Operation Cast Lead II
Yisrael Beiteinu promotes another invasion (Editor Palestine Monitor) - 17-apr-2011

April 16, 2011 - Scrapping Hamas’ offered cease-fire, influential Yisrael Beiteinu politicians are promoting another invasion of Palestine’s worn-torn, besieged land of Gaza. While President Benajim Netanyahu thanked in Washington, DC for another US$205 million for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon called for the forced removal of Hamas. "Only the collapse of Hamas rule in Gaza will stop the firing," Ayalon said, according to Jpost. "There is no other solution."...

Bello Ciao- the Vic i know -1975-2011 (Mona El-Farra) - 17-apr-2011

April 16, 2011 - With deep sadness in my heart I write. I am sad and shocked that Vik has been taken from our world so soon and so tragically. I am appalled that such ignorant brutality and violence still exists in Palestinian society.
Vik you were dedicated, full of humanity, and fun. Your love for life, music and laughter meant that your presence always created a nice atmosphere, for our youth and children in different occasions. You shared our lives in Gaza for more than 2 years, you danced Dabbka , you would always reach out and shake hands with little boys and girls in the streets, you would play football with them. You were there in our funerals as well as our weddings. and more than that your daily protesting as member of the ISM alongside with Palestinians, on the borders against the buffer zone that was created by Israel, where Farmers were unable reach their land...

The Israelis Mount a Diplomatic Offensive to Stop the Gaza Flotilla (Ann Wright) - 17-apr-2011

April 16, 2011 - While the Israeli military pounded Gaza in the past month killing 14 Palestinians and wounding 52 including 19 children, Israeli diplomats embarked on a massive political campaign to stop the next international flotilla to Gaza that will challenge Israel’s naval blockade of the 1.5 million Palestinians who live in Gaza. In extensive meetings around the world, Israeli diplomats urged diplomats of European countries, Turkey, the United States and the United Nations to use their authority to stop the ships in the next flotilla to Gaza. The second Gaza Freedom Flotilla is scheduled to sail in late May with more ships and more passengers than the May, 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla that the Israelis attacked killing 9 passengers and wounding 50. 22 countries have national campaigns to join the second flotilla...

Palestinian Statehood and Other Political Issues (by Stephen Lendman) - 17-apr-2011

April 16, 2011 - ...On April 12, HR 1501 (with 32 co-sponsors) was introduced: "To withhold United States contributions to the United Nations until (it) formally retracts the final report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict." The measure was referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs for further consideration. It claims "evidence (meaning Richard Goldstone's April 1 Washington Post op-ed) is available that undoubtedly nullifies the most controversial aspects of the Goldstone Report, (so the UN) should formally retract" it. Ignored was a London Guardian response by the other three Commission members, saying: Recent articles and comments on the mission's work "have misrepresented facts in an attempt to delegitimize the findings of (its) report and to cast doubts on its credibility."...

18/04/2011

Mobilizing for September
Jeff Halper--The reconvening of the UN in late September and the possible recognition of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders may be a crucial political moment in the struggle for Palestinian liberation – or not. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has characterized it as a looming “diplomatic tsunami” for Israel; Ali Abunimah, a prominent Palestinian-American commentator, calls it a “sideshow,” an “elaborate farce.” As yet, there has been little if any substantial discussion among activists regarding its significance or lack thereof, or whether and how we should mobilize around it.

Another Country
Alon Idan--Thousands of Palestinians go on trial every year in the Ofer military court for offenses like illegally entering Israel or demonstrating against the separation fence. No one really wants to know what goes on there. So is there any point at all to telling this story?

WEST BANK: Palestinian Christians denied access to holy places in Jerusalem during Easter
Maher Abukhater in Ramallah, West Bank--As Christians get ready to celebrate Easter, Palestinian Christians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are envious of fellow Christians from all over the world who are able to visit Jerusalem’s holy Christian sites and worship freely while they cannot.

Helen Thomas to address anti-Israel protests during Netanyahu`s visit to U.S.
Natasha Mozgovaya--A series of anti-Israel protests, lectures and meetings are scheduled to coincide with the PM`s visit and the AIPAC conference in Washington DC in May; BDS founder meets Friday night with 250 activists calling Israel apartheid state.

Ford Foundation to Cut Funding for local NGOs
Natasha Mozgovaya --The philanthropic foundation will not renew a five-year $20 million grant program for Israeli non-profit organizations in 2013 - this is expected to be a blow for groups focusing on human rights and aiding minorities in Israel.

IOF Soldiers Use Live Ammunition on Demonstrators
[Compare what the newspaper reader learns (1), and the depiction of events by Jonathan Polack (2). He was at the event, whereas the reporter most likely was not and received his information from an IOF spokesperson. DN]

Vittorio Arrigoni, `Hero of Palestine`
Pennie Quinton--The murder of a peace activist who fought for Palestinian human rights has left me crying with rage at such cruelty and stupidity

Israel bias-Cantor-productive in Washington
MJ Rosenberg--House majority leader Eric Cantor works with Israeli prime minister Netanyahu to undermine Obama`s Mideast policies.

Letter to Marrickville Council from concerned citizens of Israel
BFW--We are Israeli citizens who witness first-hand the brutality of our government`s policies towards the Palestinian people. We stand firm in our support of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) initiatives against Israel until it meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination, and fully complies with the precepts of international law.

Activist's murder shakes Hamas's grip on Gaza

19/04/2011

West Bank Placed Under Strict Closure
Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies - "As Israel prepares to mark the Jewish Pesach feast, the Israeli army placed the occupied West Bank under strict siege starting Sunday at midnight and lasting until April 26"

“Olivia” Boat To Be Monitoring Gaza Shore, Document Navy Violations
Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News - "Human Rights activists in the Gaza Strip announced that they will be launching this Wednesday a boat tasked with accompanying Palestinian fishing boats to monitor and document the repeated Israeli Navy violations against them. [...] Italian human rights activist who was kidnapped and killed by unknown gunmen in Gaza several days ago, was involved in setting up this project, and [...] a commemoration ceremony will be held on the day of the launch"

The Settler State
Uri Avnery - Gush Shalom - "Some weeks ago I wrote that the problem may not be the annexation of the West Bank by Israel, but the annexation of Israel by the West Bank settlers. Some readers reacted with a chuckle. It looked like a humorous aside. It was not"

The Great Israeli Security Scam
Tom Engelhardt - AntiWar - "…like the other Middle Eastern lands that have been our semi-clients, Israel deserves to have a bright light shone on it, too. While we disabuse ourselves of various Middle Eastern myths, […] it might be time to do a little disabusing when it comes to the encrusted mythology about Israel"

