Friday, March 12, 2010
Occupied Palestine
and Israel: News and Articles
News
International Middle East Media Center
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.
Settlers Torch Olive Orchard In Hebron
IMEMC - Friday March 12, 2010 - 10:22, 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.
Resident Wounded In Israeli Air Strike In Khan Younis
IMEMC - Friday March 12, 2010 - 05:27, Palestinian medical sources reported on Thursday at night that a resident was wounded when the Israeli Air Force fired missiles at a factory in Al Qarara, north of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
Ma'an News
Israeli warplanes fire on southern Gaza
3/12/2010 - Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israeli warplanes opened fire on the southern Gaza Strip early Friday, striking two targets near the Egyptian border. There were no immediate reports of injury in the attack, which an Israeli military spokesman said targeted sites in Rafah and Khan Younis. The official told Ma'an that two airstrikes targeted a tunnel used for smuggling weapons in Rafah and a bomb-making lab in Khan Younis. The attacks came after a projectile was fired from Gaza into southern Israel, causing damage, he said. "We will not accept the firing of rockets at Israel and will response harshly to any attempts to disrupt the calm," the spokesman added. [end]
Israel restricts Gaza imports to 23% of pre-siege levels
3/12/2010 - Gaza - Ma'an - Israeli authorities will partially open the Kerem Shalom crossing to allow aid into the besieged Gaza Strip, Palestinian liaison official Raed Fattouh said. Approximately 116 to 126 truckloads of aid for both the commercial and agricultural sectors including two trucks for the electricity company will be allowed via the Kerem Shalom crossing, Fattouh reported. The trucks will likely be the last of the week, with crossings closed Fridays and Saturdays, bringing the total number of truckloads for the week to 653-693 including 236 truckloads of animal feed and wheat. The average number of trucks per week in February was 741, while the average number of trucks entering Gaza before the Israeli siege, was 2,807 per week, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Limited quantities of domestic gas and industrial diesel will enter Gaza through the single open crossing.
Teachers refuse searches at Qalqiliya checkpoint
3/12/2010 - Qalqiliya - Ma'an - For the second day in a row, Israeli forces prevented teachers from accessing the Ad-Dab'a village school, south of Qalqiliya behind the separation wall. On Wednesday, new machinery was installed at the Ras Atiya checkpoint, where teachers enter the walled-off area, and soldiers demanded the men and women submit to a search, as well as pass through body scanners, the school's manager Muhammad Awda said. The school in Ad-Daba has 250 students and serves three villages, all located south of the Alfe Menashe settlement, and north of a swath of the separation wall cutting east into the West Bank south of Qalqiliya. According to Awda, for the past seven years, teachers were granted permits from the Israeli Civil Administration and could pass through the checkpoint relatively quickly to get to class. Awda said none had ever been subjected to a search.
Corrie parents to Ma’an: We want accountability
3/12/2010 - Hanover, NH - Ma'an - Seven years after their daughter, Rachel, was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza, Craig and Cindy Corrie arrived in Israel's Haifa District Court on Wednesday seeking answers. The court heard witness testimony in the opening day of a civil trial seeking compensation for the death, which came as Rachel tried to protect the house of a Palestinian pharmacist, Samir Nasrallah, from demolition. In the first day of the trial, the court heard testimony from Richard Purssell, a British activist with the International Solidarity Movement who described how an Israeli Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozer drove over approximately four meters over Corrie, before reversing back over her. Another British ISM member, Tom Dale, also testified. Three officials from the US Embassy in Tel Aviv attended the hearing, among them Consul General Andrew Parker.
Political macaroni
3/10/2010 - Rome - Italian media sentiment toward Israel and Palestine took a decided shift after the publication of the Goldstone report. According to media workers and government officials, the report exposed exaggerated Israeli action in response to what is increasingly perceived as less and less of a real "threat. " "Before the war we felt that Islamic extremism was increasing, [that it was] forming a grave danger to other civilizations," an Italian, who recently joined a group raising awareness about Palestine in the country, commented. After the publication of the Goldstone report, he said, "we realized the Israeli response was exaggerated. " The Italian case is a bit of a bifurcation, with the population supporting rightist Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who in turn supported Israel’s Operation Cast Lead. According to local media monitors, the war on Gaza did not register a very large impact in terms of front-page news.
Dad: Israeli forces abduct 2 sons
3/12/2010 - Hebron - Ma'an - Israeli forces detained two brothers from their home in the southern West Bank city of Hebron late Thursday, relatives said. Among them was a nine-year-old boy, identified as Ghandy by his father, Nidal Al-Oweiwy, who said Said, 20, was also detained. The brothers were accused of throwing stones at the illegal Abraham Avino settlement, near their home in Hebron's Old City, the father said. Approached by Ma'an, an Israeli military spokesman had no immediate comment. [end]
PA, de facto gov’t press violations condemned
3/12/2010 - Bethlehem - Ma'an - The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) issued a condemnation of raids by unidentified men on the homes of two journalists, one in the West Bank and a second in Gaza. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) investigated the 9 March incident, where Qalqiliya resident and journalist Mustafa Sabri was prevented from conducting an interview by Palestinian Authority security services. According to the PCHR report, a press team from Palemdia Group went to interview Sabri following his release from detention in the northern West Bank. Shortly after the news team entered the home and began preparations for the interview, "Palestinian security forces besieged the area," the PCHR report said. It continued:"A security man knocked the door and Sabri opened it. Immediately, 3 security men, one of whom was wearing civilian clothes and introduced himself as the officer of the unit, entered the house. "
British journalist released from Gaza jail
3/12/2010 - Gaza - Ma'an - A British journalist who was accused of threatening state security in the Gaza Strip was released without charge and deported to Israel on Thursday, after nearly a month in a Palestinian jail. "I've been through a lot in the past few days and weeks," documentary filmmaker Paul Martin said upon arriving at the Erez crossing with Israel, speaking at a news conference during which he termed his release "a great victory for freedom of the media. "Martin was detained on 14 February and interrogated by Hamas-allied intelligence officers over interviews he was conducting with Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel. No formal charges were ever announced. A military court extended his detention by 15 days on 1 March, at which time the de facto Ministry of Interior insisted the journalist was being treated in accordance with international law.
Israel army indicts 2 for using Gaza boy as ’human shield’
3/12/2010 - Bethlehem - Ma'an - An Israeli military prosecutor has indicted two soldiers on charges they made use of a Palestinian boy as a human shield during the winter 2008 assault on the Gaza Strip, the army said Thursday. In a statement, the military alleged that the accused, both unidentified, engaged in unauthorized conduct when they allegedly instructed a Gaza boy to open several bags suspected to be booby-trapped with explosives. "They exceeded their authority in ways that endangered lives and health," according to an Israeli security source familiar with the charges. The source added that the two were reservists at least until Thursday, but of the rank of staff sergeant during the war. The two soldiers would face prison terms of up to three years if convicted, the same security source told Ma'an on the condition of anonymity.
Salfit men mark 25 years in Israeli prison
3/11/2010 - Salfit - Ma'an - Two Palestinians marked a 25th anniversary in Israeli prison this year, the Palestinian Detainees Center reported Wednesday. The two men, both from Salfit, were identified as Tawfiq Ibrahim Abdullah and Mustapha Qar'oush. Tawfiq was detained on 3 October 1986, and charged in connection with the death of an Israeli soldier. His wife was detained at the same time and sentenced to 11 years of prison time. Tawfiq was sentenced to life. Mustapha was detained on 10 March, and also stood accused of killing an Israeli soldier. He was sentenced to a life term and is currently in the Ar-Ramleh prison. According to the prisoners center, Mustapha has a deteriorating health condition. . . . .
