VTJP News & Articles 3/14/2010
Occupied Palestine
and Israel: News and Articles
News
International Middle East Media Center
US issues stern warning to Israel due to ongoing settlement expansion
IMEMC - Sunday March 14, 2010 - 10:19, In his latest waver back and forth on the issue of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, US President Barack Obama issued a warning Friday night to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, saying that he wants the Israeli leader to show that he is “serious about peace” by halting settlement construction.
Israeli settlers tear up olive grove, uprooting 40 trees near Nablus
IMEMC - Saturday March 13, 2010 - 10:21, Local municipal officials in the Palestinian Authority reported Friday morning that overnight, a group of Israeli settlers had ambushed a Palestinian olive grove in the town of Qaryut, uprooting and completely destroying 40 trees.
Israeli Police Crackdown On Protesters In East Jerusalem, Eleven Civilians Arrested
IMEMC - Friday March 12, 2010 - 16:45, Eleven protesters were arrested by Israeli officers are they crackdown of a protest organized by Palestinians in East Jerusalem.
Protesters Carry Photos of ISM Activist During Weekly Nil'in Protest One Year On From Injury
IMEMC - Friday March 12, 2010 - 15:27, Dozens of protesters were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation, this Friday, following the weekly demonstration in the central West Bank village of Nil’in, near Ramallah.
Two Injured, Dozens Suffer Effects Of Tear Gas Inhalation At The Bil’in Weekly
IMEMC - Friday March 12, 2010 - 15:13, Two civilians were injured as dozens suffered from the effects of tear gas inhalation when Israeli troops attacked the weekly anti wall protest at the village of Bil’in, central West Bank.
Clashes Erupt At Jerusalem’s Old City
IMEMC - Friday March 12, 2010 - 14:57, Clashes erupted, on Friday afternoon, at Jerusalem’s old city between local youths and Israeli soldiers after the later prevented people for praying.
Al-Ma’sara Village, Southern West Bank, Protest The Israeli Built Wall
IMEMC - Friday March 12, 2010 - 14:41, Villagers of al-Ma’sara, near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem, protested on Friday the Israeli built wall on villagers’ lands.
Palestinians Demand Entry to Jerusalem without permits during the Holy Week of Easter
IMEMC - Friday March 12, 2010 - 13:12, Palestinian Christian organizations, figures and many other Palestinians from the Jerusalem and the surrounding area have sent a letter on March 4, to the heads of churches in Jerusalem, demanding them to encourage all Christians in Palestine to enter Jerusalem for the Easter celebrations without applying for permits from the Israeli authorities.
Barak Orders Full Closure on Jerusalem, West Bank
IMEMC - Friday March 12, 2010 - 12:26, Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, ordered a full siege on Jerusalem and the West Bank starting on Thursday night after night. His decision was made after the Israeli Police warned of the possibility of clashes in Jerusalem.
Israeli Police Approves A Protest For Fundamentalist Settlers in East Jerusalem
IMEMC - Friday March 12, 2010 - 11:04, The Israeli police approved a request filed by fundamentalist Jewish settlers who requested to be allowed to hold a protest in Silwan Arab town, in East Jerusalem.
Ma'an News
House arrest term extended for 15-year-old Jerusalemite
3/13/2010 - Jerusalem - Ma'an - An Israeli court extended the house arrest of a 15-year-old boy to April, during a hearing that sought to overturn the ruling for the boy, confined to his home since October 2009, court documents showed. Abdul Rahman Isaac Muhammad Hassan Az-Zaghal, lived in the Old City of Jerusalem until a court ordered him out of the area and confined him to his brother's home in Tel Aviv, then allowed him to return home and attend school, still under general arrest. "I was arrested in October 2009 during the confrontations with the Israeli soldiers when Jewish groups raided Al-Aqsa. I was held in the Russian compound for a week until the court decided to move me to Tel Aviv where my brother works. I lived with him for two months until the second session of the court which decided that I could go home in Jerusalem. I can only go to school with one of my parents and should stay at home," he told the Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights on Thursday.
Israeli soldiers order Tulkarem farmers to strip
3/13/2010 - Tulkarem - Ma'an - Israeli soldiers demanded 20 farmers strip naked for a security check as they returned from their fields west of the separation wall on Friday afternoon, the men reported. Isolated from their West Bank lands by the separation barrier, the farmers from Deir Al-Ghusun must obtain permits to pass agricultural gate 609, west of Attil village in the northern sector of the Tulkarem governorate. It was at the gate that they were ordered to strip, and scuffles broke out when the men refused. "We were about twenty farmers from Deir Al-Ghusun. When we arrived at the electronic gate known as gate 609. . . there were six Israeli soldiers who insisted that we undress completely including underwear, at gunpoint," Abdul-Latif Zeidan, one of the farmers said. When the men refused the orders a fight broke out, Zeidan said, at which point he phoned the Palestinian liaison department in. . .
Settlement guards threaten farmers near Nablus
3/13/2010 - Nablus - Ma'an - Guards protecting Israeli settlers assaulted a Palestinian farmer in the Wadi Qana area of the Salfit governorate on Friday, mayor of the nearby town of Deir Istya reported. The guards approached a group of farmers and threatened them with bodily harm, assaulting one man Mayor Nathmi Salman said. They told farmers that settlers would be in the area between 7am and 2pm, and they could not harvest or tend crops during the visiting hours. The settlers arrived at the Wadi Qana spring, as dozens of farmers, who had not been notified of the visit, were irrigating orange groves, Salman reported. Wadi Qana is surrounded by five Israeli settlements and four outposts, strategically located around the spring at the base of the Qana valley. In recent weeks, residents have reported the assault of 75-year-old Khadr Ahmad Mansour by settlers in the area, as well as the destruction of olive trees, agricultural fences and structures.
Witness: 3 journalists detained during Beit Ummar protest
3/13/2010 - Hebron - Ma'an - Israeli forces detained four, including at least one Palestinian journalist, and reportedly beat several civilians during a rally in Beit Ummar on Saturday, protesting restrictions on access to agricultural land confiscated by the Karmi Zur settlement. Witnesses described driving through clouds of tear gas on Road 60 at 10am Saturday morning, the result of Israeli soldiers attempts to disperse the rally. A statement from the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee said "procession was attacked as soon as the large contingent of soldiers, which was positioned at the entrance to the village to fend off demonstrators, noticed the marchers and without provocation. " Reuters photojournalist Yusri Al-Jamal and an unidentified Pal Media cameraman were among those assaulted, witnesses said. The struggle committee said one journalist was detained, while witnesses identified three, including, Abdul-Hafith Hashlamoun, Nasser Shyouhi, and Fadi Hamad.