Another BDS Victory as Veolia Dumped from Possible Billion Pound Tender
Tania Kepler - AIC - "The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has had great success in London. After one year of campaigning by activists, the South London Waste Partnership (SLWP) had decided to drop the bid from the company Veolia for the one billion pound `Waste Treatment Infrastructure`"

Goldstone: Perceptions and realities
Daoud Kuttab - Al Jazeera - The retraction of war crimes allegations has led some to believe Goldstone succumbed to pressure from Zionist groups

The United Nations will watch over Gaza
Shlomo Shamir - Haaretz - Who knows? The UN might one day decide to implement its doctrine of `responsibility to protect` during a Hamas-Israel conflict. Seems unlikely? So did the initiative for a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state a few months ago

Mobilizing for September
Jeff Halper--The reconvening of the UN in late September and the possible recognition of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders may be a crucial political moment in the struggle for Palestinian liberation – or not. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has characterized it as a looming “diplomatic tsunami” for Israel; Ali Abunimah, a prominent Palestinian-American commentator, calls it a “sideshow,” an “elaborate farce.” As yet, there has been little if any substantial discussion among activists regarding its significance or lack thereof, or whether and how we should mobilize around it.

Another Country
Alon Idan--Thousands of Palestinians go on trial every year in the Ofer military court for offenses like illegally entering Israel or demonstrating against the separation fence. No one really wants to know what goes on there. So is there any point at all to telling this story?

WEST BANK: Palestinian Christians denied access to holy places in Jerusalem during Easter
Maher Abukhater in Ramallah, West Bank--As Christians get ready to celebrate Easter, Palestinian Christians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are envious of fellow Christians from all over the world who are able to visit Jerusalem’s holy Christian sites and worship freely while they cannot.

For previous articles since 2004 go to respective sections

Mother of Slain Italian Activist to Sail to Gaza, Flotilla Change Name in Honor of Vittorio

Monday April 18, 2011 - 13:25

Agidea Prata, the mother of Vittorio Arrigoni, the Italian activist and journalist killed in Gaza on Friday, said that she will be sailing to Gaza on May with the Free Gaza flotilla. Full Story

Army Kidnaps Six Palestinians

Monday April 18, 2011 - 13:20

Israeli soldiers kidnapped on Monday at dawn six Palestinians in several parts of the occupied West Bank, and took them to interrogation centers. Israel orders West Bank Closure, to close Ibrahim Mosque in Hebron Wednesday and Thursday. Full Story

 P.A Police Arrests Suspects Believed To Be Behind Arrigoni’s Murder

Monday April 18, 2011 - 12:31

The Palestinian Police in Gaza released pictures and names of three persons believed to be behind the murder of Italian peace activist, Vitorio Arrigoni. The Police stated that evidence against the suspects is solid. Full Story

Israeli Police Arrests Sheikh Raed Salah

Monday April 18, 2011 - 07:04

The Israeli Police arrested on Sunday evening Sheikh Raed Salah, head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in the 1948 territories. Full Story

Remembering Vittorio Arrigoni

by Stephen Lendman / April 18th, 2011

On April 15, International Solidarity Movement (ISM) members grieved for one of their own, their press release headlining, “Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank unite in mourning of slain activist Vittorio Arrigoni,” saying: “People will gather in Al Manara square in Ramallah and at Al Jundi al Majhull, (Gaza’s) unknown soldier park,” honoring the death of their comrade, slain and abandoned in a house north of Gaza. More on his death below.

Other events took place throughout Palestine, including protests following Friday’s prayers across from the UN’s Gaza headquarters. Bil’in and Al Masara also dedicated their weekly demonstrations to Vittorio, …

(Full article …)

The Call Bob Dylan Won’t Heed

BDS, Bullies, and Blowing Wind

by Nima Shirazi / April 18th, 2011

A recent letter by the Israeli peace and justice group “Boycott From Within” (BfW) calls upon Bob Dylan to heed the Palestinian call for BDS and therefore not perform in Israel. The letter follows reports of Dylan’s 2011 summer tour, during which he will perform at Ramat Gan Stadium on June 20th.

The BfW letter hits all the right notes and speaks truth. It asks Dylan “not to perform in Israel until it respects Palestinian human rights,” explaining that “a performance in Israel, today, is a vote of support for …

(Full article …)

Gael Kennedy, Janet Kossy

Councils can help Mid-East peace

A recent blog claimed that when peace is finally brokered between Israel and a Palestinian state, the stance of Marrickville Council will be proudly remembered.

Society & Culture,Contributors | Gael Kennedy, Janet Kossy | Tue Apr 19 00:00:00 EST 2011

Fiona Byrne

Rates, roads - and justice in Gaza

It seems that everyone has an opinion at the moment about whether the Marrickville Local Government Area should play a role in trying to create change for the people of Palestine.

Politics,Contributors | Fiona Byrne | Mon Apr 18 00:00:00 EST

Chief Rabbi calls on Obama to free Pollard if he wants to be re-elected  

18 April 2011

On Sunday, Israeli public radio said that the chief Rabbi, Yona Metzger, had urged US president, Barak Obama, to pardon the Jewish American spy, Jonathan Pollard, in order to win re-election to the White House for a second term in office.

The radio station quoted Rabbi Metzger's Friday address at the Yosharon Synagogue in which he said that "Obama needs to prove his friendship to Israel and to immediately release Jonathan Pollard before pressing for diplomatic initiatives toward settlement of the Israel-Palestine conflict."

Read more...  

Week 4: Fuad Qasim Al Razim - Palestinian political prisoner  

18 April 2011

Fuad Al Razim is the doyen of the Palestinian prisoners who hail from Jerusalem. He is a strong man who withstands torture and remains faithful to the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa, where he was raised. He was imprisoned on 30th January 1981 for carrying out two military operations which resulted in the deaths of two Israeli soldiers in occupied Jerusalem.

Fuad has never given up hope and has never confessed, despite the unspeakable torture he has faced at the hands of his Israeli interrogators. As a man who loves his religion and his homeland, Fuad was always going to be a prime target for detention. His identity gave him self-respect and he has upheld his principles, even in prison. Moreover, he longs for freedom, despite the loss of his loved ones.

Read more...

Wife of ousted Tunisian president "a Mossad agent"  

18 April 2011

The bodyguard of the ousted Tunisian President Zen El Abedeen Ben Ali has said that Ben Ali and his wife Laila El Trabolsi are supporters of Israel. Abdel Rahman Sobeir also claims that El Trabolsi is a Mossad agent who was involved in several assassinations of Palestinian leaders when they were exiled in Tunisia.

