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Memories of Another day

Memories of Another day
While my Parents Pulin babu and Basanti devi were living

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Re: [Peoples War] Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines May 07, 2009 ~


 
palashcbiswas,
 gostokanan, sodepur, kolkata-700110 phone:033-25659551



From: Shadi Fadda <f_shadi@yahoo.com>
To: president@whitehouse.gov
Cc: enquiry@dfid.gov.uk; inquiries@un.org
Sent: Thursday, 7 May, 2009 21:59:09
Subject: [Peoples War] Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines May 07, 2009 ~



Land Theft/Destruction
For sale: Great location
It's to be hoped that the White House gets a subscription to one of the local Jerusalem newspapers ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington. Simply leafing through the giant advertisements would save American and Israeli taxpayers significant amounts of time, money and grief.  Israel has long promised there would be no new construction in West Bank settlements. President Shimon Peres reiterated this promise recently to Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, whose country currently holds the European Union presidency. Topolanek, in turn, promised to work to improve Israeli-European relations. Netanyahu, during his U.S. visit, is certain to repeat the same lies uttered by Peres.  Yet this week, a Jerusalem daily promised that any Israeli factory willing to move to the settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim would benefit in three ways.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1083089. html


Settlement expansion seeing biggest boost since 2003

West Bank construction has been accelerating for several months, putting Israel on a collision course with a U.S. administration taking a hard line on settlement expansion.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1083667. html


Israel speeds up construction in West Bank settlements and outposts
West Bank construction has been accelerating for several months, putting Israel on a collision course with a U.S. administration taking a hard line on settlement expansion.  A new outpost, new roads, and other building projects have raced ahead in and around the settlements, often without legal permits, producing the biggest construction drive since 2003, according to Dror Etkes of the Israeli advocacy group Yesh Din. That group monitors construction in the West Bank.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1083667. html


Israeli military occupation 'severely compromises Bethlehem'
The Israeli military occupation around Bethlehem is severely restricting its growth, undermining its economy and compromising its future, according to a UN report.  The combined effect of Israeli annexation, the West Bank barrier, settlements, settler bypass roads, closed military zones and Israeli nature reserves, has left only 13% of the 660 sq km Bethlehem governorate available for Palestinian use, the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs says.
http://www.guardian .co.uk/world/ 2009/may/ 06/israel- army-bethlehem- un


Report on Bethlehem faults Israel

The UN has voiced concern over Israeli measures in Bethlehem that have rendered only 13 per cent out of 660sq km of the West Bank city's land at the service of Palestinians, much of it fragmented.  The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says in its May report, released on Thursday, that Israel's separation wall, settlements and road closures have affected Palestinian livelihoods, development and residential expansion in the Bethlehem governorate, both in the urban and rural areas.
http://english. .aljazeera. net//news/ middleeast/ 2009/05/20095713 406881517. html


Life in Nu'man land

How Israel's West Bank wall has turned a Palestinian village into a day-leave prison for its 200 residents.  The Palestinian villagers of Nu'man have lived on their hilltop for generations, looking out across sweeping views of the terraced olive-tree slopes of the West Bank. But their view is changing dramatically and they fear there will be little place for Nu'man in the new landscape.
http://www.guardian .co.uk/world/ 2009/may/ 06/israel- palestinian- territories


Shrinking Space: Urban Contraction and Rural Fragmentation in the Bethlehem Governorate

OCHA - This report on the Bethlehem governorate documents how the central-urban core is constricted by a combination of Israeli infrastructure, including the Barrier, settlements and settlement outposts. In the eastern governorate, administrative restrictions (Area C, closed military areas and nature reserves) also limit the potential for urban expansion, grazing, and for planning and development at the governorate level.
http://www.ochaopt. org/documents/ ocha_opt_ bethlehem_ shrinking_ space_may_ 2009_english. pdf


Israeli group asks court to halt settlement growth
AFP - An Israeli anti-settlement group on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to block what it said was the illegal expansion of an Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank.
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/afp/20090507/ wl_mideast_ afp/mideastconfl ictsettler

Aggression/Attacks

Five Palestinians injured in two Israeli air strikes in Rafah
Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported on Wednesday at night that five Palestinians were injured in two consecutive air strikes carried by the Israeli Air Force against the "Tunnels Area" on the border line between Rafah and the Egypt.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 60288


Palestinian mentally channeled man killed by army fire in Hebron

Palestinian medical sources in Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank, reported on Wednesday at night that Israeli soldiers shot and killed a mentally challenged young man, near the Ibrahimi Mosque.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 60286


Israeli army wounds a Palestinian woman northern Gaza
Gaza, May 7, 2009 (Ramattan) – A Palestinian woman was injured on Thursday as the Israeli army opened heavy fire towards Palestinian farmers in the city of Rafah south of Gaza, Palestinian medical sources said.
http://english. ramattan. net/newsdetails. aspx?news_ id=40359