Medics: 6 injured by Israeli forces in Iraq Burin
3/13/2010 - Nablus - Ma'an - Five Palestinians and one Danish national were injured on Saturday afternoon by Israeli forces in Iraq Burin, a Nablus village, medics said. Medics told Ma'an that confrontations erupted between Palestinians and Israeli forces when settlers attempted to enter the Palestinian village. Israeli forces intervened, identifying those injured as Stark, 24, from Denmark, Said Hussam, 24, Nimr Muhammad Nimr, 21, Husam Faqeh, 53 and Imad Qadus, 24. An Israeli military spokesman said 50 rioters threw stones at Israeli security forces in the village, who responded with riot dispersal means. [end]
Israeli media: Mossad trained in the Gulf
3/13/2010 - Bethlehem - Ma'an - Dozens of Israeli reserve soldiers and Mossad agents trained in several Gulf countries with a private company which instructs special army units, Israeli media reported on Friday. According to the Hebrew daily Yedioth Aharonoth, all Israeli intelligence agents and reservists were under 25, and used foreign names and passports including German, Irish, and Australian, speaking only English during their three-month training. The training focused on the protection of oil wells and the means of data collection on "terrorists," as well how to apprehended them in populated areas, the daily reported. Training manuals were translated from Hebrew into English and distributed among the participants, who were further instructed on urban combat inside buildings and highways, as well as sea combat and on military bases, Yedioth Aharonoth said.
Ashton urges Israel to resume peace talks
3/13/2010 - Bethlehem - Ma'an/Agencies - The EU called on Israel to resume peace talks with the Ramallah leadership on Saturday, a day before the union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is set to begin her fist trip to the region, The Associated Press reported. Ashton warned that peace efforts, brought to a halt in December 2008 as Israel launched its war on Gaza, could fail, condemning Israel's plan to build 1,600 new exclusively Israeli homes in occupied East Jerusalem. "I'm very concerned, I'm concerned that Israel announced this just as the proximity talks were beginning" between Israelis and the Palestinians, she said. Ashton called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "to demonstrate leadership," speaking to journalists after meeting with European foreign ministers in Saariselka, northern Finland. " We need a negotiated peace settlement, it needs to happen quickly and now," she said.
Former detainees affairs minister hospitalized at Negev prison
3/13/2010 - Bethlehem - Ma'an - The Israeli prison service transferred former Palestinian Minister of Prisoners Affairs Wasfi Qabaha to a hospital in Israel after his high blood pressure and diabetes caused his feet to swell and skin to turn rust-colored, officials said. The Ahrar Center for Prisoners Studies and Human Rights reported the transfer on Saturday, and said Israel would be held accountable for the former minister's health and well being. Center Director Fuad Al-Khafash said Qabaha's condition suddenly turned critical, and he was rushed to hospital. He has been in administrative detention since 23 May 2007. Administrative detention is used against Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip, based on the 1979 Law of Emergency Powers adopted by the Israeli Knesset. It means Palestinians who have been detained can have the period of their detentions extended without a judicial decision,. . .
Huwwara traffic at standstill as restrictions imposed
3/13/2010 - Nablus - Ma'an - Israeli forces imposed increased restrictions on the movement of Palestinians at the Huwwara military checkpoint on Saturday, which runs north-south, connecting Nablus and Ramallah. Witnesses reportedhundreds of cars waiting to pass through the military zone, as soldiers checked cars and identity cards of passengers traveling in and out of the terminal. The checks continued to cause waits of more than an hour as residents wait to for permission to continue travel to their destinations. An Israeli military spokesman said the move was "nothing out of the ordinary" and a response to regular security assessments in the West Bank. For seven years, the Huwwara checkpoint almost completely severed the north-south artery inside the West Bank. The terminal was for foot traffic only, and travelers were forced to disembark from taxis and buses at the spot six kilometers south of Nablus.
Palestinian injured as settlers stone Sheikh Jarrah restaurants
3/13/2010 - Bethlehem - Ma'an -Israeli settlers injured Palestinian restaurant goers on Friday when they threw rocks at the terraces of a string of East Jerusalem eateries, lightly injuring one, witnesses said. Israeli news sources confirmed the report, saying stones were thrown by Palestinians and Israelis in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. Israeli police arrived at the scene, reports said, and disbursed the stone throwers. Five Israeli protesters were detained earlier Friday in the same neighborhood, during a demonstration against the continued confiscation of Palestinian homes in the area by extremist settler groups. Reports said the demonstrators were released on the condition that they not enter the Sheikh Jarrah area for 15 days. . . . .
Israeli forces disperse women’s march in Ramallah
3/13/2010 - Ramallah - Ma'an - A march celebrating International Women's Day toward the Qalandiya checkpoint into Jerusalem on Saturday was disrupted by Israeli forces, with two injuries reported. Dozens of women participated in the march, oraganized by the Palestinian Federation of Women's Action Committee, further celebrating the anniversary of the founding of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Israeli forces thwarted the march and fired tear-gas canisters at the crowd, injuring two women and a journalist from Al-Fajer TV. Additionally, Sheery Hanoun, 50, and Salah Musameh, 18, from Tulkarem were detained during the unrest. An Israeli military spokesman described the incident as a riot, in which 50 participated, mostly women. Participants, he said, hurled firebombs and rocks, and tried to break through the crossing, adding that the Israeli army was not familiar with any injury or damage.
EU high rep Ashton confirms visit to Gaza
3/13/2010 - Bethlehem - Ma'an - High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy with the EU, Catherine Ashton, will arrive in the Middle East on Sunday, for a four-day trip to the Middle East, a statement confirmed on Thursday. Following the trip to Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem, she will head to Moscow to participate in a meeting of representatives of the Quartet, for an assessment of conditions in the region and prospects for peace. " My visit is a sign of the importance the EU attaches to broad and deep relations with our Mediterranean partners and the Arab World," she said in a news release. During her visit Ashton said she would "look at the contribution the EU is making in the region and can make in the future," with a particular eye to the "sense of urgency at the moment and a need to make progress on the Arab-Israeli conflict. "
Celebrating Palestinian women: Najah Abu Atwan
3/13/2010 - Hebron - Ma'an - As the world celebrated International Women's day, and Palestinians honored their women in a number of ceremonies, one Palestinian woman shared her story with Ma'an. Najah Abu Atwan, from At-Tabaqa village near Dura, is a women working to provide for her three children after he husband's death. " My husband was so sick for years before he died and I have three children. Our financial situation is bad, very bad I mean. There was no income for the family. Our family and neighbors helped us but the house, children and a sick husband with his monthly medical expenses needed much more help," Najah said. " I decided to work in order to cover some of the house expenses. At the beginning, I started to raise chicks that I took from one of the neighbors and sold some which made me able to repay him. The benefit was not high but it helped with the house expenses. "
Erekat: Settlements stop, talks can restart
3/13/2010 - Jericho - Ma'an - President Mahmoud Abbas will not hold talks with Israel until its government withdraws its decision to build 1,600 additional homes in an East Jerusalem settlement, Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat reasserted Friday. In a statement, Erekat said Abbas informed the US of his decision, and awaits the American response as the leader of the aborted talks. The US, Erekat said, was notified of the president's stance during US Vice President Joe Biden's visit to the region. White House spokesman PJ Crowley told reporters on Friday that "President Abbas himself has indicated that he remains committed" to talks, as did the US. Erekat said there was a unified Arab stance opposed to Israel's latest build, calling for its retraction. He added that the stance was echoed by the EU, UN and Russia, who quickly condemned the East Jerusalem settlement expansion, and welcomed a similar statement from the Quartet, calling on Israel to cancel the decision.