Mr Sobeir revealed this sensitive information on Facebook; he accused Tunisia's ex-First Couple and their son-in-law Selim Shaiboub, along with a number of senior security chiefs, of criminal activity.

Read more...  

Netanyahu's latest gambit to thwart Palestinian statehood  

18 April 2011

Apparently worried about the potential impact on Israel of ongoing Arab revolutions, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reported to be contemplating a new "peace plan" that will throw the proverbial ball back into the Palestinians' court and ease international pressure on Israel to come to terms with Palestinian rights.

Israel has refused consistently to give up the spoils of the 1967 war. The Zionist state has also been adamant in its refusal to allow the repatriation of millions of Palestinian refugees, expelled at gunpoint from their homes and villages in what is now Israel.

Read more...  

European Union complicity in the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories

18 April 2011

It is generally assumed that there can be no progress in resolving the Israel - Palestine conflict without leadership from the US. As Brent Snowcroft, the former US National Security Adviser, said in his article in the Financial Times on April 14, in which he called for Obama to risk all for a Middle East peace deal, "The Palestinian question stands out as the one issue in the Middle East where nothing can be accomplished without active American leadership". This claim is repeated by all sides and accepted by most commentators and critics; but given that US politics is so dominated by pro-Israel interests, and Congress contains very few dissenting voices, this is a cause of great pessimism. Europe limps along behind the US, the US is incapable of standing up to Israeli extremism as President Obama has demonstrated so clearly, and the situation of the Palestinian people gets ever worse.

However, this assumption that nothing can change without a shift in US policy needs to be challenged. The EU actually has enormous potential leverage and influence which it fails to exercise. Given that the people of the EU are increasingly critical of Israel, it is important that European campaigners should exert more pressure for a change in EU policy.

Read more...  

Israel army used white phosphorous in latest attack on Gaza (Saleh Naami) - 19-apr-2011

April 18, 2011 - Ihab Keheal, head of the justice department’s medical examiner’s office in the Gaza Strip, has stated that examinations conducted by his office have unveiled evidence indicating that the Israeli army used white phosphorous and other internationally prohibited weapons in its latest operation in Gaza. Making his comments in a press statement released Monday, Keheal said that the bodies of Palestinians killed in the latest escalations were torn apart and charred to the extent that they were barely recognizable...

Israeli army blocks access by car to Palestinian neighborhood with more than 150 residents (B'Tselem) - 19-apr-2011

April 18, 2011 - The village of Khirbet a-Deir, which lies next to the village of Tuqu’, is built on both sides of Route 356 that connects Bethlehem and Hebron. On 9 February 2011, a bulldozer accompanied by two army jeeps laid dirt piles and boulders at the two entrances to the Abu Ghassan neighborhood, which is the northern section of the village, and at the entrance to the nearby village of al-Halqum, thus blocking access by car through these entrances. The action was taken without informing the residents in advance and without explanation....

Staying human: The legacy of Vittorio Arrigoni (by Ramzy Baroud) - 19-apr-2011

April 18, 2011 - "Dear Mary," wrote Italian justice activist Vittorio Arrigoni to a friend. "Do you [know who] will be on the boats?… I’m still in Gaza, waiting for you. I will be at the boat to greet you. Stay human. Vik." "Mary" is Mary Hughes Thompson, a dedicated activist who braved the high seas to break the Israeli siege on Gaza in 2008. Vittorio Arrigoni, or Vik, was reportedly murdered by a fundamentalist group in Gaza a few hours after he was kidnapped on Thursday, April 14. Vittorio Arrigoni, or Vik, was reportedly murdered by a fundamentalist group in Gaza a few hours after he was kidnapped on Thursday, April 14. The killing was supposedly in retaliation for Hamas’ crackdown on this group’s members. All who knew Vik will attest to the fact that he was an extraordinary person, a model of compassion, solidarity and humanity....

Palestinian citizens call for their rights during Land Week (Budour Youssef Hassan) - 19-apr-2011

Aptil 18, 2011 - Last month I toured Lifta as part of Palestinian Land Week, a series of activities organized by the Balad Student Movement at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to commemorate the 35th anniversary of Palestinian Land Day. The underlying purpose of Land Week 2011 was to reiterate that Land Day, which commemorates the slaying of Palestinian citizens demonstrating for their rights by Israel in 1976, goes far beyond the narrow geographical limits and the traditional annual demonstrations held in the Galilee villages of Sakhnin and Arraba....

Gaza protests murder of Italian activist (Rami Almeghari) - 19-apr-2011

April 18, 2011 - Palestinians in Gaza have reacted to the kidnapping and murder of Vittorio Arrigoni, a prominent Italian solidarity activist who was found dead on 15 April in Gaza City, with profound sadness. "Those who committed this heinous crime must be brought to justice soon," Huda Elian, a member of the Palestinian Democratic Union, told The Electronic Intifada as she demonstrated last Friday outside the United Nations offices in Gaza City. "Arrigoni has been a hero in Gaza, a hero who has always put himself into risk at border lines, [on board vessels off of the] besieged Gaza shores and many other occasions or destinations, in defiance of the Israeli occupation. [Vittorio’s] blood is as precious as any Palestinian blood."...

Special Relationship
Exclusive new cables released by WikiLeaks reveal the United States' heavy-handed efforts to help Israel at the U.N. (BY COLUM LYNCH) - 19-apr-2011

April 18, 2011 - In the aftermath of Israel's 2008-2009 intervention into the Gaza Strip, Susan E. Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, led a vigorous campaign to stymie an independent U.N. investigation into possible war crimes, while using the prospect of such a probe as leverage to pressure Israel to participate in a U.S.-backed Middle East peace process, according to previously undisclosed diplomatic cables provided by the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks...

20/04/2011

Ban on Israel-Palestine debate ignites free speech row at French university
Kim Willsher - Guardian - More than 150 of the world`s foremost academics have intervened in a simmering row over the banning of debates on the Israel-Palestine question at one of France`s universities, calling the move a threat to free speech.

OCHA protection of civilians report 30 March 12 April 2011
OCHA - The reporting period witnessed the greatest escalation in violence in Gaza and southern Israel since the end of the “Cast Lead” offensive in January 2009. Overall, 23 Palestinians, including ten civilians, were killed and 65 Palestinians, including 46 civilians, and two Israeli civilians, were injured. The Kerem Shalom crossing was closed between 5 and 12 April bringing the transfer of goods to and from Gaza through the crossings with Israel to a complete halt

Palestinian Prisoners` Day
Tania Kepler - Alternative Information Center - 17 April is Palestinian Prisoners’ Day. The day commemorates the release of Palestinian prisoner Mahmoud Hijazi in the first prisoners’ exchange between the Palestinians and the Israelis in 1974.

