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: Wednesday, 20 May, 2009 21:59:40
Subject: [Peoples War] Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines May 20, 2009 ~
Land Theft
CPT: Israeli Police invade home near Ibrahimi Mosque, threaten to expel family
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israeli forces invaded the Mutahseb family home near the Mosque in Hebron's Israeli controlled zone on Monday and expelled international activists from the scene, Christian Peacemaker Teams said. The family had made a new doorway from one of their rooms to the next apartment they rented, but an Israeli police captain said they had not asked his permission for the construction. Israeli soldiers then ransacked the home.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37937
Israel to Build a New Settlement In The Jordan Valley
Shortly after the meeting between US President, Barack Obama, and the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli sources said that a new Jewish only settlement would be constructed in the Jordan Valley, less that 20 kilometers away from the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
http://www.palestin e-pmc.com/ details.asp? cat=1&id=2266
In Jerusalem, an uptick in demolition orders of Arab homes
Amid Netanyahu's Washington visit, human rights groups say the city's new mayor has presided over an increase in initiatives that could thwart Palestinian statehood.
http://www.csmonito r.com/2009/ 0519/p06s21- wome.html
US ups pressure for halt to Jewish settlements
AFP - The United States Tuesday stepped up pressure on visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt Jewish settlements as a step towards reviving the peace process with the Palestinians.
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/afp/20090519/ pl_afp/usisraelm ideastcongress
Knesset discusses draft proposal by right-wing bloc to form Palestinian state in neighboring Jordan
Israeli army radio reported in Hebrew this morning that the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Knesset discussed a proposal to evict all Palestinians to Jordan. There, in the neighboring state, would be a Palestinian state, according to the proposal submitted by the right-wing National Union, Aryeh Eldad. The draft, which refers to Jordan as a Palestinian state, is one of various Israeli efforts to complete the steady process known as ethnic cleansing.
http://english. pnn.ps/index. php?option= com_content&task=view&id=5413
Settlers say IDF will postpone opening 'Zion Route' for Palestinians
The Jewish Community in Hebron claims that the IDF will postpone the opening of the Zion Route – linking the settlement of Kiryat Arba to the Tomb of the Patriarchs – for Palestinian traffic.. The route was closed due to the numerous terror attacks that occurred on or near it. The settlers said they welcomed the decision, and added that the Shin Bet chief concurred with their warnings that opening the route would be too dangerous. The IDF has yet to respond to the report.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3718473,00. html
Attacks/Aggression
Israeli warplanes bomb Hamas target, Gaza tunnels
Reuters - Israeli warplanes bombed a Hamas security position and tunnels by the Gaza border with Egypt on Tuesday, several hours after a rocket fired from the coastal territory struck inside an Israeli town, Hamas sources said.
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/nm/20090519/ wl_nm/us_ palestinians_ israel
Israeli warplanes bomb Gaza border area- witnesses
GAZA, May 19 (Reuters) - Israeli warplanes bombed an area by the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt on Tuesday, several hours after a rocket fired from the coastal territory struck inside an Israeli town, Palestinian witnesses said. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the air strike, which appeared to have targeted tunnels Israel says are used to smuggle weapons into Gaza from neighbouring Egypt.
http://www.alertnet .org/thenews/ newsdesk/ LJ260700. htm
Several injuries reported in a series of Israeli air strikes in Gaza
Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported that several residents were wounded in a series of Israeli air strikes carried out by the Israeli air force after midnight targeting several neighborhoods in Gaza city, Jabalia and Rafah.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 60461
Beit Hanoun man injured by Israeli fire
Gaza – Ma'an – A Palestinian civilian, 23-year-old Ziad Abu Hadid, was moderately injured by Israeli fire in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday morning.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37944
Red Crescent ambulance attacked by Israeli soldiers: glass bottles smashed, identification torn
Jerusalem / PNN – Israeli soldiers attacked an ambulance crew at the Al Za'im checkpoint in East Jerusalem as they were in the middle of transporting a patient suffering from renal failure from Jericho to a hospital in the city. The Red Crescent has declared that the ambulance was blocked at the control post at 9:45 am on Monday the 18th of May. The army demanded the identification documents of the patient and then "a soldier approached the vehicle and asked for in a provoking manner the identification documents of the driver, whilst kicking him for no reason."
http://english. pnn.ps/index. php?option= com_content&task=view&id=5419
Israeli settlers attack residents in Hebron old city
A group of Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian residents in the old section of the southern West bank city of Hebron on Tuesday midday.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 60455
Israeli Settlers Burn Down Farmlands Near Qalqiliya
Israeli settlers set fire to farmland and assaulted Palestinian farmers and an Israeli activist in two villages east of the West Bank city of Qalqiliya on Tuesday. Large areas of wheat fields and olive groves went up in flames in the villages of Jit and Far'ata before firefighters arrived and extinguished the blaze.
http://www.palestin e-pmc.com/ details.asp? cat=1&id=2272
Muslims, Christians in Jerusalem condemn the IOA desecration of Muslim shrines
The Islamic-Christian bureau for the support of Al-Quds, and the holy shrines has accused Tuesday the IOA of launching "real war" against the Arab presence in the city.
http://www.palestin e-info.co. uk/En/
Intimidation and Interrogation in Tel Aviv, By MIRJAM HADAR MEERSCHWAM
My computer, today, is still at Tel Aviv police headquarters where it stayed after my two-hour interrogation last week. I am not given, I believe, to conspiracy thinking but the thought crossed my mind, comically rather, whether I'd ever written anything unkind about my neighbor or his family.
http://www.counterp unch.com/ hadar05192009. html
Brigade commander 'underestimated violence towards Palestinians'
Head of the IDF Central Command, Maj. Gen. Gadi Shamni, handed down a reprimand of Kfir Brigade Commander, Col. Itai Virob, on Tuesday. This in response to remarks made by Virob in the military court regarding an incident in which an officer and a soldier were accused of using violence against a Palestinian. Shamni rebuked Virob, telling him that his testimony failed to acknowledge the reality of the situation and that it underestimated the severity of the incidents.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3718525,00. html
Soldiers: Violence against Palestinians gets results
Kfir Brigade commander, combat soldier accused of using violence against Palestinians say while practice is not set in writing, using force as a scare tactic 'saves lives'. Meanwhile Central Command head reprimands brigade commander for similar remarks.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3718970,00. html
Detentions
Israeli forces detain 9 Palestinians in West Bank
Ramallah, May 19, 2009 (Ramattan) – The Israeli forces arrested on Tuesday morning 9 Palestinian citizens in the West Bank cities of Hebron, Bethlehem and Ramallah, Palestinian security sources said.
http://english. ramattan. net/newsdetails. aspx?news_ id=40413
Six Hamas members arrested in West Bank
Palestinian security forces arrested six members of the Islamic Hamas movement in the West Bank, Hamas said on Wednesday.
The arrests were made Tuesday and the detainees included a son of a Hamas lawmaker and four university students, a Hamas statement said..
http://news. .xinhuanet. com/english/ 2009-05/20/ content_11408678 .htm
Hamas arrests a Fateh leader in Gaza after he returned from the West Bank
The Internal Security Force, operating under the dissolved Ministry of Interior in Gaza, reported Wednesday that it arrested two days ago a Fateh leader, and detained a minister and a university teacher, after they all crossed the Erez crossing heading back to Gaza.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 60469
Peaceful Protester Arrested By Israeli Forces
Mr. Muhamad Bergia, from the West Bank, was arrested on May 1st, for peacefully demonstrating against Israel's separation fence and is still being held in prison.
http://www.palteleg raph.com/ palestine/ west-bank/ 879-peaceful- protester- arrested- by-israeli- forces
Interview with Mahmud Zwahre, Head of the al-Ma'sara Popular Committee
The al-Ma'sara Committee against the Wall and Settlements has been organizing demonstrations against the confiscation of their land for the past two and a half years. During the demonstration on 1 May 2009, the Israeli army arrested Hasan Bergia, Mohammad Bergia, Mahmoud Zwahre (members of the popular committee), Mustafa Fuara, Azmi Ash-Shyukhi, Haggai Matar (Israeli activist) and Tom Stocker (British volunteer). The last two were released the same day on 1,500 NIS bail with conditions of not entering the West Bank for two weeks. Azmi Ash-Shyukhi, Mustafa Fuara and Mahmoud Zwahre were released on bail (50,000 NIS all together) on 13 May, after being held in military prison for almost two weeks.
http://www.alternat ivenews.org/ english/1934. html
Wa'ed accuses the IOA of killing Palestinian captives slowly
The Wa'ed society for prisoners and ex-prisoners' affairs have called on the IOA to immediately and unconditionally release Palestinian captive Waleed Akel.
http://www.palestin e-info.co. uk/En/
Prisoners' Society reports on worsening conditions in Israeli prison, including being closed in box
Ramallah / PNN – Conditions for the approximately 11,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons are known to be subhuman in many cases and in contravention to international human rights standards.
http://english. pnn.ps/index. php?option= com_content&task=view&id=5417
War Crimes/Humanitarian Issues
UN Gaza inquiry 'to proceed despite Israel'
A UN inquiry into possible war crimes in Gaza will go ahead even if Israel does not co-operate, says Richard Goldstone, who leads the inquiry team.
http://news. bbc.co.uk/ 1/hi/world/ middle_east/ 8059021.stm
Spain nears ending probe of Israel 'war crimes' in Gaza
Spanish lawmakers almost unanimously passed a resolution on Tuesday which could end the right of Spanish judges to investigate serious crimes like genocide anywhere in the world in cases where courts in the affected country do not act.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1086925. html
UK medics go on hunger strike after being refused entry into Gaza
• Hammersmith team stuck in Egypt at Rafa crossing since 4 May
• Group on humanitarian mission to set up cardiac hospital unit
http://www.guardian .co.uk/world/ 2009/may/ 19/british- medics-refused- gaza-access
Rafah crossing stats: 1,519 left Gaza, 815 entered; Egypt denies entry to 569
Gaza – Ma'an – Over three days 1,519 Gazans left the Strip to Egypt, 815 returned and 569 were refused entry into Egypt, officials in the de facto Ministry of the Interior and National Security announced Tuesday.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37931
Israel limits quantities of goods, fuel, allowed into Gaza
Gaza – Ma'an – Israeli military authorities decided to open the Kerem Shalom crossing point and the Nahal Oz crossing point into Gaza, while Karni crossing will remain closed on Wednesday.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37940
Refugees
The Palestinians in Lebanon
Nahr Al-Barid Protest.
http://angryarab. blogspot. com/2009/ 05/palestinians- in-lebanon. html
Two years later, no reconstruction in Nahr al-Bared
About two years ago, a battle broke out between the Lebanese army and the militant group Fatah al-Islam in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in northern Lebanon. The summer-long battle concluded in September 2007 and the camp was totally destroyed -- the rubble indicating that the destruction was systematic, most likely committed by the Lebanese army. After several delays, the UN-mandated core of the camp, the so-called "old camp," has meanwhile been cleared of approximately 600,000 meters of rubble. Yet, reconstruction hasn't begun and residents are still unable to enter the old camp, the access of which is controlled by the Lebanese army, and displaced refugees are increasingly resentful. Ray Smith reports.
http://electronicin tifada.net/ v2/article10540. shtml
Palestinian Retaliation
Gaza rocket hits Israeli house yard
AFP - A rocket fired by militants in the Gaza Strip slammed into the yard of a house in southern Israel on Tuesday without causing casualties, the military said.