In photos: The women of Islamic Jihad
3/11/2010 - MaanImages / Hatem Omar - Female supporters of the Islamic Jihad movement shout anti-Israeli slogans during a protest in Gaza on 10 March 2010. Several of the Palestinian women displayed weapons at the event, which was also attended by party leader Muhammad Al-Hindy. [end]Related: Islamic Jihad women march in Gaza for Jerusalem
Refugee sentenced to 5 years in Israeli jail
3/11/2010 - Nablus - Ma'an - An Israeli military court on Thursday sentenced a Palestinian to five years and eight months in jail. Muhammad Jamil Hweity, 23, of the Balata refugee camp in the northern West Bank, spent two years in prison before sentencing. The Israeli military court in Salem, near Nablus, also ordered the prisoner to pay a 4,000-shekel fine. Hweity was accused of involvement of involvement in military operations against the occupation. [end]
Two Palestinian detainees freed
3/11/2010 - Gaza - Ma'an - Two Palestinians were released Thursday after a combined five years in Israeli custody, a prisoners group announced. The two were identified by the Gaza-based Wa'ed Group for the Detained and Released as Tareq Abu Sabt and Farid Farineh. Abu Sabt, from Khan Younis, was held for two years, while Farineh, from northern Gaza, served three years, the group said. In a statement, the prisoners group called for more of the estimated 10,000 Palestinian detainees held by Israel to be released. [end]
Tuku road closed for hours after army Hummer flips
3/12/2010 - Bethlehem - Ma'an - Three Israeli soldiers were lightly injured when a military Hummer flipped near Tuqu, south of Bethlehem, after which the road was closed while soldiers received medical treatment. An Israeli military spokeswoman said the closure was the result of an accident, where soldiers hit the garden wall of a Palestinian home along the roadside, causing the jeep to overturn. Witnesses said the wall was damaged, and several military vehicles remained on the scene until at least 10:30am. The spokeswoman said the soldiers were receiving medical treatment at the scene, after which they were evacuated to Hadassa Medical Center in Jerusalem. The damaged home was in the Khirbet Al-Deir area, belonging to Salman Hamdan. No Palestinian injuries were reported. The army spokeswoman said the road was completely open by noon. . . . .
Erekat says settlement move cancelled talks
3/12/2010 - Bethlehem - Ma'an - Indirect talks with Israel will cease to go forward unless Israeli plans to construct 1,600 homes in East Jerusalem are axed, chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat said Thursday. The statement followed one by Arab League chief Amr Moussa, who announced Wednesday that "The Palestinian president decided he will not enter into those negotiations now. . . the Palestinian side is not ready to negotiate under the present circumstances. " Moussa later told reporters that "The talks have already stopped. " Erekat gave conditions for the resumption of talks, saying "We want to hear from [United States envoy George] Mitchell that Israel has canceled the decision to build housing units before we start the negotiations. " The announcements followed a wave of criticism, from Palestinians and then from visiting US Vice President Joe Biden, who warned that the announcement poisoned the atmosphere necessary for peace talks to continue.
Haniyeh: Freeze negotiations with Israel
3/12/2010 - Gaza - Ma'an - De facto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh urged Arab states and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to cut off all direct and indirect negotiations with Israel on Thursday. The Hamas leader was making reference to President Mahmoud Abbas' decision, with Arab backing, to enter US-brokered indirect peace negotiations with Israel. Negotiations came to a halt when Israel launched an attack on Gaza in 2008 that left some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead. Haniyeh, speaking at a conference organized by a government-affiliated workers' council, said Palestinians "totally reject" the negotiations. " We are facing three kinds of warfare: economic, political, and military," he told the workers in besieged Gaza. He said his government has overcome several challenges since he was elected in 2006. He also welcomed the European Parliament's decision on Wednesday to endorse. . .
Japan to improve Palestinian access to water
3/11/2010 - Bethlehem - Ma'an - Japan is to improve access to water supplies in rural communities in the West Bank, following the donation of 193,960 US dollars for two projects on Tuesday. Through the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP), Japan will provide funding for a cisterns project in Hebron and the rehabilitation of the main Al-Badhan pipeline in Nablus, a statement read. The grant will also provide for the rehabilitation of the Al-Badhan main pipeline and the installation of a pump, upgrading the reservoir room to ensure the access of around 3,000 people living in Al-Badhan area to running tap water. The contracts were signed by Naofumi Hashimoto, representative of Japan to the Palestinian Authority, the representatives of Palestinian Hydrology Group, and Al-Badhan Village Council. The two projects have been approved in the framework of the Cool Earth Partnership initiated. . .
Dahlan: Settlements will derail talks, US must act
3/11/2010 - Ramallah - Ma'an - Fatah Central committee member Muhammad Dahlan called US condemnation of Israeli settlement plans insufficient, and urged "real action, on the ground," at a Wednesday news conference in Ramallah. On Tuesday, in the middle of US Vice President Joe Biden's visit to the region, Israel announced the construction of 1,600 new settlement homes in East Jerusalem, a move Biden condemned. " We welcome Joseph Biden's condemnation. . . but what is needed is real action to stop Israeli construction and apply the two-state solution," he said. Dahlan called the Israeli move "reckless" and a strike against international law and sentiment, as well as "against all that is human. "Warning that the move would likely derail the peace talks, Dahlan questioned the role of the Quartet on the issue, and asked what the body was doing to encourage Israel to commit to the peace process.
In photos: Mr and Mrs Biden in the West Bank
3/11/2010 - 1-8: US Vice President Joe Biden, joined by caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Nassar Nassar, the head of the Nassar Group for Stone and Marble, tour a factory in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on 10 March 2010. MaanImages / Luay Sababa. 9-20: Jill Biden, wife of the American vice president, is seen during a visit to the Al-Kamandjati Institute in the West Bank city of Ramallah on 10 March 2010. Biden was in Ramallah for talks with the Palestinian Authority. MaanImages / Haytham Othman [end]
Abbas: Arabs must intervene in peace debacle
3/11/2010 - Bethlehem - Ma'an - President Mahmoud Abbas called on Arab representative bodies "to act swiftly, and to take steps. . . commensurate with this deadly work," referring to Israel's announced plans to build 1,600 new settlement homes in Jerusalem. Abbas' remarks were in a Palestinian Authority Information Ministry statement released Wednesday, slamming Israel's announcement, calling the move is part of Israel's "entrenched system of extremism. " The president requested that the secretary-general of the Arab League contact the Arab follow-up committee, and plan an immediate intervention with clear steps to counter the Israeli action. The Arab League had okayed talks with Israel within a four-month window last week, while the Arab Peace Initiative follow-up committee condemned the proposed negotiations in a statement the next day.
