Land Theft and Destruction
A West Bank farming community cries foul after its 180 residents are left homeless. CNN's Paula Hancocks reports.
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#
Israeli excavations blamed for latest Silwan collapse
Jerusalem – Ma’an – The Wadi Hilwah Information Centre reported another collapse in the Silwan neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem on Monday, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City, creating a 12 meter square hole in the middle of Wadi Hilwah street.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment
Eight more residents arrested in Ni’lin
January 18th, 2010-- Occupation staged a pre-dawn raid in the village of Ni’lin, arresting four young men before withdrawing in the early hours of the morning. Later in the day, four more residents turned themselves in to Occupation authorities. This is the most serious arrest raid that the village has witnessed in some time, and is a dangerous indication that Occupation forces have decided to intensify their crackdown on the popular resistance.
http://stopthewall.org/
Free Wa’el Al-Faqeeh
On the night of December 9th 2009, over 200 Israeli soldiers entered the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Their mission: to round up local grassroots activists, whose promotion of popular struggle Israel had no answer for. Amongst those taken was 45 year old Wa’el Al-Faqeeh. Fifty soldiers stormed his home, pointing their weapons at him and his family as though the man they had come to arrest embodied a formidable threat. But those who know Al Faqeeh know that he worked tirelessly – and on a largely voluntary basis – in defense of human rights and the promotion of the strategies and philosophy of Palestinian non-violent resistance.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/
Soldiers threaten repression if Ma’sara demonstrations continue
January 16th, 2010-- Yesterday night, Occupation forces raided al-Ma’sara. At 1:30 in the morning, they hit the home of popular committee member Mohammed Brajiya, delivering a message threatening arrests if demonstrations do not cease. Despite the raid, dozens of villagers, along with international supporters, marched toward the Wall after prayers.
http://stopthewall.org/
200 of us demonstrated outside the courthouse all night long, shouting to be heard by the 17 in the lockup
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/01/
TWENTY-TWO HOURS IN SHEIKH JARRAH
http://www.palestinemonitor.
Extreme silencing of protest in East Jerusalem
The human rights community in Israel condemns the extreme silencing of protest in Israel, silencing that has become particularly blatant and violent recently in East Jerusalem.
http://www.btselem.org/
Muslim Brotherhood issues edict forbidding importing goods from Israel
The Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan has prohibited the import of goods from Israel, describing it as normalization with the Israeli occupation and a boost to its economy.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Palestinian Film Forum Breaking the Cultural Siege on Gaza
The Palestinian Film Forum (the Forum) was established in 2004 as a branch of the Palestinian Artists Union covering both Gaza and the West Bank. In the last couple of months it has intensified its activities aiming to achieve an ambitious list of tasks and ensure development of Palestinian cinematography and its networking with the other world cinematographies.
http://palestinechronicle.com/
The Gaza Freedom March
"It was meant to be a historic non-violent protest in Gaza against Israel’s blockade. But forces are quick to converge in the Middle East against those who work for peace."
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/01/
Anti-Solidarity/Recognizing Apartheid
Minister becomes first Israeli official to ever visit Abu Dhabi
Israel for the first time sent a cabinet minister to the United Arab Emirates, a small Gulf country with which it doesn't have relations, to attend a conference on alternative energy.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
A Mondoweiss reader has sent along the following map that is used in the orientation materials for Birthright trips to Israel. For those who don’t know, Birthright Israel is a program that gives free 10-day trips to Jewish young adults between ages 18-26 to build a connection with Israel and "strengthen participants’ personal Jewish identity":
Aggression/Violence
UN warns 250,000 Palestinians 'vulnerable' to settler violence
A report released by the United Nations last year says settlers angered over the destruction of outposts could exact revenge on 250,000 Palestinians in the West Bank.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Detainees
IOF troops round up 17 citizens including father and his son
IOF soldiers stormed the home of Abdulfattah Shallade in Sa'ir village, Al-Khalil district, at dawn Monday and rounded him up along with his son Ziyad after ransacking the family home.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Hamas: PA security detain six affiliates
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Hamas officials accused Palestinian Authority security services of detaining six men with connections to Hamas, saying they were detained from across the West Bank on Monday based on their affiliation.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Hamas Security Forces Arrest Khan Younis Imam
The Palestine News and Information Center, WAFA, reported that the security forces of Hamas in Gaza arrested an imam of a local mosque in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. WAFA said that Sheikh Mohammad Qasem Al Astal, 45, is the imam of Al Sunna Mosque, in Khan Younis. He was reportedly arrested after he slammed the way Hamas deals with Egypt.