Israeli troops set trap against Palestinians and Internationals
http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=BSDoweIqsx0&feature=player_ embedded


Detentions
IOF detains 16 Palestinians in West Bank
Ramallah, May 7, 2009 (Ramattan) – The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) detains on Thursday morning sixteen Palestinian citizens in different cities across the West Bank, Palestinian security sources said.
http://english. ramattan. net/newsdetails. aspx?news_ id=40355


Israeli naval officers arrest four Gaza fishermen; open fire on boat
Gaza – Ma'an – Israeli warships surrounded and seized a fishing boat and four fishermen on the coast near Gaza City Thursday afternoon.   Eyewitnessed said several boats obstructed the path of the shipping vessel, which was on its way out to sea when the naval ships opened fire on the boat.  The boat belongs Abd Al-Mu'ti Al-Hbeil, who is believed to be one of those detained. The three others have not been identified. No injuries have been reported.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37635


Palestinian Resistance
Fighter killed in Gaza
The Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, stated on Thursday that one of its fighters was killed on Wednesday evening during what the brigades described as a "special mission".
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 60294


Israeli soldier killed in West Bank raid
AFP - An Israeli soldier was killed on Thursday during clashes with Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, the army said, but it was unclear whether the death was a result of friendly fire.
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/afp/20090507/ wl_mideast_ afp/mideastconfl ictwestbankisrae l


Gaza heats up; three militant groups launch attacks on Israeli targets
Gaza - Ma'an - Israeli soldiers came under attack near the southern Israeli-Gaza border early Thursday, Israel Radio said.  The troops were reportedly hit with a number of mortar shells and anti-tank projectiles, though no damages or injuries were reported.
Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades, claimed to have launched five mortar shells at Israeli targets and sites in the western Negev Wednesday morning.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37628

War Crimes

Call for sanctions after United Nations report shows Israelis committed war crimes in Gaza Strip
Palestinian Legislative Council member Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi is calling for sanctions against Israel for crimes committed in the Gaza Strip.  The siege continues for its one and a half million residents who can neither move freely nor engage in import or export.
http://english. pnn.ps/index. php?option= com_content&task=view&id=5248

Peres tells Ban: Israel will never accept UN Gaza probe
President Shimon Peres said on Wednesday that Israel would never apologize for its military offensive on the Gaza Strip earlier this year, calling a damning United Nations report on its conduct there "unfair and one-sided."
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1083551. html


Peres tells Ban 'we made mistakes in Gaza'
President meets with UN secretary-general, rejects claims IDF deliberately targeted UNWRA facilities during recent operation. 'I admit that we made some mistakes, but I do not know of any war without mistakes. We did not want to kill a single civilian.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3712016,00. html


Humanitarian Issues
Al Jazeera Video:  Israel's indiscriminate use of tear gas - 06 May 09
Tear gas canisters are supposed to be non-lethal weapons. But human rights groups are becoming increasingly concerned that Israel is using tear gas canisters, intended to be used to disperse demonstrators, illegally, causing injuries and sometimes even death.  Nour Odeh has the story of one family in the West Bank town of Nilin.
http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=ch2ldn7_ a5c&feature=player_ embedded

Disabled Palestinians stage sit-in at the Rafah border crossing
The government committee against siege has called for the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt and to allow entry of electric wheelchairs and other medical equipment to the disabled.
Hundreds of refugees stage sit-in at UNRWA offices; demand expanded services

Gaza – Ma'an – Hundreds of Palestinian refugees gathered in the UNRWA centers at Gaza refugee camps across the Strip Thursday, demanding an improvement in their living situation following a war and two years of siege.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37633


Patients and aid supplies enter the Gaza strip via Rafah
20 Palestinian Patents in addition to 420 tons of food supplies were allowed into Gaza on Thursday via the Rafah Border Crossing with Egypt.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 60306


UN urges Israel to lift Gaza trade blockade
AFP - UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday called on Israel to end a blockade on aid and fuel to 1.5 million inhabitants of the impoverished Gaza Strip.
http://news. yahoo..com/ s/afp/20090506/ wl_mideast_ afp/mideastconfl ictuncyprus

MIDEAST:  Palestinians Rebuild With Mud
RAFAH, May 7 (IPS) - Jihad el-Shaar is pleased with his mud-brick house in the Moraj district of Gaza. The 80-square metre home is a basic one-storey, two-bedroom design, with a small kitchen, bathroom and sitting room, made mostly with mud and straw.
http://www.ipsnews. net/news. asp?idnews= 46751