Hebron Settler Leader: ‘Burn Awarta to Ground, Turn it to Ash’
Richard Silverstein - The settlers of Hebron are a particularly nasty bunch, the meanest of the mean, most vicious of the vicious. For many of them, the only good Palestinian is a dead Palestinian. As if to prove my point, the chief propagandist media-whore of the Hebron community released a statement about the Itamar killings that was breathtaking in its scope and audacity. I hope that many of you, as you read this, will think back on various tragic historical events in Jewish history and note the parallels and ironies lost on David Wilder.

Interview with Norman Finkelstein: The Goldstone recantation
Aaron Leonard - Rabble.ca - "[t]here isn`t a scintilla, there isn`t a scratch, there isn`t a jot of new evidence that can warrant his recantation."

West Bank Placed Under Strict Closure
Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies - "As Israel prepares to mark the Jewish Pesach feast, the Israeli army placed the occupied West Bank under strict siege starting Sunday at midnight and lasting until April 26"

“Olivia” Boat To Be Monitoring Gaza Shore, Document Navy Violations
Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News - "Human Rights activists in the Gaza Strip announced that they will be launching this Wednesday a boat tasked with accompanying Palestinian fishing boats to monitor and document the repeated Israeli Navy violations against them. [...] Italian human rights activist who was kidnapped and killed by unknown gunmen in Gaza several days ago, was involved in setting up this project, and [...] a commemoration ceremony will be held on the day of the launch"

The Settler State
Uri Avnery - Gush Shalom - "Some weeks ago I wrote that the problem may not be the annexation of the West Bank by Israel, but the annexation of Israel by the West Bank settlers. Some readers reacted with a chuckle. It looked like a humorous aside. It was not"

The Great Israeli Security Scam
Tom Engelhardt - AntiWar - "…like the other Middle Eastern lands that have been our semi-clients, Israel deserves to have a bright light shone on it, too. While we disabuse ourselves of various Middle Eastern myths, […] it might be time to do a little disabusing when it comes to the encrusted mythology about Israel"

Another BDS Victory as Veolia Dumped from Possible Billion Pound Tender
Tania Kepler - AIC - "The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has had great success in London. After one year of campaigning by activists, the South London Waste Partnership (SLWP) had decided to drop the bid from the company Veolia for the one billion pound `Waste Treatment Infrastructure`"

For previous articles since 2004 go to respective sections

Hamas Accepts Arab Offer To Mediate Reconciliation Talks

Tuesday April 19, 2011 - 13:25

Member of the Political Bureau of the Hamas Movement, Izzat Al Rishiq, stated that the movement has agreed to the Arab offer to host and mediate Palestinian reconciliation and national unity talks. Full Story

UN Official Calls For Protecting Palestinian Detainees In Israeli Prisons

Tuesday April 19, 2011 - 13:04

United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Territories called for providing the Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons with protecting due to repeated Israeli military attacks and constant violations against them. Full Story

Lifeline For Gaza: “Suspect In Arrigoni’s Murder Was Not Aid Convoy Member”

Tuesday April 19, 2011 - 12:45

The Lifeline for Gaza Jordanian Committee issued a press release denying allegations that Abdul-Rahman Al Breizat, one of the suspects in the murder of the Italian peace activist, Vittorio Arrigoni, was a member of one of its convoys. Full Story

Army Occupies Several Homes In Hebron, Uses Them As Monitoring Towers

Tuesday April 19, 2011 - 11:43

Palestinian sources in the southern West Bank city of Hebron reported Tuesday morning that Israeli soldiers broke into and occupied a number of homes and used them as monitoring towers. Full Story

Congress Rewrites Goldstone's Op-ed

By Kate Gould

You would never know from any of the grandstanding in Congress that Justice Goldstone still stands by the report that bears his name. Continue 

US Tried To Hide Israeli War Crimes
US / Israel - Special Relationship

BY Colum Lynch

In the aftermath of Israel's 2008-2009 invasion into the Gaza Strip, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, led a vigorous campaign to stymie an independent U.N. investigation into possible Israeli war crimes. Continue

Lia Tarachansky: Chasing Ghosts: Questioning the death of Vittorio Arrigoni

19 April 2011

Vittorio Arrigoni, killed Friday, April 15 is the first international activist killed by Palestinians in the history of the conflict. Mystery surrounding his kidnapping and death leaves significant questions about the those allegedly responsible, the investigation, and the future of the region.

Moshé Machover: Comrade Oded (Odik) Pilavsky

19 April 2011

In memoriam: Moshé Machover remembers his close friend, Matzpen co-founder Oded Pilavsky.

Adam Keller: Oded Pilavsky – 1932-2011

19 April 2011

Oded Pilavsky: I finally started to comprehend what was happening there. A collectivist bunch imbued with socialist ideals, equipped with the best of agricultural machinery purchased on credit from the Jewish Agency, was reaping- robbing the fruit of the labor of poor Arabs who had been expelled from their land and their country…

 Netanyahu appoints new special emissary for Shalit release  

19 April 2011

David Meidan has been charged with taking Gilad Shalit back to Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed a senior Mossad officer as his special emissary for the release of the Israeli soldier being held in Gaza.  David Meidan has been charged with taking Gilad Shalit back to Israel; the soldier has been held by Palestinian resistance factions for about five years.

Radio Israel reported that Netanyahu has chosen Meidan as the replacement for Haggai Hadas, due to his involvement as a department head in Mossad on several aspects of the Shalit case.

Read more...

Gaza authorities confirm identity of suspect in Arrigoni murder

19 April 2011

The Palestinian police in Gaza have revealed that one of the suspects in the murder of the Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni is a Jordanian national. The Hamas-run authorities in Gaza published the man's picture along with the pictures of two other suspects who are believed to have abducted and killed Arrigoni. The three suspects are described as "very dangerous".

Read more...

Arrigoni's body leaves Gaza

19     April 2011

The body of Italian peace activist and Palestine supporter, Vittorio Arrigoni, has left Gaza forever. No one in Gaza would have imagined that such a painful crime could be committed against a Palestine solidarity activist; individuals who come to the besieged Strip to stand in solidarity with its people against the siege; who support farmers on the borders and who go out with fishermen; who are detained by the Israeli occupation and who are sometimes wounded and killed.

