Israeli
forces prevent residents of Al Mazra'a ash-Sharqiya from removing roadblock that
denies them access to road 60
(31 Oct) At 11.00, around 30
residents of Al Mazra'a ash Sharqiya accompanied by 10 international and Israeli
activists marched towards two roadblocks aiming to remove them. Waiting for the
demonstrators when they arrived were 4 Israeli military jeeps: 2 troops of
border police and 2 troops of Israeli soldiers. The army threatened to arrest
the Israeli activists, using an illegal, unsigned military order as the reason.
An under-publicized repression against Palestinians, roadblocks affect freedom
of movement as much as checkpoints and the Apartheid Wall. The system of
Israeli-only roads, roadblocks and gates determines a severely limited network
of routes Palestinians can use in the Occupied Territories. Most major roads in
the West Bank are either illegal for Palestinians (14 roads), require difficult
to acquire permission from the Israeli government (10 roads), or can become
illegal for Palestinians at any Israeli commander's discretion....
http://www.palsolidarity.org/
from-removing-road-block-
Settlers
attack elderly woman's home in Hebron
(31 Oct) Hebron, Ban Islam
--At approximately 4:30pm on the 30th October, the house of
Sureia Algremari a 95 year old woman who lives closed to the Kharsina settlement
was attacked by 4-5 settlers. They threw many stones, breaking windows and
entered the house. The neighbours called the police, but they failed to show up
and inspect her house. Later on the settlers attacked several times, throwing
stones at the Palestinians who live in the area of Ban Islam. The Israeli army
and border police evacuated an outpost known as Federman's Farm from the
Kharsina settlement early Sunday morning. This appears to be the motivation for
the settler attack. The settlers have, since the evacuation, destroyed the fence
that separates the settlement from the Palestinian neighbourhood leaving them
with free access to harass the Palestinian inhabitants.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/
Israeli
army invades southern West Bank, undermining PA security
(31
Oct) Israeli forces invaded the southern West Bank town of Dura on Friday and
fired randomly at groups of residents, injuring several. Palestinian security
sources reported the incident, saying that the Israeli action was carried out in
direct opposition to the recent Palestinian security upgrade that saw 600 new
police and security officers deployed to the southern West Bank.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
PA security forces slam
Israel's invasion of a Hebron town
(1 Nov) A Palestinian
security source in Hebron slammed the Friday Israeli invasion to Doura town,
near the southern West Bank city of Hebron, and considered the invasion as an
attack that targets the Palestinian security plan to restore security in the
area. Local sources reported that several residents were wounded by Israeli
gunfire. In a press release, the Palestinian security forces stated that "it
seems that our success annoys the Israeli army as it insists on foiling all of
our efforts".
http://www.imemc.org/article/
Soldiers invade Al Arroub
refugee camp, near Hebron
(1 Nov) Israeli soldiers invaded on
Friday evening the Al Arroub refugee camp, north of the southern West Bank city
of Hebron, attacked several homes, kidnapped a teacher, and some soldiers threw
a copy of the Holy Quran in the toilet, the Maan News agency reported.
http://www.imemc.org/article/
Israeli
army storms Al A'rub camp; ransacks homes, arrests one
Palestinian
(31 Oct) Head of the Popular Committee for the camp
Ahmad Abu Al-Khiran said that more than ten Israeli military jeeps invaded the
camp, and said those whose homes were violated were Hasan Ash-Shareef, Husein
Ash-Shareef and Ali Al-Blati. The homes were ransacked and contents destroyed.