B'Tselem:  State Attorney's Office to Police: Forbidden to fire tear-gas canisters directly at demonstrators
The SAO's directive follows several warnings by B'Tselem to law-enforcement authorities in the West Bank about the life-threatening danger inherent in firing tear-gas canisters at people.
http://www.btselem. org/English/ Firearms/ 20090504_ State_Attorney_ to_Police_ direct_firing_ of_tear_gaz_ canisters_ foribdden. asp

3 policemen indicted for assaulting Palestinian in Tel Aviv

On 3 May '09, indictments were filed against three policemen, charging them with assaulting Tareq Abu Laban, in Tel Aviv, in June '08. According to Abu Laban, the three forced him into a police car and beat and abused him severely during a ride in it.
http://www.btselem. org/English/Beating_ and_Abuse/20090506_Policemen_ indicted_for_beating_ Tarek_Abu_ Laban_in_Tel_Aviv. asp

Israel's Human Rights Abuses out in Open, By George S. Hishmeh
The revelation that harsh interrogation methods, including torture, were used against detainees during the US-led war in Iraq by the George W. Bush administration, continues to reverberate here and overseas. The actions, sanctioned in legal memorandums, were recently released by US President Barack Obama.  The repercussions of Obama's actions, however, are being felt by key US government officials, especially those within the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), as well as within several other countries including Great Britain and Israel.
http://palestinechr onicle.com/ view_article_ details.php? id=15083


Israel says 'secret' detention center is empty
State representative tells UN Committee Against Torture Israel no longer using facility allegedly used to keep Palestinian prisoners in isolation, refutes detainees' mistreatment claims.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3712131,00. html


Refugees
61st Anniversary of the Naqba - Alternative Information Center
Palestinian refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) are one of the largest and longest-standing displaced populations in the world.  During the first Israeli-Arab war (between late 1947 and the first half of 1949), more than 750,000 Palestinians were displaced or expelled by the Israeli military forces and more than 500 Palestinian villages were depopulated and later destroyed. Of the roughly 150,000 Palestinians who remained in that part of Palestine that became the state of Israel on 15 May 1948, several tens of thousands were internally displaced.
http://english. pnn.ps/index. php?option= com_content&task=view&id=5252


Chronicles of a Refugee, a documentary review
Though many viewers might find the film contentious, the documentary series Chronicles of a Refugee is certain to get people talking.  The initial buzz around the independently- produced six-part documentary was little more than a whisper. The series, which includes interviews of over 300 Palestinian refugees from nearly 20 countries, addresses a variety of topics, past and present, historical and political.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37617


Collaborators
'Arabs revising peace plan to win Israel backing for 2 states'
Arab states are revising elements of a 2002 peace plan to encourage Israel to agree to the establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian state, the London-based paper Al-Quds al-Arabi reported Wednesday.  The countries are making the amendments at United States President Barack Obama's request, the paper said. Some of the changes deal with a controversial "right of return" for Palestinian refugees to Israel or a future state of Palestine.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1083477. html


US General: Fatah Soldiers are 'Founders of Palestinian State'
Palestinian Authority special forces were praised by an American general this week for becoming the founders of a new Arab country within Israel's current borders.  "As I look at you, I couldn't be more proud of the fact that you stepped up to be the founders of a Palestinian state," U.S. Lt.-Gen. Keith Dayton told a battalion in his speech to the troops Monday in Tulkarm. Dayton is responsible for the military training of the PA special forces. The statement was reported by the Reuters news service.
http://www.israelna tionalnews. com/News/ News.aspx/ 131098


Abbas consults with Mubarak, AL chief before U.S visit

CAIRO, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas talked Wednesday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Arab League (AL) chief Amr Moussa separately to coordinate Arab stances to push forward the peace process with Israel.
http://news. xinhuanet. com/english/ 2009-05/07/ content_11326003 .htm


Netanyahu approves transfer of NIS 50 million to Gaza
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday instructed defense officials to transfer NIS 50 million to banks in the Gaza Strip in order to help pay Palestinian Authority salaries.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1083791. html


Political Developments
Hamas: Any government Abbas forms to be illegal
The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said Wednesday that any government that Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas forms would be illegitimate.  "Any government that Ramallah forms would be illegal even if the entire world recognized it," said Salah al-Bardaweel, a spokesman for Hamas lawmakers.
http://news. xinhuanet. com/english/ 2009-05/07/ content_11330562 .htm


Fatah official says Palestinian president's party in danger
A Fatah official on Thursday warned that the future of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas' faction was threatened due to "party differences. "  Ghassan al-Massri, the West Bank-based official, said the failure of the movement to hold its sixth general conference since twenty years "will increase the negative gravitation which push towards losing the movement's customs and legacy and harm the movement's future."
http://news. xinhuanet. com/english/ 2009-05/07/ content_11331040 .htm