Netanyahu expresses regret over timing of settlement move
3/11/2010 - Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summoned his interior minister on Wednesday, over the announcement of 1,600 new settlement units during the visit of US Vice President Joseph Biden. Biden, who left late Wednesday, told Netanyahu that Israel had "captured my heart," shortly before he issued a public condemnation of the decision to continue building settlements. According to an Israeli government statement, Netanyahu summoned Interior Minister Eli Yishai and "expressed his displeasure at the timing of the announcement of another stage in the planning process of a Jerusalem building project. "The statement continued: "In light of the ongoing disagreement between Israel and the US on building in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Netanyahu said there was no need to advance the planning process this week and instructed Interior Minister Yishai to adopt procedures to prevent such an incident from recurring. "
In photos: Detained UK journalist departs Gaza
3/11/2010 - MaanImages / Wissam Nassar - British journalist Paul Martin arrives at the Erez crossing in northern Gaza after his release by the de facto government on 11 March 2010. He was detained in February after arriving to testify for a Palestinian on trial for collaboration with Israel. [end]
Fatah leader: Arab economies can pressure Israel
3/11/2010 - Bethlehem - Ma'an - Dimitri Diliani, a member of Fatah's Revolutionary Council, stated Thursday that Arab economic power must be employed more effectively in the international arena to pressure Israel to halt settlements. In a statement, he called "Israel's continuation of building illegal colonial settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories," particularly in occupied East Jerusalem, destructive to the peace process. Diliani stressed that the global economy cannot afford disruption in efforts to revitalize it, which makes Arab countries' economic power an influential tool to encourage the world, especially the US and EU, to take serious measures beyond the usual condemnations and verbal support for UN resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and put an end to the "illegal, inhumane Israeli occupation of Palestinian land. "
Student senates: Universities on strike
3/12/2010 - Nablus - Ma'an - The student senate union in the West Bank announced a strike affecting all universities in the area on Thursday, in ongoing action against the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Education. A statement from the union said ministry officials had yet to meet the demands of the senates, involving the cancellation of a policy to convert grants into loans. University students were asked by the senate to observe the strike, including missing examinations. The Ministry of Education announced at the start of the year a program that would see several million dollars of the government budget allocated to students converted from grants into loans. Some of the money converted into loans was done retroactively, sparking complaints from students who did not intend to go into debt. . . . .
Ha'aretz Defense page
Palestinians try to breach East Jerusalem checkpoint
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - IDF seals off West Bank for 48 hours; Israel forces arrest one Palestinian for assaulting police.
Why are Israel's politicians still prevaricating about rocket defense?
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - While citizens of North, South are safer, government stalling is keeping further plans from materializing.
Police to let far-rightists march in East Jerusalem
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - Activists led by Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gvir to protest against illegal Palestinian construction.
UN humanitarian chief warns of disaster if Gaza siege continues
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - John Holmes calls on Israel, Egypt to end Gaza blockade, says siege doesn't weaken Hamas.
IAF strikes two targets in southern Gaza Strip
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - IDF Spokesperson: Airstrikes launched in response to Qassam rocket attack that hit western Negev kibbutz.
Two IDF soldiers charged with using 9-year-old 'human shield' in Gaza war
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - IDF court free soldier convicted of beating Palestinian, rejects demand to return officer to the ranks.
State: IDF not to blame for activist Rachel Corrie's death
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - State Prosecution asks court to dismiss civil suit filed by U.S. activist's family against Israel.
UN bomb disposal unit to enter Gaza to neutralize ordnance
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - IDF authorizes UN sapper unit's entry into Gaza to deal with unexploded arms from Operation Cast Lead.
IDF Chief of Staff: All options on Iran should remain open
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - Ashkenazi spoke at Friends of IDF dinner; Protestors outside held signs condemning 'Israeli war crimes.'
Iran maneuvering Israel in a show of nuclear strength
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - Iran concluded that the danger of an Israeli strike of nuclear sites has been neutralized.
IDF arrests Palestinian tractor driver who fled West Bank crash
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - Three Israelis injured after tractor slammed into their car; IDF believes incident not terror-related.
U.S. urges caution as Israel okays 112 new West Bank homes
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - State Department says move does not violate freeze; Palestinians: Israel trying to sabotage talks.
PA moves to ban Palestinians from working in settlements
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - Economics Min. drafting law he hopes will pass this month; PA already moving against settlement-made goods.
Palestinian boy freed from IDF jail without paying bail
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - Hebron teenager had been held for nine days for alleged stone-throwing, after family unable to pay NIS 2,000.
Six Palestinians killed in accident with IDF jeep
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - Car swerves off course head-on into IDF armed jeep near Ofra settlement in West Bank.
Report: Hamas admits losing control in Gaza
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - Gaza in anarchy as extremist groups challenge Hamas regime, military chief tells Damascus leader.
IDF to release new findings defending Gaza war strike
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - Army uses reports by Hamas and Islamic Jihad to justify mosque attack during Operation Cast Lead.
Israel treading carefully to avoid war with Syria
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - IDF cancels part of massive combat training exercise to calm tensions along northern border.
Shin Bet's Hamas spy hires bodyguards after Haaretz story
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - I love my father, but his movement is arrogant and evil, says Hamas leader's son who spied for Israel.
Respected Danish journalist admits 'I was a Mossad agent'
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - It's not uncommon for secret agents to take up a career in journalism as a cover for clandestine work.
Misc
Israel planning 50,000 housing units in East Jerusalem
3/11/2010 - Ha'aretz - Some 50,000 new housing units in Jerusalem neighborhoods beyond the Green Line are in various stages of planning and approval, planning officials told Haaretz. They said Jerusalem's construction plans for the next few years, even decades, are expected to focus on East Jerusalem. Most of the housing units will be built in predominantly Jewish neighborhoods beyond the Green Line, while a smaller number of them will be built in Arab neighborhoods. The plans for some 20,000 of the apartments are already in advanced stages of approval and implementation, while plans for the remainder have yet to be submitted to the planning committees. The planned construction includes the 1,600 homes in the ultra-Orthodox East Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo that were approved Tuesday. Saying the decision undermines peace talks, U.
New FBI Files Alleging AIPAC Theft of Government Property and Israeli Espionage Released
3/10/2010 - Forbes.com - WASHINGTON, March 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ Source: Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy -- Declassified files detailing an FBI investigation targeting the American Israel Public Affairs Committee are now available on the Internet. AIPAC was investigated after it acquired and circulated classified government information provided in strict confidence by US industry and worker groups opposed to AIPAC sponsored economic legislation. The 50 pages now available as portable document files (PDF) include:FBI reports of Israelis circulating classified documents in the US Congress, "compromising" the authority of the U. S. President. [link] US Trade Representative concerns that AIPAC was tactically "divulging" classified information supplied by US industries opposed to AIPAC lobbying initiatives. [link] Reports from the International Trade Commission that AIPAC and Israeli operatives "usurped" US government authority. . . . Related: IRMEP
Deputy FM tells U.S.: Israel won’t make any more concessions
3/11/2010 - Palestine Note - Haaretz - Ayalon: U. S. anger over East Jerusalem building due to timing; PA: Peace talks off until plan shelved. - Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon on Thursday defended Israel's decision to approve construction of 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem, saying sovereignty over the capital has never been negotiable and that Israel would not make any more concessions for peace. " There is no doubt that the Palestinians will try to use this to either stop the upcoming indirect peace talks, or to extort more concessions from us, and I have explained to U. S. government officials that there will be no more concessions," said the deputy minister. According to Ayalon, the United States' condemnation on the matter was due to the timing of the announcement and not the content of the issue. Israel declared its approval of the construction just 24 hours after U.