President’s office hopes Mitchell will return with US guarantees
3/13/2010 - Ramallah - Ma'an - The Palestinian president's office hopes US Middle East envoy George Mitchell will return with assurances that Israel will not commit to building 1,600 new homes in an East Jerusalem settlement, a representative said Saturday. Secretary-General of the president's office At-Tayyib Abdul Rahim said Palestinian negotiators await a response from the American administration, after requests that Israel revokes its decision before proximity talks proceed, he said during a speech marking the 20th anniversary of the Palestinian Democratic Union party (FIDA). "[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu could cancel the decision as he did several days ago when the USA interfered to halt the construction in the Al-Bustan neighborhood [in Silwan, East Jerusalem]," he said referring to the postponement of an announcement set to take place in Jerusalem on Tuesday.
Sha’ath doubtful US to return with guarantees
3/13/2010 - Bethlehem - Ma'an - Nabil Sha'th, Fatah Central Committee member, said Saturday he does not expect US Middle East envoy George Mitchell to return with guarantees that Israel will revoke its decision to expand an East Jerusalem settlement. "I doubt there will be any written guarantees and they will try to urge us to return to negotiations, as always," Sha'ath said in an interview with Ma'an. "Even though the US is disturbed by Israel's recent decision which coincided with the visit of Obama's deputy, they did not take any measures that would guarantee not to repeat the same situation. "The Israeli announcement to halt settlements in the West Bank for 10 months was a deception," Sha'ath said, pointing out that Palestinians have entered negotiations with Israel over 18 years, during which time the Israeli government failed consistently to halt settlement growth and construction. "
Argentina slams Israeli build in East Jerusalem
3/13/2010 - Bethlehem - Ma'an - The Argentinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship condmened on Friday Israel's decision to construct 1,600 new housing units in an East Jerusalem settlement. "Argentina strongly deplores the announcement of the decision of the Israeli Government to construct 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem," a statement read. "The Israeli decision to continue the construction of settlements in East Jerusalem contravenes the International law, violates the Security Council and the UN General Assembly Resolutions, and constitutes an obstacle for the resumption of peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. " The statement added that the Argentinian government calls on Israel to halt the construction of the illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories "as a proof of her commitment to the agreements and the Middle East peace process,. . . "
Article 212: The Israeli Planning and Building Law of 1965
3/13/2010 - Article 212 of the Israeli Planning and Building Law of 1965 is a statute that allows the state to demolish homes deemed "a public nuisance. "Since the law was enacted, it has been used primarily against the Palestinian population of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Beginning in 1967 when Israel illegally annexed East Jerusalem and occupied the West Bank, article 212 has been the legal basis for hundreds, if not thousands of demolitions throughout the Jerusalem, including the razing of the Mughrabi neighborhood of the Old City, where the Western Wall prayer compound now stands. The demolition of houses has been a regular feature of the Israeli occupation of internationally recognized Palestinian lands. According to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), house demolitions are illegal under international law as article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that occupying. . . Related: Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
Al-Aqsa Brigades claim shots fired on Israeli patrol car
3/13/2010 - Bethlehem - Ma'an - The Imad Mughniyya group, part of the Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Brigades, claimed the shots fired at an Israeli military patrol car northwest of Jerusalem on Friday night, a statement said. Following reports of shots, several additional military vehicles entered the area and began a sweep, likely in search of the shooters. Military checkpoints were erected on all roads leading to the Givon Hahadasha, where the shots were heard. Israeli military sources said a border guard jeep came under fire, damaging the vehicle but not causing any injuries. [end]
Palestinian car racer denied permission to compete in Kuwait
3/13/2010 - Razan Salameh - Ramallah - Ma'an - Palestinian race car driver Rami Jaber was denied entry to Kuwait last week, where he traveled for the Rally Champion 2010 events. Jaber, who earned first place in the second round of the Middle East Rally Championships earlier in the year, arrived in the Gulf country with a letter of invitation from Kuwaiti organizers of the event, but was told to wait at the airport while customs officials checked his papers. The 28-year-old racer was sent by Palestinian Olympic Committee and Sports Association director Jibril Ar-Rajoub to represent Palestine in the events. "I saw several of the other racers clear customs as I waited in the airport," Jaber said. He spent a total of 36 hours in the airport, at which point he was denied entry to Kuwait without explanation. "Competing in other Arab states means a lot to me," he said during an interview following his. . .
USA ups UNRWA General Fund contribution
3/13/2010 - Bethlehem - Ma'an - America will donate an additional 55 million US dollars to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), over and above its planned contribution for the year, a statement from the US Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration said. Eric P Schwartz made the announcement after he welcomedrecently appointed UNRWA Commissioner-General Filippo Grandi to Washington on Thursday. Thirty million US dollars of the donation was designated for the UNRWA General Fund, which Canada recently announced it would no longer support, in favor of emergency food aid and an independent project to construct courthouses. The General Fund provides core services to Palestinian refugees across the region, including health, education, sanitation, job creation programs and humanitarian services to 4. 7 million Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank, and Gaza.
Large transit volume reported on Gaza borders
3/13/2010 - Gaza - Ma'an - Between 4 and 10 March 296 Gaza residents entered the Strip via the Rafah crossing from Egypt, de facto government officials said on Saturday. During the same period, 1,541 exited the coastal enclave, the sources said. Travelers were almost excusively patients and family members accompanying them, with a handfull of foreign passport holders. At the Erez crossing with Israel, officials announced, last week saw the transit of 725 Gaza residents, visitors, workers and international passport holders out of Gaza, while 616 individuals entered the Strip. Over the past weeks, crossings monitors have given the following numbers for pedestrian crossings:12 MarchErez: 213 enter, 54 exitRafah: 119 enter, 8 exit11 March Erez: 108 enter, 95 exit Rafah: 224 enter, 0 exit6-7 March Erez: 112 enter, 137 exitRafah: 10 enter, 0 exit1-5 March Erez: 819 enter, 4,427 exit17-18 FebruaryErez: 112. . .