One soldier ransacking the Ash-Shareef home, said Al-Khiran, tore a Qur'an in
half and threw it into the toilet. Local teacher Salah At- Titi was arrested and
taken to an unknown location.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Dozens
of soldiers deploy as child, toy gun spotted near Bethlehem
(1
Nov) Moments after seeing a young child playing with what was in fact a toy gun,
Israeli forces deployed in three neighborhoods south of Bethlehem and beseiged
the area. The main road between Bethlehem and Hebron was closed for two hours as
armed soldiers searched the area, ransacking several homes and destroying
furniture in a frantic search for the supposed weapon. When residents demanded
to know the justification for the disruptions, soldiers insisted that someone
had witnessed a child holding a rifle. A local family then presented their
child, with his toy gun, to the soldiers. The soldiers reportedly jumped back,
fearful before the child, who showed them the toy. Hesitantly, soldiers took the
plastic rifle from the boy, and eventually went on their way, residents told
Ma'an. [End]
http://www.maannews.net/en/
European
politicians attacked, seven persons injured at Bil'in
protest
(31 Oct) Seven protesters including two French peace
activists were injured by Israeli soldiers who fired live ammunition at a group
of protesters at an anti-wall demonstration in the West Bank city of Bil'in near
Ramallah. Among the protesters were Italian Euro-MP Luisa Morgantini and British
Liberal Democrat Chris Davies, who was beaten by Israeli soldiers. Residents of
the village took into the streets alongside international peace activists after
the Friday prayers as has become customary over the past three years. This week
protesters commemorated the 52nd anniversary of the Kafr Qasim massacre, where
Israeli police killed 48 Palestinians in one evening; as well as the 91st
anniversary of the Balfour declaration in which the British government declared
that Palestine could be a homeland for the Jewish people.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Seven
people injured in Bil'in weekly protest; European parliament members brutalized
by Israeli soldiers
(31 Oct) Report from Bil'in Popular
Committee against the Apartheid Wall and Settlements
(to visit the Bil'in village website
click here)... A French
delegation of the International Civil Campaign for the Protection of the
Palestinian People (CCIPPP), another group from Belgium, Enseignants pour une
Paix Juste au Proche-Orient (EPJPO), as well as a group from Nanterre, France,
joined the protest today and also listened to a presentation by the Bil'in
committee about the village's struggle against the wall. A music band from the
USA, called Olive Trees Circus, played guitar, accordion, and sang for peace in
the middle of the action.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/
european-parliament-members-
Settlers
burn Palestinian land in Burin
(31 Oct) Many acres of land were
burnt in the village of Burin on Thursday 30th October, in what appeared to be
an arson attack by settlers from nearby Bracha settlement. The attack came at
approximately 2pm, when Palestinian farmers and international activists were
harvesting olives nearby. The fire quickly spread along the edge of the road
that leads to Bracha settlement - an Israeli-only road. Burin fire-fighters were
quick to respond to the fire, but were held up when they were unable to enter
the Israeli-only road without permission from Israeli authorities. Upon reaching
the scene, firefighters were able to contain the blaze after approximately
fifteen minutes, with assistance from farmers. Approximately 20 olive trees were
damaged in the blaze, with many more trees saved only by the fact that the land
was damp due recent rains.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/
Farming
Palestine
(31 Oct) by Ben White -- "Palestinian olive farmers
face assault and interference by Israeli settlers some of whom are gun-hugging
bigots cannot bear the sight of Palestinians working the land of 'Judea and
Samaria'." ... A reporter on the Arabic TV network Abu Dhabi observed the
hurried, furtive olive-picking of the Palestinians and noted how it looked as if
the farmers were stealing their own olives. An aptly ironic microcosm of
Palestinian life under Israeli rule, as they are made to feel like interlopers
in their own land by both settler extremists, and the Israeli state
itself.
http://www.newstatesman.com/
PPP
denounces Israeli home demolition orders of five homes near
Salfit
(31 Oct) Ramallah – The Palestine People's Party (PPP)
denounced the latest Israeli decision to demolish five Palestinian homes in the
town of Bruqin in the northern West Bank. Senior PPP member Isam Baker called
the decision "part of the ethnic cleansing policy that is carried out by the
Israeli authorities in the Palestinian territories." Baker explained that the
residents of Burqin, which sits in the middle of the path of the Israeli
separation wall, are fearful that their homes will be demolished. The proximity
of the village to the planned route of the wall and the Khirbet Susa and Burkan
Israeli settlements, in the Ari'el bloc, has lead to the demolition of dozens of
homes in the town and the constant presence of the Israeli army.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Palestinian
child speaks of his arrest, ill-treatment at hands of
Israelis
(1 Nov) Ni'lin – B'Tselem Report – Twelve-year-old
Muhammad Salah Muhammad Khawajah is a student and a resident of Ni'lin, a
village in the Ramallah district of the West Bank. His testimony about the night
his home was invaded was given to Iyad Hadad on 18 September 2008 at the
witness's home...