Exclusive: Hillary to headline AIPAC conference
3/11/2010 - friday-lunch-club - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be the keynote speaker at this month's annual meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, The Cable has confirmed. Clinton will speak on the morning of Monday, March 22, the second day of a conference that will bring together a star studded roster of American, British, and Israeli leaders in downtown Washington, DC. Monday is shaping up to be the biggest day of the three day event, with opposition leader Tzipi Livni giving the next major speech after Clinton and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking Monday night. A host of U. S. lawmakers will also convene on the conference Monday, including U. S. Senators Chuck Schumer, D-N. Y. , and Lindsey Graham, R-S. C. , as well as House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-MD, and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-VA. Retiring Indiana Senator Evan Bayh will speak to the group Sunday, March 21. . . . Related: AIPAC: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Speak at Policy Conference 2010
Uruknet
Two IDF soldiers charged with using 9-year-old 'human shield' in Gaza war
Uruknet March 11, 2010 - The Israel Defense Forces prosecution on Thursday filed an indictment against two combat soldiers suspected of inappropriate conduct during Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip in 2008. The soldiers, who served as staff sergeants in the Givati Brigade during Operation Cast Lead, allegedly forced a 9-year-old Palestinian boy to open a number of bags they thought...
Dubai Investigation Exposes Israeli Ops in USA
Uruknet March 11, 2010 - An ongoing investigation by the Dubai Police force into the assassination of a high-level Hamas official in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in January has drawn back the curtains of secrecy and deception to reveal yet again the contours of Israel’s massive and ever-expanding espionage operations in the United States. The murder of Mahmoud Al Mabhouh...
U.S. gave Israel green light for East Jerusalem construction
Uruknet March 12, 2010 - The apology offered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Interior Minister Eli Yishai recalls the joke about the servant who pinched the king's bottom. En route to the gallows, the servant apologized: He thought it was the queen's bottom. The statement issued by Netanyahu's bureau said that in light of the ongoing dispute between Israel and...
Poll: 46% of Israeli high-schoolers don't want equality for Arabs
Uruknet March 11, 2010 - Racism and refusal to evacuate alongside support for a democratic system of government – these are the jumbled sentiment of Israel's high school students, according to a recent poll. They support a democratic form of government, but more than half of them believe that Arabs should not be allowed to vote in Knesset elections. One out...
Poll: Half of Israeli high schoolers oppose equal rights for Arabs
Uruknet March 11, 2010 - Nearly half of Israel's high school students do not believe that Israeli-Arabs are entitled to the same rights as Jews in Israel, according to the results of a new survey released yesterday. The same poll revealed that more than half the students would deny Arabs the right to be elected to the Knesset. The survey, which...
Video: Gaza Graffiti Movie
Uruknet March 11, 2010 - Gazas walls cry out in green, red, black and yellow: Look at us! Read our messages! Swedish photographer Mia Grondahl spent seven years - most of the second intifada - capturing the walls of Gaza. Her book and photo exhibit "Gaza Graffiti - Messages of Love and Politics" tell us about the many roles of graffiti...
Video: Map of Israel's East Jerusalem housing plan
Uruknet March 11, 2010 - Israel's approval for building 1,600 new housing units for ultra-Orthodox Jews in East Jerusalem has infuriated the Palestinians. Nabil Abu Rudeina, a Palestinian Authority spokesman, told the AFP news agency: "This is a dangerous decision and will hinder the negotiations." The Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now condemned the new project, saying it would "widen the gap...
50000 Units For Settlers in Jerusalem Currently In The Planning Stage
Uruknet March 11, 2010 - The Ir Amim "City of Nations" Israeli peace group reported that the Jerusalem Municipality is currently looking into a plan to build 50.000 homes for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem. The group said that the plan is currently in different stages of planning and licensing. It stated that 20.000 homes are currently in the official stages...
PLO paper reveals leadership bereft of strategy, legitimacy
Uruknet March 11 2010 - At last September's New York summit with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas, US President Barack Obama publicly abandoned his demand that Israel halt construction of colonies in the occupied West Bank as a precursor to the resumption of US-brokered negotiations. Thus, Obama humiliatingly signaled the collapse of his much-hyped peace effort....
Al Mabhouh killers used original passports, Dahi saysPolice chief urges identity theft victims to sue
Uruknet March 11, 2010 - The passports used by the assassins of senior Hamas commander Mahmoud Al Mabhouh were real and not forged, the Dubai Police chief said yesterday. Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim said immigration officials at Dubai airport had scanned the passports when the assassins entered the country and found nothing suspicious. "The passports were real. They were not...
Detention Bulletin: February 2010: 343 Palestinian children detained by Israel
Uruknet March 11, 2010 - There were 343 Palestinian children detained in Israeli prisons and temporary detention centres at the end of February 2010. This represents an 8% increase. There were 41 young children aged 12-15 detained at the end of February 2010, a slight decrease (three children) compared with the previous month...Each year approximately 700 Palestinian children, some as young...
Gaza: homes and livelihoods gone in an instant
Uruknet March 11, 2010 - Radia Abu Sbaih, 47, lives with her sister and one niece on family land roughly 700 meters from the "green line" boundary between Israel and Gaza. Until 18 February 2010, they had nearly 600 olive, fruit, date and nut trees, an agricultural cistern, a water well, various vegetables and a house. Theirs was one of three...
Palestine Telegraph
Israel charges 2 soldiers for using Palestinian boy as 'shield'
Jerusalem, March 11, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - The Israeli military prosecutor charged two Israeli staff sergeants on Thursday with instructing a 9-year-old Palestinian boy to open several bags the soldiers suspected were booby-trapped during Israel's military campaign in Gaza just over a year ago. The military said in a statement that "soldiers were strictly forbidden from making use of civilians...
Power outages cause increase in deaths from faulty generators
Gaza, March 11, 2010 (Pal Telegraphy; by Karl Schembri) - Daily power cuts in Gaza resulting from the Israeli blockade mean that Palestinians must now use cheap generators in their attempt to carry on with daily life. As the migraine-inducing sounds of generators overwhelm the Strip, Oxfam's Karl Schembri discovers power cuts have caused much deeper disruptions, immune to quick-fix...
Activist tells Israeli court how bulldozer crushed Rachel Corrie to death
Haifa, March 11, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - The final moments of Rachel Corrie, the American peace activist crushed to death beneath a pile of earth and rubble in the path of an advancing Israeli army bulldozer, were described to an Israeli court by an eyewitness yesterday. The parents of the 23-year-old, who was killed by the bulldozer in March 2003,...
Hamas to release British journalist in Gaza
Gaza, March 11, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - A British journalist arrested by Hamas in the Gaza Strip last month and held for nearly four weeks on suspicion of spying for Israel, was being released on Thursday, his lawyer and Palestinian officials said. Paul Martin was detained on February 14 while on a visit to Hamas-run Gaza to give evidence in...
Gaza marks 1,000 days of Israeli siege
Gaza, March 11, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - The Palestinians in the Gaza Strip marke 1,000 days of the tight Israeli siege imposed on the narrow enclave, where 1.5 million Gazans are facing a "slow death." The Popular Committee to challenge the Israeli siege told a news conference in Gaza that the population of the Gaza Strip is facing a "slow...
The National
Palestine Note
“Apartheid week” or “weakness”
Palestine Note 11 Mar 2010 - CHICAGO - There is one important fundamental about truth: Genuine truth gives one the power to tolerate even the most heinous criticism. Tolerance of criticism is a sign of confidence. Intolerance is a symptom that what...
Israeli Arabs ask Mubarak to help Shalit
Palestine Note 11 Mar 2010 - TEL AVIV - Dozens of Kfar Kassem residents protested in front of the Egyptian Embassy in Tel Aviv Wednesday for the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit. The protestors carried a letter addressed to Egyptian President...
Declare a Palestinian state
Palestine Note 11 Mar 2010 - COLLEGE PARK, Maryland - France's foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, has alarmed the Israeli government with his recent statement that "one can envision the proclamation soon of a Palestinian state, and its immediate recognition by the international...