Arrigoni was deeply loved and respected by everyone in Gaza and was one of the best known foreign solidarity activists. His body left the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing conveyed by an official funeral procession which was followed by large crowds of people who loved him.

Read more...

The "Jewish state" and us

19 April 2011

Israel was founded as a political entity on the basis of Zionism; it was not originally predicated upon the principle of a Jewish state according to the religious understanding of the concept. On the contrary, it is a product of colonial forces and Zionist backers with financial muscle.

Many of the founders, theorists and supporters of the Zionist project were atheists with a secular outlook; they tended to stress how remote Zionism is from religion in order to manufacture a degree of legitimacy. This was particularly the case in Europe where many priests and rabbis gave the Zionist project their backing in order to attract Jewry in the European Diaspora.

Read more...

Palestinian Prisoner's Day

19 April 2011

On the 17th of April, popular and official activities were held across the occupied Palestinian territories to mark Palestinian Prisoners Day which is commemorated annually after it was adopted by the Palestinian National Council in 1974. It aims to show solidarity and support for the thousands of Palestinians, including women, children, the elderly and the disabled, being held in Israeli prisons, as well as to highlight the daily suffering they endure as a consequence of the repressive measured used in Israeli prisons.

Today, between 6,500 and 7,000 Palestinians are being held across 17 Israeli prisons. This includes 37 female prisoners, 245 children, 180 administrative detainees, 12 elected representatives and numerous other leaders. Prisoners are exposed to horrendous conditions and treatment including torture, solitary confinement, medical negligence, no family visits and various forms of psychological pressure.

Read more...

• Saudi Arabia buying more Pakistanis for Bahrain crackdown, US still supporting the sectarian regime
• Goldstone’s daughter was ‘furious’ with him, Times reports
• My friend Len Weinglass (1933-2011)
• Lachrymose history is bunk
• Wikileaks: U.S. threw its body down to block Goldstone Report’s progress to the Hague
• Bibi’s Sharia
• Helen Thomas paid a price– and so did Jennifer Nelson
• A night in Bil’in
• Report: Israel used white phosphorus in latest Gaza attacks
• U.S. Treasury says: There’s nothing to see on tax-exempt support for illegal settlements
• Vittorio bore his burden to the land of pain
• Turks mourn ‘Palestine’s son’
• Bronfman’s Passover questions come 10 years too late
• New project seeks to protect Gaza fishermen’s rights and livelihood
• International Solidarity Movement committed to staying in Gaza following Arrigoni murder

22/04/2011

Itamar murders don’t justify stripping Palestinians` rights
Amira Hass - Haaretz - The Israeli settlement enterprise does not need the murder of Jewish families in order to strip Palestinian families of their land and endanger the future of both peoples. But when such a murder "falls into its hands," the settlement enterprise knows how to make the most out of it, by building new neighborhoods and outposts, blaming Palestinian nature and education, and dropping biblical terms like "bitter enemies" and "Amalek."

Academic Freedom Under Attack? Interview with Prof. Neve Gordon
Dahlia Scheindlin - +972 - We are seeing a totally new phenomenon in Israeli academia: students sitting in class, filming the classes and then passing information on to the monitor groups and the media. The recordings are almost always edited, so the information doesn’t reflect what really went on in class. Such students consider themselves to be class monitors , rather than people who have come to the university in order to study, broaden their horizon and expand their knowledge…not unlike the McCarthy era in the US, some Israeli student see themselves as agents of the state, as spies.

Recognising Palestine?
Ali Abunimah - Al Jazeera - The effort to seek diplomatic recognition for an imaginary Palestinian state on a fraction of historic Palestine is a strategy of desperation from a Palestinian leadership that has run out of options, lost its legitimacy, and become a serious obstacle in the way of Palestinians regaining their rights.

We have the right to know where Israel is going
Gideon Levy - Haaretz - We have never had a prime minister of a government that was so right-wing, nationalist and unified, without any stain of liberalism or blot from the left. No one has had such sympathetic backing from the public, which is also right-wing and nationalist, for the most part. The Israeli right does not have any real opposition. So this is the chance of a lifetime for him to say his peace and carry out his ideas.

From the slavery of falsehood to the freedom of truth
Carlo Strenger - UNRWA teaches children in the schools of Gaza about the Holocaust; Israeli schools need to teach about the Palestinian Nakba. Passover should teach us to live with the truth.

A West Bank anachronism : The PLO goal of statehood has lost its glitter as a new national mood transforms the Palestinian struggle
Ahmad Samih Khalidi - The Guardian - What is emerging instead is a slow but sure manifestation of a new transnational movement, centred less on statehood and more on forging a national project that will traverse the existing Palestinian divides – diaspora, occupied territories and Israeli Arab citizens – and bypass the notion of an independent Palestinian state on part of Palestinian soil.

The ‘Real’ Palestine
Harriet Straughen - MIFTAH - The other day, I finally experienced the ‘real’ Palestine. It was not in the tense streets of Hebron or amongst the active demonstration in Bil’in, but here in Ramallah, in Al Amary refugee camp.

Administrative Detention : A legal and lethal tool of Israeli repression
Sawsan Ramahi - Middlw East Monitor - A largely neglected instrument of legal Israeli repression used against the Palestinian people is that of administrative detention. Thousands of men as well as women and children are held indefinitely and under horrendous conditions in detention centres dotted across the occupied territories without charge, access to a fair trial or even having been accused of committing a crime. This renders administrative detainees exceptions to the rules that would govern convicts, placing them outside the normal legal system and procedures and beyond the remit of the Red Cross. This not only means that the order cannot be challenged, but it also means that detainees are not provided with adequate living conditions, medical care, food, clothing or access to their families.

Palestinians silently transferred from East Jerusalem
Jillian Kestler-D`Amours - The Electronic Intifada - The petition demands that the current practice of revoking residency rights be changed to protect the rights of Palestinians in East Jerusalem and in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. “We should be treated as the indigenous people of the place. We are not guests. We are from here and we should be able to leave [the city] and come back if we choose,” Qaraeen said.

ISM COMMITTED TO STAYING IN GAZA
ISM GAZA - PRESS RELEASE - Following the murder of our comrade and friend Vittorio, we, activists of the International Solidarity Movement, reiterate our commitment to remaining in Gaza. We will continue to work with and live among the Palestinian population as we continue the work to which Vik was so committed.  