Abbas: Decision to reinstate Fayyad government in interest of peace, dialogue
Cairo – Ma'an – Although he resigned on 7 March Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and his caretaker government will stay on in their posts with a "few new additions," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday.  Speaking after a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Abbas assured that the decision to keep the majority of Fayyad's resigned government in power and the addition of new members would not interfere with the planned national dialogue set to take place in Cairo on 16 May.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37615


How many more concessions should Palestinians make?  New Arab peace plan calls for concessions from Israel, PA
The Palestinian Authority and several Arab states are developing a plan to be submitted to U.S. President Barack Obama that would provide for gestures to Israel in return for Israeli concessions to the Palestinians. The plan is designed to show Arab flexibility in the face of anticipated intransigence, in their view, from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1083666. html

Abbas to give U.S. 'complete' Mideast peace plan
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday that he and his Egyptian counterpart planned to present the Obama administration with a complete formula for resolving the Middle East conflict.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1083792. html

Sources: US propose the Syrians to resume peace talks with Israel
An UAE daily reported on Wednesday that the U.S. administration seeks to resume the peace negotiations between Syria and Israel.
http://english. ramattan. net/newsdetails. aspx?news_ id=40352


US envoy on new 'constructive' visit to Syria
AFP - Senior US envoy Jeffrey Feltman said he held "constructive" talks on Thursday with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, on his second visit in two months to try to improve ties with Damascus.
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/afp/20090507/ wl_mideast_ afp/mideastsyria usdiplomacylead


Netanyahu 'only backs self-rule' for Palestinians
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at present accepts only Palestinian "self-government," and not the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state, an Israeli newspaper reported yesterday.  Netanyahu will say this to US President Barack Obama at their meeting in Washington scheduled for May 18, Yediot Ahronot said, quoting senior government officials and officials close to the new premier.  The new hardline Israeli premier, who took office last month following February 10 elections, is currently revising Israel's policy toward the peace process, and plans to present the new policy guidelines to Obama at their White House meeting.
http://www.gulf- times.com/ site/topics/ article.asp? cu_no=2&item_no=289213&version=1&template_id= 37&parent_id=17

Mousa: Netanyahu's preconditions, unacceptable
Arab League Secretary-General, Amro Mousa, stated that the statements of Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his preconditions for "peace" are unacceptable, and that the Arabs will not accept a partial solution.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 60290


Blair: Israel-Palestinian talks must address Jerusalem

Renewed peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians must tackle core issues including Jerusalem, Middle East envoy Tony Blair said, raising the specter of a clash with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1083902. html

Other News
Palestinian member of Israeli Knesset voted into vice chairmanship, rightists condemn election
Palestinian member of the Israeli Knesset, Ahmed Tibi, was elected to the position of Vice Chairman.  The leader of the Arab nationalist party inside Israeli boundaries, Ta'al (the Arab Movement for Renewal) is also a part of the United Arab List in the Israeli parliament.  There was a stir during voting by members of the right led by Michael Ben Yair, the representative of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. He said, "How can we allow an advisor to Arafat to become vice president and chair meetings of the Knesset?"
Another comment during the elections was, "You can vote against him or to draw lessons."  Tibi's response to Ben Yair's criticism: "I am proud that I was an adviser to Yasser Arafat."
http://english. pnn.ps/index. php?option= com_content&task=view&id=5246


Egypt official 'reminds' Israel of its war crimes against Arabs
The Speaker of the Egyptian Parliament on Thursday "reminded" his counterpart in Jerusalem of "war crimes" Israel had committed against Arabs in response to a letter from him comparing Iran's president to Adolf Hitler.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1083824. html


Palestinians scrap plan to host pope near barrier

AP - An official says the Palestinian Authority has scrapped plans to receive Pope Benedict XVI next week on a stage near Israel's West Bank separation barrier.
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/ap/20090507/ ap_on_re_ mi_ea/ml_ holy_land_ pope

Farewell to Gaza's Courageous Priest
I hear that Fr Manuel Musallam, the Catholic priest in Gaza, has finally retired at 71. His is a hard act to follow.   Many of us feared that ill health had forced him to hang up his cassock last year, but he returned to the fray to be with his community during their darkest hour when Israel, with a nod from America and the EU, unleashed its blitzkrieg intended to finally crush the isolated and half-starved Gazans.
http://palestinechr onicle.com/ view_article_ details.php? id=15081


All the Palestinian soccer team needs now is an exit visa
BRUSSELS - Izzat Hamzeh couldn't help the smile on his face Tuesday as he watched his soccer team practice. After all, the Palestine national team coach had actually managed to get a squad together.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1083691. html


Stolen property of the usurping entity
"It was seized from two Palestinian men in a sting operation at a Jerusalem hotel, police said. The two could face several years in jail...According to Israeli antiquities law all archaeological artefacts are state property."
http://angryarab. blogspot. com/2009/ 05/stolen- property- of-usurping- entity.html