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Palestinian
prisoners protest Israeli negligence
(1 Nov) Palestinians jailed
at the Israeli Rimon Prison protested on Saturday alleged abuses at the hands of
guards, including negligence, relatives reported. Relatives of prisoner Khalil
Barq'a of the Ayda Refugee Camp in Bethlehem said Khalil had informed them on
Thursday that prisoners would not be permitted visitors for the next two weeks.
"Prisoners are never transferred to hospitals, despite urgent needs," he said.
Prisoners also reported that officials refuse to allow them to receive winter
clothing or blankets from their families, and that food is scarce.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
PLC
member: Israeli navy fired on Palestinians, activists off Gaza
coast
(31 Oct) PLC-member Jamal Al-Khudari, who is also the head
of the Popular Committee to Break the Siege on Gaza, claimed that Israeli navy
boats fired toward the activists on Friday afternoon. "Israeli navy boats fired
on [the activists] intensively while they were helping the Palestinian
fishermen," he said in a statement.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Pro-Palestinian
activist boat leaves Gaza
(1 Nov) GAZA CITY (AFP) – A boat
carrying pro-Palestinian activists left the Gaza Strip on Saturday three days
after it was allowed through a strict Israeli blockade on the Islamist-ruled
territory. The 20-metre (65-foot) "Dignity" weighed anchor from the Gaza port
following a short ceremony and a press conference with Hamas officials who
hailed their initiative. Three of 27 activists stayed on in Gaza , while
activist Hueida Araf said another ship will head to the Palestinian coastal
territory next week carrying members of the European parliament.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/
Free
Gaza Movement castigates Egypt
(Oct 31) Free Gaza Movement
activists have condemned the Egyptian government for participating in the
Israeli-imposed siege against Gazans. In their third day in besieged Gaza,
pro-Palestinian peace and human rights activists visited the Rafah border
crossing, which was closed by Egypt three years ago and urged Cairo to reopen
the transit route as soon as possible.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.
A new ship carrying
European parliamentarians prepares to sail to Gaza
(1 Nov) The
European Committee Against the Siege on Gaza, based in Brussels, stated that it
is preparing to send a ship filled with European parliamentarians to the Gaza
Strip. Initially, Egypt denied the delegates access to Gaza through the Rafah
border terminal.
http://www.imemc.org/article/
Hamas
women protest at Rafah, call for open borders and end to
siege
(1 Nov) Dozens of Hamas-affiliated women rallied near the
Rafah crossing on Saturday afternoon in protest of the closure of the crossing
point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. Protesters raised posters and placards
calling on Egypt to open the crossing, and for Arab and Islamic countries to
exert pressure on Israel to help ensure the opening of commercial terminals
which have been closed for months.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Gaza
municipality announces plans to repair, prevent flood damage
(1
Nov) The Gaza Strip's local municipality will repair damage caused by the recent
heavy flooding there, the council's media office announced on Saturday. Human
rights and other international organizations will fund the restorations of roads
and houses, according to a statement received by Ma'an.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Singing
to end an operatic tragedy; Italian vocalist performs in Gaza
(1
Nov) Giuseppe Fallisi filled the Gazan concert hall on Friday evening where he
performed several Italian arias, one that the opera singer wrote himself about
the tragic situation in the Gaza Strip. Fallisi arrived in Gaza on the SS
Dignity, which docked in Gaza City on 29 October. The ship was the third
international vessel to tie-up at the port in 41 years. "Verrà " is Fallisi's
song for Palestine. The English and Italian lyrics are: Will come, yes freedom
will come, Verrà , sì verrà la libertà ,....