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/afp/20090519/ wl_mideast_ afp/mideastconfl ictgazaisrael
Israel says Qassam shell fired at Sderot
Israeli military sources reported on Tuesday at night Palestinian fighters fired a homemade shell at the Negev town of Sderot. The sources said thet the Israeli Air Force shelled several areas in the Gaza Strip after the shell was fired at Sderot.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 60462
Islamic Jihad vows retaliation to Israeli attacks on Gaza
The Islamic Jihad (Holy War) movement's armed wing vowed on Wednesday to revenge Israeli aerial strikes on different targets in the Gaza Strip overnight which left five Palestinians wounded. Abu Ahmed, spokesman for Saraya al-Quds, Jihad's armed wing, said in a statement that the recent Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip will be met by a tough response by the Palestinian resistance.
http://news. xinhuanet. com/english/ 2009-05/20/ content_11408252 .htm
Arab Collaborators
"Hope" convoy members: Egyptian authorities hinder the arrival of aid to Gaza
Participants in the "Hope" convoy expressed their outrage at the Egyptian authorities for barring them from leaving the hotel they stay in and not facilitating the arrival of the convoy to Gaza.
http://www.palestin e-info.co. uk/En/
http://www.alquds. co.uk/index.asp?fname=today% 5C19g47.htm&storytitle
Political Developments
ANALYSIS / The distance between the West Bank and Gaza is growing
RAMALLAH - It's hard not to be impressed by the optimism about the Middle East that the White House is radiating. A brief visit to Ramallah, however, makes one wonder about the basis for it.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1086829. html
Fayyad: New government 'temporary'
Ramallah – Ma'an – The new Palestinian government is a temporary one to be dissolved once a national consensus government is in place, said Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Wednesday.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37955
Abbas swears in new cabinet without Fatah support
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas swore in a replacement caretaker government on Tuesday evening, with Salam Fayyad to stay on as prime minister. The parliament bloc of Abbas' own Fatah movement said it would refuse to support the new government, though two Fatah-lawmakers were sworn in Tuesday. Two other Fatah-affiliated lawmakers tapped for the new government, Rabiha Diab and Issa Qaraqe refused Abbas offer to join the government.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37929
Hamas condemns Palestinian cabinet
"The formation of the government by Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] in the West Bank will reinforce the political chaos, judicial and legislative, which he is carrying out over there in the West Bank," he said in Gaza on Tuesday.
http://english. .aljazeera. net/news/ middleeast/ 2009/05/20095201 2820780409. html
Hamas Govt't: forming new gov't by Abbas contradicts Palestinian law
Gaza, May 20, 2009 (RAMATTAN) – Hamas government in Gaza strip said on Wednesday that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' decision to form a new government contradicts the Palestinian law.
http://english. ramattan. net/newsdetails. aspx?news_ id=40420
PFLP refuses to participate in new government
The leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) stated that it would not participate in the new government, headed by Dr. Salaam Fayyad, in the West Bank.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 60465
Three Palestinian labor unions oppose new Fayyad-led government
Ramallah – Ma'an – Immediately after the new Palestinian government led by Salam Fayyad was sworn in, three major Palestinian labor unions announced opposition to it on Tuesday. The teachers union, civil servants union, and the union of medical workers released a joint statement calling the new government a "disfigured new-born" which neither Palestinian factions, nor the Palestinian public supports.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37939
Who are the members of the new Palestinian cabinet?
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas swore in an expanded cabinet in Ramallah on Tuesday evening. Most of the ministers are members of Abbas' Fatah party, although Fatah's parliamentary bloc did not endorse the government. Independents and members of third parties are also represented. Hamas' government in Gaza will remain in place.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37935
Why now? Analysts weigh in on the new government
Political analysts generally saw the new government as a positive step, but were split on the reasons behind the sudden declaration of a replacement caretaker government., Observers cited dictates from Cairo, the need to build confidence and the upcoming meeting of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with US President Barack Obama as reasons behind the hasty cobbling together of a new Palestinian government.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37934
Fayyad walking on thorny political road
A new Palestinian government led by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was sworn in Tuesday in the West Bank of Ramallah. Palestinians and local observers believe that Fayyad is walking on a thorny political road ahead with many challenges.
http://news. xinhuanet. com/english/ 2009-05/20/ content_11408497 .htm
Abbas losing support from Fateh
Mahmoud Abbas is supposed to be the head of the Fateh movement, as well as of the PLO (!) and the US-supported Palestinian Authority (PA.) Yesterday, Abbas swore in a new PA 'government' , headed as before by the strongly US-backed Salam Fayyad... and most members of Fateh's own parliamentary bloc opposed the move and refused to join!
http://justworldnew s.org/archives/ 003567.html
Abu Zuhri: Gap still wide with Fatah over political program, security
Dr. Sami Abu Zuhri, the Hamas spokesman, said on Tuesday that his Movement was bent on ensuring success of the Egyptian efforts in reconciling Palestinian factions.
http://www.palestin e-info.co. uk/En/
Palestinians demand Obama action follow words
AP - A key Palestinian official demanded Tuesday that President Barack Obama follow up his tough talk with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and force Israel to stop West Bank settlement construction and accept creation of a Palestinian state.
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/ap/20090519/ ap_on_re_ mi_ea/ml_ israel_palestini ans
U.S. pressing Israel for gestures to Palestinians before June 4
WASHINGTON - The United States expects Israel to make concrete concessions to the Palestinians before U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Cairo on June 4, an American official said during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington this week.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1086837. html
Clinton tells Netanyahu: Israel must cease settlement activity
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that she had made clear to visiting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel must cease its settlement activity in the West Bank.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1086654. html
Obama's stance on two-state solution heartens EU
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/ap/20090519/ ap_on_re_ eu/eu_eu_ mideast
Sen. Kerry tells PM Arabs play critical role in process
Prime minister meets with members of US Foreign Relations Committee, says Palestinian track must be independent from dealing with Iran threat. Committee chairman says he was 'encouraged' by meeting, raps Israel on settlements.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3718448,00. html
Lieberman named to U.S.-Israeli gov't post
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman will be in charge of the country's strategic dialogue with the United States, the Cabinet said Sunday.
http://www.upi. com/Top_News/ 2009/05/10/ Lieberman- named-to- US-Israeli- govt-post/ UPI-363712419842 66/
US senators to Obama: Consider risks to Israel
As Netanyahu's visit draws to a close, Republican, Democratic senators send President Obama letter calling on his administration to push peace process forward while 'continuing to insist on absolute Palestinian commitment to ending terrorist violence'.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3718545,00. html
Palestinians say were promised Jerusalem
PA sources claim US officials said any future state would include part of Jewish capital as their own, cessation of all settlement construction in West Bank; demand clear schedule for two-state solution.
Other News
At Tel Aviv airport, even the pope gets searched
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Despite the diplomatic immunity that Pope Benedict XVI enjoys throughout the world, Israel's Ben Gurion Airport security officials insisted on inspecting all the pontiff's luggage when he left the Holy Land last Friday, according to the Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv. According to Ma'ariv's report, which appeared on Tuesday, the pope's attendants were asked to put all the gifts he received during his weeklong visit through an X-ray machine. The aides were also questioned at the airport.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37941
De facto government police bar Fatah-affiliated women from leaving Strip
Bethlehem – Ma'an – The de facto government prevented more than 70 Women's Union members en route to the West Bank from Gaza for a women's conference, according to Palestinian Authority (PA)'s civil affairs chief Hussein Ash-Sheikh on Wednesday.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37949
Arab ministers walk out on Israeli speech at WHO conference
Geneva once again serves as stage for diplomatic strife as Arab representatives to World Health Organization conference leave hall in protest during Israel speech while Israel's rep walks out during Iran's turn.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3718468,00. html
The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms produces its first film: Freedoms Invasion
The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) produced a documentary film entitled, "Freedoms Invasion" with support by the Open Society Institute.
http://english. pnn.ps/index. php?option= com_content&task=view&id=5409
Israeli spouses threaten Egypt's security: lawyer
Egyptians married to Israelis may face having their citizenship revoked as their marriage poses a threat to Egypt's "national security," Cairo's Administrative Court argued to the Egyptian government on Tuesday. The court argued children born to Egyptian and Israeli parents.
http://www.alarabiy a.net/articles/ 2009/05/20/ 73306.html
Media
Is U.S. media tired of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
NEW YORK - The United Nations and major U.S. newspapers largely ignored Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's meeting with President Barack Obama on Monday.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1086833. html
Israel's chief propagandist at NYT
At the same time, it's hard not to sense a bit of anxiety in Bronner's writing, as though he had put the story together with one eye on the events and the other on the reactions he might get from readers back home. The story's very thoroughness might even be seen cynically as a protective coating to ensure the harsh news goes down gently. Unlike the British reports, Bronner's doesn't lead with the soldiers' allegations, but with a reminder that Israel is beset, yet it does its best. The allegations themselves, which are the point of the story—indeed, the whole story as other reporters told it—are met with just about every possible rebuttal and mitigating circumstance.
http://angryarab. blogspot. com/2009/ 05/israels- chief-propagandi st-at-nyt. html
Did NYT's Bronner look over his shoulder when reporting on Gaza atrocities?
In the Columbia Journalism Review, JJ Goldberg has a thorough piece on coverage of the Israeli soldiers' atrocities during Gaza (a story broken by Haaretz) and suggests that reader pressure may have played a role in New York Times reporter Ethan Bronner's decision to somewhat soften his own account of the matter to make the harsh new "go down gently."
http://www.philipwe iss.org/mondowei ss/2009/05/ did-nyts- bronner-look- over-his- shoulder- when-reporting- on-gaza-atrociti es-.html
'New York Times' blows the Netanyahu-Obama story. Why?