Hundreds Attend 6th Bil'in Conference

Thursday April 21, 2011 - 11:55

The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) reports that hundreds of activists and dozens of senior Palestinians, including Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad, attended the opening of the 6th International Bil'in Conference on Popular Resistance. Full Story 

Youth Injured In The Face During Clashes In Silwan

Thursday April 21, 2011 - 06:09

The Wadi Hilwa Information Center in Bir Ayyoub area, in Silwan, in occupied East Jerusalem, reported on Wednesday at night that a Palestinian youth was shot in the face by a rubber-coated bullet fired by Israeli soldiers during clashes that took place in Silwan. Full Story 

Palestinian Priest, Muslim Officials, Arrive In Italy To Offer Condolences To Vittorio’s Family

Thursday April 21, 2011 - 05:39

On Behalf of President Mahmoud Abbas, Christian and Muslim Palestinian officials arrived in Italy on Wednesday to offer their condolences to the family of Italian peace activist, Vittorio Arrigoni, who was kidnapped and killed by extremist gunmen last week. Full Story

Israel-Palestine Plate Heating Up

Steve Clemons, 04.21.2011

Publisher, 'The Washington Note'

Obama, Netanyahu and various Palestinian officials are scrambling to act as if they have some plan to move the peace process forward, when in fact, most of it is insincere posturing designed to pour concrete on what has thus far been failure.

Read Post

Noam Chomsky:

Is the World Too Big to Fail?

Sinning against Zionism: Traitor to Country

by William A. Cook / April 21st, 2011

Hell is where many false commitments must be unlearned.

— Ricardo J. Quinones, Dante Alighieri

Richard Goldstone’s journey from Justice to Sinner represents the spiritual act of dying in the Zionist world. By recanting his own report he has attempted to break the bonds that cast him into the sufferings in Caina, Antenora, and Judecca where, in Dante’s Inferno, those treacherous to their own, are removed from the light and warmth of their kin, their country, and their masters and suffer eternal damnation in the remorseless dead center of the ice in the most bottomless circle of Hell. Fortunately, Goldstone like …

(Full article …)

Palestinian Authority threatens to block international mail‎
Jerusalem Post - David E. Miller

He added that parcels often reach Palestinian clients open or torn. Rhéal LeBlanc, communication program manager for the UPU, said a joint Israel-Palestine ...

Video: Gaza family grieves following Israeli raid

Al Jazeera

UN urges bold steps to relaunch Mideast peace‎ - Reuters
Abbas says opposes third intifada even if talks fail‎ - Ha'aretz
Ynetnews - msnbc.com

Israel preparing to open a tunnel network under Al-Aqsa Mosque  

21 April 2011

Israeli media sources have reported that the occupation authorities are making final preparations to open a series of tunnels in the vicinity of Al-Aqsa Mosque. The network extends under the boundaries of the Noble Sanctuary (Temple Mount) and into the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem.

The tunnels have been dug in phases over the past 40 years and link together through a planned network with its main entrance in the district of Silwan, near Al-Aqsa, and through the Wailing Wall (the western wall of Al-Aqsa sanctuary), to reach the centre of the Muslim Quarter of the Old City; several settlement units and a synagogue have been established there.

Read more...

Muslim Brotherhood chief claims that Mubarak detained 40000 of its members

21 April 2011

The Supreme Guide of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has claimed that ex-president Hosni Mubarak and his ousted regime imprisoned 40000 Muslim Brotherhood members for at least 6 years. In total, said Mohammed Badie, Brotherhood members served 20,000 prison years; they included university professors, medical doctors, engineers, agricultural professionals, and others from all backgrounds. The ex-goverment's oppressive policies deprived the country of their many and varied skills. The former prime minister Aziz Sidqui criticised this situation and apologised: "We are sorry that Egypt has missed out on the efforts of this group while they were in prison."

Speaking at a conference in the northern city of Damanhour, Mr Badie told the 30,000 audience that the ousted regime wanted to drive a wedge between the Brotherhood and the army in Egypt by subjecting members to military trials. The army has always protected Egypt against all who dared to harm it.

Read more...

UN Coordinator calls for protection of rights of Palestinians detained by Israel

21 April 2011

The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory has called for protection of the rights of the Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons, especially women and children.

In a press statement, Maxwell Gaylard stressed that due legal process must be upheld, regardless of the reasons for the detention. Standards in line with international law should be in place for all of the 6-7,000 Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails, he said.

Read more...

When will the world notice Israel's Palestinian prisoners?

21 April 2011

Palestinian Prisoners' Day was observed on April 17th with a series of events and functions across the West Bank and Gaza. Its commemoration this year stressed how important the issue of the prisoners held by Israel is for Palestinians, even though this matter is almost completely ignored by the rest of the world. There are currently more than 7,000 Palestinian prisoners languishing in Israeli jails. Israel would like the world to believe that their imprisonment is justified; that they have been convicted of crimes under due process and are a threat to Israel's security. When speaking of them Israel often refers to them as "having Israeli blood on their hands".

Read more...

·          Netanyahu’s visit and its precedents

·         A response to the killers of Vittorio Arrigoni (and to my family)

·         Gaza castaways send out an SOS

·         Israel wants to be your ‘friend’

·         What future for the Goldstone Report?

·         Israeli Ambassador leaves Cairo amid speculations of opening Egypt’s border with Gaza

·         The mysterious Mr. Ross

·         Get a load of this ‘NYT’ op-ed with apartheid reference

·         On a Lebanese girl who lost her ability to speak

·         Joan Walsh discloses her religious investment in a political issue

·         People are missing Richard Goldstone’s majestic calling

·         There is a concept in law– that a person cannot control his or her own reputation

·         Self-censorship inside the Jewish family

·         Vittorio’s missing hours

·         Quick to report Gaddafi’s use of ‘cluster bombs,’ the NYT called white phosphorus a ‘standard, legal weapon’ when Israel dropped it on Gaza

25/04/2011

Shekels as tools of the regime
Salman Masalha - Haaretz - The issuance of new bills with pictures of writers is a chance for the government to show its concern for Arab citizens - writer Emile Habibi for instance

Young Mizrahi Israelis’ open letter to Arab peers
+972 - In a letter titled “Ruh Jedida: A New Spirit for 2011,” young Jewish descendants of the Arab and Islamic world living in Israel write to their peers in the Middle East and North Africa

Obama`s Passover liberation theology
Anna Hartnell - The Guardian - The president`s Passover message drew the ire of Glenn Beck over Israel, but the story of Exodus has a civil rights history too

Arrigoni, Mer-Khamis to receive Jerusalem honors
Ma`an News Agency - "President Mahmoud Abbas announced Sunday that he would present murdered Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni and slain Freedom Theater Director Juliano Mer-Kamis with the Jerusalem Medal of Honor"