The Imam said that it is not right to march against “our neighbors, or describe them as atheists or curse them, as this is not what Islam calls for”.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
Egypt' and Israel's Humanitarian War Against Gaza
Uncomfortably Numb
The underground tunnels between Egypt and Gaza are a lifeline for those trapped inside the blockaded Strip, but along with the clothes, furniture and food that make their way through the tunnels, a dangerous drug - Tramadol - is also entering the territory. Tramal, as it is known in Gaza, is a dangerously addictive painkiller which is illegal without a prescription, but an increasing number of Gazans are becoming hooked on it. Uncomfortably Numb talks to some of those addicts, those who are trying to help them and the authorities seeking to crack down on drug abuse.
Israel 'collectively punishing' people of Gaza: Amnesty
Amnesty International on Monday accused Israel of "collectively punishing" the population of the Gaza Strip with border closures tightened after the Islamist Hamas movement's bloody 2007 takeover.The British-based rights group said the firing of rockets by Palestinian militants - which the Israeli military says has dropped by about 90 percent since its war on Gaza last year - did not justify the sanctions.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Human Rights/Humanitarian Issues/Siege
Muslim leaders' response to Gaza suffering 'pitiful': Turkish PM (AFP)
AFP - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday decried what he called Muslim leaders' inadequate response to Palestinian suffering in the Gaza Strip as "pitiful."
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Israel's aid to Haiti won't save Gaza, Akiva Eldar
Who said we are shut up inside our Tel Aviv bubble? How many small nations surrounded by enemies set up field hospitals on the other side of the world? Give us an earthquake in Haiti, a tsunami in Thailand or a terror attack in Kenya, and the IDF Spokesman's Office will triumph. A cargo plane can always be found to fly in military journalists to report on our fine young men from the Home Front Command.
http://haaretz.com/hasen/
Closed Zone
Gisha - Legal Center for Freedom of Movement calls on the State of Israel to fully open Gaza's crossings and to allow the real victims of the closure - 1.5 million human beings - the freedom of movement necessary to realize their dreams and aspirations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Yet...
Gazans raise money for Haiti
Gaza – Ma’an – Palestinians in Gaza set off for the Red Cross headquarters on Monday to offer donations and financial support for the victims of Haiti’s devastating earthquake on Tuesday. Relatives of Palestinian prisoners also participated in the drive, with many offering financial donations and goods including blankets and covers, as well as food and milk for children.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Palestinians to provide quake stricken Haiti with aid
The Palestinian government is to provide Haiti with humanitarian aid in the wake of the devastating earthquake which all but leveled the island's capital city, the Palestinian Authority's Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Political Developments/Diplomacy
Diskin to Abbas: Defer UN vote on Goldstone or face 'second Gaza', Akiva Eldar
The request by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the United Nations Human Rights Council last year to postpone the vote on the Goldstone report followed a particularly tense meeting with the head of the Shin Bet security service, Haaretz has learned. At the October meeting in Ramallah, Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin told Abbas that if he did not ask for a deferral of the vote on the critical report on last year’s military operation, Israel would turn the West Bank into a "second Gaza." Diskin, who reports directly to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, threatened to revoke the easing of restrictions on movement within the West Bank that had been implemented earlier last year. He also said Israel would withdraw permission for mobile phone company Wataniya to operate in the Palestinian Authority.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Israeli FM refuses to offer more gestures towards Palestinians
JERUSALEM, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Sunday Israel would offer no further gestures to the Palestinians as attempts to reboot the stalled peace process. "We finished our arsenal of gestures and there will be no other gestures. Now it is the time for Palestinian gestures," local daily The Jerusalem Post quoted Lieberman as saying at a joint press conference in Jerusalem together with visiting Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/
French sources: US won't supply Palestinians with guarantees
The US special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, is scheduled to arrive for a visit to the region without a letter desired by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who asked the US to provide guarantees for the negotiations with Israel. French sources told the London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that Mitchell ahs not revealed a timetable for talks during his visit to Paris and Brussels
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Israel Threatens to Expel Turkish Ambassador
JERUSALEM (AP) -- The Israeli official who touched off a diplomatic crisis with Turkey this week said Saturday that the country's ambassador could be expelled if Turkish TV dramas continue to depict Israeli security forces as brutal. Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon made that point a day before Defense Minister Ehud Barak was due to fly to Turkey for a first visit by an Israeli official since the feud erupted Monday. The visit was scheduled before the row, but will be closely watched, especially because the quarrel was just the latest in a series of confrontations between the once-close allies.