The sorrow and hope of Abraham: Public memory and conflict in the Holy Land
Palestine Note 11 Mar 2010 - JERUSALEM - The flare-up over the Israeli government's decision to put Rachel's Tomb along with what Jews call the Cave of the Patriarchs and Muslims call the Ibrahimi Mosque on a list of Israeli heritage sites...
Jewish respect and admiration for Muslim religiosity
Palestine Note 11 Mar 2010 - JERUSALEM - Within Jewish tradition there are sources that express not just a tolerance towards aspects of Muslim religiosity, but a real admiration and positive intellectual and religious respect. It is important for both Jews and...
Beit Jalla playground rebuilt after destroyed by bulldozers
Palestine Note 11 Mar 2010 - Palestinians and Israeli supporters rebuilt a playground in Beit Jalla that had been torn down before work on the wall had been canceled, reports IMEMC . Volunteers replanted olive trees and brought in sand to reconstruct the...
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
1 hurt, 4 arrested in J'lem violence
Jeruslalem Post 12 Mar 2010 - Police pelted with rocks near Old City; Temple Mt. access restricted; W. Bank sealed.
W. Bank sealed amid Arab rioting fears
Jeruslalem Post 12 Mar 2010 - Police boost presence in Jerusalem's Old City, Temple Mount access restricted.
Hamas releases UK journalist
Jeruslalem Post 12 Mar 2010 - Group accused Paul Martin of being security threat, but did not charge him.
Yemen holds US man after al-Qaida sweep, shootout
Jeruslalem Post 12 Mar 2010 - Sharif Mobley suspected of being member of terror group and killing guard in attempt to break out of hospital.
IAF bombs Gaza tunnel, arms factory
Jeruslalem Post 12 Mar 2010 - Air raid comes in response to Kassam attack; general closure imposed on W. Bank.
Footage of Jibril Deal soldiers aired
Jeruslalem Post 12 Mar 2010 - In special broadcast, Al-Jazeera shows Israelis in PLF captivity in Syria.
Biden wants direct talks by summer
Jeruslalem Post 11 Mar 2010 - Despite R. Shlomo tension, J'lem confident ‘proximity’ talks to go as planned.
Biden wants direct peace talks by summer
Jeruslalem Post 11 Mar 2010 - Despite R. Shlomo tension, J'lem confident ‘proximity’ talks will move as planned.
The West Bank, Mr. VP? Actually, you were at Yad Vashem
Jeruslalem Post 11 Mar 2010 -
WAFA - Palestine News Agency
Release of British Journalist Held by Hamas in Gaza
WAFA 12 Mar 2010 -
S&D Group Backs UN Investigations on Gaza
WAFA 12 Mar 2010 - STRASBOURG, March 11, 2010 (WAFA)-S&D Group backed the resolution adopted yesterday by the European Parliament in Strasbourg on the implementation of the Goldstone recommendations endorsing the
Economic, Social Development in West Bank, Gaza Continues to be World Bank Priority
WAFA 12 Mar 2010 -
Muna Qawasmi Wins AMIN Media Woman Award
WAFA 12 Mar 2010 -
PJS Celebrates Women’s Day
WAFA 12 Mar 2010 -
Ramallah: President Abbas Meets Biden
WAFA 12 Mar 2010 - RAMALLAH, March 10, 2010 (WAFA)- President Mahmoud Abbas called, today, on the Israeli government not to miss the opportunity to achieve peace, stressing that the time has come for making
European Parliament Endorses Goldstone Gaza Report
WAFA 12 Mar 2010 - STRASBOURG, March 10, 2010 (WAFA)- The European Parliament on Wednesday urged its 27-member states to monitor the Israeli and Palestinian probes into alleged war crimes committed during last year's
Ki-moon Condemns Israel's Settlement Plans
WAFA 12 Mar 2010 - NEW YORK, March 10, 2010 (WAFA)- The UN Secretary-General condemns the approval of plans for the building of 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem by the Israeli Ministry of Interior earlier
Inter Press Service
EGYPT: Population Growth Overtakes Literacy Rise
IPS LUXOR, Mar 12 (IPS) - Literacy programmes are teaching millions of Egyptians to read, but are struggling to keep up with the country's high population growth.
MIDEAST: Building Settlements, Not Peace
IPS JERUSALEM, Mar 12 (IPS) - "The best laid-schemes o' mice an' men gang aft a-gley" (Scottish for 'going wrong').
EGYPT: U.N. Slams Abuse of Emergency Law
IPS NEW YORK, Mar 11 (IPS) - Despite diplomatic maneuvering designed to block any review of its human rights record, a United Nations special rapporteur has told the U.N. Human Rights Council that proposed changes in Egypt's constitution "would create a permanent legal state of emergency".
MIDEAST: Iran, Israel Spoiling for a Fight?
IPS RAMALLAH, Mar 10 (IPS) - Iran and Israel appear to be spoiling for a fight, going by recent belligerent statements emanating from several regional capitals.
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
International Solidarity Movement
Israeli Court Begins Hearing Testimonies in the Unlawful Killing of 23 year old American Activist Rachel Corrie
3/11/2010 - International Solidarity Movement - Rachel Corrie Foundation, 10 March - The Haifa District Court began hearing eyewitness testimonies today, March 10, 2010, in a civil lawsuit filed by Rachel Corrie's family against the State of Israel for her unlawful killing in Rafah, Gaza. Rachel Corrie, an American human rights defender from Olympia, Washington, was crushed to death on March 16, 2003 by a Caterpillar D9R bulldozer. She had been nonviolently demonstrating against Palestinian home demolitions with fellow members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a Palestinian-led movement committed to resisting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land using nonviolent, direct action methods and principles. The court heard the testimonies of two ISM witnesses, British citizens Richard Purssell and Tom Dale. Their testimonies were frequently interrupted due to poor court-provided translation, which the presiding judge, Oded Gershon, acknowledged to be flawed. A new court translator was requested by the judge for the coming hearings.
Legal proceedings to evict Sheikh Jarrah family postponed
3/11/2010 - International Solidarity Movement - Today in the West Jerusalem Shalom court, activists gathered from around the world to support two Sheikh Jarrah families in their eviction trial only to learn that the trial will be postponed. Jewish settlers have occupied the front half of the family's house since December 1st and today a hearing was scheduled regarding the remaining part of the house. No date for the next legal hearing was announced. The lawyer bringing the eviction charges against the Palestinian families requested that the court cases for all houses in the neighborhood be heard by the same judge. Palestinians in the neighborhood stated that the settler's lawyer hopes to find a judge more sympathetic to their cause to hear all cases. According to the municipality the family was evicted from the front of the house because it was an addition built without a permit.
Work day to rebuilt bulldozed playground in Beit Jalla, Bethlehem successful
3/11/2010 - International Solidarity Movement - Palestinians, Israelis and Internationals met in Beit Jallah today to rebuild a playground that bulldozers destroyed last week while clearing the path to complete the wall near Bethlehem. 12 people armed only with pick axes and hoes, flattened out the bulldozer tracks and deep holes left from uprooted trees, reset two swing sets, and brought in sand by the bucket for the new playground. Young olive trees were replanted in place of the mature trees that were destroyed during the first days of uprooting last week. The playground is used by many of the neighborhood children, and the family who owns the land welcomes people to enjoy the shade next to their home in the heat of the summer. As people worked in the sun today, army jeeps made rounds on the road above the home, and stood watch from the road on the opposing side of the highway. One jeep came down to the playground, but people continued their work as soldiers took pictures and asked for the Palestinian participants identification cards.