PFLP supporters to mark anniversary of captured leader
3/13/2010 - Bethlehem - Ma'an - The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat will hold a rally on 13 March, marking the 4th aniversary of the day the Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine was abducted from a Palestinian Authority prison by Israeli soldiers, the group said. The commemoration ceremony will be held in Ramallah, the group said, at 3pm, and protest the Israeli move to detain Sa'adat from prison in Jericho, where he was serving a sentence from a Palestinian Authority court. On Tuesday, the group said, the Israeli prison service transferred Sa'adat to a new isolation cell, and condemned the move. The Campaign said the party leader was moved from an isolation cell in the Eshel Prison to a new solitary cell in the Ohalei Kedar Detention Center. . . . .
Hamas: PA detain 2 affiliates
3/13/2010 - Bethlehem - Ma'an - Palestinian Authority security services detained two Hamas affiliates from the West Bank, a statement from the party said on Saturday. One of the men detained was from Nablus and a second from Hebron, the statement said. The detentions could not be independently verified by Ma'an. The accusations of arrests mark the continued tension in the West Bank between Fatah and its rival Hamas party, with officials from both movements no closer to a reconciliation agreement after talks halted in October 2009. [end]
Egyptian, South African novelists receive Mahmoud Darwish Award
3/13/2010 - Ramallah - Ma'an - PLO Executive Committee secretary, Yasser Abed Rabbo, announced on Saturday the winners of the Mahmoud Darwish Award. Egyptian author Ahdaf Souef and South African novelist and painter Breyten Breytenbach received the awards, as well as 25,000 US dollars each. Abbed Rabbo said Souef was honored "as her works highlight the Palestinian cause to the world, and the relationship between Egypt and Palestine," at a news conference held at the Palestinian Media Center. "The award was also given to the South African writer Breyten Breytenbach; an iconic and activist against the apartheid regime and who stood firmly beside the Palestinian cause," Abed Rabbo said. "This award represents the deep human dimension which Darwish presents in his works. President Mahmoud Abbas approved on award which will be given to the winners in a celebration in the Palace of Culture tonight," he added.
Gaza university students produce biofuel
3/13/2010 - Gaza - Ma'an - Two Gaza science students are using municipal waste to produce biofuel that could replace domestic gas amidst a shortage as the Israeli imposed siege continues. Atiyya Al-Bursh and Mahir Al-Jamal said they put 70 kilograms of municipal waste into a sealed barrel and collected the gasses emitted from the decaying biomass. The mostly methane gas was filtered using calcium hydroxide. The students said the calcium hydroxide absorbed impurities and resulted in a pure methane gas, collected into canisters, pressurized and then used as cooking fuel. Drinking coffee they said was prepared over a biofuel methane flame, Al-Bursh and Al-Jamal said "We decided to produce biogas in light of the domestic gas shortage," in hopes the "suffering of the people here in Gaza could be alleviated. "Al-Bursh explained that the biofuel was produced by the breakdown of organic materials in the absence of oxygen.
Ha'aretz Defense page
Uruknet
ISRAEL GOVT TO ENTER US HEALTHCARE PLAN
Uruknet March 13, 2010 - ...If that's not enough, now Israel wants to start entering into US healthcare. Pretty soon, your wee granny will be under the care of Israel:
Palestinian Dispossession in East Jerusalem
Uruknet March 13, 2010 - For Jews, Jerusalem is its historic capital. Muslims also claim it for the third holiest site in Islam, containing the 35 acre Noble Sanctuary (al-Haram al-Sharif), including the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock. The 1947 UN Partition Plan designated Jerusalem an international city under a UN Trusteeship Council. After Israel's 1947-48 War of Independence,...
Clinton Family Pockets Haiti Assets in Telephone Company Privatization, Says Pumphrey
Uruknet March 13, 2010 - Backed by the might of the United States military and their own official positions, the Clinton power couple plus brother-in-law have muscled themselves into the Haitian telephone monopoly. This cozy public-private partnership poses huge conflicts of interest, says Paul Pumphrey, of Brothers and Sisters International – and robs the Haitian people of hundreds of millions in...
Israel tortures Jerusalem minors
Uruknet March 13, 2010 - Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights revealed Saturday that Israeli police tortured Jerusalemite children, who were arrested before by Israelis. The Center published two statements made by Loai Rujby, 14, and Mahmoud Dweik,12, both residents of Al-Yemen area of the Silwan neighborhood, who were arrested on January 10, 2010 and in November, last year. Both...
House arrest term extended for 15-year-old Jerusalemite
Uruknet March 13, 2010 – An Israeli court extended the house arrest of a 15-year-old boy to April, during a hearing that sought to overturn the ruling for the boy, confined to his home since October 2009, court documents showed. Abdul Rahman Isaac Muhammad Hassan Az-Zaghal, lived in the Old City of Jerusalem until a court ordered him out of the...
Settlers Torch Olive Orchard In Hebron
Uruknet March 13, 2010 - A group of fundamentalist Jewish settlers burnt on Thursday at night an olive orchard in Safa village, north west of Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank. Dozens of settlers torched the grove while the Israeli army did not attempt to intervene or stop them. The residents called the local civil defense and firefighters...
Continuing campaign of arrests against civilians in the West Bank
Uruknet March 12, 2010 - The Middle East Monitor (MEMO) has obtained primary evidence of how Israeli forces and Palestinian security services have embarked on a campaign of arrests against Hamas supporters in the occupied West Bank. A list containing details of the political detainees arrested in the months of January and February 2010 is attached. It can be seen how,...
Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (04 – 10 March 2010)
Uruknet March 12, 2010 - Israeli violations of international law and humanitarian law escalated in the OPT during the reporting period (04 – 10 March 2010): Shooting: During the reporting period, 40 Palestinian civilians, including 4 children and 3 journalists, were wounded when IOF used excessive force against peaceful demonstrations organized in protest to the construction of the Annexation Wall and...
PCHR Condemns Recent Israeli Settlement Plans and Calls upon the International Community to Full Its Obligations
Uruknet March 12, 2010 - The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemns the recent Israeli settlement plans in the West Bank in general, and in East Jerusalem in particular. PCHR confirms that settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) constitute a war crime and calls upon the international community, particularly the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva...