Messianic Jews demand Israeli citizenship
Three UK residents petition High Court, say state is denying their right of return due to bias against their faith.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3712002,00. html


Solidarity/Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment
Labor for Palestine (U.S.):  Open Letter to the Labor Research Association: Don't Honor Israeli Apartheid
http://laborforpale stine.wordpress. com/2009/ 05/04/open- letter-to- the-labor- research- association- dont-honor- israeli-aparthei d/

Rights groups call for labor solidarity with Palestine
On 1 May, people from the village of al-Masara and the neighboring villages in the Bethlehem area commemorated International Workers Day with a march in protest against the apartheid wall. The wall continues to encroach on their land and isolates their villages. The demonstration and International Workers Day festival was organized by the popular committees of the Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign in al-Masara and Bethlehem district, in cooperation with the Bethlehem branch of the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU).
http://electronicin tifada.net/ v2/article10504. shtml


Defend Ezra Nawi!
Nawi is an Arab-Jewish gay Ta'ayush activist threatened with jail for peacefully obstructing the criminal demolition of a Palestinian shack. He is picked upon because Israeli authorities feel particularly threatened by acts of solidarity with Palestinians coming from people of working class, non-Ashkenazi background (as was the case with Tali Fahima). His sexual orientation makes him also particularly vulnerable.
http://jewssansfron tieres.blogspot. com/2009/ 05/defend- ezra-nawi. html


WATCH: Israeli activist to be jailed for caring

Ezra Nawi was ridiculed and arrested for trying to protect people's homes. Only international attention can help him now. Without international intervention, Israeli human rights activist Ezra Nawi will most likely be sent to jail.
http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=ysIaQUJWBdk&feature=player_ embedded
http://www.palestin emonitor. org/spip/ spip.php? article937

11 national and international networks and organizations call on Norway to divest from Africa-Israel due to settlement construction
Dear Members of the Council on Ethics,  As diverse organizations concerned with human rights, international law, justice and peace in the Middle East, we are writing in support of the West Bank villages of Bil'in and Jayyous to call on the Norwegian government to conform with its own ethical guidelines[i] and divest its pension holdings from the company Africa-Israel, owned by Lev Leviev. According to a Norwegian Government report,[ii] as of December 31, 2008 a total of 6,665,567 Kroner in Norwegian government pension funds were invested in Africa-Israeli Investments and Africa-Israel Properties.
http://adalahny. org/index. php/press- releases/ 25-press- releases- land-developer/ 301-orgs- norway-divest- africa-israel


Where was Tikkun Olam at the AIPAC Conference in DC?

The following was written by Rae Abileah, a young American Jew of Israeli and Dutch descent.  Abileah was one of the members of CODEPINK who disrupted Israeli President Shimon Peres's speech during the AIPAC Policy Conference (she is third from the left in the photo below, the photo was taken after the protest). She is a national organizer with CODEPINK Women for Peace and you can contact her at rae@codepinkalert. org.  You can also visit www.codepinkalert. org/gaza for more info on CODEPINK's upcoming trips to Gaza via Egypt and Israel.
http://www.philipwe iss.org/mondowei ss/2009/05/ where-was- tikkun-olam- at-the-aipac- conference- in-dc.html


Anti-Solidarity/ Pro-Apartheid

Montreal's ties to illegal Israeli settlement
In April, Palestinian activist Bassam Ibrahim Abou Rahme was killed by Israeli military forces after being shot at close range by a teargas canister, becoming the 18th Palestinian to have been killed for protesting against the Israeli wall being built in Bil'in, a farming village.  "Bassam was a leader from the Bil'in movement against Israeli apartheid. Everyone in the village loved Bassam, who regularly worked with Israeli activists," remembers Abdullah Abu Rahme, a Bil'in resident and activist.
http://www.hour. ca/news/news. aspx?iIDArticle= 17239


Israel's man at the U.N.
Israel's man at the U.N. is no less than U.N. Secretery General Ban Ki-Moon, who knows very well how to please his masters, even if that means colluding and covering up for Israeli assaults on U.N. facilities and reckless endangerment of U.N. personnel as well as the killing of civilians taking refuge in U.N. facility.
http://jewssansfron tieres.blogspot. com/2009/ 05/israel- man-at-un. html


Ban against More Probes into Israeli Conduct in Gaza war
07/05/2009 It appears that the international community had watched Israel bombing houses and schools in Gaza, killing children and women, using banned phosphorus weapons in populated area, attacking medial teams on the ground, demolishing homes on their owners heads...as if they were watching a Friday night horror movie with a popcorn bag in one hand and a vomit bag in the other; the horror 'movie' on Gaza had graphic scenes after all, and the viewers are all "sensitive."
http://almanar. com.lb/NewsSite/ NewsDetails. aspx?id=84580&language=en