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Gaza's
tunnels: A dangeous, vital lifeline
(1 Nov) More than 40 people
have been killed this year in tunnel-related accidents, the al-Mezan Centre for
Human Rights in Gaza said on 12 October. The latest two casualties died a couple
of days ago when gas canisters they were carrying exploded inside the tunnel
near the Egyptian border. The rights group blamed the deteriorating economic
situation for the number of youngsters risking their lives to make a living as a
tunnel smuggler..."The tunnels are becoming more important," a local resident
said. Some estimates say business conducted through tunnels makes up over a
third of Gaza's overall economic activity.
http://www.ptimes.org/main/
Cash hard to
come by in Gaza, development scarce as Tony Blair wears too many hats, UNRWA
head says
UNITED NATIONS, October 31 -- One way to try to
understand the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories of Gaza and the
West Bank is to, well, follow the money. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
himself had to call Israel's president to push to allow currency in, to pay the
11,000 staff members of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees,
UNRWA chief Karen AbuZayd told the Press on Friday. Inner City Press asked about
reports that UNRWA is paying taxes to Israel, despite what are called its
privileges and immunities. Yes, Ms. AbuZayd said, we pay, to use the port and
taxes, to make claims, hoping to be paid back. Video here,
from Minute 49:31.
http://www.innercitypress.com/
Egypt
finds missiles in Sinai Peninsula
GAZA, Oct. 31 (UPI) --
Egyptian security forces have located eight missiles in the Sinai Peninsula that
may have been part of a smuggling operation into Gaza, officials say. Egyptian
officials said the missile cache was made up of ground-to-ground and
ground-to-air-missiles, but would not discuss exact details of the weapons,
IsraelNationalNews.com said Friday.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/
Gazans 'fire
anti-tank missiles'
(31 Oct) Palestinian militants have fired
two anti-tank missiles at Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, violating a
four-month-old truce, Israel has said. The Israeli military
said troops investigating "suspicious movements" along the fence marking the
edge of the Strip came under fire. The incident was said to be the first use of
such weapons during the truce. It came a day after officials told the Israeli
media they could not confirm reports of an earlier rocket attack. Israel had
closed cargo crossings in the Gaza Strip in response to Thursday's reported
attack.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/
Israeli-backed
PA strike Hamas hard in West Bank
(31 Oct) HEBRON, West Bank --
The Palestinian Authority recently uncovered a massive underground tunnel
belonging to Hamas in the southern West Bank city of Hebron ...this was the
first such discovery of such a secret tunnel in the PA controlled West Bank
where Hamas is finding it increasingly hard to train its military wing and store
weapons as the PA, backed by the Israelis, beefs up its operations against the
group.The tunnel's entrance was discovered under the home of a Palestinian
family during a raid by Palestinian forces in the area.What was surprising was
that Israel's highly advanced domestic intelligence agency, the Shin Bet, was
caught off-guard by the discovery of the tunnel and had no prior knowledge of
its existence. Indeed, it was the PA which tipped off Israeli intelligence and
subsequently the entire neighborhood where the tunnel was discovered was placed
under curfew as the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) carried out arrests and
raids... While the toughness of the PA may be earning it many brownie points
with the Israelis, Americans and to a lesser extent the Europeans, many
Palestinians are angered at what they see as the quisling behavior of the PA as
they operate as a quasi-militia for Israel.
http://www.metimes.com/
Human
rights organization refutes PA allegations on political
prisoners
(31 Oct) In an interview with the Qatar-based
Al-Jazeera satellite TV channel, Palestinian human rights activist Eyad
Al-Barghouthi, the director of the Ramallah center for human rights, asserted
that there were nearly 200 Palestinian political prisoners languishing in the PA
jails in the West Bank. He was reacting to the allegations of Nemr Hammad, the
political advisor of PA chief Mahmoud Abbas, who claimed that the PA jails were
free of political prisoners
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Violent
past a tough act to follow, Palestinian finds
(1 Nov) JENIN
REFUGEE CAMP, WEST BANK — It was the hardest decision of Zakariya Zubeidi's
life. Slightly more than a year ago, the powerful commander of Jenin's al-Aqsa
Martyrs Brigades, one of Israel's most-wanted for plotting shooting attacks and
suicide bombings, walked into a Palestinian security office and handed in his
gun. At 32, he had concluded bitterly that his fight had failed. And he had
another ambition: to deter this poverty-stricken camp's children away from the
path of violence by rebuilding a children's theatre destroyed in the last
intifada . Offered, along with other gunmen, a rare amnesty from
Israel, he spent time in a Palestinian jail and swore to remain unarmed. On his
release, he pledged to dedicate his time to the Freedom Theatre's workshops and
performances, trying to recreate his own boyhood experiences in drama thanks to
the work of a Jewish-Israeli peace activist. But today his past has caught up
with him, illustrating the difficulty of starting a new life after one of
violence. The theatre, now thriving under the direction of the original
founder's son, does not want him there for fear that he will scare off
much-needed foreign donors in the theatre's quest to expand.