Reuters got the story; it's all about Obama insisting on the two-state solution. Huffpo got this. So did French TV. So did the Washington Post. But The New York Times blew the story. "OBama Tells Netanyahu He Has an Iran Timetable." The first few paragraphs were chiefly about Netanyahu and Obama agreeing that Iran must be taken on. Why did "The Times" make the story talking points for the rightwing? Why didn't it use this opportunity to galvanize the support for a progressive president taking on a rightwing foreign leader? David Bromwich seizes on the same story.
http://www.philipwe iss.org/mondowei ss/2009/05/ reuterstimes- all-iran. html
David Bromwich: New York Times Falsifies Obama-Netanyahu Meeting
The New York Times assigned to the story a campaign-trail reporter, Sheryl Gay Stolberg, whose political perceptions are bland and whose knowledge of Israeli-American relations is an antiseptic zero. At the newspaper of record, a thing like that does not happen by accident. They took the most anxiously awaited meeting with a foreign leader of President Obama's term thus far, and buried it on page 12. The coverage of a major event, which the same newspaper had greeted only the day before by running an oversize attack-Iran op-ed by Jeffrey Goldberg, has officially now shrunk to the scale of a smaller op-ed.
http://www.huffingt onpost.com/ david-bromwich/ inew-york- timesi-falsifie_ b_205201. html
Solidarity/Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment
When the pain hits home - Tristan Anderson shot at Palestine wall protest
Oakland, California is ground zero for many members of the Slingshot collective, but on March 13, Oakland felt like a distant outpost, really far away from Ni'ilin, in the West Bank, where our friend Tristan Anderson, who also lives in Oakland, was struck in the forehead and almost killed by a high-velocity tear gas grenade. Suddenly the Israel/Palestine conflict had new shades and hues, new depth and angles, wrought by personal connection and pain.
http://news. infoshop. org/article. php?story= 2009051911523225 1
20th May 09 Video Free Gaza News
http://www.youtube. .com/watch? v=Pz40TvrNvI0
Nakba
Marking plight of Palestinian people on 61 years of Al Nakba new artists' film and Festival Q open
Marking the occasion of the commemoration of the plight of the Palestinian people and the sixty-first Al Nakba, the governorate of Nablus screened a new film today. "The Biography Walk" was created by local artists in cooperation with the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees and the Forum of Cultural Enlightenment. In the northern West Bank's governorate of Nablus the film is being shown to various boys' and girls' secondary schools.
http://english. pnn.ps/index. php?option= com_content&task=view&id=5407
Palestine: The catastrophe that never ended
On May 15 this year, Palestinians commemorated 61 years of Israeli apartheid - including continued ethnic cleansing and decades of military occupation. In 1948, Palestinians experienced what they describe as al Nakba, ("The Catastrophe" ). That is, the formation of Israel on 82% of Palestine via the violent expulsion of around 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and land.
http://www.palteleg raph.com/ palestine/ palestinian- refugees/ 877-palestine- the-catatrophe- that-never- ended
Op-ed/Analysis
Obama and Netanyahu: Up close and personal | Editorial
We do not know what Barack Obama said to Binyamin Netanyahu for the two hours they spent alone in the Oval Office together. But we do know that it was alone. Mr Obama conducted the most closely watched meeting of his four-month-old administration without senior officials present. And when that includes people like his defence secretary, Robert Gates, and the national security adviser, James Jones, one can conclude that Mr Obama was determined to come to his own view about what could, and could not, be achieved with the new Israeli prime minister.
http://www.guardian .co.uk/commentis free/2009/ may/20/barack- obama-netanyahu- israel-palestine -peace-talks
Rashomon at the White House: Why no one agrees on the Bibi-Barack Meeting, by Stephen Walt
In general, I think the Obama/Netanyahu meetings went pretty much as I expected. I've also been struck by the Rashomon-like quality of the commentary on the event, which reminds me of the way that politicians react after campaign debates (their candidate always won). People who want the United States to be more evenhanded saw signs of discord and emphasize the clear differences between the two men on the Palestinian issue; those who favor the status quo on Israel-Palestine highlight the partial agreement on Iran (both men regard its nuclear program as a bad thing, albeit with different degrees of alarm).
http://walt. foreignpolicy. com/posts/ 2009/05/19/ rashomon_ at_the_white_ house_why_ no_one_agrees_ on_the_bibi_ barack_meeting
How Tense Was The Obama-Netanyahu Meeting?
http://friday- lunch-club. blogspot. com/2009/ 05/how-tense- was-obama- netanyahu- meeting.html
Is Obama Up to the Challenge of Dealing with Netanyahu?, By MUSTAFA BARGHOUTHI
I cannot recall a more important meeting between an American president and an Israeli prime minister than today's meeting between President Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Will the Obama administration have the courage to challenge Netanyahu, or will all the talk of change dissolve in the face of a concerted one-two punch from Netanyahu and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee?
http://www.counterp unch.org/ barghouthi051920 09.html
Bibi and Israel at Dead End, By Patrick J. Buchanan
If there are no peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians for an independent Palestinian state, war next year is inevitable. So King Abdullah II of Jordan has told the London Times: "If we delay our peace negotiations, then there is going to be another conflict between Arabs or Muslims and Israel in the next 12 to 18 months." Whether the king's timetable is correct, endless cold war, erupting into hot wars, seems the fate of Israel if "Bibi" Netanyahu holds to his pledge never to allow a Palestinian state on the West Bank.
http://www.informat ionclearinghouse .info/article226 50.htm
We've always known that Netanyahu doesn't support a Palestinian state. But now we're forced to ask - does Pelosi?
On Tuesday, Benjamin Netanuyahu left his ambiguous meeting with President Obama behind him for greener pastures - the US Congress. There has already been speculation that Netanyahu is planning on using the Congress to block any challenge from the Obama administration and we may have seen the first salvo. It seems congressional leaders are already adopting Netanyahu's language to distance themselves from the two-state solution. Here's video of Nancy Pelosi meeting Netanyahu...
http://www.philipwe iss.org/mondowei ss/2009/05/ is-the-twostate- solution- being-replaced- by-the-side- by-side-solution .html
Dennis Ross paid 40K for AIPAC speeches
A "special adviser" whose portfolio includes Iran, was paid $818,000 in 2008, his disclosure statement shows. Ross, a former U.S. envoy to the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, took in $421,775 for speeches, including $214,605 from Israeli and Jewish groups, the disclosure form shows....
http://www.usatoday .com/news/ pdf/ambassadorro ssreport. pdf
Hammad Hammad: Gaza: Stripped of Opportunity
I moved to the US from the West Bank in 2001, but sometimes I wonder: What would my life have been like if my family had not left? As I stressed about what to wear to senior prom, my Palestinian friends worried about what remained of Ramallah after an Israeli invasion of the city. When I was hearing back from American colleges about where I could go to school, many Palestinian students were unsure whether they would be able to attend college, whether roads or the Allenby Bridge would be open, and what the next stage in their lives would be.
http://www.huffingt onpost.com/ hammad-hammad/ gaza-stripped- of-opportun_ b_205018. html
Hopes and dreams on the Gaza coast
'At a time when Gazans are under a siege... the coast has become an important psychological tool'. Every day, as the sun sets on the coast of Gaza, people make their way to the coffee shop-lined beaches and the pot-holed streets that run parallel to its coastline. On the terrace of the famed Al Deira Hotel, patrons jostle for position, sipping sweet Arabic coffee as the sounds of legendary Arab musicians delicately waft through the air, mingling with the aroma of flavoured tobacco.
http://english. aljazeera. net/focus/ 2009/05/20095191 2122985402. html
Papal visit: The wrong emphasis
Not unexpectedly, the Israeli press dwelt on what the pope, as a former soldier in Hitler's army, didn't say but should have said at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial. PM Binyamin Netanyahu asked him to denounce Iran and he didn't. During the Palestinian part of his visit, he referred to "the events of May 1948" in a way that could easily be interpreted as ratifying the Palestinian narrative of what happened then and negating the Israeli narrative. Comparisons with the historic visit of an earlier pope, John Paul II, inevitably presented Benedict in a negative light. Jews had in mind his abortive reinstatement of a Holocaust denier. Muslims recalled his unfortunate quote in a speech in Germany from an anti-Islamic diatribe in ancient Byzantium.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37925
Lebanon
Hezbollah wrestles with Lebanon government in bid to grab power
Hezbollah is looking to control politics in Beirut. Will the country's electoral system allow for the opposition's power grab? The poster war is intensifying in the run-up to Lebanese parliamentary elections, slated for less than three weeks from now. Signs set ablaze under cover of night are replaced in the morning by new ones. Vote buying has reached unprecedented levels as candidates' tickets are formed; no one believes the patriotic promises of the frontrunners.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1086861. html
Battle lines drawn for Lebanon parliament polls
Beirut: There is much at stake for political parties contesting the upcoming parliamentary elections in Lebanon. The June 7 vote will define the power dynamics of the country and region for the next four years and one can sense the tension rising among national leaders and the diaspora.
http://archive. gulfnews. com/region/ Lebanon/10315091 .html
Hezbollah works its way quietly
Beirut: With quiet campaigning and moderate talk, Hezbollah is building its strength for Lebanon's June 7 parliamentary elections - and the Hezbollah and its allies stand a good chance of winning.
http://archive. gulfnews. com/region/ Middle_East/ 10315080. html
Vice-President Biden to arrive in Beirut Friday http://www.dailysta r.com.lb/ article.asp? edition_id= 1&categ_id=2&article_id=102147
Israeli missile from 2006 war found in Nabatieh
An air-to-ground missile was found on Tuesday in the Roueiss neighborhood in the southern town of Nabatieh, security reports said.The missile is believed to have been dropped by an Israeli aircraft during the summer 2006 war with Israel, the report said.
http://www.dailysta r.com.lb/ article.asp? edition_id= 1&categ_id=2&article_id=102148
Hero for cause of missing Lebanese remembered
BEIRUT: The families of missing Lebanese gathered on Tuesday to mourn the loss of one of the most vocal activists in their fight to know the fate of their loved ones who went missing in the 1975-90 Civil War. At a special ceremony on Tuesday, friends and family gathered near the ESCWA headquarders to bid a final farewell to Audette Salem and to reiterate their demand for an investigation into those who disappeared during the war.
http://www.dailysta r.com.lb/ article.asp? edition_id= 1&categ_id=1&article_id=102144
On the verge of Lebanese elections, Nasrallah defies Obama and Israel
It's hard to speculate what the real motivation was on Nasrallah's part. It could be a warning message to Obama and the Arab dictators after the Obama-Netanyahu meeting; it could be an attempt to win support in the so-far-undecided but Sunni-majority Lebanese towns of Saida (Sidon) and Trablous (Tripoli). The Saudis are throwing a lot of money into those towns and though they have endless amounts of money, they don't have enough time. Or was this just Nasrallah's contribution to Nakba Awareness month? Some people think that Nasrallah has gotten chatty lately in an attempt to lose the elections because Hezbollah doesn't gain anything by inheriting a country plundered by the current pro-western and pro-Israeli factions and/or because they fear that Hezbollah will be forced to disarm if they win the election. I doubt it. Who in Lebanon would have the power to disarm them or even attempt to go down that road? The Lebanese Army that is best known for serving tea to the Israelis when they invaded in 2006?
http://www.philipwe iss.org/mondowei ss/2009/05/ on-the-verge- of-lebanese- elections- nasrallah- defies-obama- and-israel. html#more
Iraq
Tuesday: 5 Iraqis Killed, 12 Wounded
Updated at 5:39 p.m. EDT, May 19, 2009 At least five Iraqis were killed and 12 more were wounded in today's violence. Meanwhile, a second Sunni leader was arrested in Diyala province, prompting critics to wonder openly if a security operation there is really a harassment campaign against Awakening Council (Sahwa) members and other Sunni leaders. Also, the Swedish Minister for Migration and Asylum Policy Tobias Billstrom spoke with Jordanian Interior Minister Saud al-Qadi on the 500,000 Iraqi refugees living in Jordan.
http://original. antiwar.com/ updates/2009/ 05/19/tuesday- 4-iraqis- killed-8- wounded/
Roadside bomb kills two Iraqi civilians
Two Iraqi civilians were killed and five others were wounded by a roadside bomb north of Baghdad on Tuesday, police said.
http://uk.news. yahoo.com/ 18/20090519/ twl-roadside- bomb-kills- two-iraqi- civili-3cd7efd. html
AP - The Pentagon says U.S. soldiers are still finding large numbers of Iranian-made weapons in Iraq, despite's Iran's denials.