Analysis/Op- ed
Ban Ki-moon's moral failure
Late last week, according to the BBC Arabic news website, a report was submitted to the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon about the scale of destruction Israel inflicted on UN installations in Gaza. This was also mentioned on a BBC news bulletin on 1 May, but I could find little trace of this story anywhere else.  The brief news item stated that the UN report contained secret information supplied by Israel about an incident in which more than 40 Palestinian civilians were massacred when Israeli shells fell "outside" a UN school where many Palestinians were taking shelter. The secretary-general is reportedly considering how much of the information he can release without revealing the information supplied by Israel, the news item said, adding that the UN report concluded that Hamas fighters were not inside UN buildings but close to them.
http://electronicin tifada.net/ v2/article10511. .shtml


The new ambassador of the Usurping Entity
"The preservation of Jerusalem as the political and spiritual capital of the Jewish state is vital to Israel's existence. This fact was well understood by David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, at the time of the state's creation in 1948. Though Israel was attacked simultaneously on all fronts by six Arab armies, with large sections of the Galilee and the Negev already lost, Ben-Gurion devoted the bulk of Israel's forces to breaking the siege of Jerusalem. The city, he knew, represented the raison d'être of the Jewish state, and without it Israel would be merely another miniature Mediterranean enclave not worth living in, much less defending."
http://angryarab. blogspot. com/2009/ 05/new-ambassado r-of-usurping- entity.html


300 children were just killed in Gaza. But Kerry and Biden cannot say a word about them. Why?
Medea Benjamin of Code Pink is an anguished Jew. She was dragged out of the AIPAC policy conference by people who held their hands over her mouth as she cried out about the children of Gaza. She writes:  Senator Kerry, despite that fact that he was one of only a handful of legislators who visited Gaza, didn't say one word about the massive destruction he witnessed and pledged that as Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he would do everything to ensure that the $30 billion in military aid to Israel is "delivered in full." ...Even Vice President Biden, who at least told AIPAC that Israel should freeze new settlement activity, didn't say a word about the ongoing humanitarian crisis caused by Israel's invasion and continued blockade of Gaza. No U.S. officials, and there were hundreds at the conference, dared echo the call of the United Nations or the world community to lift the siege of Gaza.  Oh, the answer to my headline? The Israel lobby.
http://www.philipwe iss.org/mondowei ss/2009/05/ 300-children- were-just- killed-in- gaza-but- kerry-and- biden-cannot- say-a-word- about-them- why-.html

AIPAC attempts to stop shift in White House Middle East policy
WASHINGTON (The Guardian) -- U.S. congressional leaders and the most powerful pro-Israel lobby group in the U.S. are attempting to forestall a significant shift in the White House's Middle East policy.
http://www.tehranti mes.com/index_ View.asp? code=193967


Israelis Nervous Over Possible 'Showdown' With US

The country's mainstream media seem to have little doubt. "Collision course" has become the routine fear about how the two new administrations — in Jerusalem and Washington — are contemplating their respective Middle East strategies. And, more p
ointedly, over what the U.S. expects of Israel to help transform its strategy-in- the-making into a new reality for the region.
http://original. antiwar.com/ kessel-klohendle r/2009/05/ 06/israelis- nervous-over- possible- showdown- with-us/

As a Jew, I am not comforted when the Vice President of the US says 'there will always be a place for Jews of the world to go -- and that place always must be Israel.'

During his speech to the the AIPAC Policy Conference, Joe Biden told a story about meeting Golda Meir as a young senator in 1973. He said that he was worried about Israel's future at that time, but Meir comforted him by saying, "Senator don't worry. We Jews have a secret weapon in our struggle, we have no place else to go."
http://www.philipwe iss.org/mondowei ss/2009/05/ joe-biden- told-a-story- about-meeting- golda-meir- he-said-that- he-was-worried- about-israels- future-at- that-time- but-meir- comfo.html

New Profile: In Their Own Words

This post contains a letter from New Profile analyzing the persecution of their members and asking for support. JPN editor Rela Mazali is a co-founder of New Profile and one of the letter's authors. Of the investigation into New Profile, Rela explains, "I'd like to say clearly that I don't think persecution of New Profile is (or will be) severe or extremely frightening. It's bad but by no means terrifying. I see it, however, as a unique and important opportunity to open up people's eyes to the much more severe, frightening and brutal reality of Palestinians' persecution, 'simply' (and sadly) because in this case it is 'respectable' , middle class, (some) middle-aged, Jewish, Ashkenazi women who are being targeted. In this case, the targets look credible and are not suspect 'by definition' because of their ethnicity/nationali ty/skin color/accent. "
http://jewishpeacen ews.blogspot. com/2009/ 05/new-profile- in-their- own-words. html

