Brutalizing Palestinian children
Stephen Lendman, Palestine Note 3/11/2010 As an isolated incident, it would be appalling and criminal. As a regular occurrence, it’s state-sponsored terrorism against defenseless children, subjected to barbarism by Israeli soldiers committing crimes against humanity to crush their will for wanting to live free on their own land - what Westerners take for granted; what Palestinians since 1948 haven’t had, and since 1967, under military occupation denying their very humanity. Nora Barrows-Friedman does heroic reporting for Pacifica Radio’s KPFA Flashpoints Radio and as an activist/teacher/journalist in Occupied Palestine during regular visits. On March 8 on the Electronic Intifada, she wrote about Amir al-Mohteseb, a 10-year old Hebron child, arrested, detained, and savagely beaten after his 12-year old brother Hasan endured similar treatment a week earlier. On March 7 at 2AM, "Israeli soldiers (broke) into (his) house, snatch(ed) Amir from his bed, threatened his parents with death by gunfire if they" interfered, took him down the stairwell, and brutally beat him causing internal abdomen bleeding, requiring overnight hospitalization. "In complete shock and distress, Amir would not open his mouth to speak for another day and a half." Before the incident, he told Barrows-Friedman he was playing in the street on his way with Hasan to see their aunt when: "Two....soldiers stopped us and handcuffed us, (took) us to two separate jeeps, (took) me to the settlement and put me in a corner, (put) a dog next to me," refused to let him use the bathroom, threatened to hold him forever, wouldn’t let him call his mother, blindfolded him, and held him until his father managed to get him late at night.more..e-mail
Expecting a third Intifada
Khaled Amayreh in Ramallah, Al-Ahram Weekly 3/11/2010 The next Intifada could see the Palestinian people in struggle not only against Israel but also against the Palestinian Authority. Observers in occupied Palestine are increasingly of the opinion that a fresh Intifada or uprising is in the offing as the Israeli authorities keep provoking Palestinians, including stepping up efforts to gain Jewish prayer rights at Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest shrine. The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has warned that provocative Israeli actions at Haram Al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) could trigger a religious war between Jews and Muslims. The organisation called on the world community to stop Israeli aggression before it was too late. The warning came after Israeli security forces attacked Muslim worshipers during Friday’s congregational prayers on 5 March. Israeli paramilitary police fired tear gas and stun grenades, injuring as many 50 Palestinians, many of them elderly. Some of the injured were transferred to the two main hospitals in East Jerusalem, but many had to be treated on site as Israeli troops impeded emergency medical efforts. The Israeli police said it “intervened” in reaction to stone throwing towards the nearby Al-Buraq Wall, which Jews call the “Western Wall plaza”. Palestinians have been protesting a series of Israeli provocations, including efforts by Jewish religious groups to gain a foothold at Al-Aqsa Mosque. Last week, Israeli troops escorted a number of Jewish fanatics into the Haram Al-Sharif esplanade where they started holding religious rituals. Muslim worshipers in the area hurled stones towards them, prompting soldiers to attack the Muslims.more..e-mail
America to the rescue, (not) again
Sam Bahour, Ma’an News Agency 3/12/2010 We are told that US President Barack Obama has taken a leap of political faith in trying to bridge a final peace settlement between Palestinians and Israelis. America’s weapon of choice is "proximity talks," with the threat that 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 Israeli lives and hopes are at stake as well. It has been reported in the Israeli newspaper 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 that ends the occupation that began in 1967." This is not the first time a US administration has used its creativity in crafting new terminology to deal with the conflict instead of relying on the time-tested body of international law that provides the keys to real progress. In the past, in place of "independent state" the US has attached such adjectives to the word "state" as "contiguous," "viable," "economically viable," "territorial continuity," and the like. In his use of words, President Obama has just picked up where the failures of past administrations left off. International law clearly defines what an independent state is and any attempt to redefine it is an act of bad faith. Israeli failed state The timing of the US move toward new talks is rather conspicuous as well. Israel is proving itself to be a ‘failed state;’ a ‘rogue state’ which has become a liability to its allies. How are its leaders greeting this latest move?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...
Umm Al-Kheir, Where Freedom Stands For Demolition Palestine Monitor: 13 Mar 2010 - Umm al-Kheir means ‘Mother of Freedom' in Arabic. But the eighty residents of this little Bedouin community in the South Hebron Hills aren't free at all. With the settlers of Carmel as their neighbours, these shepherds have to deal with harassment, warrants of demolition, bulldozers and even gunshots. Written and photographed by FLV. Photo: FLV The habitants of Umm al-Kheir are mostly refugees from 1948. They were forced to leave their homes in Tel Arad (West of the Dead Sea) and started to wander in the West Bank. In the 1970s, they arrived in Umm al-Kheir, which is located approximately 20 kilometres north of Tel Arad in the South Hebron Hills. It's a region were Palestinians are imprisoned between the Jewish settlements of Sussya and Ma'on, Israeli military training zones and outposts such as Havat Ma'on. First, settlers established caravans to confiscate the land. Ehen the Israeli Civil Administration made...
EU Parliament Backs Goldstone Report Palestine Monitor: 13 Mar 2010 - A resolution voted by the European Parliament last Wednesday demands a strong EU common position on the follow-up of the Goldstone Report and close monitoring of its implementing measures. The resolution, tabled by Political Groups S&D, ALDE, Greens/EFA and GUE/NGL groups, was approved with 335 votes in favour, 287 against and 43 abstentions. All parties should respect human rights "Respect for international humanitarian law and international human rights law by all parties under all circumstances and trust-building between Israelis and Palestinians are essential components of a peace process leading to two states living side by side in peace and security" says the resolution, which stresses "once again the importance of achieving a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, and between Israelis and Palestinians in particular". Independent and impartial investigations within the next five months The European Parliament "urges both sides to conduct investigations within five months that meet...
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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