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/ap/20090519/ ap_on_go_ ca_st_pe/ us_us_iran
Iraq to prosecute Sunni militiamen only for murder
AFP - A senior Iraqi official said on Tuesday that Sunni Arab militiamen allied with US and Iraqi forces will face prosecution only for murder.
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/afp/20090519/ wl_mideast_ afp/iraqunrestse curitysahwa
Iraq's next count to include data on ethnic and religious affiliation
The forms to be used for the country's next census on October 24 will contain questions on Iraqis' religious and ethnic affiliation, a senior government official said. But Mahdi al-Allaq of the Planning Ministry said there is nothing in the forms with regard to sectarian belonging.
http://www.azzaman. com/english/ index.asp? fname=news\2009-05-19\kurd. htm
Study: Nearly 25 percent of Iraqis live in poverty
AP - Nearly one in four Iraqis lives below the poverty line, according to a study released Wednesday by an Iraqi government agency.
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/ap/20090520/ ap_on_re_ mi_ea/ml_ iraq_poverty
Iraqis don't jog or spin, but fitness clubs are in
AP - Across a mirrored room from stationary bikes and an occasional treadmill, men in tank tops knock back protein shakes and pump iron to loud hip hop.
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/ap/20090519/ ap_on_re_ mi_ea/ml_ iraq_gym_ craze
U.S.
CIA chief: 'Big trouble' if Israel attacks Iran alone
Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Leon Panetta said in remarks published Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows that if Israel were to independently attack Iran it would lead to "big trouble.."
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1086870. html
ALERT: Rep. Harman calls ethnic separation of Iran "a good strategy"
"The Persian population in Iran is not a majority, it is a plurality. There are many different, diverse, and disagreeing populations inside Iran and an obvious strategy, which I believe is a good strategy, is to separate those populations. " - Rep. Jane Harman (May 3, 2009) Through conquest and turmoil, the Iranian nation has survived and thrived for thousands of years, with peoples of all backgrounds and ethnicities forming a common identity. Now that President Obama has emphasized diplomacy and reduced the chances of war between the United States and Iran, Congresswoman Jane Harman (D-CA) has a new idea: rip apart the Iranian nation by dividing its peoples along ethnic lines.
http://capwiz. com/niacouncil/ issues/alert/ ?alertid= 13376101&type=CU
Former White House lawyer: Cheney dares US to indict him
Vice President Cheney is daring the Obama administration to indict him for authorizing torture, according to a former White House lawyer, and it's time to call him out on his bluff. "I have written many times in this space that I oppose any criminal prosecution of prior-administratio n officials on torture or other issues relating to the Iraq War and the war on terrorism, especially those CIA interrogators who relied in good faith on the instructions of policymakers and the legal opinions issued by Justice Department senior officials," former Special Counsel to the President for Bill Clinton Lanny Davis writes in a column published by the Washington Times Monday. "I have agreed with President Obama on the need to look forward, not backward."
http://rawstory. com/08/news/ 2009/05/19/ cheney-dares- us/
AND HE SHALL BE JUDGED
These cover sheets were the brainchild of Major General Glen Shaffer, a director for intelligence serving both the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the secretary of defense. In the days before the Iraq war, Shaffer's staff had created humorous covers in an attempt to alleviate the stress of preparing for battle. Then, as the body counting began, Shaffer, a Christian, deemed the biblical passages more suitable. Several others in the Pentagon disagreed. At least one Muslim analyst in the building had been greatly offended; others privately worried that if these covers were leaked during a war conducted in an Islamic nation, the fallout—as one Pentagon staffer would later say—"would be as bad as Abu Ghraib.
http://men.style. com/gq/features/ full?id=content_ 9217
Rumsfeld and Cheney: torture as self-justification
"He's a ruthless little bastard. You can be sure of that." So said Richard Nixon, a man who knew something about ruthlessness and bastardry, about Donald Rumsfeld back in 1971.
http://www.crikey. com.au/2009/ 05/18/rumsfeld- and-cheneys- torture-approval -was-about- self-justificati on/
Uighurs Fire Back At Gingrich From Gitmo: "Why Does He Hate Us So Much?"
Chinese Muslims known as Uighurs, detained for more than six years and counting at the American prison at Guantanamo Bay, are firing back at Newt Gingrich, who has accused them of terrorist ties and says that releasing them into the United States would endanger the country.
http://www.huffingt onpost.com/ 2009/05/19/ uighurs-fire- back-at-ging_ n_205261. html
Unexceptional Americans: Why We Can't See the Trees or the Forest, The Torture Memos and Historical Amnesia, By Noam Chomsky
The torture memos released by the White House elicited shock, indignation, and surprise. The shock and indignation are understandable. The surprise, less so., For one thing, even without inquiry, it was reasonable to suppose that Guantanamo was a torture chamber. Why else send prisoners where they would be beyond the reach of the law -- a place, incidentally, that Washington is using in violation of a treaty forced on Cuba at the point of a gun? Security reasons were, of course, alleged, but they remain hard to take seriously. The same expectations held for the Bush administration' s "black sites," or secret prisons, and for extraordinary rendition, and they were fulfilled.
http://www.informat ionclearinghouse .info/article226 59.htm
Judge drops suit over Iraq war's constitutionality
Two mothers of soldiers who served in Iraq have failed in their attempt to sue the federal government over the constitutionality of the war.
http://www.washingt onpost.com/ wp-dyn/content/ article/2009/ 05/19/AR20090519 02147.html
Republican Disaster -- The (Unspoken) Anatomy of The Meltdown
Two religions (in the broadest sense of the term) have destroyed the Republican Party: evangelical Christianity and Christian/Jewish Zionism. Evangelical Christianity created the Religious Right which forever linked the Republican Party to the antiabortion, anti-sex education, anti-evolution and anti-gay crusades. And both Christian and Jewish Zionism linked the Republican Party to what became the neoconservative movement with its roots in such publications as Commentary magazine and their shrill Israel-can-do- no-wrong anti-Arab agenda. (I knew the late editor of Commentary Norman Podhoretz quite well, and we met several times to build alliances between evangelicals and the far American Zionist far right. When it came to Arabs, I believe he was a real racist.)
http://www.huffingt onpost.com/ frank-schaeffer/ republican- disaster- ---th_b_205388. html
Survey: Obama Has Real Chance to Change Arab Opinion
President Barack Obama has a major opportunity to improve the mostly negative views about the United States in the Arab world but is likely to have only a short period of time to do so, according to a major new survey of public opinion [.pdf] in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
http://original. antiwar.com/ lobe/2009/ 05/19/survey- obama/
The Washington Post reported today on the Iqbal case alleging that former attorney general John Ash croft and FBI Director Robert Mueller knew that the prison guards holding Arab Muslims swept up after the September 11 attacks were torturing them because they were Arabs and/or Muslims.
The Supreme Court ruled today that former attorney general John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller may not be sued by Arab Muslims who were seized in this country after the 2001 terrorist attacks and allege harsh treatment because of their religion and ethnicity. The court ruled 5 to 4 that the top officials are not liable for the actions of their subordinates absent evidence that they ordered the allegedly discriminatory activity. The decision followed the court's ideological split between conservatives and liberals, with Justice Anthony M. Kennedy siding with the conservatives and writing the opinion.
http://lawprofessor s.typepad. com/environmenta l_law/2009/ 05/the-washingto n-post-reported- today-on- the-iqbal- case-alleging- that-former- attorney- general-john- ash-croft- and-fbi-director .html
Other world news
El-Baradei: Israel Would Be Crazy to Launch a Strike on Iran
Israel would be crazy to launch a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, Mohamed El-Baradei, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in a magazine interview published Saturday. Tehran should engage with the United States and negotiate over its nuclear program, he said. "It would be completely insane to attack Iran," El-Baradei told Germany's Der Spiegel magazine. "That would turn the region into one big fireball, and the Iranians would immediately start building the bomb - and they could count on the support of the entire Islamic world."
http://almanar. com.lb/NewsSite/ NewsDetails. aspx?id=85818&language=en
Saudis Announce Two Year Delay in Local Elections
Saudi Arabia's brief and limited experiment with electoral democracy suffered another setback on Monday.
http://feeds. nytimes.com/ click.phdo? i=43faadf6f80240 e628c7dbc1b8da39 a3
Thanks to Facebook, Egyptian women take to political activism
In recent years, Egypt has witnessed increasing participation by women in grassroots political activism. Local civil rights advocates attribute the phenomenon to novel means of communication and organization, especially the social networking website Facebook.
http://www.dailysta r.com.lb/ article.asp? edition_id= 10&categ_id=2&article_id=102135
What about Syria?
Soon, everyone in Washington will be able to breathe a breath of fresh air once Benjamin Netanyahu has gone. But it won't be long before we're graced with the presence of the illustrious Hosni Mubarak and the honorable Mahmoud Abbas. These three apes will be Obama's partners in 'peace' for the foreseeable future, but some parties crucial to any comprehensive resolution remain absent from US-mediated negotiations that are supposedly regional in their approach. There is no reason to believe that Khaled Meshaal or Ismail Haniyeh will be invited to the White House, but some people were starting to hope that Syria could soon become part of the process. It would make sense. The Golan Heights remain occupied and Damascus continues to support Hamas and Hezbollah. US officials also accuse Syria of not doing enough to stem the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq. Breaking from the policies of the previous administration, senior diplomats have made numerous trips to Syria in recent months and relations appeared to be improving.
http://www.kabobfes t.com/2009/ 05/what-about- syria.html
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www.TheHeadlines. org
CPT: Israeli Police invade home near Ibrahimi Mosque, threaten to expel family
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israeli forces invaded the Mutahseb family home near the Mosque in Hebron's Israeli controlled zone on Monday and expelled international activists from the scene, Christian Peacemaker Teams said. The family had made a new doorway from one of their rooms to the next apartment they rented, but an Israeli police captain said they had not asked his permission for the construction. Israeli soldiers then ransacked the home.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37937
Israel to Build a New Settlement In The Jordan Valley
Shortly after the meeting between US President, Barack Obama, and the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli sources said that a new Jewish only settlement would be constructed in the Jordan Valley, less that 20 kilometers away from the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
http://www.palestin e-pmc.com/ details.asp? cat=1&id=2266
In Jerusalem, an uptick in demolition orders of Arab homes
Amid Netanyahu's Washington visit, human rights groups say the city's new mayor has presided over an increase in initiatives that could thwart Palestinian statehood.
http://www.csmonito r.com/2009/ 0519/p06s21- wome.html
US ups pressure for halt to Jewish settlements
AFP - The United States Tuesday stepped up pressure on visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt Jewish settlements as a step towards reviving the peace process with the Palestinians.