http://www.theglobeandmail.
page=rss&id=RTGAM.20081101.
Reem Hazzam: On
racism and coexistence in Acre
(31 Oct) The recent incidents in
Acre appeared to be
spontaneous acts of racism and a threat to the "coexistence" between Arabs and
Jews in the city. But that is only if we take seriously the idealist notion of
"coexistence" that some said prevailed in Acre. If not, we are left with a
reality where two peoples live in the same jurisdiction but where the minority,
the Arabs, are discriminated against in all areas -- their rights, services,
education, and development. The majority Jewish population also suffers poverty
and unemployment but this majority sees the conflict against the backdrop of
religion and takes its anger out on the Arab community rather than the state.
It does not see the problem as a matter of methodical oppression.
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.
Terrorist
running for city council
(31 Oct) Terrorist becomes a
politician: Tagrid Saadi, a 28-year-old Arab-Israeli woman convicted of failing
to prevent a terror attack in Jerusalem, is vying for a city council spot in the
northern town of Sakhnin.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Yigal
Amir moved to terrorists' jail
(31 Oct) Israel Prison Service
decides to transfer Prime Minister Rabin's murderer to facility housing 700
security prisoners following unauthorized interviews he gave media (see Rabin's
assassin says he was prodded)
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Islamic
leader calls on Muslims to protect religious sites
(1 Nov) A
preacher at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque and Palestinian Authority (PA) Waqf
Ministry on Saturday called on Muslims and Arabs to stand with Palestinians in
light of recent threats to "their homeland and religious shrines." Yousef Jum'a
Salameh spoke to reporters at a news conference in the Gaza Strip on Saturday,
where he spoke in reference to a recent Israeli court order allowing a museum to
be built on or perhaps near a Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Robert
Fisk's world: Arabs have to rely on Britain and Israeli for their
history
(1 Nov) There is no Public Record Office in the Arab
world, no National Archive -- In Damascus, a massive statue of the late
President Hafez al-Assad sits on a mighty iron chair outside the 22,000sq m
Assad Library, a giant book open in his right hand. Behind him lie the archives
of his dictatorship. But not a single state paper is open to the people of
Syria. There are no archives from the foreign ministry or the interior ministry
or the defence ministry. There is no 30-year rule – for none is necessary. The
rule is for ever. There is no Public Record Office in the Arab world, no
scholars waiting outside the National Archives. It is the same in Cairo, in
Riyadh, in Beirut and in Tripoli. Dictatorships and caliphates do not give away
their secrets.
http://www.independent.co.uk/
-israel-for-their-history-
On
trend? Check
(1 Nov) Jihadi chic? Hardly. The keffiyeh scarf is
now a fashion staple on the streets of Tel Aviv
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Jordan
prisoners in Israel to get rare family visit
(31 Oct) AMMAN
(AFP) – Relatives of Jordanian prisoners in Israeli jails will travel next month
to the Jewish state for a rare visit with the inmates, a foreign ministry
spokesman said on Friday. "Preparations for the visit on November 18 have been
made with the Israeli side," Nassar Habashneh told the state-run Petra news
agency. He did not elaborate but said the visit will be the second in two years
and the third since Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1994. In 2006, 37
Jordanians representing 16 families visited their relatives in Israeli jails
during a trip organised by the foreign ministry.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/
Sheikh
Raed Salah barred from entering Jordan
(31 Oct) NAZARETH,
(PIC)-- Sheikh Raed Salah, head of the Islamic movement in 1948-occupied
Palestine was barred on Friday morning from entering Jordan to attend a festival
in support of the Aqsa Mosque. Sources close to Sheikh Salah said he was turned
back at the Sheikh Husain bridge crossing. The Jordanian authorities stopped
Sheikh Salah at the border-crossing and questioned him, then asked him to wait.