Settlers Attack Palestinian Children In East Jerusalem
Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News - "Eyewitnesses told WAFA that approximately 50 - 70 extremist settlers entered a Muslim graveyard in Sheikh Jarrah to pray on a grave said to be for a Jewish figure, and held prayers at the grave site. Later on, the settlers hurled stones at local Palestinian homes, and attacked three children with pepper spray wounding one"

Detention and Deportation in Israel - A New Nakba?
Mya Guarnieri - CounterPunch - "At first glance, migrant workers might seem unrelated to the Palestinian struggle. But migrant workers were introduced to Israel during the First Intifada to replace Palestinian day laborers from the Occupied Territories. While the siege on Gaza is often discussed as something that began suddenly in 2006, it is the most severe manifestation of a gradual closure that the Israelis started during the First Intifada"

The era of the urge
Uda Basharat - Haaretz - Go and explain to the urge that the classic era of conquests is over, that a sugar-filled bottle of Coke functions better than a nuclear battery; that Google is more effective than the Sixth Fleet

The Middle East`s oldest dictatorship
Marwan Bishara--Israel`s resolute occupation of Palestinians in not just historic Palestine, but in the West Bank and Gaza Strip specifically, can be considered the oldest quasi-dictatorship in the Middle East, Bishara argues [GALLO/GETTY]

Germany Will Not Support Palestinian Statehood Declaration

Monday April 25, 2011 - 11:37

Despite ongoing diplomatic talks and efforts carried out by Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, and his teams, Germany announced it will not be supporting the Palestinian intentions to declare statehood this coming September at the United Nations. Full Story

Settlers Attack Homes, Smash Windshield Of Palestinian Car Near Hebron

Monday April 25, 2011 - 10:15

Local sources in Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank, reported that a group of extremist settlers attacked a number of Palestinian homes near the Keryat Arba' illegal settlement, and broke the windshield of a local vehicle. Full Story

Settlers Attack Palestinian Children In East Jerusalem

Monday April 25, 2011 - 09:58

Palestinian sources reported Monday morning that a group of fundamentalist Israeli settlers attacked, on Sunday evening, a group of Palestinian children in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, in occupied East Jerusalem. Full Story

Health Condition Of Child, Wounded Friday, Deteriorates

Monday April 25, 2011 - 09:27

Medical sources at the Palestine Medical Center In Ramallah reported on Monday morning that the child, who was hit by a gas bomb fired by the army last Friday, was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit after a sharp deterioration in his health condition. Full Story

Third Palestinian Intifada

All Arabs to March on Israel on May 15th

by Ashraf Ezzat / April 25th, 2011

All of The popular uprisings that swept through the Arab world have been preplanned and officially launched on Facebook pages weeks in advance.

Pro-Israel lobbying. An Israeli Cabinet minister, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and a massive American-Zionist campaign have succeeded in pressuring Facebook into removing the third Intifada page, which clearly calls for an all-Arab uprising against Israel.

According to the Facebook “cause” page, the plan for the intifada would go as follows:

Friday, May 13th
In Egypt, the epicenter of the Arab world, the biggest Arab country and from Tahrir square at the heart of Cairo where the  (Full article …)

130 intrusions to Palestinian prisoners' cell-rooms and tents
by Friends of Humanity International

April 24, 2011 - Friends of Humanity International releases detailed report about the conditions of Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli jails in the last year 2010. The organization has also confirmed that this year was unusual to the Palestinian prisoners. More than 130 brutal and humiliating intrusions executed by the Israeli Prison service and forces against the Palestinians rooms and tents in many jails... 

Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=77124 

April 24, 2011 - Several groups of Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian with rocks on Sunday, mainly in the Nablus area in the northern West Bank. At least five were wounded, including a 13-year old boy who was hit in the head with a rock, and taken to Rafidiya Government Hospital in Nablus. Settlers also torched one car, and broke the windshield of another. According to local eyewitnesses, Israeli settlers gathered on hil ltops near Beit Furik, Urif and Madama villages on Sunday afternoon, and began throwing rocks at Palestinian villagers in the area... 

Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=77121 

Video: Easter 2011: Celebration under Occupation
justghassan  

"For as long as I can, I will continue": Hajo Meyer interviewed (Adri Nieuwhof) - 26-apr-2011

April 26, 2011 - Since being interviewed by The Electronic Intifada in 2009, Auschwitz survivor Hajo Meyer has toured numerous countries to speak about his efforts to combat Zionism and his support for the struggle of the Palestinian people for freedom and equality. In 1939, Meyer had to flee alone from Nazi Germany to the Netherlands at the age of 14 because the Nazis wouldn’t allow him to attend school. In 1943, three years after the Germans had occupied the Netherlands, he went into hiding with a poorly-forged ID. Meyer was captured by the Gestapo in March 1944 and deported to the Auschwitz concentration shortly thereafter...

Modes of Control: Easter at Qalandiya (By Lauren Banko) - 26-apr-2011

April 25, 2011 - When Tamar, one of the Israeli women of the human rights observation and documentation group Machsom Watch (machsom translates to 'checkpoint’ in English) first telephoned me a few days before we were to meet for me to join her shift at Qalandiya checkpoint in the Palestinian West Bank, she asked me where we could meet. We had planned to meet during the afternoon of Easter Sunday so that she could answer some of my questions about access for foreigners and of rights, if any, at the over five hundred illegal Israeli checkpoints between the occupied West Bank and both occupied East Jerusalem and Israel proper. "Shall we meet in Beit Hanina or at Qalandiya?" Tamar asked me...

Mourners gather in Palestine and Italy for Vittorio’s funeral (International Solidarity Movement) - 26-apr-2011

April 25, 2011 - Yesterday evening mourners gathered in Ramallah and Gaza in memorial events for ISM activist Vittorio Arrigoni. The events were planned to coincide with Vittorio’s funeral in Bulciago, Italy, which was attended by hundreds of people. In Ramallah, crowds gathered outside the municipality to hear speeches made by friends, politicians and fellow solidarity activists. Those who had known and worked with Vittorio, including friends from Gaza, recounted their memories of him whilst others spoke of his dedication to Palestine and the importance of the work he had been doing in the West Bank and Gaza...

26/04/2011

Jewish Jobs
Shula Kopf - Jerusalem Report - “When I opened the section for plumbers I saw that some promote themselves with the slogan ‘avoda ivrit’ [Hebrew labor]. I was horrified. It was very clear what was meant – only Jews work here – no Arabs," says Ron Gerlitz who happens to be on the board of Sikkuy, an NGO that aims to advance equality between Arab and Jews.