Mayor: Israeli settlers uprooted 40 olive trees
Uruknet March 12, 2010 – Israeli settlers uprooted dozens of olive trees in Qaryut, south of Nablus, at dawn on Friday, officials said. The settlers uprooted 40 olive trees in the Al-Batashiyah area of Qaryut, the village's mayor Abdel Nasser Al-Qaryuti told Ma'an. The apparent vandalism was discovered as residents of the village woke up on Friday morning, Al-Qaryuti said...
Fighting Israeli apartheidForget the peace process. Only world public opinion can put an end to Israeli apartheid, just as it did in South Africa
Uruknet March 12, 2010 - I am not sure about others, but I really look forward to readers’ reactions after sharing my ramblings with them every week. Each attempt to put across one’s point of view, for what it’s worth, is followed by a breathless wait for the verdict. While many do not understandably agree with my worldview, some of the...
Abbas blames Iran for blocking Palestinian reconciliation
Uruknet March 12, 2010 – Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas lashed out at Iran on Friday, blaming Tehran for being behind the latest failure to reconcile his secular Fatah movement with its Isalamist rival Hamas. Iran doesn't want Hamas to sign the Cairo reconciliation document," Abbas said during a meeting in the Tunisian capital. Fatah and Hamas struggled for months to reach...
Palestine Telegraph
Israel invades houses in Hebron
Hebron, March 14, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - Israeli occupation forces (IOF) raided several houses today in Ezna and Yatta neighborhoods in Hebron, in the West Bank. Local sources said that IOF raided a number of houses belong to Al-Oweiwi family in Al-Jama neighborhood near Al-Khalil University. In addition to, they raided into two other houses in Bair Al-Mahjar in Hebron....
Eyewitnesses testify to Isareli courts about murder of Rachel Corrie
Haifa, Israel, March 14, 2010 (Pal Telegraph, by Ashley Bates) - Shortly before Rachel Corrie was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer on March 16, 2003, she said in a video interview that she marveled at Palestinians' ability to "hold onto their humanity as much as they have." Seven years later, Corrie's friends in the Gaza Strip are planning...
Israel plans to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque
Occupied Jerusalem, March 14, 2010 (Pal Telegraph)- Israeli occupation authorities have continued to close Jerusalem, the Old City and the area around Al-Aqsa Mosque for the third day consecutively, to ensure that extremist Jewish groups break into Al-Aqsa today, as Israeli war minister Ehud Barak has ordered forces to close the West Bank fully until Tuesday midnight. Settler groups, backed...
Marwan Al-Barghouti gets political science PhD in Israeli jail
Palestine, March 14, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - Fatah official Marwan Al-Barghouti, 50, who is serving five life terms in an Israeli prison, has completed his doctorate in political science, Palestinian sources said. Al-Barghouti is among several hundred Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails who have enrolled in universities around the world, including in Israel, that have allowed them to complete...
Israel tortures Jerusalem minors
Loai Rujby Mahmoud dweik Occupied Jerusalem, March 13, 2010 (Pal Telegraph)- Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights revealed Saturday that Israeli police tortured Jerusalemite children, who were arrested before by Israelis. The Center published two statements made by Loai Rujby, 14, and Mahmoud Dweik,12, both residents of Al-Yemen area of the Silwan neighborhood, who were arrested on January...
The National
The Media Line
‘Abbas Pulls Out of Talks
The Media Line 10 Mar 2010 - Following a Wednesday night emergency session of the Arab League, Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud 'Abbas pulled out of the new round of peace talks with Israel that were expected to begin this week. The talks were...
European Union Rebuffs Jewish Efforts to Sidetrack Goldstone Endorsement
The Media Line 10 Mar 2010 - Word that European Jewish leaders had persuaded the European Union to defer endorsing the findings of the Goldstone Commission proved to be premature. On Wednesday, the European Parliament ratified a resolution endorsing the Goldstone findings, including...
Gaza Receives United Nations Bomb Disposal Unit
The Media Line 10 Mar 2010 - Munitions experts from the United Nations have arrived in the Gaza Strip on a mission to defuse unexploded bombs left over from last January's fighting between Israel and Hamas. It's estimated that the job will take...
Aljazeera
Palestine News Network
Jerusalem Post
Inter Press Service
MIDEAST: Israel Lands in Public Relations Nightmare
IPS JERSUSALEM, Mar 14 (IPS) - Israeli riot police and soldiers have, since Friday, sealed off the Al Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third holiest shrine, restricting entry to women and Palestinian men over 50.
US-ISRAEL: Tiff or Tipping Point?
IPS WASHINGTON, Mar 13 (IPS) - "Condemn" is not a word that rolls trippingly off the tongue of a U.S. politician addressing anything having to do with actions, however objectionable, by Israel.
PCHR Weekly Report
International Solidarity Movement
Israeli military fail to crush the spirit of An Nabi Saleh
3/13/2010 - International Solidarity Movement - 3/12/2010 - The Israeli military today continued their attempts to repress the weekly demonstration in An Nabi Saleh. Following on from their near fatal shooting of a 14 year old boy a week ago, soldiers invaded the village within minutes of the demonstration starting, driving jeeps to within approximately 50 metres of the demonstrators and firing upon them with tear gas, percussion grenades, rubber bullets and rubber-coated steel bullets. Despite the military resorting so rapidly to violence, the villagers, accompanied by Israeli and international activists, determinedly continued their attempts to reach the nearby springs that have been usurped by settlers from the illegal settlement of Hallamish. A number of demonstrators were able to get close to one of the springs before soldiers again fired upon them to force them to retreat. Demonstrators who remained within the village were fired upon from above by soldiers who had occupied the same house from which they shot the boy the previous week.
Growing protests in the Gaza Strip Against the Imposition of the Buffer one
3/13/2010 - International Solidarity Movement - Deep dissatisfaction with the Israeli policy of preventing access to the 300 metre belt along the border have resulted in a rise in number of weekly protests in Gaza and a significant increase in the number of people participating in them. This measure has put out of use 30 percent of the best agricultural land of Gaza Strip, which is one of the most densely populated areas of the world where farm land is already in short supply. Farmers from the border areas have been particularly badly affected by the imposition of the ‘buffer zone'. Intimidation by the Israeli army patrolling the border, including shooting and bulldozing of the farmed land, has resulted in the formation of a new organisation called Popular Campaign to Oppose the Buffer Zone. The Popular Campaign have joined forces with the existing protests and in addition they have been organising ‘own' weekly protests in different areas alongside the border.