After half an hour he was told that there was a decision from Amman barring him
from entering Jordan.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Lebanon: 12 IAF
jets violated our airspace
(1 Nov) Lebanon said 12 Israel Air
Force warplanes violated its airspace on Friday by flying reconnaissance
missions over the country's North and South. The Lebanese army said in a
statement carried by Lebanon's official news agency that six IAF jets flew over
the border village of Alma al-Shaab and other southern towns and villages for
about 30 minutes Friday. The statement said six other IAF warplanes flew over
the Mediterranean off the coastal city of Batroun and over other northern towns
for about an hour.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Report:
Lebanese army uncovered Mossad ring in Bekaa Valley
(1 Nov) The
Lebanese army discovered a years-old Israeli Mossad ring operating in the south
of the country, according to a report published in the Arabic-language As-Safir
newspaper on Saturday. According to the report, Lebanese military officials
began a counter-espionage program against the alleged group shortly after the
war in 2006. So far, one suspect has been arrested, identified only as A.G. The
report said the man lived in the Bekaa Valley, where he has maintained political
relations with multiple groups and factions, among them several Palestinian
organizations. Reportedly, this is not his first accusation of collaborating
with Israel. Sources also told the newspaper that the alleged ring had been
operating for over 20 years.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Report:
Lebanon uncovers espionage ring working for Israel
(1 Nov)
A-Safir: Man arrested on suspicion of employing network of agents working with
Israeli intelligence to map out sensitive locations in Lebanon, Syria –
including Damascus neighborhood in which Hizbullah leader Mugniyah was
killed
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Friday: 3 Iraqis
killed, 12 wounded
(31 Oct) Excerpt: At least one Iraqi was
killed and another nine were wounded on a fairly quiet prayer day. The only
casualties reported so far were in Mosul. No Coalition casualties were reported.
Meanwhile, one al-Qaeda suspect killed in a U.S. missile strike in Pakistan was
reported to be an Iraqi national.
http://www.antiwar.com/
US,
Iraqi fatalities dip in October
(1 Nov) U.S. military toll is
13, while the number of Iraqis killed is 278, the lowest since the U.S.-led
invasion in March 2003.
http://www.latimes.com/news/
Iraqi crisis report: Could
Awakening fighters rejoin insurgency?
As American forces hand
back control of the largely Sunni militia forces known as the Awakening
(al-Sahwa) Councils to the Shia-led government, there are fears that sectarian
rivalries could prompt some members of these groups to rejoin the
insurgency.
http://www.iwpr.net/EN-icr-f-
Iraqi
refugee voices: the impossibility of return
Report, Refugees
International, Oct 31, 2008 "It is impossible to go back to Iraq because I
would be killed, but I can barely survive here in Syria." A single middle-aged
woman in Damascus says that her only hope is resettlement. She is willing to go
anywhere, although she, like most Iraqis, has many questions about what life is
like in some of the resettlement countries. She came to Syria after her parents
were kidnapped and killed in Iraq.
http://electroniciraq.net/
Solidarity
with the besieged Christians of Iraq
(31 Oct) The
Assembly of Solidarity with Iraqi Christians Holds U.S. occupation and its tools
responsible for the Uprooting conspiracy -- Speakers and participants
in the assembly of solidarity made the connection between the Zionist plan to
uproot Palestinians, especially its Christian component, from Palestine, and the
American occupation to uproot millions of Iraqis, Christians among them, from
their land and homes, especially in the Ninawa district.
http://palestinethinktank.com/
In
Iraq, US Marines rely on allies like a hatchet-wielding colonel to keep the
peace
(31 Oct) RAMADI, IRAQ--Col. Ahmed Hamid Sharqi was many
things--businessman, smuggler, policeman for Saddam Hussein . Now, the U.S.