Ha'aretz Diplomacy page
Austrian government discovers mass graves of Nazi victims
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - The mass graves, contianing aboout 70 bodies, are located underneath an army sports field in Graz.
Jewish extremists to model Bar Refaeli: Don't marry DiCaprio
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - In letter to supermodel, Baruch Marzel wrote: Assimilation has forever been an enemy of the Jewish people.
Brazil leader talks Mideast peace, how to be friends with both Israel and Iran
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - In exclusive interview, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva tells Haaretz it's time for more serious Israel-Palestinian talks.
Corrie's sister to Haaretz: U.S. encouraged family to sue Israel
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - Sister of killed U.S. activist Rachel Corrie speaks to Haaretz as trial over Corrie's death begins.
'Abbas seeks U.S. pledge for East Jerusalem construction freeze'
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - Report: Mitchell urges Abbas not to walk away from negotiations; Israel: Row won't stop Mideast talks.
Egyptian guards seriously wound Ethiopian trying to cross into Israel
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - Egypt has been under international pressure to stop using lethal force against migrants.
Interior Minister Yishai: Israel's relationship with U.S. is above all else
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - Crisis with U.S. over East Jerusalem construction caused by unfortunate coincidence, says Shas chair.
PA fears East Jerusalem building will make it look weak
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - Abbas: No talks with Israel unless construction in settlements, including East Jerusalem, frozen.
U.S. gave Israel green light for East Jerusalem construction
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - Biden lauded Netanyahu's assertion that construction in Ramat Shlomo would begin in several years.
Israel believes East Jerusalem row won't stop Mideast talks
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - Senior U.S. officials: Though crisis is over publicly, it will take time to restore trust between the two sides.
Egypt stepping up pressure against Hamas
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - Cairo wants Hamas to unconditionally sign an Egyptian-drafted reconciliation agreement with Fatah.
Al-Jazeera airs unseen 1983 footage of abducted IDF soldiers
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - Clip shows soldiers seized during first Lebanon War, who were then released in controversial prison swap.
'Barbie's here!' Bedouin children welcome visiting Second Lady
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - Jill Biden visits Lakiya, touring women's compound with project sponsored by New Israel Fund.
Biden to Israelis: Mideast status quo unsustainable
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - Vice President says that Palestinians, Israelis must decide for themselves if they want peace.
Pro-Palestinian urge boycott of Europe's H&M after Israel branch opens
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - Pro-Palestinian group: H&M invests in Israel while UN Goldstone commission reports about Israel's crimes.
The Guardian
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....
Israeli settlements plan angers archbishop of Canterbury
The Guardian 12 Mar 2010 - Dr Rowan Williams adds voice to growing criticism of scheme to build nearly 2,000 homes on occupied territory The archbishop of Canterbury has waded into the row over Israeli plans to build hundreds of homes on...
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...
Israel plans more East Jerusalem homes as talks collapse
The Guardian 11 Mar 2010 - NGO list shows how plans stand after latest settlement announcement brought Palestinian peace talks to halt Israeli authorities are considering plans for at least another 8,000 homes in settlements in East Jerusalem, it emerged today, despite...
British journalist freed by Hamas leaves Gaza
The Guardian 11 Mar 2010 - Paul Martin enters Israel following his release from captivity four weeks after arrest in spying case A British journalist held by Hamas for nearly four weeks on suspicion of spying for Israel has left Gaza after...
Israel's unfair 'law of return' | Abe Hayeem
The Guardian 11 Mar 2010 - While British Jews are offered property in the West Bank, Palestinian refugees are still denied the right to return The yearly drive to encourage British Jews to emigrate to Israel culminated last weekend in the Israel...
Joe Biden attempts to salvage Middle East peace talks
The Guardian 11 Mar 2010 - US vice-president appeals to Israel after Palestinians walk out over decision to build new homes in Jewish settlement The US vice-president, Joe Biden, today attempted to salvage the Middle East peace talks after the Palestinians announced...
Why do Egyptians love Avatar? | Joseph Mayton
The Guardian 11 Mar 2010 - Parallels between the Na'vi and oppressed people in the Arab world are flawed – and imply the need for a foreign saviour The gigantic blue Na'vi of Pandora have captured Egyptian and Arab minds over the...
Palestinians snub peace talks because of Israeli homes expansion
The Guardian 10 Mar 2010 - Mahmoud Abbas 'not ready to negotiate' after Israel announces 1,600 new homes for East Jerusalem The Palestinians pulled out of a new round of indirect peace talks last night, even before they had begun, as a...
David Kimche obituary
The Guardian 10 Mar 2010 - Israeli spymaster with a key role in Africa and the Middle East Known as "the man with the suitcase" and a master of disguise, the British-born Israeli spy-master and diplomat David Kimche, who has died aged...
Ha'aretz National page
Thank you for using Qalandiyah checkpoint
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - About the MESS Report ...
Police to let far-rightists march in East Jerusalem
Ha'aretz 12 Mar 2010 - Jerusalem Police on Thursday agreed to let dozens of far-rightists march through an Arab village in East Jerusalem. The activists, led by Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gvir, had requested to demonstrate in Silwan to protest illegal Palestinian construction in the area. ...
Don't call the Israeli Left anti-Zionist
Ha'aretz 11 Mar 2010 - They estimate that the number of participants in the demonstrations in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah was 3,000; and they stress that for a long time, no one has seen such a large protest here. Yallah! We have a fight. ...
Pro-Palestinian urge boycott of Europe's H&M after Israel branch opens
Ha'aretz 11 Mar 2010 - More than 24 European and Middle Eastern pro-Palestinian organizations on Thursday condemned the opening of H&M's flagship store in Israel and called to boycott the clothing chain's stores in Europe in response. ...
Jews displaced from Arab lands finally recognized
Ha'aretz 11 Mar 2010 - For the first time since they came to Israel, all 10 Jewish communities displaced from Arab countries have agreed on a course of action to address their grievances - and triumphed in the political arena. ...
Relief Web
YNet News
Abbas, Ben Ali discuss Israeli 'settlement' plan
YNet News
12 Mar 2010 - In Tunisia, Palestinian president says approval of plan to construct 1,600 housing units in east Jerusalem 'got in the way of" plans to launch indirect talks
Turkish ambassador: Developments in Ankara-J'lem ties imminent
YNet News
12 Mar 2010 - In apparent sign of thaw in relations, members of Knesset's Israel-Turkey Friendship Organization attend luncheon at Celikkol's Herzliya home. 'Turkey a bridge between Israel, Islamic nations,' Deputy Minister Kara says during event
Palestinians: Soldiers watched as settlers attacked
YNet News
12 Mar 2010 - Nablus area Palestinians say assaulted by Gilad Farm residents; settlers accuse leftists of 'provocation'; three settlers detained
3,000 police stationed in J'lem, 3 rioters arrested
YNet News
12 Mar 2010 - After asking to impose full closure on West Bank, thousands of police officers dispatched to maintain order during Friday prayers on Temple Mount. Clashes breakout while police commissioner visits Western Wall command post, but Friday prayers end in relative calm
After Biden debacle, PMO rep present in building talks
YNet News
12 Mar 2010 - Following Interior Ministry's authorization of 1,600 housing units in east Jerusalem during US Vice President Joe Biden's visit, Minister Herzog initiates addendum to law 'in order to prevent similar mishaps in future'
Will classified Eichmann files be released?