http://www.nytimes.com/
Kuwaiti FM: Israel's Prime Minister is “Stupid and Insane”
17/01/2010 Kuwait's foreign minister lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling him "stupid" and "insane," the Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported on Sunday. Mohammed al-Sabah said the policies of "Israel's stupid and insane prime minister" had jeopardized the so-called peace process, but that the Kuwaiti government remained committed to an Arab peace plan put forward by Saudi Arabia and would keep working to heal a split between the major Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and exiled Hamas chief Khaled Meshal were set to meet in the next 10 days, al-Sabah said. "Abbas and Meshal will aim at completing the reconciliation proposal backed by Egypt," Ma'an reported him as saying, quoting the Kuwaiti press. All attempts to broker a compromise between the warring blocs have failed since mid-2007. But Meshal hinted on Sunday that the rivals could now be close to a deal, saying that reconciliation talks were in the "final stages," Ma'an reported.
http://almanar.com.lb/
Other News
Pro-Palestinian hackers target Web site of top British Jewish newspaper
Britain's flagship Jewish newspaper, the Jewish Chronicle, was taken over on Monday morning by pro-Palestinian hackers.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Israeli police arrest 5 in West Bank mosque blaze (AP)
AP - Israeli police said Monday they have arrested nine people at a radical Jewish settlement in connection with the torching last month of a West Bank mosque and other attacks on Palestinian property.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Analysis/Op-ed/Human Interest
Einstein on Palestine and Zionism
Edward Corrigan - Dissident Voice - There is some controversy over Einstein’s political views especially on the issue of Palestine and the creation of a Jewish State. Many Zionists claim Einstein as one of their own. Einstein, however, was a pacifist, a universalist and abhorred nationalism.
http://dissidentvoice.org/
Iraq
Sunday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 11 Wounded
At least seven Iraqis were killed and 11 more were wounded in light violence. In other news, an Iraqi court handed "Chemical Ali" his fourth death sentence, and former F.M. Tariq Aziz has suffered a massive stroke. Also, the Iraq (Chilcot) Inquiry fill feature a very revealing letter during testimony this week.
http://original.antiwar.com/
Iraqi province gives Saddam loyalists 24 hours to leave (AFP)
AFP - Local government officials warned Saddam Hussein loyalists on Monday to move out of the Shiite province of Najaf in central Iraq within 24 hours or face an "iron fist."
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Iraqis authorize government to sue Blackwater (AP)
AP - Iraq's government has started collecting signatures for a class-action lawsuit from victims who were wounded or lost family in incidents involving the U.S. private security firm formerly known as Blackwater.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Witness - Salam Father
One Iraqi's quest to find why his father was found in a mass grave in Iraq 26 years after he mysteriously disappeared, re-unites him with his family and his birthplace.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Lebanon
Israeli army crosses into Lebanon: state media
BEIRUT, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- An Israeli army unit on Sunday crossed the borders with Lebanon in the direction of the occupied part of al-Ghajar village, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported. "An intense Israeli build-up of forces during the past 24 hours has been observed along the eastern sector of the Blue Line, with mobile and fixed patrols," said NNA. It added that "Israeli tank emplacements were spotted amid intense overflights by helicopter gunships and warplanes."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/
Nasrallah: Arab leaders pressuring Palestinians into talks with Israel
BEIRUT: Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah accused Arab leaders Saturday of caving in to US pressure to bring the Palestinians back to peace talks with Israel. Nasrallah made the statement after meeting Friday with the political leader of the Palestinian group Hamas. Last week, the Obama administration laid out a shift in its Mideast peace strategy, stepping up pressure on Israel and the Palestinians to resume stalled talks by moving immediately to negotiations on the toughest issues dividing them, like the borders of a Palestinian state and the status of Jerusalem.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Muslim accuses Christian teacher of snatching veil
A Lebanese Muslim man said Friday he has filed a complaint against a Christian teacher for trying to snatch a veil from his daughter's head, a sensitive issue in this multi-confessional nation."After the year-end holidays, a Christian teacher tried to tear off the veil of my 12-year-old daughter, Ghiwa, and banned her from entering the classroom veiled," Ahmad al-Baarin said.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Palestinian group refuses to disarm in Lebanon (AFP)
AFP - The head of a Syrian-backed Palestinian militia said on Monday his group will not disarm in Lebanon but is willing to discuss where in the country it holds its arms.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
U.S. and other world news
HAITI: Arab aid making its way
Source: IRIN Governments and NGOs in the Middle East have begun mobilising humanitarian aid for the survivors of a devastating earthquake in Haiti that may have killed more than 100,000 people, according to media reports.
http://www.alertnet.org/
www.TheHeadlines.org
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