marines stationed here consider him one of their greatest assets in keeping the
streets of the capital of Anbar province--only recently some of the most
dangerous in the world--safe. Never mind that he wears a hatchet on his belt, a
powerful reminder of the legend of how the commander of the North Ramadi police
district attained his post--reportedly hacking to death members of Al Qaeda in
Iraq in the streets.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/
tokeepthepeace
Maliki
to show neighbours US-Iraq military pact
(31 Oct) BAGHDAD (AFP)
– Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Friday he will submit the text of
the controversial security pact with the United States to all of his country's
neighbours. He would do so after Baghdad receives a US reply to five proposed
amendments made by Iraq , a statement from his office said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/
Parts
of US-Iraq military pact still to be clarified: minister
(31
Oct) MADRID (AFP) – Some points in the draft security accord between Iraq and
the United States still have to be clarified, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar
Zebari said in an interview published Friday. "We must clarify some points such
as that on jurisdiction, that is to say that the American law has precedence
inside their bases but not in the streets," he told the Spanish newspaper
ABC.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/
Petraeus
takes over as head of US Central Command
(1 Nov) Reporting from
Macdill Air Force Base, Fla. -- The most important task for Gen. David H.
Petraeus, installed as head of U.S Central Command, will be developing a single
coherent strategy for Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said
Friday.
http://www.latimes.com/news/
The Middle East
also wants a change
(31 Oct) By Akiva Eldar -- One might think
that Gerald Ford (of whom it was said that he could not walk and chew gum at the
same time) is the leading candidate for president of the United States.
Otherwise, it is impossible to explain why the left fears (and the right hopes)
that Barack Obama (or perhaps even John McCain) will be up to his neck in the
economic crisis for months and will be unavailable for dipping in the Middle
Eastern swamp. By that time the Likud will have established a government of
refusal, or perhaps a unity government, i.e., a government of paralysis. The
traditional Jewish lobby will see to it that Obama will not hassle Benjamin
Netanyahu (or perhaps after all the prime minister will be Tzipi Livni) about
Jerusalem and the Jewish settlements in the West Bank. And a savior has come to
Zion.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Videos:
The Host and the Parasite: How Israel's fifth column consumed
America
Greg Felton, a Canadian investigative reporter and
author, spoke on Feb. 25, 2008 at the Vancouver Public Library about his
controversial book, " The Host and The Parasite " Watch 30-minute video of his
presentation and 30-minute highlights of the heated questions and answers.
http://palestinethinktank.com/
Former World
Jewish Congress chief Bronfman endorses 'tough idealist'
Obama
(1 Nov) In a column on the Huffingtonpost, Bronfman
asserted that Obama is the candidate who will act in the best interest of
Israel. Of Obama's Republican rival, the philanthropist said: "As an American
Jew who loves Israel, I cannot support John McCain." Bronfman, a former head of
the World Jewish Congress, wrote in the piece titled "Israel's Best Interest is
a Morally Strong America" that an honest broker was needed to push Israelis and
Palestinians toward a two-state solution.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
PLO
chief hosts Obama adviser at Jericho talks
(1 Nov) The head of
the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)'s Negotiations Affairs Department
met with one of US presidential candidate Barack Obama's more prominent advisors
in Jericho on Saturday. Saeb Erikat discussed updates on Palestinian-Israeli
negotiations with Daniel Kerster, advisor to the American Democratic candidate.
Pertinent to the talks was the inability of either side to reach a peace
agreement by 2009, a responsibility that Erikat claimed belongs to Israel and
its refusal to comply with commitments made on the Road Map for Peace.
http://www.maannews.net/en/
Letter
to the Houston (Texas) Chronicle: Poll on Muslims astounds
(31
Oct) By Yousef Munayyer. Professor smeared -- After several months of negative
campaigning, perhaps the most significant casualties have been the reputations
and perceptions of Arab and Muslim-Americans. The McCain campaign's recent
allegations of Obama's ties to terror by smearing a respectable professor like
Rashid Khalidi are reprehensible. A recent press release by the Republican
National Committee accuses Obama of sympathizing with Palestinians but no one
has asked: What is wrong with sympathizing with Palestinians? Suffering under
the world's longest standing illegal occupation, Palestinians have been forced
to live under deadly and disturbing conditions for generations. One should
expect presidential candidates to sympathize with Israelis and
Palestinians.