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/afp/20090519/ pl_afp/usisraelm ideastcongress
Knesset discusses draft proposal by right-wing bloc to form Palestinian state in neighboring Jordan
Israeli army radio reported in Hebrew this morning that the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Knesset discussed a proposal to evict all Palestinians to Jordan. There, in the neighboring state, would be a Palestinian state, according to the proposal submitted by the right-wing National Union, Aryeh Eldad. The draft, which refers to Jordan as a Palestinian state, is one of various Israeli efforts to complete the steady process known as ethnic cleansing.
http://english. pnn.ps/index. php?option= com_content&task=view&id=5413
Settlers say IDF will postpone opening 'Zion Route' for Palestinians
The Jewish Community in Hebron claims that the IDF will postpone the opening of the Zion Route – linking the settlement of Kiryat Arba to the Tomb of the Patriarchs – for Palestinian traffic.. The route was closed due to the numerous terror attacks that occurred on or near it. The settlers said they welcomed the decision, and added that the Shin Bet chief concurred with their warnings that opening the route would be too dangerous. The IDF has yet to respond to the report.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3718473,00. html
Attacks/Aggression
Israeli warplanes bomb Hamas target, Gaza tunnels
Reuters - Israeli warplanes bombed a Hamas security position and tunnels by the Gaza border with Egypt on Tuesday, several hours after a rocket fired from the coastal territory struck inside an Israeli town, Hamas sources said.
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/nm/20090519/ wl_nm/us_ palestinians_ israel
Israeli warplanes bomb Gaza border area- witnesses
GAZA, May 19 (Reuters) - Israeli warplanes bombed an area by the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt on Tuesday, several hours after a rocket fired from the coastal territory struck inside an Israeli town, Palestinian witnesses said. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the air strike, which appeared to have targeted tunnels Israel says are used to smuggle weapons into Gaza from neighbouring Egypt.
http://www.alertnet .org/thenews/ newsdesk/ LJ260700. htm
Several injuries reported in a series of Israeli air strikes in Gaza
Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported that several residents were wounded in a series of Israeli air strikes carried out by the Israeli air force after midnight targeting several neighborhoods in Gaza city, Jabalia and Rafah.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 60461
Beit Hanoun man injured by Israeli fire
Gaza – Ma'an – A Palestinian civilian, 23-year-old Ziad Abu Hadid, was moderately injured by Israeli fire in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday morning.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37944
Red Crescent ambulance attacked by Israeli soldiers: glass bottles smashed, identification torn
Jerusalem / PNN – Israeli soldiers attacked an ambulance crew at the Al Za'im checkpoint in East Jerusalem as they were in the middle of transporting a patient suffering from renal failure from Jericho to a hospital in the city. The Red Crescent has declared that the ambulance was blocked at the control post at 9:45 am on Monday the 18th of May. The army demanded the identification documents of the patient and then "a soldier approached the vehicle and asked for in a provoking manner the identification documents of the driver, whilst kicking him for no reason."
http://english. pnn.ps/index. php?option= com_content&task=view&id=5419
Israeli settlers attack residents in Hebron old city
A group of Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian residents in the old section of the southern West bank city of Hebron on Tuesday midday.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 60455
Israeli Settlers Burn Down Farmlands Near Qalqiliya
Israeli settlers set fire to farmland and assaulted Palestinian farmers and an Israeli activist in two villages east of the West Bank city of Qalqiliya on Tuesday. Large areas of wheat fields and olive groves went up in flames in the villages of Jit and Far'ata before firefighters arrived and extinguished the blaze.
http://www.palestin e-pmc.com/ details.asp? cat=1&id=2272
Muslims, Christians in Jerusalem condemn the IOA desecration of Muslim shrines
The Islamic-Christian bureau for the support of Al-Quds, and the holy shrines has accused Tuesday the IOA of launching "real war" against the Arab presence in the city.
http://www.palestin e-info.co. uk/En/
Intimidation and Interrogation in Tel Aviv, By MIRJAM HADAR MEERSCHWAM
My computer, today, is still at Tel Aviv police headquarters where it stayed after my two-hour interrogation last week. I am not given, I believe, to conspiracy thinking but the thought crossed my mind, comically rather, whether I'd ever written anything unkind about my neighbor or his family.
http://www.counterp unch.com/ hadar05192009. html
Brigade commander 'underestimated violence towards Palestinians'
Head of the IDF Central Command, Maj. Gen. Gadi Shamni, handed down a reprimand of Kfir Brigade Commander, Col. Itai Virob, on Tuesday. This in response to remarks made by Virob in the military court regarding an incident in which an officer and a soldier were accused of using violence against a Palestinian. Shamni rebuked Virob, telling him that his testimony failed to acknowledge the reality of the situation and that it underestimated the severity of the incidents.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3718525,00. html
Soldiers: Violence against Palestinians gets results
Kfir Brigade commander, combat soldier accused of using violence against Palestinians say while practice is not set in writing, using force as a scare tactic 'saves lives'. Meanwhile Central Command head reprimands brigade commander for similar remarks.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3718970,00. html
Detentions
Israeli forces detain 9 Palestinians in West Bank
Ramallah, May 19, 2009 (Ramattan) – The Israeli forces arrested on Tuesday morning 9 Palestinian citizens in the West Bank cities of Hebron, Bethlehem and Ramallah, Palestinian security sources said.
http://english. ramattan. net/newsdetails. aspx?news_ id=40413
Six Hamas members arrested in West Bank
Palestinian security forces arrested six members of the Islamic Hamas movement in the West Bank, Hamas said on Wednesday.
The arrests were made Tuesday and the detainees included a son of a Hamas lawmaker and four university students, a Hamas statement said..
http://news. .xinhuanet. com/english/ 2009-05/20/ content_11408678 .htm
Hamas arrests a Fateh leader in Gaza after he returned from the West Bank
The Internal Security Force, operating under the dissolved Ministry of Interior in Gaza, reported Wednesday that it arrested two days ago a Fateh leader, and detained a minister and a university teacher, after they all crossed the Erez crossing heading back to Gaza.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 60469
Peaceful Protester Arrested By Israeli Forces
Mr. Muhamad Bergia, from the West Bank, was arrested on May 1st, for peacefully demonstrating against Israel's separation fence and is still being held in prison.
http://www.palteleg raph.com/ palestine/ west-bank/ 879-peaceful- protester- arrested- by-israeli- forces
Interview with Mahmud Zwahre, Head of the al-Ma'sara Popular Committee
The al-Ma'sara Committee against the Wall and Settlements has been organizing demonstrations against the confiscation of their land for the past two and a half years. During the demonstration on 1 May 2009, the Israeli army arrested Hasan Bergia, Mohammad Bergia, Mahmoud Zwahre (members of the popular committee), Mustafa Fuara, Azmi Ash-Shyukhi, Haggai Matar (Israeli activist) and Tom Stocker (British volunteer). The last two were released the same day on 1,500 NIS bail with conditions of not entering the West Bank for two weeks. Azmi Ash-Shyukhi, Mustafa Fuara and Mahmoud Zwahre were released on bail (50,000 NIS all together) on 13 May, after being held in military prison for almost two weeks.
http://www.alternat ivenews.org/ english/1934. html
Wa'ed accuses the IOA of killing Palestinian captives slowly
The Wa'ed society for prisoners and ex-prisoners' affairs have called on the IOA to immediately and unconditionally release Palestinian captive Waleed Akel.
http://www.palestin e-info.co. uk/En/
Prisoners' Society reports on worsening conditions in Israeli prison, including being closed in box
Ramallah / PNN – Conditions for the approximately 11,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons are known to be subhuman in many cases and in contravention to international human rights standards.
http://english. pnn.ps/index. php?option= com_content&task=view&id=5417
War Crimes/Humanitarian Issues
UN Gaza inquiry 'to proceed despite Israel'
A UN inquiry into possible war crimes in Gaza will go ahead even if Israel does not co-operate, says Richard Goldstone, who leads the inquiry team.
http://news. bbc.co.uk/ 1/hi/world/ middle_east/ 8059021.stm
Spain nears ending probe of Israel 'war crimes' in Gaza
Spanish lawmakers almost unanimously passed a resolution on Tuesday which could end the right of Spanish judges to investigate serious crimes like genocide anywhere in the world in cases where courts in the affected country do not act.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1086925. html
UK medics go on hunger strike after being refused entry into Gaza
• Hammersmith team stuck in Egypt at Rafa crossing since 4 May
• Group on humanitarian mission to set up cardiac hospital unit
http://www.guardian .co.uk/world/ 2009/may/ 19/british- medics-refused- gaza-access
Rafah crossing stats: 1,519 left Gaza, 815 entered; Egypt denies entry to 569
Gaza – Ma'an – Over three days 1,519 Gazans left the Strip to Egypt, 815 returned and 569 were refused entry into Egypt, officials in the de facto Ministry of the Interior and National Security announced Tuesday.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37931
Israel limits quantities of goods, fuel, allowed into Gaza
Gaza – Ma'an – Israeli military authorities decided to open the Kerem Shalom crossing point and the Nahal Oz crossing point into Gaza, while Karni crossing will remain closed on Wednesday.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37940
Refugees
The Palestinians in Lebanon
Nahr Al-Barid Protest.
http://angryarab. blogspot. com/2009/ 05/palestinians- in-lebanon. html
Two years later, no reconstruction in Nahr al-Bared
About two years ago, a battle broke out between the Lebanese army and the militant group Fatah al-Islam in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in northern Lebanon. The summer-long battle concluded in September 2007 and the camp was totally destroyed -- the rubble indicating that the destruction was systematic, most likely committed by the Lebanese army. After several delays, the UN-mandated core of the camp, the so-called "old camp," has meanwhile been cleared of approximately 600,000 meters of rubble. Yet, reconstruction hasn't begun and residents are still unable to enter the old camp, the access of which is controlled by the Lebanese army, and displaced refugees are increasingly resentful. Ray Smith reports.
http://electronicin tifada.net/ v2/article10540. shtml
Palestinian Retaliation
Gaza rocket hits Israeli house yard
AFP - A rocket fired by militants in the Gaza Strip slammed into the yard of a house in southern Israel on Tuesday without causing casualties, the military said.