Thousands Attend Sheikh Jarrah Demonstration, Internationals Attacked by Riot Police
3/13/2010 - International Solidarity Movement - Saturday, March 6th - Thousands attended last Saturday's demonstration in Sheikh Jarrah, demanding an end to the home evictions which have displaced hundreds of Palestinian residents. Gathering peacefully for speeches and live music in the park opposite the neighborhood, demonstrators chanted and sang before marching in the streets and attempting to pass the police barricades which obstructed demonstrators from reaching the neighborhood itself. Settlers held a small counter-demonstration in a nearby street. Following the demonstration, Palestinian and settler residents returned to the neighborhood. As the street filled with people, a group of several dozen riot police ran down the street towards the gathering crowd. After clearing the crowds to the sidewalk, police began grabbing the International activists who were standing peacefully on the sidewalk.
Ha'aretz
Diplomacy page
The Guardian
Jail ordeal of hundreds of Palestinian children arrested for throwing stones
The Guardian 13 Mar 2010 - Rights groups express concern at the rising number of juveniles as young as 12 who are held behind bars and 'treated like terrorists' With more than 300 Palestinian children being held in Israeli prisons, human rights...
Breaking the Gaza deadlock | Andy Slaughter
The Guardian 13 Mar 2010 - Progress can be achieved through open engagement without preconditions – and that includes Hamas I returned last week from a visit to Gaza as part of a parliamentary delegation from the Britain-Palestine All-Party Group. Knowing that...
Israel and America: Foolish tricks | Editorial
The Guardian 13 Mar 2010 - By its continued settlement expansion, Israel makes the two-state solution ever harder to realise Politics is ultimately about interests. Morals and highfalutin principles have their place, but a more reliable truth is that governments and countries...
Biden visit exposed Israeli settler truths | Daniel Levy
The Guardian 12 Mar 2010 - This week the US saw Netanyahu's government in all its glorious stubborness – providing a clarity the peace process badly needs There was a moment of rare clarity this week for America's efforts to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace....
How Bibi lost a best friend | Aluf Benn
The Guardian 12 Mar 2010 - Netanyahu needs all the support he can get. But he still turned Biden's visit into a diplomatic fiasco Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has a bad habit: when things appear to be moving in the right...
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YNet
News
NYT columnist: Israel lost contact with reality
YNet News
14 Mar 2010 - In article titled 'Driving drunk in Jerusalem', Thomas L. Friedman says US vice president should have gotten right back on Air Force Two immediately after Jerusalem construction decision, leaving behind a note reading, 'You think you can embarrass your only true ally in the world with no consequences?'
Livni to PM: Don't leave Israel in Yishai's hands
YNet News
14 Mar 2010 - Opposition leader Tzipi Livni slams prime minister Netanyahu's policies following crisis in Israel-US ties. Livni says there is need for a 'prime minister with a path, vision, who does not leave national security in Eli Yishai's hands'
PM on US crisis: Let's not get carried away
YNet News
14 Mar 2010 - At start of cabinet meeting, Netanyahu comments on crisis with US that followed announcement of plans to build in east Jerusalem, says, 'There was an unfortunate incident here which should not have taken place', adds, 'We have seen crises, I suggest we avoid getting carried away'
Hamas man behind deadly attacks nabbed
YNet News
14 Mar 2010 - Security forces arrest Maher Udda, a Hamas official in Ramallah in charge of cell that carried out terror attacks at Zerifin junction hitchhikers' station, Caf? Hillel in Jerusalem. In total, military wing under Udda's command responsible for death of 70 Israelis during second intifada
Ambassador Oren reprimanded
YNet News
13 Mar 2010 - Israel's envoy to US summoned for meeting at State Department, reprimanded over Israel's announcement of east Jerusalem construction; meanwhile, PM Netanyahu orders establishment of committee to prevent such mishaps in future
West Bank closure extended
YNet News
13 Mar 2010 - Unusual move follows violent Saturday, intelligence information about planned riots
Israel to fight brain drain
YNet News
13 Mar 2010 - Government set to approve national plan aimed at curbing brain drain, bringing expats back
EU ready for unilateral sanctions
YNet News
13 Mar 2010 - Failure to impose UN sanctions on Iran would see EU acting alone, Finnish FM says
Protestors: Israel is not Tehran
YNet News
13 Mar 2010 - Secular demonstrators protest gender-segregated buses in Jerusalem Saturday, say move 'not kosher'; MK Horowitz: Transportation minister, PM capitulating in face of ultra-Orthodox pressure
Daily Star
Israel seals off West Bank amid heightened tensions
Daily Star 14 Mar 2010 OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israel sealed off the West Bank on Friday amid tensions in Jerusalem over controversial plans to build new homes for Jewish settlers and fears of fresh violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.The 48-hour closure to run until midnight on Saturday drew harsh criticism, with European Parliament chief
Maliki lays groundwork for new Cabinet
Daily Star 14 Mar 2010 BAGHDAD: The Iraqi prime minister's bloc said Friday it has started laying the groundwork to form a coalition government, signaling growing confidence after preliminary election results showed it winning in at least three provinces in the southern Shiite heartland.But the outcome from the key parliamentary vote was far from certain, with election officials
UK warns China risks isolation over resistance to Iran sanctions
Daily Star 14 Mar 2010 LONDON: Britain's ambassador to China said on Friday that Beijing risks isolation if it fails to join international efforts to impose sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. Speaking via video link from Beijing before a visit to the country by Foreign Secretary David Miliband, Sebastian Wood told a London briefing that Britain and China shared the same goals
Palestinian Information Center
Hamas: Ode's detention in collusion with Abbas's militia
PIC 14 Mar 2010 - Hamas issued a statement in the West Bank charging that the arrest of Hamas commander Sheikh Maher Ode after a long and complicated pursuit was only possible with the collusion of Abbas's militias.
Resheq consoles Sheikh Yousuf, hails his patience for ordeals
PIC 14 Mar 2010 - Ezzat Al-Resheq sent a letter to imprisoned Sheikh Hasan Yousuf to comfort him and express admiration for his patience and fortitude especially after he disowned his son who renounced his religion.
IOF troops wound citizens in Nablus district
PIC 14 Mar 2010 - A number of citizens in Irak Burin village, Nablus district, were wounded on Saturday evening when Israeli occupation forces (IOF) intervened to protect Jewish settlers who attacked the village.
Evening clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops take place near Aqsa
PIC 14 Mar 2010 - Violent clashes broke out Saturday evening between Jerusalemite citizens and the Israeli occupation forces in the neighborhoods of the Old City near the Aqsa Mosque.
IOF extends closure of WB, detains Hamas commander
PIC 14 Mar 2010 - Israeli war minister Ehud Barak has decided to extend the hermetic closure imposed on the West Bank since Friday for three more days.