http://www.chron.com/disp/
On
Khalidi
(31 Oct) I am an observant American Jew, my grandparents
were survivors of Auschwitz and Bergen Belsen, and I am a proud Zionist,
although one who identifies more with the J-Street Project than AIPAC. I am also
a supporter of Barack Obama...To love and support Israel, and to view it as the
ultimate protection for Jews from another Holocaust, does not require one to
completely disregard the suffering of the Palestinian people, most of whom
committed no sin other than to be born in a land claimed by another. I can't
imagine what it must feel like to one day wake up and be told your land is no
longer yours and you have to leave. My own people have been in that situation
before, and it turns my stomach that the experience of my family is used to
justify keeping another people down.
http://andrewsullivan.
In
defence of Rashid Khalidi
(31 Oct) by Michelle Goldberg -- In
the waning days of the election, the McCain campaign has realised that its
attempts to tie Barack Obama to "unrepentant domestic terrorist" Bill Ayers
aren't having much effect. So it's trying a new tactic, blasting the candidate
for consorting with unrepentant domestic Palestinian Rashid
Khalidi. Now an eminent professor of
Arab studies at Columbia, Khalidi, like Obama, formerly taught at the University
of Chicago, where the two men were friends. Hoping to instill shadowy
associations between Obama and Arabs in the minds of low-information voters, the
McCain team has taken to slandering a thoughtful and respectable man.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Unintended
consequences: Rashid Khalidi's book rides high in the Amazon
charts
The closing days of this election will be remembered, of
course, for the way in which John McCain plucked one man from relative
obscurity, setting him before the American public as a symbol of all the reasons
you should vote Republican, not Democratic, this Tuesday. I'm talking, of
course, of "Rashid the Respected Palestinian Scholar", aka Rashid Khalidi, the
Columbia university professor who, I can exclusively reveal, does not hold an
Ohio plumbing license. Awkwardly, however, McCain's use of Khalidi in his
campaigning seems to have triggered a concerted effort to purchase copies of the
professor's largely well-received book, The
Iron Cage: The Story Of The Palestinian Struggle For Statehood, which is now
at 122 in Amazon.com's ranking of all books sold. The election-season
re-release of McCain's Faith of My Fathers, by contrast, is at 2,600.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Demonizing
Muslims is not America
(31 Oct ) By Nadia Hijab -- A friend's
mother -- a white Christian in central Pennsylvania as it happens -- resisted
her family's arguments in favor of Barack Obama. Then she got an unsolicited
call raising fears about the Democrat. She was so outraged by the blatant
propaganda that she has now decided to vote for Obama. Increasingly, the right's
scare tactics are turning Americans off John McCain's campaign, despite the
Republican candidate's (half-hearted) efforts to disavow his supporters'
excesses. But there always seems to be another well of fear to tap. . . Why are
Muslims and Arabs so easy to demonize? The obvious reply is 9/11. But negative
feelings pre-date that tragedy. Answers could be provided by a closer look at
some of the demonizers. They include the most right wing elements in the United
States and Israel: the so-called "Christian Zionists" and neoconservatives over
here, and the Likud Party over there. Their agenda promotes war on Iraq and
Iran, and a "Greater Israel" that has kept Israel occupying Arab land since
1967.
http://zcommunications.org/
Fox
News graphic shows men shooting at Obama, McCain
(31 Oct) Fox
News is known for outrageous graphics...Last night Fox ran another graphic that
could be considered "poor judgment." This one had two gunmen pointing their
pistols at photos of Barack Obama and John McCain. See for yourself and decide
whether it's "poor judgment" to point guns at our presidential nominees,
especially when news of Obama assassination
plots continues to surface.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
No
charges but US may never release Guantanamo Chinese
(1 Nov)
Seventeen Chinese prisoners who have been held for nearly seven years in
Guantánamo Bay will be informed on Monday that they could spend the rest of
their lives behind bars, even though they face no charges and have been told by
a judge they should be freed. No country is willing to accept them and the US
justice department has now blocked moves for them to be allowed to go to the US
mainland, where they had been offered a home by refugee and Christian
organisations.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
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