Why Jews are superior to Palestinians

Great piece by BBC News on Natan Brun, a legal historian in Israel who is the son of Akiva Brun, a member of the Stern Gang who was arrested and charged in 1947 for plotting terror in London. Reporter Tim Franks asks if Brun's father's story suggests "that the Palestinian militants of today can become the pillars of the establishment of the future?"
http://www.. philipweiss. org/mondoweiss/ 2009/05/why- jews-are- superior- to-palestinians. html


Introducing the propaganda minister, Gideon Levy
Haaretz - We`ve had better and worse presidents, but we`ve never had a president who served as government propagandist. Now we do: Shimon Peres has appointed himself to the unworthy task. Since the new government formed - the most right-wing government in Israel`s history - the (seemingly) left-wing (former) peace man has become its public relations agent.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1083698. html


AIPAC strives for political indoctrination for college and grade school students
(WMR) -- The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) might learn a thing or two from Lyndon Johnson's famous quote about FBI director J. Edgar Hoover: "It's probably better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in."
Having received no word back from AIPAC on receiving credentials to cover their annual policy conference at the Washington Convention Center, this editor set out to pick up as many side conversations and abandoned AIPAC literature from the attendees' hotel venues.  This year's AIPAC policy conference's theme is "Relationships Matter."
http://onlinejourna l.com/artman/ publish/article_ 4673.shtml


The West Bank Archipelago

This week, leading Israeli, Palestinian and American officials have agreed that the creation of a Palestinian state on territory in the West Bank and Gaza is essential to peace in the Middle East. But spend any time looking at a map of the West Bank as it is today, or with any of the many different proposals for how that map might be redrawn to accommodate the aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians, and it becomes clear why any sensible mapmaker might choose to steer well clear of the challenge of drawing up that state.
http://thelede. blogs.nytimes. com/2009/ 05/07/the- west-bank- archipelago/

Israel's arsenal, by Stephen M. Walt

Andrew Sullivan wonders "why can't Israel just declare that it's a nuclear power?" Good question. I've never had much problem with Israel having a nuclear arsenal myself -- if I were Israeli, I'd want one too. Nor am I surprised that they don't want their neighbors to follow suit, because that's basically been our position too.  The United States would clearly prefer to be the only country with nuclear weapons; the problem is that it's difficult-to- impossible to maintain a nuclear monopoly in perpetuity without fighting a lot of preventive wars.  And the same goes for Israel too. 
http://walt. foreignpolicy. com/posts/ 2009/05/06/ israels_arsenal


Non Violence and the Right to Resistance
Engaging in non-violent acts as a means of resistance to tyranny and injustice is certainly a noble and dignifying attitude. It is historically best epitomized by the Christ's attitude of offering the second cheek in response to an act of violence or provocation. The concept of non violence is, therefore, laudable in many aspects. Though seldom an efficient arm against the wrath of injustice or the cruelty of oppression, it, nevertheless, remains, and for good reasons, a gracious act of revolt and a noble expression of dissent.
http://palestinechr onicle.com/ view_article_ details.php? id=15080


The Two-State Solution: the Pacifier Slogan
The 'two-state solution' phrase was first coined in the 1947 UN General Assembly Resolution 181 to create two independent states in historical Palestine.  Israel has been created and recognized within undefined borders and the phrase today implies whether and how to create the second state. The "two-state" solution has different meanings for the different parties involved in the Palestinian- Israeli conflict.
http://www.palestin echronicle. com/view_ article_details. php?id=15082


Iraq
Major attacks in Iraq since Jan. 1
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/ap/20090506/ ap_on_re_ mi_ea/ml_ iraq_attacks_ glance


Attackers blow up north Iraq oil pipeline
AFP - An oil pipeline near the disputed oil-rich northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk was blown up early on Wednesday, interrupting pumping from 15 wells but not affecting exports, an official said.
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/afp/20090506/ wl_mideast_ afp/iraqunrestoi l

Some U.S.-backed Iraqi fighters desert posts
Reuters - Some U.S.-allied Sunni Arab fighters who helped drive al Qaeda out of much of Iraq are deserting their posts because of delays in pay and a spate of arrests and government raids targeting them, their leaders say.
http://news. .yahoo.com/ s/nm/20090506/ wl_nm/us_ iraq_awakening

Jury out in case of US soldier accused of Iraq rape, killings
PADUCAH, Kentucky (AFP) — A US federal jury deliberated Wednesday on whether ex-soldier Steven Dale Green was guilty of raping an Iraqi teenager, and then executing her and her family.  Prosecuting attorney Marisa Ford told jurors during closing arguments that the grueling conditions and tragic losses suffered by his unit, Bravo Company, in no way excused the rape of Abeer al-Janabi,14, and the murders of her and her family in their home south of Baghdad on March 12, 2006.
http://www.google. com/hostednews/ afp/article/ ALeqM5iv6N05o1l9 VAypobX0GXE2JBxE RQ