PFLP-GC accuses Abbas of inciting against resistance weapons
PIC 14 Mar 2010 - The PFLP-GC accused Mahmoud Abbas, the Fatah leader and the PA chief whose term in office expired in January last year, of inciting against Palestinian resistance's weapons.
Abu Zuhri: Fatah's statements indicate rejection of reconciliation
PIC 14 Mar 2010 - Hamas said that the statements by Fatah leaders and the practices of Abbas's militias on the ground all point that Fatah does not want to end the internal division.
European campaign against siege meets Buzek, urges him to move for Gaza
PIC 14 Mar 2010 - The European campaign to end the siege met with Jerzy Buzek, the president of the European parliament, to urge him to make serious moves to end the blockade on Gaza and pressure Israel in this regard.
Palestinian prisoner enters 20th year of detention with faltering health
PIC 14 Mar 2010 - The prisoners' center for studies has appealed to human rights groups to accord more attention to the issue of Mohammed Abu Jalala, who is suffering waning health conditions in Israeli captivity.
Egypt’s Mufti: Establishing a temple near Al-Aqsa will explode the region
PIC 14 Mar 2010 - Mufti of Egypt Ali Juma’h stated that Israel's intent to storm the Aqsa Mosque and establish a synagogue near it would aggravate the crisis and lead to the explosion of the whole region.
Los Angeles Times
How Dubai unraveled a homicide, frame by frame
LA Times 14 Mar 2010 - A mix of old-fashioned legwork and high-tech razzle-dazzle, scouring hundreds of hours of surveillance videos, helped police home in on suspects in a Hamas man's slaying, blamed on Israel's Mossad. Lacking witnesses but blessed with hundreds of hours of video, the cops and spooks worked the case of the slain weapons smuggler like a movie in reverse.
Hillary Rodham Clinton's harsh words stun Israel
LA Times 14 Mar 2010 - A spat over the Ramat Shlomo housing project in East Jerusalem becomes a bigger clash as the secretary of State calls it 'an insult to the United States.' Beginning as a spat over a single housing project, a dispute this week between the Obama administration and Israel has ballooned into the biggest U.S.-Israeli clash in 20 years, adding to months of strain between Washington and one of its closest allies.
Questions abound after Biden's Israel visit
LA Times 12 Mar 2010 - Oddly timed news that Israel was approving new housing in disputed East Jerusalem antagonized the Palestinians and the Americans. Why was it made public during the vice president's trip? Reporting from Jerusalem — You come for a hug. You leave with a slap.
New York Times
Misc
Israeli Soldiers Order Tulkarem Farmers to Strip
Palestine Monitor - 13 Mar 2010 - Tulkarem – Ma'an – Israeli soldiers demanded 20 farmers strip naked for a security check as they returned from their fields west of the separation wall on Friday afternoon, the men reported. Isolated from their West Bank lands by the separation barrier, the farmers from Deir...
Jerusalem burns
Palestine Monitor - 13 Mar 2010 - Jerusalem burns. Thermometers peaked yesterday around 31 degrees. But Jerusalem is burning not only from the hot Saharan wind, known as the Khamasin, coming in from the desert, but by the rage of its Arab residents over the injustices they face once more. Written by Malika...
Weekly Protest Video Round-Up
Palestine Monitor - 13 Mar 2010 - Up and down the country, protestors ignored the tropical humidity to voice their opposition to Israeli aggression, which was displayed once again. Here's what happened. All Photos courtesy of FLV. Nil'in Hundreds of people from the town and surrounding villages of Ni'lin gathered on the threatened...
Inside the Lawfare Project: Netanyahu’s attack on human rights NGO’s comes to the US
Mondoweiss - 13 Mar 2010 - As the anti-Goldstone, human rights-bashing Lawfare Project’s opening event on March 11 wrapped up, I asked its chairman, Columbia University Law School Dean David Schizer, for an interview. Schizer, who had just attacked the Goldstone Report from the podium, pointedly refused to speak to me and...
‘The New York Times’ sanitizes Israeli racism
Mondoweiss - 13 Mar 2010 - One of my themes is that while Israel is experiencing a dark night of the soul due to the racism pervading that society, Americans are in the dark about this reality because our media refuse to do the (obvious) story. And so while Haaretz covers the...
Italian Professors Denounce Complicity of Israeli Academic Institutions in the Occupation
Alternative Information Center - 13 Mar 2010 - Thursday, 04 March 2010, A group of Italian professors recently published a letter denouncing “university and cultural discrimination of Palestinians.” The document—called “Right to study and academic freedom in Palestine”—expressly quotes the AIC bulletin Academic Boycott of Israel and the...
Conclusions of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine
Alternative Information Center - 13 Mar 2010 - Friday, 05 March 2010, These are the conclusions of the Jury pertaining to the Barcelona session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine. However, the contents are subject to the normal processes of editing and corrections before a definitive edition is made public.
Protest Against Swedish Clothing Store Chain H&M, Which Plans to Open Outlets in Israel
Alternative Information Center - 13 Mar 2010 - Thursday, 04 March 2010, On 11 March, the Swedish clothes and fashion chain, H&M, will be opening the first of six planned stores in Israel. The familiar red H&M sign will be viewed in the Malcha shopping center in Jeruslaem, a municipality which has to continuously...
News from Within Videocast: The Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem
Alternative Information Center - 13 Mar 2010 - Friday, 05 March 2010, The US-based Center for Constitutional Rights is petitioning various United Nations offices, of Palestinian families whose ancestors are buried in the Mamila Cemetery. The cemetery better known as Mamilla, has been a Muslim burial ground since the 7th century, when companions of...
Border Police Critically Injures 14 Year Old in Nabi Saleh Demonstration
Alternative Information Center - 13 Mar 2010 - Saturday, 06 March 2010, The 14 year old boy was critically injured during a demonstration in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh against creeping land grab by the adjacent Jewish-only settlement of Halamish.
Articles
The decline of Israel and the prospects for peace
New Left Project
3/12/2010
An interview with Jonathan Cook
In a wide-ranging interview with the New Left Project, Nazareth-based journalist Jonathan Cook describes the increasingly repressive nature of Israeli society and the prospects for a solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
[New Left Project ] What did you make of Ehud Barak’s recent comparison of Israel to South Africa?
[Jonathan Cook] We should be extremely wary of ascribing a left-wing agenda to senior Israeli politicians who make use of the word “apartheid” in the Israeli-Palestinian context. Barak was not claiming that Israel is an apartheid state when he addressed the high-powered delegates at the Herzliya conference last month; he was warning the Netanyahu government that its approach to the two-state solution was endangering Israel’s legitimacy in the eyes of the world, which would eventually lead to it being called an apartheid state. He was politicking. His goal was to intimidate Netanyahu into signing up to his – and the Israeli centre’s – long-standing agenda of “unilateral separation”: statehood imposed on the Palestinians as a series of bantustans (be sure, the irony is entirely lost on Barak and others). Barak knows that Netanyahu currently has no intention of creating any kind of Palestinian state, even a bogus one, despite his commitments to the US.