YNet News
12 Mar 2010 - Journalists, researchers and former intelligence agents tell Der Spiegel of Germany's reluctance to expose documents unraveling Nazi war criminal's flight from Europe after World War II. Former German agent says Frankfurt prosecutor gave information to Israel because he 'didn't trust the Germans to want to find Eichmann'
Barkat, Havilio give separate responses to Beit Yehonatan petition
YNet News
12 Mar 2010 - Residents of disputed Silwan structure request delay in sealing, evacuation order. Jerusalem Municipality files two separate, contrasting responses to petition
Full closure imposed on West Bank
YNet News
12 Mar 2010 - Following intelligence obtained by police of plans to riot in Jerusalem, in rare move Defense Minister Ehud Barak orders 48-hour closure on West Bank. Entrance to Temple Mount to be restricted to holders of Israeli IDs
Stop The Wall
Volunteer work at Qarawa Bani-Hassan prompts settler activity
Stop The Wall - Tens of Israeli settlers have returned to the sight of the springs at Qarawa Bani-Hassan; a village 14 Km west of Salfit, known for its beautiful landscape and water springs. This time, the settlers are supported by the Occupation army and bulldozers, and also by Israeli volunteers from Tel Aviv and Herzliya. They have brought construction materials to the spring and have started what looks like the first steps to building yet another settlement, and stealing more Palestinian land. [
Villages continue to fight the Wall across the West Bank
Stop The Wall - Weekly protests against the Wall are continuing as old struggles reappear in Bethlehem. On Friday, in addition to the ongoing actions in Beit Jala and other areas, the villages of al-Ma’sara, Bil’in, Nabi Saleh and Ni’lin held their weekly demonstrations. Protestors faced tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds, and one young boy was seriously injured in Nabi Saleh. [
Daily Star
Biden calls for Hizbullah disarmament during Tel Aviv University talk
Daily Star 12 Mar 2010 US Vice President Joe Biden stressed Thursday during a speech in Israel that his country would pursue its efforts to fully implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701 to stop arms flow to Hizbullah and strip the party of its weapons, while also calling for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks to start without delay. "Weapons constituting danger equally against Israeli and Lebanese civilians.
Palestinian Information Center
Los Angeles Times
Biden seeks to nurture Mideast talks
LA Times 11 Mar 2010 - His troubled Mideast trip approaches its end with a Palestinian threat to pull out of planned peace negotiations. Vice President Joe Biden, winding up a disconcerting trip to the Middle East, struggled Thursday to keep hopes alive for new peace talks amid Palestinian anger over Israeli plans for new housing construction in a disputed Jerusalem neighborhood.
Two Israeli soldiers accused of using human shield
LA Times 12 Mar 2010 - The two are indicted in military court for allegedly using a 9-year-old Palestinian boy to open packages they thought had bombs during the Gaza war. The United Nations had referred the case to Israel. Two Israeli soldiers involved in the Gaza Strip offensive a year ago used a 9-year-old Palestinian boy as a human shield to open packages they believed were booby-trapped with explosives, the Israeli army charged Thursday.
Biden tells Palestinians U.S. won't be deterred
LA Times 11 Mar 2010 - Despite the row with Israel over its housing plan, brokering peace talks is still a key priority, he declares. Vice President Joe Biden told Palestinians on Wednesday that the United States intends to push ahead with its Mideast peacemaking effort, despite a diplomatic blow-up this week over Israel's plans to build 1,600 housing units in disputed East Jerusalem.
New York Times
Israelis Block Palestinians From Holy Site
New York Times 12 Mar 2010 - On Friday, Israeli police prevented young Palestinian men from praying at a holy site in Jerusalem, and Israel's military imposed a general ban on travel by Palestinians from the West Bank into Israel.
Israel Seals Off West Bank to Prevent Unrest
New York Times 12 Mar 2010 - Israel wants to prevent Palestinians to enter the country for 48 hours, in reaction to clashes following Friday prayers that have taken place in the past few weeks.
Israeli Ad Riffs on Dubai Assassination
New York Times 12 Mar 2010 - To illustrate the slogan "We offer killer prices," an Israeli supermarket chain's new commercial will feature surveillance camera footage of actors dressed like the suspects accused of assassinating a Hamas official in Dubai in January.
Palestinians Honor a Figure Reviled in Israel as a Terrorist
New York Times 12 Mar 2010 - Palestinian students dedicated a public square to the memory of Dalal Mughrabi, who in 1978 helped carry out the deadliest terrorist attack in Israel’s history.
Israel Charges 2 Soldiers in Gaza War Case
New York Times 12 Mar 2010 - Two Israeli soldiers were charged with instructing a Palestinian boy to open several bags they suspected were booby-trapped during Israel’s 2009 military campaign in Gaza.
World Briefing | Middle East: Israel: Giving Is Its Own Reward
New York Times 11 Mar 2010 - Israel is starting an experiment in organ donation: sign a donor card, and you and your family move up in line for a transplant if one is needed.
Misc 2
Lord almighty, MSM covers dissing of Biden
Mondoweiss - 10 Mar 2010 - Notice how the mainstream press (Time Magazine) dissed the Israeli government and Bibi. This is new. Change that we can believe in (We hope): Guardian: It doesn’t seem to realise it, but Israel cannot afford to keep on behaving in this disobliging manner towards its friends....
‘Sandbox’ neocon persists in epic battle against Palestinian womb
Mondoweiss - 10 Mar 2010 - What was God doing when Martin Kramer decided to name his blog "Sandbox"? Was He laughing or weeping, or just out of town? Kramer doubles down, amplifying and extending his criticism of Palestinians for having too many children so as to push the Jews into the...
‘Life changed’ by Gaza, Congressman Baird seeks to testify in Corrie lawsuit in Israel
Mondoweiss - 10 Mar 2010 - Astonishing interview of the Corrie family, mom Cindy, dad Craig, and sister Sarah Corrie Simpson, by Amy Goodman , just before they left for the civil suit trial that’s taking place in Israel this week. Baird portion is halfway down. Also Craig’s meeting with Obama in Iowa....
BDS is tied to… 9/11!
Mondoweiss - 10 Mar 2010 - People are talking excitedly about a big new paper on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, coming out of the "Global Forum on Anti-Semitism," a conference organized by the Israeli government . The paper is evidently authored by Israel lobbyists Mitchell Bard and Gil Troy, here it...
‘Clean and tidy’ campaign targets non-Jewish foreigners in Israel
Mondoweiss - 10 Mar 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...
Italian Professors Denounce Complicity of Israeli Academic Institutions in the Occupation
Alternative Information Center - 10 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 - 10 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 - 10 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 - 10 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 - 10 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 Obama Administration Asked for the East Jerusalem Fiasco
Yossi Sarid, CounterPunch
3/11/2010
Don’t believe Benjamin Netanyahu for one moment when he says he "never knew." The Jerusalem planning committee is only too aware of what the bosses want, and the government has decided to step up construction in greater Jerusalem. Dispossession and taking possession, kicking out and moving in - that’s what it’s all about.
Over the years, a streamlined and generously lubricated machine has evolved, one that makes it possible to take solace in the building of Jerusalem (in the phrase used to console mourners) and to take pride - but also to take cover - behind a facade of disingenuousness and disowning. Yesterday, it was convenient to disown.
No pretext is more dismal than "bad timing." Ehud Barak immediately put out a press release about the "harmful timing of the publication." As if there were a proper time for provocations. If the announcement of the 1,600 planned housing units had come before Joe Biden’s trip, they would have said it was aimed at sabotaging the visit, and if it happened after he left, they would have said Biden himself was in on the secret.