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/afp/20090519/ wl_mideast_ afp/mideastconfl ictgazaisrael
Israel says Qassam shell fired at Sderot
Israeli military sources reported on Tuesday at night Palestinian fighters fired a homemade shell at the Negev town of Sderot. The sources said thet the Israeli Air Force shelled several areas in the Gaza Strip after the shell was fired at Sderot.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 60462
Islamic Jihad vows retaliation to Israeli attacks on Gaza
The Islamic Jihad (Holy War) movement's armed wing vowed on Wednesday to revenge Israeli aerial strikes on different targets in the Gaza Strip overnight which left five Palestinians wounded. Abu Ahmed, spokesman for Saraya al-Quds, Jihad's armed wing, said in a statement that the recent Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip will be met by a tough response by the Palestinian resistance.
http://news. xinhuanet. com/english/ 2009-05/20/ content_11408252 .htm
Arab Collaborators
"Hope" convoy members: Egyptian authorities hinder the arrival of aid to Gaza
Participants in the "Hope" convoy expressed their outrage at the Egyptian authorities for barring them from leaving the hotel they stay in and not facilitating the arrival of the convoy to Gaza.
http://www.palestin e-info.co. uk/En/
Arabic article: A Jordanian governor bans a rally on the anniversary of Nakbah
http://www.alquds. co.uk/index.asp?fname=today% 5C19g47.htm&storytitle
Political Developments
ANALYSIS / The distance between the West Bank and Gaza is growing
RAMALLAH - It's hard not to be impressed by the optimism about the Middle East that the White House is radiating. A brief visit to Ramallah, however, makes one wonder about the basis for it.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1086829. html
Fayyad: New government 'temporary'
Ramallah – Ma'an – The new Palestinian government is a temporary one to be dissolved once a national consensus government is in place, said Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Wednesday.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37955
Abbas swears in new cabinet without Fatah support
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas swore in a replacement caretaker government on Tuesday evening, with Salam Fayyad to stay on as prime minister. The parliament bloc of Abbas' own Fatah movement said it would refuse to support the new government, though two Fatah-lawmakers were sworn in Tuesday. Two other Fatah-affiliated lawmakers tapped for the new government, Rabiha Diab and Issa Qaraqe refused Abbas offer to join the government.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37929
Hamas condemns Palestinian cabinet
"The formation of the government by Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] in the West Bank will reinforce the political chaos, judicial and legislative, which he is carrying out over there in the West Bank," he said in Gaza on Tuesday.
http://english. .aljazeera. net/news/ middleeast/ 2009/05/20095201 2820780409. html
Hamas Govt't: forming new gov't by Abbas contradicts Palestinian law
Gaza, May 20, 2009 (RAMATTAN) – Hamas government in Gaza strip said on Wednesday that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' decision to form a new government contradicts the Palestinian law.
http://english. ramattan. net/newsdetails. aspx?news_ id=40420
PFLP refuses to participate in new government
The leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) stated that it would not participate in the new government, headed by Dr. Salaam Fayyad, in the West Bank.
http://www.imemc. org/article/ 60465
Three Palestinian labor unions oppose new Fayyad-led government
Ramallah – Ma'an – Immediately after the new Palestinian government led by Salam Fayyad was sworn in, three major Palestinian labor unions announced opposition to it on Tuesday. The teachers union, civil servants union, and the union of medical workers released a joint statement calling the new government a "disfigured new-born" which neither Palestinian factions, nor the Palestinian public supports.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37939
Who are the members of the new Palestinian cabinet?
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas swore in an expanded cabinet in Ramallah on Tuesday evening. Most of the ministers are members of Abbas' Fatah party, although Fatah's parliamentary bloc did not endorse the government. Independents and members of third parties are also represented. Hamas' government in Gaza will remain in place.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37935
Why now? Analysts weigh in on the new government
Political analysts generally saw the new government as a positive step, but were split on the reasons behind the sudden declaration of a replacement caretaker government., Observers cited dictates from Cairo, the need to build confidence and the upcoming meeting of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with US President Barack Obama as reasons behind the hasty cobbling together of a new Palestinian government.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37934
Fayyad walking on thorny political road
A new Palestinian government led by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was sworn in Tuesday in the West Bank of Ramallah. Palestinians and local observers believe that Fayyad is walking on a thorny political road ahead with many challenges.
http://news. xinhuanet. com/english/ 2009-05/20/ content_11408497 .htm
Abbas losing support from Fateh
Mahmoud Abbas is supposed to be the head of the Fateh movement, as well as of the PLO (!) and the US-supported Palestinian Authority (PA.) Yesterday, Abbas swore in a new PA 'government' , headed as before by the strongly US-backed Salam Fayyad... and most members of Fateh's own parliamentary bloc opposed the move and refused to join!
http://justworldnew s.org/archives/ 003567.html
Abu Zuhri: Gap still wide with Fatah over political program, security
Dr. Sami Abu Zuhri, the Hamas spokesman, said on Tuesday that his Movement was bent on ensuring success of the Egyptian efforts in reconciling Palestinian factions.
http://www.palestin e-info.co. uk/En/
Palestinians demand Obama action follow words
AP - A key Palestinian official demanded Tuesday that President Barack Obama follow up his tough talk with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and force Israel to stop West Bank settlement construction and accept creation of a Palestinian state.
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/ap/20090519/ ap_on_re_ mi_ea/ml_ israel_palestini ans
U.S. pressing Israel for gestures to Palestinians before June 4
WASHINGTON - The United States expects Israel to make concrete concessions to the Palestinians before U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Cairo on June 4, an American official said during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington this week.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1086837. html
Clinton tells Netanyahu: Israel must cease settlement activity
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that she had made clear to visiting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel must cease its settlement activity in the West Bank.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1086654. html
Obama's stance on two-state solution heartens EU
AP - The European Union on Tuesday welcomed President Barack Obama's appeal to Israel to commit to a two-state solution 'Jewish and Palestinian nations living side by side' calling it the "way forward" to peace in the Middle East.
Sen. Kerry tells PM Arabs play critical role in process
Prime minister meets with members of US Foreign Relations Committee, says Palestinian track must be independent from dealing with Iran threat. Committee chairman says he was 'encouraged' by meeting, raps Israel on settlements.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3718448,00. html
Lieberman named to U.S.-Israeli gov't post
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman will be in charge of the country's strategic dialogue with the United States, the Cabinet said Sunday.
http://www.upi. com/Top_News/ 2009/05/10/ Lieberman- named-to- US-Israeli- govt-post/ UPI-363712419842 66/
US senators to Obama: Consider risks to Israel
As Netanyahu's visit draws to a close, Republican, Democratic senators send President Obama letter calling on his administration to push peace process forward while 'continuing to insist on absolute Palestinian commitment to ending terrorist violence'.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3718545,00. html
Palestinians say were promised Jerusalem
PA sources claim US officials said any future state would include part of Jewish capital as their own, cessation of all settlement construction in West Bank; demand clear schedule for two-state solution.
Other News
At Tel Aviv airport, even the pope gets searched
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Despite the diplomatic immunity that Pope Benedict XVI enjoys throughout the world, Israel's Ben Gurion Airport security officials insisted on inspecting all the pontiff's luggage when he left the Holy Land last Friday, according to the Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv. According to Ma'ariv's report, which appeared on Tuesday, the pope's attendants were asked to put all the gifts he received during his weeklong visit through an X-ray machine. The aides were also questioned at the airport.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37941
De facto government police bar Fatah-affiliated women from leaving Strip
Bethlehem – Ma'an – The de facto government prevented more than 70 Women's Union members en route to the West Bank from Gaza for a women's conference, according to Palestinian Authority (PA)'s civil affairs chief Hussein Ash-Sheikh on Wednesday.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37949
Arab ministers walk out on Israeli speech at WHO conference
Geneva once again serves as stage for diplomatic strife as Arab representatives to World Health Organization conference leave hall in protest during Israel speech while Israel's rep walks out during Iran's turn.
http://www.ynetnews .com/articles/ 0,7340,L- 3718468,00. html
The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms produces its first film: Freedoms Invasion
The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) produced a documentary film entitled, "Freedoms Invasion" with support by the Open Society Institute.
http://english. pnn.ps/index. php?option= com_content&task=view&id=5409
Israeli spouses threaten Egypt's security: lawyer
Egyptians married to Israelis may face having their citizenship revoked as their marriage poses a threat to Egypt's "national security," Cairo's Administrative Court argued to the Egyptian government on Tuesday. The court argued children born to Egyptian and Israeli parents.
http://www.alarabiy a.net/articles/ 2009/05/20/ 73306.html
Media
Is U.S. media tired of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
NEW YORK - The United Nations and major U.S. newspapers largely ignored Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's meeting with President Barack Obama on Monday.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1086833. html
Israel's chief propagandist at NYT
At the same time, it's hard not to sense a bit of anxiety in Bronner's writing, as though he had put the story together with one eye on the events and the other on the reactions he might get from readers back home. The story's very thoroughness might even be seen cynically as a protective coating to ensure the harsh news goes down gently. Unlike the British reports, Bronner's doesn't lead with the soldiers' allegations, but with a reminder that Israel is beset, yet it does its best. The allegations themselves, which are the point of the story—indeed, the whole story as other reporters told it—are met with just about every possible rebuttal and mitigating circumstance.
http://angryarab. blogspot. com/2009/ 05/israels- chief-propagandi st-at-nyt. html
Did NYT's Bronner look over his shoulder when reporting on Gaza atrocities?
In the Columbia Journalism Review, JJ Goldberg has a thorough piece on coverage of the Israeli soldiers' atrocities during Gaza (a story broken by Haaretz) and suggests that reader pressure may have played a role in New York Times reporter Ethan Bronner's decision to somewhat soften his own account of the matter to make the harsh new "go down gently."
http://www.philipwe iss.org/mondowei ss/2009/05/ did-nyts- bronner-look- over-his- shoulder- when-reporting- on-gaza-atrociti es-.html
'New York Times' blows the Netanyahu-Obama story. Why?