Israeli Occupation Forces Arrest Palestinian Writer Ahmad Qatamesh
Alternative Information Center - In the early hours of dawn on Thursday, 21 April 2011, a large force of Israeli soldiers and intelligence officers raided the home of the prominent Palestinian writer and academic Dr. Ahmad Qatamesh in Al-Bireh and arrested him. Qatamesh had been an `Administrative Detainee` [i.e. without charges] during the 1990s for almost six years. [Al-Bireh is in the PA administered `area-A`-bz]

Palestinian Prisoner Challenges Arrest By Israeli Forces As `illegal Extradition`
Saed Bannoura - IMEMC - An Israeli judge has allowed Mohamed Beni Gama`s lawyer Nachmi Finblatt to submit the argument, which could have broad implications for some of the 8,000 Palestinians currently imprisoned inside Israel. .

International activists harvest on Gaza border
Ma`an - Israel restricts access to agricultural land up to 1,000-1,500 metres from the fence, which accounts for more than 30% of Gaza`s agricultural land and a significant number of water wells, says Oxfam`s latest report.

The Wrath of Abbas
Dan Ephron - Newsweek - For the statehood resolution to have more than just symbolic impact, Abbas would have to come back from New York and assert sovereignty over the territory the U.N. just handed him. But that would entail confrontational measures—for instance, ending the security cooperation with Israel. Abbas told me that’s a path he will not take. The danger is that without tangible movement, the disappointment could turn into popular anger—directed at Israel or even at the Palestinian president himself.

Turkey warns Israel against repeating `flotilla mistake`
Ynet - In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald Turkey`s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu urges Israel not to stop next Gaza-bound flotilla. `The Mediterranean does not belong to any nation.`

Haaretz: Nablus shooting is a deadly mistake, until proven otherwise
Such mishaps have happened before - IDF soldiers have mistakenly fired at Palestinians. Israeli police officers have also mistakenly fired at Israeli citizens. [This editorial must be seen against the claim of Minister Limor Livat (aunt of the killed) that it is about murder by terrorists disguised as Palestinan police-bz]

Shekels as tools of the regime
Salman Masalha - Haaretz - The issuance of new bills with pictures of writers is a chance for the government to show its concern for Arab citizens - writer Emile Habibi for instance

Young Mizrahi Israelis’ open letter to Arab peers
+972 - In a letter titled “Ruh Jedida: A New Spirit for 2011,” young Jewish descendants of the Arab and Islamic world living in Israel write to their peers in the Middle East and North Africa

Obama`s Passover liberation theology
Anna Hartnell - The Guardian - The president`s Passover message drew the ire of Glenn Beck over Israel, but the story of Exodus has a civil rights history too

For previous articles since 2004 go to respective sections

Week 5: Prisoner Ibrahim Jaber - An encyclopedia for fellow prisoners  

25 April 2011

Ibrahim Jaber's modesty made everyone respect him. People loved his courage and willpower and he was passionate about secrecy when necessary. He worked hard to make a living and provide for his family. Prisoner Ibrahim Fadel Nemir Jaber, Abu Fathi, is one of the heroes of the city of Hebron; he was detained by the Israelis on 8 January, 1982.

Born on 20 August, 1954, Ibrahim Jaber studied at the Ibrahimi Mosque school in Hebron, where he developed his understanding of the situation enveloping his country. This made him take part in resistance work, in secret, to avoid capture by the Israeli occupation forces post-1967. He travelled to Amman to join Fatah, where he was recruited by the Martyr Abu Jihad al-Wazir for military action.

Once married, he was blessed with three children; he worked as a plasterer to provide for his family. Despite the occupation, he refused to be humiliated.

Read more...  

• ·  ‘Haaretz’ bolsters Goldstone conclusion that Fakhoura St ‘massacre’ was disproportional– and says Israel failed to investigate it because it felt ‘persecuted’
• ·  ‘Foreign Policy’ puts out a swimsuit issue
• ·  An apology to International Solidarity Movement activists
• ·  ‘Foreign Policy’ seeks ‘rebuttal’ of Oren tripe from Satloff, Benn, Goldberg and oh, Walt
• · 
• ·  Helen Thomas withdraws from Move Over AIPAC conference
• ·  Yawn– ‘NYT’ editorial on urgency of the unending peace process
• ·  Why Zionists promote anti-Muslim law enforcement trainings
• ·  Human Rights activist Ahmad Qatamesh, detained for 6 years in the 90s, is arrested again without charges
• ·  Syrian repression continues and intensifies: Assad regime kills 150 since Friday

Gaza's Salafis under scrutiny

- Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were shocked the week before last when an Italian activist and journalist, Vittorio Arrigoni, was kidnapped and then murdered by a self-proclaimed Salafi jihadi group. Arrigoni, a bighearted man who I met several times...

Read More

When a Palestinian child becomes an enemy

Last summer I found myself wading around a swimming pool in the middle of the scorching desert on a Kibbutz in the Negev. I had come to this kibbutz to see an old friend from high school. Over the past 12 years we have developed and maintained a close...

Read More

27/04/2011

Rival Palestinian Factions Reach Reconciliation Agreement
George Rishmawi - IMEMC - Hamas and Fatah agreed, under Egyptian supervision, to form a transitional government soon. The two delegations, headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Fatah movement and Khaled Mashaal, Hamas` politburo chief, discussed the security issue and ways to coordinate the two security forces that Hamas and Fatah control. They have set a date for general elections to take place.

Netanyahu fell into the Palestinians` diplomatic trap
Aluf Benn - Haaretz - He will not be able to prevent the third intifada, and like its two predecessors, it will cost Israel unnecessary victims and ultimately lead to the withdrawal Netanyahu tried to prevent.

Whiff of Desperation - Michael Oren`s unconvincing argument for the U.S.-Israel special relationship.
Stephen M. Walt - foreignpolicy.com - In his view, there is no linkage whatsoever between U.S. support for Israel, Israel`s treatment of the Palestinians, and the widespread hostility that the United States faces in the Arab and Islamic world.

American-Israeli bluffs and the success of Palestinian unilateralism
Noam Sheizaf - +972 Magazine - American administrations have been demanding Israel to stop building its settlements – and protesting when Jerusalem ignored them – for decades. All President Barack Obama did was try to actually uphold the stated policy. The result was a major crisis between Jerusalem and Washington, which hurt the President even in his own party. In other words, the demand to freeze the settlements revealed that all previous demands and condemnations were no more than lip service.

Benny Morris: One State, Two States: resolving the Israel/Palestine conflict - a review
Tony Klug - