'an - A delegation representing Christian communities in Jerusalem visited a sit-in tent outside Red Cross headquarters on Friday, erected by three Palestinian lawmakers faced with expulsion from the city. Former Jerusalem affairs' minister Khaled Abu Arafah and two other Palestinian Legislative Council members, Ahmad Atoun and Muhammad Totah, who were all voted into public office with the Hamas bloc, began the demonstration in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood shortly after the deadline for their deportation orders passed in late June.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Israelis see Obama as pro-Palestinian: poll
JERUSALEM — Forty-six percent of Israelis believe US President Barack Obama is more pro-Palestinian than pro-Israeli, according to an opinion poll published by the English-language Jerusalem Post on Friday. Only 10 percent of the 515 Jewish Israelis interviewed thought Obama was more pro-Israel, 34 percent said he was neutral and 10 percent did not express an opinion.
http://www.google.com/
Most British Jews want Israel-Hamas talks: survey (AFP)
AFP - A majority of British Jews think Israel should negotiate with the militant Palestinian movement Hamas in a bid for peace, a survey out Thursday said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Who'd be a travel agent in Gaza?
Nabil Shurafa breaks off his explanation of the trials of being a travel agent in a territory where the large majority of citizens cannot travel, to take a call from one of his few lucky clients. It is a bank employee booked on a Cairo-Damascus Egyptair flight at 2.30am tomorrow. "You'll get the bus from Rafah at 11. Be sure to tell the [Egyptian] soldier that you have to be at the airport by 1am at the latest. The flight goes from terminal three."
http://www.independent.co.uk/
Analysis/Opinion/Human Interest
Twilight Zone / Gestures to the Palestinians
While the prime minister is dispensing promises about easing restrictions in the territories, Israel is expelling hundreds of shepherds from the Jordan Valley
http://www.haaretz.com/
‘Emergency Committee for Israel’ is housed in ‘Liberation of Iraq’ offices, Philip Weiss
Remember all the folks who denied that there was any meaningful Israel agenda in the push for war with Iraq? Well here are Jim Lobe and Eli Clifton at lobelog It seems that the new Emergency Committee for Israel (ECI) is based out of the same office as the old Committee for the Liberation of Iraq (CLI), suggesting that, Yes, Virginia, the same people who led the march to war in Iraq are behind the new Emergency Committee, which, in its very brief existence to date, has attracted a lot of mostly critical attention in the blogosphere. The link, Clifton shows, is to Randy Scheunemann, the man who schooled Sarah Palin in pro-Israel foreign policy as she was being rolled out two years ago. When will this network be exposed by the mainstream media? Before an attack on Iran, I pray. covering the rollout of the neoconservative Emergency Committee for Israel, which has been getting so much mainstream media attention: Some things are just too good to be true.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/07/
Rep Weiner’s pet org awards student prizes for propaganda about Jewish religious right to West Bank, Philip Weiss
Many powerful people kiss up to the extremist group, Zionist Organization of America. Anthony Weiner does, saying he is from the "ZOA wing of the Democratic Party." So does Mort Zuckerman (same link). The Zionist Organization of America is also a constituent body of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations (of which Americans for Peace Now is also a constituent).
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/07/
Congress finally stands up to Israel – over Jewish conversion?!, Adam Horowitz
They said it couldn't be done. Members of Congress are circulating an "unprecedented" letter criticizing Israel for legislation under consideration in the Knesset. Which legislation? The bill criminalizing boycotts? The effort to revoke MK Haneen Zoubi's parliamentary privileges? Nope.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/07/
Netanyahu is Mocking America and Leading us Astray, Gideon Levy
No more claims that the Palestinians are to blame for the failure of the Oslo Accords. After years in which we were told that the Palestinians are to blame, the truth has emerged from the horse's mouth.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-
Netanyahu tape
The man who is now, for a second time, Israel’s Prime Minister — Benyamin “Bibi” Netanyahu — went to visit an Israeli settler family in 2001, some two years after his defeat to Ehud Barak [the man who is now Defense Minister, and who is therefore the ruler of the West Bank, making him co-regent, with Netanyahu, of the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean]. Last Friday night, for the first time, Israel’s Channel 10 television broadcast a homemade video made of this visit — it shows the man who is now Prime Minister, again, discussing the Oslo Accords, and how he’s arranged everything according to his vision of the way things should be. In the videotaped visit, Netanyahu bragged that he had stopped the Oslo agreement.
http://un-truth.com/israel/
Hirst: Lobby’s bigotry and disdain for US interests mean its days are numbered, Philip Weiss
At Pulse, Robin Yassin-Kassab interviews David Hirst, author of Beware of Small States, and asks two really important questions re the lobby. Read the whole piece to see Hirst's analysis of the next war, starting with Lebanon, and how big it could get. Egad. Though I share some of Hirst's glass-jaw analysis of the lobby, below.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/07/
‘Arab villages get bus routes’, Rahim Kurwa
That was the headline in the Jerusalem Post the other day. It is about the Israeli government approving, for the first time ever, bus routes that actually reach Palestinian towns in Israel. As offensive as this inequality is, it reminds us how little is known about the rampant discrimination against Palestinians in Israel. Many people are probably aware of the most egregious violations, or can at least guess at them (housing, employment, education, health, military, and so on), but it’s understandably difficult to grasp just how thoroughly unequal Israeli society is today.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/07/
Report: Israelis got included in planning US attack because they threatened to whack Iran, Philip Weiss
Joe Klein resisted service in the Iraq War media brigade of 2002-03, but he seems to be getting recruited in the Iran war frenzy. Here's a Time column on an attack on Iran being back on the table. Though Klein insists that Obama is skeptical about such a plan, notice the blackmail in the excerpt below.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/07/
Isabel Kershner misleads on Israel’s ‘far-reaching proposal’, Alex Kane
New York Times reporter Isabel Kershner writes a news analysis of why "peace talks" between Israel and the Palestinians are at a virtual standstill, despite the "upbeat atmosphere" in Washington following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Obama's recent meeting.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/07/
The Israeli right wing and the one state debate, Adam Horowitz
Fascinating article in this weekend's Haaretz magazine by Noam Sheizaf on the Israeli right wing's flirtation with the one-state solution (or at least their version of it). It's called "Endgame," and it's certainly worth reading the whole thing.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/07/
A moderate Hamas terrifies Israel
The more pragmatic the resistance movement becomes, the more violently the Zionist state reacts.
http://gulfnews.com/opinions/
Off the Grid in the South Hebron Hills, IRIS KELTZ
Bedouin villages in the South Hebron Hills are poised to skip the industrial age and take a leap from primitive to sustainable. They will never have to worry about reducing their carbon footprint– unlike those of us from affluent societies in the US or Israel. Renewable energy systems– wind turbines and solar panels are being built for the poorest and most marginalized communities in the occupied West Bank. This help is a matter of life-support. Environmental studies reveal their cisterns are toxic and they have been denied access to the electricity grid servicing nearby settlements. The project is a joint initiative of Israelis and Palestinian community workers who believe borders of fear and racism are best overcome by neighbors working together.
http://www.counterpunch.com/
Daoud Kuttab: Are We Approaching a Major Conflict for Millions of Arab Youths?
Arab civil society leaders gathered on the shores of the Dead Sea were quite sure about the future of Arab youth. Leaders from Lebanon, Egypt, Yemen, Palestine (both West Bank and Gaza) and Jordan were invited by Naseej ("weaving" in Arabic), a five-year community development initiative launched in 2005 by Save the Children with funding from the Ford Foundation. While many worry about the future of Arab youth, Nassej states on its website: "Young people who account for 60 per cent of the region's population can be engaged as active agents in their own development and that of their communities."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Iraq
At least 14 Iraqis were killed and 22 more were wounded in the latest attacks. A large car bombing in Tikrit could produce more casualties as the day wears on. Meanwhile, the jail at Camp Cropper was handed over to the Iraqis and renamed al-Karkh prison.
http://original.antiwar.com/
40 killed in Iraq hotel fire
A fire at a hotel in central Sulaymaniya killed 40 people Thursday night including four Americans and wounded 23 others including women, children and foreigners, police said. A short circuit was blamed for starting the fire, Razkar Ahmad, an official from Sulaymaniya municipality said.
http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/
Police find decomposed body of Baghdad University professor
A decomposed body, infested with worms, of a university professor was found in the Qadissiya neighborhood of Baghdad. Baghdad University’s professor, Adnan Makki, was stabbed to death at his home, the police said. “His decomposed body was found on Tuesday,” a police officer, refusing to reveal his name, said. “The professor was alone at home when attacked,” the officer added. The police cordoned the area and investigations are ongoing on the causes of the professor’s murder. The years since the 2003-U.S. invasion of Iraq have seen the killing, abduction and fleeing of thousands of Iraqi professionals and intellectuals. University professors and scientists have been the main target.
http://www.azzaman.com/
Iraq’s Allawi hopes for new govt in August
“The negotiations between the political groups entered their last phase and we wish to close this file as soon as possible,” he said after talks in Beirut with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/
U.S. hands over last Iraq jail but keeps 200 inmates (Reuters)
Reuters - The U.S. military handed over its last prison in Iraq on Thursday, ending an ignominious chapter of the 2003 U.S. invasion that saw thousands detained without charge and triggered outrage after disclosures of abuse.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
The US today handed over Camp Cropper, its last detention facility in Iraq. Maj. Gen. Jerry Cannon describes how former regime officials have lived out their days watching BBC Arabic Television and growing vegetables.
Tikritis Rally Behind Jailed Imam
Detention of cleric for pro-Saddam action seen as violation of his freedom of speech. Anger at the arrest of a well-known imam for scrawling pro-Saddam Hussein graffiti in the former dictator's home town of Tikrit reflects his lingering popularity among local people.
Iraqi leaders and the selfish gene
Ethnic, religious and personal rivalries have snowballed into the present political crisis in Iraq, where selfish leaders are looking after themselves and their own rather than the interests of society. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's clinging onto power despite losing elections in March is a perfect example of a failure to learn from history. - Sami Moubayed
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/
Lebanon
Lebanese Shepherd Escapes Israeli Kidnapping Attempt
15/07/2010 The Lebanese Army said on Thursday that an Israeli patrol crossed a UN-drawn border into Lebanese territory at the area of Kfar Shuba. "A patrol of eight enemy soldiers crossed the line of withdrawal at the town of Kfar Shuba in an attempt to abduct a shepherd," an army spokesman told AFP.
He said the shepherd had managed to escape but the troops had crossed 20 meters (22 yards) past the UN-drawn Blue Line, an informal border established after the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon in 2000, following a 22-year occupation. A spokesperson for the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) had no immediate comment.
http://www.almanar.com.lb/
Lebanon arrests third 'telecom spy'
BEIRUT — Lebanon has arrested a third person in a widening probe into a suspected network of Israeli spies employed in the country's telecom sector, a source close to the investigation said on Friday. "The arrest was made late last night and the suspect is a former employee in Lebanon's telecommunications sector," the source told AFP. He could not say whether the suspect was linked to two telecom employees arrested in the past month, who he said were suspected of being accomplices at the company Alfa, one of Lebanon's two mobile service providers.
http://www.google.com/
Second telecom Israeli 'spy' arrested in Lebanon (AFP)
AFP - Lebanon has arrested a suspected accomplice of a telecom technician who is charged with spying for Israel, a source close to the investigation said Thursday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Hariri urges secrecy on probes into Israeli spy networks
BEIRUT: Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Thursday called for refraining from leaking information on ongoing investigations into Israeli spy networks as Hizbullah officials criticized the Cabinet at Parliament for taking its responsibilities on the issue lightly.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
France defends controversial security pact with Lebanon (AFP)
AFP - France on Thursday defended a controversial security accord with Lebanon as Shiite militant party Hezbollah demanded a clear definition of the word "terrorism" in the text.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Lebanon accuses Israeli patrol of crossing border (AFP)
AFP - An Israeli patrol crossed a UN-drawn border into Lebanese territory at the disputed area of Kfar Shuba on Thursday, the Lebanese army said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Lebanon postpones talks on Palestinian rights (AFP)
AFP - Lebanon's parliament on Thursday postponed to next month talks on the controversial issue of granting employment, social security and property rights to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
100 couples to wed in first Palestinian group ceremony
SIDON: Two hundred Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon prepare to tie the knot on Sunday, during the country's first Palestinian group wedding. The ceremony will be held in the southern coastal city of Sidon and will be organized by Hamas authorities.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Sayyed Nasrallah Congratulates Nation in Anniversary of Victory
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah renewed on Friday his condolences over the death of Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, saying that his death was a great loss for Lebanon and the nation, congratulating the nation at the same time in the anniversary of the Divine Victory achieved four years ago.
http://almanar.com.lb/
Iran
'Suicide bombers' hit Iran mosque
More than 20 people are feared dead and 100 injured after suspected suicide bombers strike at a mosque in Iran.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
I feel that the US wants him dead because he did not cooperate
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
Fact or fiction? U.S. paid Iranian nuclear scientist $5 million for aid to CIA, officials say
The Iranian nuclear scientist who claimed to have been abducted by the CIA before departing for his homeland Wednesday was paid more than $5 million by the agency to provide intelligence on Iran's nuclear program, U.S. officials said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Amiri 'rejected bribe offer of USD 50mn'
"They [US security agents] told me they would give me 50 million dollars and provide me and my family with proper living conditions in a European country if I reversed my decision to return to Iran," Amiri said in the press conference.
http://presstv.ir/detail.aspx?