The last senior Israeli politician to talk of “apartheid” was Ehud Olmert, and it is worth remembering why he used the term. It was back in November 2003, when he was deputy prime minister and desperately trying to scare his boss, Ariel Sharon, into reversing his long-standing support for the settlements and adopt instead the disengagement plan for Gaza. Olmert’s thinking was that by severing Gaza from the Greater Israel project – by pretending the occupation had ended there – Israel could buy a few more years before it faced a Palestinian majority and the danger of being compared to apartheid South Africa. It worked and Sharon became the improbable “man of peace” for which he is today remembered. (Strangely, Olmert, like Barak, defined apartheid in purely mathematical terms: Israeli rule over the Palestinians would only qualify as apartheid at the moment Jews became a numerical minority.) more.. e-mail
Israel’s Lobby Imposes Crippling Sanctions on America — Again
Grant Smith, Antiwar.com
3/12/2010
The Israel lobby’s campaign against US and international corporations doing business with Iran is gearing up this week. The tip of the spear is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee sponsored expansion of the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996. If signed into law by president Obama, the legislation would institute onerous new monitoring to ensure exports never enter Iran, along with mandatory divestment from and penalties for any corporations discovered doing business in Iran. A new type of "office of special plans" at the Treasury Department that AIPAC and its think tank lobbied to create by executive order in 2004 is also on the warpath. Stuart Levey, the head of the office of "Terrorism and Financial Intelligence" is traveling to Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman "pointing out that they face dramatic risks by doing business with Iran." Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon finished a long set of meetings urging the US National Security Council to impose harsh sanctions on Iran.
The New York Times started the week with a list of corporations doing business in Iran and their US government procurement revenues. Most companies on this list long ago appeared on hit lists compiled by AIPAC for quiet divestment campaigns in state legislatures across the country. The New York Times ominously highlights in red any company that may be a "possible violator of the Iran Sanctions Act." National Public Radio’s Scott Simon, after reading it, was apoplectic. He fretted aloud on the air whether US companies and subsidiaries on the target list were "betraying their country’s national security interests."
What should Americans make of this drive to label all companies doing business with Iran unpatriotic smugglers? First, they should consider the source of the multi-tiered Iran sanctions drive. Then, they should start getting angry. more.. e-mail
Where is the spirit of Passover?
Mya Guarnieri, Ma’an News Agency
3/13/2010
Pesach is right around the corner. And while Israel will go through the motions of the holiday, it won’t reach the spirit of Passover. Why?
Israel has lost its moral compass.
I’m not talking about Gaza, the occupation, or 1948, although the expulsion of the Palestinians is where Israel’s steps first foundered. With Pesach in mind, I’m talking about how Israel is treating the strangers in its land.
The Oz Unit, an arm of the immigration police, is on the streets now cracking down on illegal residents and those that employ them. The campaign, part of Israel’s ongoing attempt to rid the country of non-Jewish foreigners, has been given the revolting name "Clean and Tid,y, evoking images not of law enforcement but of ethnic cleansing.
Speaking to The Jerusalem Post, Oded Feller, an attorney with the Association of Civil Rights in Israel remarked, “The state authorities are of course entitled to enforce the law; what we oppose is the disgraceful language that accompanies these sorts of operations. Human beings are not dirt.”
The Jerusalem Post continued, "Feller said names like ’Clean and Tidy’ incite hatred of foreigners, and added that it is shameful the government chooses such titles for its operations."
During Pesach, a holiday that commemorates the ancient Hebrews’ flight from oppressive conditions in Africa, we read the Exodus portion of the Torah, which includes the reminder: “You shall not oppress the stranger, for you know the soul of the stranger, having been strangers in the land of Egypt." more.. e-mail
Harvard students condemn center's defense of fellow's racist statements
Electronic Intifada: 12 Mar 2010 - We students at Harvard University are disturbed by the racist and inhumane comments of Martin Kramer, Visiting Scholar at the National Security Studies Program at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. We have become even more alarmed that rather than taking a dissociating or even strictly neutral stance against such extremist and hateful statements, the Weatherhead Center issued a defensive response.
Interview: Education and resistance at the Ann Arbor Palestine film fest
Electronic Intifada: 12 Mar 2010 - The second annual Ann Arbor Palestine Film Festival opened on Wednesday, 10 March with the feature film Pomegranates and Myrrh . Such festivals are a growing phenomenon with new ones popping up throughout the United States. The Electronic Intifada contributor Jimmy Johnson spoke with festival organizers Hena Ashraf, Ryah Aqel, Lauren Thams and Pomegranates and Myrhh director Najwa Najjar.
Flouting its own laws, EU accommodates "Made in Israel"
Electronic Intifada: 12 Mar 2010 - In 2008 Britain expressed concern about how goods originating from Israeli settlements in the West Bank may be benefiting illegally from European Union trade preferences that theoretically only apply to businesses within Israel's internationally-recognized borders. However, EU officials have not only failed to defend international law, they have accommodated Israel's abuse of it. David Cronin analyzes for The Electronic Intifada.
Sending a laptop to Gaza
Electronic Intifada: 12 Mar 2010 - I sat outdoors at a cafe on the Mediterranean Sea in al-Arish, a dusty seaside town in Egypt's northern Sinai. I drank a tea and smoked a water pipe; it gave me something to do while I waited for Ismail -- that's not his real name -- an Egyptian Bedouin tunnel smuggler who was going to deliver a package for me into Gaza. Ahmed Moor writes from al-Arish.
relations
In Gaza: 12 Mar 2010 - “My grandmother was Jewish,” a voice drifts out from behind the meagre selection of second-hand clothes. The souk al fres , a massive market in Gaza’s old district, Sahaa , carrying just about all one needs used to thrive with second-hand clothes and goods brought through open borders via Israel. It was a thrift-shop-junkies dream. Today, after 1000 days of siege (complete siege, from June 2007, but in reality the siege goes back to Hamas’ election, back to post-Oslo ‘peace years’ when the closures began, denying Palestinians in Gaza of freedom, of work, of medical treatment outside, of imports and exports, and now of all but less than 40 items ) ( painstakingly aquired ), the used-clothes market is bare-bones. Wa’el is sitting in a room devoid of nearly all but some scarves and many empty hangers. “My grandfather was from Jaffa . He fell in love with a Jewish woman. This was in the...
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