Reuters got the story; it's all about Obama insisting on the two-state solution. Huffpo got this. So did French TV. So did the Washington Post. But The New York Times blew the story. "OBama Tells Netanyahu He Has an Iran Timetable." The first few paragraphs were chiefly about Netanyahu and Obama agreeing that Iran must be taken on. Why did "The Times" make the story talking points for the rightwing? Why didn't it use this opportunity to galvanize the support for a progressive president taking on a rightwing foreign leader? David Bromwich seizes on the same story.
http://www.philipwe iss.org/mondowei ss/2009/05/ reuterstimes- all-iran. html
David Bromwich: New York Times Falsifies Obama-Netanyahu Meeting
The New York Times assigned to the story a campaign-trail reporter, Sheryl Gay Stolberg, whose political perceptions are bland and whose knowledge of Israeli-American relations is an antiseptic zero. At the newspaper of record, a thing like that does not happen by accident. They took the most anxiously awaited meeting with a foreign leader of President Obama's term thus far, and buried it on page 12. The coverage of a major event, which the same newspaper had greeted only the day before by running an oversize attack-Iran op-ed by Jeffrey Goldberg, has officially now shrunk to the scale of a smaller op-ed.
http://www.huffingt onpost.com/ david-bromwich/ inew-york- timesi-falsifie_ b_205201. html
Solidarity/Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment
When the pain hits home - Tristan Anderson shot at Palestine wall protest
Oakland, California is ground zero for many members of the Slingshot collective, but on March 13, Oakland felt like a distant outpost, really far away from Ni'ilin, in the West Bank, where our friend Tristan Anderson, who also lives in Oakland, was struck in the forehead and almost killed by a high-velocity tear gas grenade. Suddenly the Israel/Palestine conflict had new shades and hues, new depth and angles, wrought by personal connection and pain.
http://news. infoshop. org/article. php?story= 2009051911523225 1
20th May 09 Video Free Gaza News
http://www.youtube. .com/watch? v=Pz40TvrNvI0
Nakba
Marking plight of Palestinian people on 61 years of Al Nakba new artists' film and Festival Q open
Marking the occasion of the commemoration of the plight of the Palestinian people and the sixty-first Al Nakba, the governorate of Nablus screened a new film today. "The Biography Walk" was created by local artists in cooperation with the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees and the Forum of Cultural Enlightenment. In the northern West Bank's governorate of Nablus the film is being shown to various boys' and girls' secondary schools.
http://english. pnn.ps/index. php?option= com_content&task=view&id=5407
Palestine: The catastrophe that never ended
On May 15 this year, Palestinians commemorated 61 years of Israeli apartheid - including continued ethnic cleansing and decades of military occupation. In 1948, Palestinians experienced what they describe as al Nakba, ("The Catastrophe" ). That is, the formation of Israel on 82% of Palestine via the violent expulsion of around 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and land.
http://www.palteleg raph.com/ palestine/ palestinian- refugees/ 877-palestine- the-catatrophe- that-never- ended
Op-ed/Analysis
Obama and Netanyahu: Up close and personal | Editorial
We do not know what Barack Obama said to Binyamin Netanyahu for the two hours they spent alone in the Oval Office together. But we do know that it was alone. Mr Obama conducted the most closely watched meeting of his four-month-old administration without senior officials present. And when that includes people like his defence secretary, Robert Gates, and the national security adviser, James Jones, one can conclude that Mr Obama was determined to come to his own view about what could, and could not, be achieved with the new Israeli prime minister.
http://www.guardian .co.uk/commentis free/2009/ may/20/barack- obama-netanyahu- israel-palestine -peace-talks
Rashomon at the White House: Why no one agrees on the Bibi-Barack Meeting, by Stephen Walt
In general, I think the Obama/Netanyahu meetings went pretty much as I expected. I've also been struck by the Rashomon-like quality of the commentary on the event, which reminds me of the way that politicians react after campaign debates (their candidate always won). People who want the United States to be more evenhanded saw signs of discord and emphasize the clear differences between the two men on the Palestinian issue; those who favor the status quo on Israel-Palestine highlight the partial agreement on Iran (both men regard its nuclear program as a bad thing, albeit with different degrees of alarm).
http://walt. foreignpolicy. com/posts/ 2009/05/19/ rashomon_ at_the_white_ house_why_ no_one_agrees_ on_the_bibi_ barack_meeting
How Tense Was The Obama-Netanyahu Meeting?
http://friday- lunch-club. blogspot. com/2009/ 05/how-tense- was-obama- netanyahu- meeting.html
Is Obama Up to the Challenge of Dealing with Netanyahu?, By MUSTAFA BARGHOUTHI
I cannot recall a more important meeting between an American president and an Israeli prime minister than today's meeting between President Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Will the Obama administration have the courage to challenge Netanyahu, or will all the talk of change dissolve in the face of a concerted one-two punch from Netanyahu and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee?
http://www.counterp unch.org/ barghouthi051920 09.html
Bibi and Israel at Dead End, By Patrick J. Buchanan
If there are no peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians for an independent Palestinian state, war next year is inevitable. So King Abdullah II of Jordan has told the London Times: "If we delay our peace negotiations, then there is going to be another conflict between Arabs or Muslims and Israel in the next 12 to 18 months." Whether the king's timetable is correct, endless cold war, erupting into hot wars, seems the fate of Israel if "Bibi" Netanyahu holds to his pledge never to allow a Palestinian state on the West Bank.
http://www.informat ionclearinghouse .info/article226 50.htm
We've always known that Netanyahu doesn't support a Palestinian state. But now we're forced to ask - does Pelosi?
On Tuesday, Benjamin Netanuyahu left his ambiguous meeting with President Obama behind him for greener pastures - the US Congress. There has already been speculation that Netanyahu is planning on using the Congress to block any challenge from the Obama administration and we may have seen the first salvo. It seems congressional leaders are already adopting Netanyahu's language to distance themselves from the two-state solution. Here's video of Nancy Pelosi meeting Netanyahu...
http://www.philipwe iss.org/mondowei ss/2009/05/ is-the-twostate- solution- being-replaced- by-the-side- by-side-solution .html
Dennis Ross paid 40K for AIPAC speeches
A "special adviser" whose portfolio includes Iran, was paid $818,000 in 2008, his disclosure statement shows. Ross, a former U.S. envoy to the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, took in $421,775 for speeches, including $214,605 from Israeli and Jewish groups, the disclosure form shows....
http://www.usatoday .com/news/ pdf/ambassadorro ssreport. pdf
What's Netanyahu Really Afraid Of?
Although the Obama administration has made it clear that it wants to pursue diplomacy with Iran and the president himself has made overtures toward Iran, Israel continues to threaten Iran with military attacks. Its lobby in the United States, led by AIPAC and its supporters in the War Party, continues to issue dire warnings about Iran's nuclear program and the danger that it allegedly poses to not just Israel and the Middle East, but the entire "free world." Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reaffirmed time and again that all of Iran's known nuclear facilities and nuclear materials, including its stockpile of low-enriched uranium, are safeguarded and monitored by the agency; there is no evidence for a secret parallel nuclear program, or one that is aimed at developing nuclear weapons; and all the issues regarding Iran's six cases of noncompliance with its obligations under its Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA have been resolved to the agency's satisfaction.
http://original. antiwar.com/ sahimi/2009/ 05/19/whats- netanyahu- really-afraid- of/
I moved to the US from the West Bank in 2001, but sometimes I wonder: What would my life have been like if my family had not left? As I stressed about what to wear to senior prom, my Palestinian friends worried about what remained of Ramallah after an Israeli invasion of the city. When I was hearing back from American colleges about where I could go to school, many Palestinian students were unsure whether they would be able to attend college, whether roads or the Allenby Bridge would be open, and what the next stage in their lives would be.
http://www.huffingt onpost.com/ hammad-hammad/ gaza-stripped- of-opportun_ b_205018. html
Hopes and dreams on the Gaza coast
'At a time when Gazans are under a siege... the coast has become an important psychological tool'. Every day, as the sun sets on the coast of Gaza, people make their way to the coffee shop-lined beaches and the pot-holed streets that run parallel to its coastline. On the terrace of the famed Al Deira Hotel, patrons jostle for position, sipping sweet Arabic coffee as the sounds of legendary Arab musicians delicately waft through the air, mingling with the aroma of flavoured tobacco.
http://english. aljazeera. net/focus/ 2009/05/20095191 2122985402. html
Papal visit: The wrong emphasis
Not unexpectedly, the Israeli press dwelt on what the pope, as a former soldier in Hitler's army, didn't say but should have said at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial. PM Binyamin Netanyahu asked him to denounce Iran and he didn't. During the Palestinian part of his visit, he referred to "the events of May 1948" in a way that could easily be interpreted as ratifying the Palestinian narrative of what happened then and negating the Israeli narrative. Comparisons with the historic visit of an earlier pope, John Paul II, inevitably presented Benedict in a negative light. Jews had in mind his abortive reinstatement of a Holocaust denier. Muslims recalled his unfortunate quote in a speech in Germany from an anti-Islamic diatribe in ancient Byzantium.
http://www.maannews .net/en/index. php?opr=ShowDeta ils&ID=37925
Lebanon
Hezbollah wrestles with Lebanon government in bid to grab power
Hezbollah is looking to control politics in Beirut. Will the country's electoral system allow for the opposition's power grab? The poster war is intensifying in the run-up to Lebanese parliamentary elections, slated for less than three weeks from now. Signs set ablaze under cover of night are replaced in the morning by new ones. Vote buying has reached unprecedented levels as candidates' tickets are formed; no one believes the patriotic promises of the frontrunners.
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1086861. html
Battle lines drawn for Lebanon parliament polls
Beirut: There is much at stake for political parties contesting the upcoming parliamentary elections in Lebanon. The June 7 vote will define the power dynamics of the country and region for the next four years and one can sense the tension rising among national leaders and the diaspora.
http://archive. gulfnews. com/region/ Lebanon/10315091 .html
Hezbollah works its way quietly
Beirut: With quiet campaigning and moderate talk, Hezbollah is building its strength for Lebanon's June 7 parliamentary elections - and the Hezbollah and its allies stand a good chance of winning.
http://archive. gulfnews. com/region/ Middle_East/ 10315080. html
Vice-President Biden to arrive in Beirut Friday
US Vice President Joe Biden will visit Lebanon on Friday for talks with President Michel Sleiman, two weeks ahead of a tightly contested parliamentary election, a government official said on Tuesday. "Vice President Biden will discuss with the president the Middle East peace process, as well as bilateral relations," the official told AFP.
Israeli missile from 2006 war found in Nabatieh
An air-to-ground missile was found on Tuesday in the Roueiss neighborhood in the southern town of Nabatieh, security reports said.The missile is believed to have been dropped by an Israeli aircraft during the summer 2006 war with Israel, the report said.
http://www.dailysta r.com.lb/ article.asp? edition_id= 1&categ_id=2&article_id=102148
Hero for cause of missing Lebanese remembered
BEIRUT: The families of missing Lebanese gathered on Tuesday to mourn the loss of one of the most vocal activists in their fight to know the fate of their loved ones who went missing in the 1975-90 Civil War. At a special ceremony on Tuesday, friends and family gathered near the ESCWA headquarders to bid a final farewell to Audette Salem and to reiterate their demand for an investigation into those who disappeared during the war.
http://www.dailysta r.com.lb/ article.asp? edition_id= 1&categ_id=1&article_id=102144
On the verge of Lebanese elections, Nasrallah defies Obama and Israel
It's hard to speculate what the real motivation was on Nasrallah's part. It could be a warning message to Obama and the Arab dictators after the Obama-Netanyahu meeting; it could be an attempt to win support in the so-far-undecided but Sunni-majority Lebanese towns of Saida (Sidon) and Trablous (Tripoli). The Saudis are throwing a lot of money into those towns and though they have endless amounts of money, they don't have enough time. Or was this just Nasrallah's contribution to Nakba Awareness month? Some people think that Nasrallah has gotten chatty lately in an attempt to lose the elections because Hezbollah doesn't gain anything by inheriting a country plundered by the current pro-western and pro-Israeli factions and/or because they fear that Hezbollah will be forced to disarm if they win the election. I doubt it. Who in Lebanon would have the power to disarm them or even attempt to go down that road? The Lebanese Army that is best known for serving tea to the Israelis when they invaded in 2006?
http://www.philipwe iss.org/mondowei ss/2009/05/ on-the-verge- of-lebanese- elections- nasrallah- defies-obama- and-israel. html#more
Iraq
Tuesday: 5 Iraqis Killed, 12 Wounded
Updated at 5:39 p.m. EDT, May 19, 2009 At least five Iraqis were killed and 12 more were wounded in today's violence. Meanwhile, a second Sunni leader was arrested in Diyala province, prompting critics to wonder openly if a security operation there is really a harassment campaign against Awakening Council (Sahwa) members and other Sunni leaders. Also, the Swedish Minister for Migration and Asylum Policy Tobias Billstrom spoke with Jordanian Interior Minister Saud al-Qadi on the 500,000 Iraqi refugees living in Jordan.
http://original. antiwar.com/ updates/2009/ 05/19/tuesday- 4-iraqis- killed-8- wounded/
Roadside bomb kills two Iraqi civilians
Two Iraqi civilians were killed and five others were wounded by a roadside bomb north of Baghdad on Tuesday, police said.
http://uk.news. yahoo.com/ 18/20090519/ twl-roadside- bomb-kills- two-iraqi- civili-3cd7efd. html
U.S. troops kill civilian in central Mosul
"U.S. forces shot and killed a civilian on Monday (May 18) in al-Dawasa region in central Mosul," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
http://en.aswatalir aq.info/? p=113356
AP - The Pentagon says U.S. soldiers are still finding large numbers of Iranian-made weapons in Iraq, despite's Iran's denials.