Poll: Most Americans back Israeli military action against Iran
56 percent of Americans support an Israeli strike to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons, according to a poll conducted by a U.S. research firm.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/
U.S. and other World News
Bush Should Have Been Indicted
In a interview with Ralph Nader, Judge Andrew Napolitano said that President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney should have been indicted for "torturing, for spying, for arresting without warrant."
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/
Civil Rights Attorney Lynne Stewart Re-Sentenced to 10-Year Term -- Nearly Five Times Her Original Sentence
The civil rights attorney Lynne Stewart’s sentence was increased Thursday after an appeals court ruled that two years and four months of prison time was too light. Stewart was found guilty in 2005 of distributing press releases on behalf of her jailed client, Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, also known as the "Blind Sheikh." We play excerpts of Lynne Stewart’s last broadcast interview before she was jailed in November, and speak to independent journalist Petra Bartosiewicz.
http://www.democracynow.org/
US government lifts lid on alleged leak to WikiLeaks
The Army alleges that he transmitted, "to a person not authorised to receive it", a classified US Department of State cable described as "Reykjavik 13". The US also alleges Pfc Manning obtained 150,000 US diplomatic cables without proper authorisation.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
Family separated after trip to Egypt
Mohammad Hamad and his wife, Heather, had been planning their family's monthlong trip to Egypt for a year. It's been 11 years since the Sheboygan engineer and imam of a local mosque had seen his brother who lives there, and he looked forward to introducing him to his American-born wife and children. Today, Heather Gilvary-Hamad and the kids are getting to know their family in Egypt, and Hamad is back in Wisconsin awaiting word on whether he'll get to join them. A U.S. citizen, he says he was told by the Egyptian Embassy - only after returning home - that he was denied entry because he was born in Gaza and would need a pre-approved visa with a special security clearance.
http://www.jsonline.com/
Classified Documents Reveal UK's Role in Abuse of its Own Citizens
The true extent of the Labour government's involvement in the illegal abduction and torture of its own citizens after the al-Qaida attacks of September 2001 has been spelled out in stark detail with the disclosure during high court proceedings of a mass of highly classified documents.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/
The torture files: the interrogations
These documents detail for the first time the experiences of a detainee under interrogation. Omar Deghayes records his complaints about his treatment in the Bagram detention centre in Afghanistan in July 2002 and the willingness of MI5 officers to let him be removed to Guantanamo Bay.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/
Omar Deghayes: 'He was brought in manacled and hooded'
"He was treated better by the Pakistanis; what kind of world was it where the Americans were more barbaric than the Pakistanis?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/
Germany's Anonymous Mosque Watchers
Reinhard Werner doesn't trust Islam. The 70-year-old German is part of a group which keeps tabs on mosques across Germany, monitoring them for what he calls an "intolerant Islam of terror." Over the years, he has gained a certain amount of notoriety.
http://www.spiegel.de/
Laws on teenage marriage ignite debate in Jordan
AMMAN: Wesal Jamil was 16 when her family arranged her marriage to a man in his thirties. A decade later, the mother of seven regrets her lost youth."My dream was to become a teacher but my marriage deprived me from education and now I have many duties," Jamil said."I regret that. Education would have secured me a job to at least help my husband shoulder financial responsibilities," she added.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Has Syria changed for the better?
It has been 10 years since Bashar al-Assad, Syria's president, assumed leadership following his father's death. He came into power promising many changes of freedom and growth to a country that was largely ruled with an iron fist. Al Jazeera's Stefanie Dekker reports on Assad's achievements so far and whether he has delivered on his promises of change. [July 16, 2010]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Syria slammed on human rights
Bashar al-Assad's reign 'a wasted decade' for freedom and civil rights, group says.
http://english.aljazeera.net/
Syria Bans the Niqab in Schools
Although no formal announcement was made, local media began reporting the ban in June after women who wore the niqab began coming forward and complaining that they had been fired or reassigned to government offices where they would not come into contact with students. “Education in Syrian schools follows an objective, secular methodology and this is undermined by wearing the face veil,” Education Minister Ali Saad reportedly said during a teachers’ syndicate meeting last month…..
http://www.joshualandis.com/
www.TheHeadlines.org
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