U.S.
'Better a bomb than bombing,' says Obama (per Israeli TV)

Ira Glunts has been watching Israeli TV, which is suggesting that the Obama administration is going to be very realist indeed:
On Sunday night, the main Israeli news broadcast (Mabat, Sunday May 3) stated that according to very high level European officials, the Obama administration has "reconciled with the idea of a nuclear Iran." Per this report, which was repeatedly described as troubling, top Israeli officials also confirm the European account.  The newscast further reported that Israeli officials say that members of the Obama administration have expressed their willingness to accept an Iranian nuclear weapon and have used the phrase, "better bomb than bombing." In other words, it is better that Iran has a bomb than the U.S. bomb Iran , this according the Israeli newscaster.
http://www.philipwe iss.org/mondowei ss/2009/05/ better-a- bomb-than- bombing-says- obama-per- israeli-tv- .html


Poll: Twenty Percent Of Country Supports Torturing Terrorist Suspects
A CNN poll released on Wednesday revealed that roughly 20 percent of the public said the interrogation techniques used by the Bush administration constituted torture but support use of the techniques on terrorist suspects regardless.  The figure, somewhat buried in the release of the poll, helps explains why, as CNN Polling Director Keating Holland says, "a majority don't want to see former Bush officials investigated. "
http://www.huffingt onpost.com/ 2009/05/06/ poll-twenty- percent-of- co_n_197955. html


Other world news
AFP Picture: An injured Afghan child in a hospital in western Farah
Police in Afghanistan said Wednesday that clashes and US-led air strikes against insurgents had killed 100 people, most of them civilians, in one of the deadliest battles in nearly eight years.
http://news. yahoo.com/ nphotos/Afghanis tan/ss/events/ wl/08072001afgha nistan#photoView er=/090506/ photos_wl_ pc_afp/e622d135e 6fd5da4de5e59508 eb8ed3c

Pakistani army flattening villages as it battles Taliban
CHINGLAI, Pakistan — The Pakistani army's assault against Islamic militants in Buner, in northwest Pakistan, is flattening villages, killing civilians and sending thousands of farmers and villagers fleeing from their homes, residents escaping the fighting said Monday. "We didn't see any Taliban; they are up in the mountains, yet the army flattens our villages," Zaroon Mohammad, 45, told McClatchy as he walked with about a dozen scrawny cattle and the male members of his family in the relative safety of Chinglai village in southern Buner. "Our house has been badly damaged. These cows are now our total possessions. "
http://www.mcclatch ydc.com/227/ story/67501. html


Afghans to Obama: Get Out, Take Karzai With You, By PATRICK COCKBURN

When President Hamid Karzai drove to Kabul airport to fly to America earlier this week, the centre of the Afghan capital was closed down by well-armed security men, soldiers and policemen. On his arrival in Washington he will begin two days of meetings, starting today, with President Barack Obama and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari about their joint efforts to combat the Taliban. Karzai is also to deliver a speech at the Brookings Institution think tank on "effective ways of fighting terrorism."
http://www.counterp unch.org/ patrick05062009. html


Robert Fisk: Civilians pay price of war from above
Of course there will be an inquiry. And in the meantime, we shall be told that all the dead Afghan civilians were being used as "human shields" by the Taliban and we shall say that we "deeply regret" innocent lives that were lost. But we shall say that it's all the fault of the terrorists, not our heroic pilots and the US Marine special forces who were target spotting around Bala Baluk and Ganjabad.
http://www.independ ent.co.uk/ opinion/commenta tors/fisk/ robert-fisk- civilians- pay-price- of--war-from- above-1680408. html


He was recently profiled favorably in the NYT

"Sheikh Adil Al-Kalbani, the first black imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca lashed out at Shiite clerics, saying they are not entitled to join the Supreme Council of Ulema, the highest religious body in Saudi Arabia..."I think Shiite clerics are heretics," Sheikh Kalbani said Monday on the BBC Arabic satellite new channel."
http://angryarab. blogspot. com/2009/ 05/he-was- recently- profiled- favorably- in.html


Poll: European Muslims more patriotic than average in population
A Gallup poll examining Muslim integration in major European countries has shown that Muslims identify more strongly with the countries they live in than the average in the population.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1083892. html

Here she comes: Saudi Arabia's Miss Beautiful Morals
Sukaina al-Zayer is an unlikely beauty queen hopeful. She covers her face and body in black robes and an Islamic veil, so no one can tell what she looks like. She also admits she's a little on the plump side.  But at Saudi Arabia's only beauty pageant, the judges don't care about a perfect figure or face. What they're looking for in the quest for Miss Beautiful Morals is the contestant who shows the most devotion and respect for her parents.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1083561. html



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