But with Barak, that willing slave-minister of Netanyahu’s, everything’s cool, but if only they had kept that call for bids confidential, if only they built apartments in some dark secluded hideaway, like the Western Wall tunnel.
Don’t believe for a moment that they never knew: The chaos works like clockwork......
Border Control / Biden and the bulldozer
Akiva Eldar, Ha'aretz, International Solidarity Movement
3/10/2010
March 9, 2010
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who arrived in Israel yesterday, didn’t look for camels among the cars on the road from Ben-Gurion International Airport to Jerusalem. In a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing held two years ago for the United States Ambassador to Israel, James Cunningham, Biden heard that the Israelis even know how to ride bulldozers.
Then a senator from Delaware, who chaired the committee, Biden asked for a detailed report on the affair of American peace activist Rachel Corrie, who was run over and killed by the treads of an Israeli bulldozer.
If Biden schedules a meeting with Corrie’s parents here, the Israeli Information and Diaspora Ministry will have to work overtime. The parents, who arrived in advance of the scheduled deliberations on their suit against the state of Israel, will tell him that his hosts are continuing to deny any responsibility for their daughter’s death.
Rachel was a 23-year-old student run over by a 64-ton bulldozer in March, 2003, when she and others from the International Solidarity Movement tried to use their bodies to stop the demolition of a house in Rafah.
At the Senate hearing, Cunningham spoke about the Israel authorities’ refusal to open a thorough investigation into the affair and not rest content with an internal report.
Cunningham detailed numerous written and oral requests to top people in the Israeli government by senior people in the American administration and his predecessor at the embassy. In reply to Biden’s question, Cunningham undertook to stand by the Corrie family in the demand for a credible investigation of the tragic event.... -- See also: Source
Revolutionary roses
Al-Ahram Weekly
3/11/2010
Sukant Chandan interviews Leila Khaled and Shireen Said for International Women’s Day 2010.
The Palestinian people’s oppression continues primarily due to the financial, diplomatic and military support that Israel receives from the US, and secondly the acquiescence of pro-Western states in the region. After the fall of the Zionists state’s long lost brother — the apartheid state of South Africa — the Palestinian struggle remains perhaps the leading and most potent anti-imperialist struggle in the world. Unsurprisingly therefore Palestinian women are a central example of what role women can play in the struggle to free themselves, their families, communities and their nation from imperialism and Zionism.
Leila Khaled brought the Palestinian struggle to the world’s attention by means of two dramatic plane hijackings in 1969 and 1970 in which only one of her own comrades was killed, the American-Nicaraguan Patrick Arguello. Khaled retells her account of this hijacking in her autobiography My People Shall Live (1973) in which she writes: “Patrick Arguello, age 27, father of three children, a Nicaraguan citizen of the world, born in San Francisco, was pronounced dead. What had prompted someone half-way across the world from Palestine to undertake this dangerous mission? Patrick was a revolutionary Communist. His gallant action was a gesture of international solidarity. A flame of life was extinguished; it lit the world for a moment; it blazed a trail on the road back to Palestine. Arguello lives, so do my people, so does the revolution!”
Khaled remains one of the most inspirational and influential leftist anti-imperialist women in the post-WWII period. She remains active today in the leadership of the Palestinian revolution, as she is one of the central committee members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) as well as a representative of the Palestinian National Council.
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.
Second annual Ann Arbor Palestine film fest opens with "Pomegranates and Myrrh"
Electronic Intifada: 11 Mar 2010 - The second annual Ann Arbor Palestine Film Festival opened on 10 March 2010 at the Michigan Theater with hundreds of attendees for Najwa Najjar's Pomegranates and Myrrh . The film festival showcases films about Palestine and by Palestinian directors. Educating through the screen arts, the film festival amplifies the voice of the Palestinian people as a nation and diaspora by bringing films to the fore that would not otherwise be seen.
Homes and livelihoods gone in an instant
In Gaza: 11 Mar 2010 - Israeli bulldozers destroyed three homes and 17 dunams of agricultural land in eastern Khan Younis on 18 February. Electronic Intifada Radia Abu Sbaih, 47, lives with her sister and one niece on family land roughly 700 meters from the “green line” boundary between Israel and Gaza. Until 18 February 2010, they had nearly 600 olive, fruit, date and nut trees, an agricultural cistern, a water well, various vegetables and a house. Theirs was one of three homes demolished by Israeli military bulldozers that day in al-Mossadar, eastern Gaza. Around 8am that morning, approximately five Israeli military bulldozers and upwards of 10 Israeli tanks, accompanied by more than 50 foot soldiers, invaded the farming region, according to locals. “We were in our home when we heard the Israeli tanks and bulldozers approaching. We ran off immediately,” says Sbaih. She walks over felled trees, past the bulldozed cistern, and to the ruins...
Rachel Corrie Family Finally Puts Israel in Dock
Palestine Monitor: 11 Mar 2010 - Seven years after Rachel Corrie, a US peace activist, was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza, her family was to put the Israeli government in the dock today. A judge in the northern Israeli city of Haifa was due to be presented with evidence that 23-year-old Corrie was killed unlawfully as she stood in the path of the bulldozer, trying to prevent it from demolishing Palestinian homes in Rafah. Corrie's parents, Craig and Cindy, who arrived in Israel on Saturday, said they hoped their civil action would shed new light on their daughter's killing and finally lead to Israel's being held responsible for her death. They are also seeking damages that could amount to millions of dollars if the court finds in their favour. An internal army investigation was closed shortly after Corrie's death, exonerating both the bulldozer driver and the commanders who oversaw the operation. Three Britons...
The Decline of Israel: Interview with Jonathan Cook
Palestine Chronicle: 12 Mar 2010 - By New Left Project 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 NLP: What did you make of Ehud Barak’s recent comparison of Israel to South Africa? JC: We should be extremely wary of ascribing a leftwing 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 that 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,...more
America To The Rescue, (Not) Again
Palestine Chronicle: 12 Mar 2010 - By Sam Bahour We are told that President Obama has taken a leap of political faith in trying to bridge a final peace settlement between Palestinians and Israelis. The United States' new weapon is "proximity talks": if either side fails to meet American expectations, the US will squarely and publicly lay blame. If this was a sitcom it would be the opportune time to crack up laughing; regretfully this is not the case. Real people - whole generations - of Palestinians are on the verge of being locked into another decade of protracted and violent military occupation. Many Israelis’ lives and hopes are at stake as well. It has been reported in Ha'aretz that President Obama submitted a letter of commitment to the Palestinian side to get these indirect “proximity talks” off the ground. The letter notes, "Our core remains a viable, independent and sovereign Palestinian State with contiguous territory...more
Three Kings – Book Review
Palestine Chronicle: 12 Mar 2010 - By Jim Miles Three Kings - The Rise of an American Empire in the Middle East After World War II. Lloyd C. Gardner. New Press, N.Y., 2009. This concisely written and well documented work covers the “Truman Doctrine…the essential rubric under which the United States projected its power globally after World War II…the ideological foundation for the “imperial presidency.” Lloyd Gardner focuses his analysis on the Middle East, although the imperial trends expanded globally through the Americas and on into Asia as the old empires faded and the U.S. took their place. More specifically it is a study of “U.S. maneuvers to replace the British in the region of signal importance, the Middle East.” The signal importance of the region contains two factors: oil, the regional resource that enticed the British into the area in the first place; and ‘international communism’ and the rhetorically inflated fears of a grand international...more
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