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/ap/20090519/ ap_on_go_ ca_st_pe/ us_us_iran
Iraq to prosecute Sunni militiamen only for murder
AFP - A senior Iraqi official said on Tuesday that Sunni Arab militiamen allied with US and Iraqi forces will face prosecution only for murder.
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/afp/20090519/ wl_mideast_ afp/iraqunrestse curitysahwa
Iraq's next count to include data on ethnic and religious affiliation
The forms to be used for the country's next census on October 24 will contain questions on Iraqis' religious and ethnic affiliation, a senior government official said. But Mahdi al-Allaq of the Planning Ministry said there is nothing in the forms with regard to sectarian belonging.
http://www.azzaman. com/english/ index.asp? fname=news\2009-05-19\kurd. htm
Study: Nearly 25 percent of Iraqis live in poverty
AP - Nearly one in four Iraqis lives below the poverty line, according to a study released Wednesday by an Iraqi government agency.
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/ap/20090520/ ap_on_re_ mi_ea/ml_ iraq_poverty
AP - Across a mirrored room from stationary bikes and an occasional treadmill, men in tank tops knock back protein shakes and pump iron to loud hip hop.
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/ap/20090519/ ap_on_re_ mi_ea/ml_ iraq_gym_ craze
U.S.
CIA chief: 'Big trouble' if Israel attacks Iran alone
Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Leon Panetta said in remarks published Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows that if Israel were to independently attack Iran it would lead to "big trouble.."
http://www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/1086870. html
ALERT: Rep. Harman calls ethnic separation of Iran "a good strategy"
"The Persian population in Iran is not a majority, it is a plurality. There are many different, diverse, and disagreeing populations inside Iran and an obvious strategy, which I believe is a good strategy, is to separate those populations. " - Rep. Jane Harman (May 3, 2009) Through conquest and turmoil, the Iranian nation has survived and thrived for thousands of years, with peoples of all backgrounds and ethnicities forming a common identity. Now that President Obama has emphasized diplomacy and reduced the chances of war between the United States and Iran, Congresswoman Jane Harman (D-CA) has a new idea: rip apart the Iranian nation by dividing its peoples along ethnic lines.
http://capwiz. com/niacouncil/ issues/alert/ ?alertid= 13376101&type=CU
Former White House lawyer: Cheney dares US to indict him
Vice President Cheney is daring the Obama administration to indict him for authorizing torture, according to a former White House lawyer, and it's time to call him out on his bluff. "I have written many times in this space that I oppose any criminal prosecution of prior-administratio n officials on torture or other issues relating to the Iraq War and the war on terrorism, especially those CIA interrogators who relied in good faith on the instructions of policymakers and the legal opinions issued by Justice Department senior officials," former Special Counsel to the President for Bill Clinton Lanny Davis writes in a column published by the Washington Times Monday. "I have agreed with President Obama on the need to look forward, not backward."
http://rawstory. com/08/news/ 2009/05/19/ cheney-dares- us/
AND HE SHALL BE JUDGED
These cover sheets were the brainchild of Major General Glen Shaffer, a director for intelligence serving both the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the secretary of defense. In the days before the Iraq war, Shaffer's staff had created humorous covers in an attempt to alleviate the stress of preparing for battle. Then, as the body counting began, Shaffer, a Christian, deemed the biblical passages more suitable. Several others in the Pentagon disagreed. At least one Muslim analyst in the building had been greatly offended; others privately worried that if these covers were leaked during a war conducted in an Islamic nation, the fallout—as one Pentagon staffer would later say—"would be as bad as Abu Ghraib.
http://men.style. com/gq/features/ full?id=content_ 9217
Rumsfeld and Cheney: torture as self-justification
"He's a ruthless little bastard. You can be sure of that." So said Richard Nixon, a man who knew something about ruthlessness and bastardry, about Donald Rumsfeld back in 1971.
http://www.crikey. com.au/2009/ 05/18/rumsfeld- and-cheneys- torture-approval -was-about- self-justificati on/
Uighurs Fire Back At Gingrich From Gitmo: "Why Does He Hate Us So Much?"
Chinese Muslims known as Uighurs, detained for more than six years and counting at the American prison at Guantanamo Bay, are firing back at Newt Gingrich, who has accused them of terrorist ties and says that releasing them into the United States would endanger the country.
http://www.huffingt onpost.com/ 2009/05/19/ uighurs-fire- back-at-ging_ n_205261. html
Unexceptional Americans: Why We Can't See the Trees or the Forest, The Torture Memos and Historical Amnesia, By Noam Chomsky
The torture memos released by the White House elicited shock, indignation, and surprise. The shock and indignation are understandable. The surprise, less so., For one thing, even without inquiry, it was reasonable to suppose that Guantanamo was a torture chamber. Why else send prisoners where they would be beyond the reach of the law -- a place, incidentally, that Washington is using in violation of a treaty forced on Cuba at the point of a gun? Security reasons were, of course, alleged, but they remain hard to take seriously. The same expectations held for the Bush administration' s "black sites," or secret prisons, and for extraordinary rendition, and they were fulfilled.
http://www.informat ionclearinghouse .info/article226 59.htm
Judge drops suit over Iraq war's constitutionality
Two mothers of soldiers who served in Iraq have failed in their attempt to sue the federal government over the constitutionality of the war.
http://www.washingt onpost.com/ wp-dyn/content/ article/2009/ 05/19/AR20090519 02147.html
Republican Disaster -- The (Unspoken) Anatomy of The Meltdown
Two religions (in the broadest sense of the term) have destroyed the Republican Party: evangelical Christianity and Christian/Jewish Zionism. Evangelical Christianity created the Religious Right which forever linked the Republican Party to the antiabortion, anti-sex education, anti-evolution and anti-gay crusades. And both Christian and Jewish Zionism linked the Republican Party to what became the neoconservative movement with its roots in such publications as Commentary magazine and their shrill Israel-can-do- no-wrong anti-Arab agenda. (I knew the late editor of Commentary Norman Podhoretz quite well, and we met several times to build alliances between evangelicals and the far American Zionist far right. When it came to Arabs, I believe he was a real racist.)
http://www.huffingt onpost.com/ frank-schaeffer/ republican- disaster- ---th_b_205388. html
Survey: Obama Has Real Chance to Change Arab Opinion
President Barack Obama has a major opportunity to improve the mostly negative views about the United States in the Arab world but is likely to have only a short period of time to do so, according to a major new survey of public opinion [.pdf] in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
http://original. antiwar.com/ lobe/2009/ 05/19/survey- obama/
The Washington Post reported today on the Iqbal case alleging that former attorney general John Ash croft and FBI Director Robert Mueller knew that the prison guards holding Arab Muslims swept up after the September 11 attacks were torturing them because they were Arabs and/or Muslims.
The Supreme Court ruled today that former attorney general John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller may not be sued by Arab Muslims who were seized in this country after the 2001 terrorist attacks and allege harsh treatment because of their religion and ethnicity. The court ruled 5 to 4 that the top officials are not liable for the actions of their subordinates absent evidence that they ordered the allegedly discriminatory activity. The decision followed the court's ideological split between conservatives and liberals, with Justice Anthony M. Kennedy siding with the conservatives and writing the opinion.
http://lawprofessor s.typepad. com/environmenta l_law/2009/ 05/the-washingto n-post-reported- today-on- the-iqbal- case-alleging- that-former- attorney- general-john- ash-croft- and-fbi-director .html
Other world news
El-Baradei: Israel Would Be Crazy to Launch a Strike on Iran
Israel would be crazy to launch a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, Mohamed El-Baradei, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in a magazine interview published Saturday. Tehran should engage with the United States and negotiate over its nuclear program, he said. "It would be completely insane to attack Iran," El-Baradei told Germany's Der Spiegel magazine. "That would turn the region into one big fireball, and the Iranians would immediately start building the bomb - and they could count on the support of the entire Islamic world."
http://almanar. com.lb/NewsSite/ NewsDetails. aspx?id=85818&language=en
Saudis Announce Two Year Delay in Local Elections
Saudi Arabia's brief and limited experiment with electoral democracy suffered another setback on Monday.
http://feeds. nytimes.com/ click.phdo? i=43faadf6f80240 e628c7dbc1b8da39 a3
Thanks to Facebook, Egyptian women take to political activism
In recent years, Egypt has witnessed increasing participation by women in grassroots political activism. Local civil rights advocates attribute the phenomenon to novel means of communication and organization, especially the social networking website Facebook.
http://www.dailysta r.com.lb/ article.asp? edition_id= 10&categ_id=2&article_id=102135
What about Syria?
Soon, everyone in Washington will be able to breathe a breath of fresh air once Benjamin Netanyahu has gone. But it won't be long before we're graced with the presence of the illustrious Hosni Mubarak and the honorable Mahmoud Abbas. These three apes will be Obama's partners in 'peace' for the foreseeable future, but some parties crucial to any comprehensive resolution remain absent from US-mediated negotiations that are supposedly regional in their approach. There is no reason to believe that Khaled Meshaal or Ismail Haniyeh will be invited to the White House, but some people were starting to hope that Syria could soon become part of the process. It would make sense. The Golan Heights remain occupied and Damascus continues to support Hamas and Hezbollah. US officials also accuse Syria of not doing enough to stem the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq. Breaking from the policies of the previous administration, senior diplomats have made numerous trips to Syria in recent months and relations appeared to be improving.
http://www.kabobfes t.com/2009/ 05/what-about- syria.html
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www.TheHeadlines. org
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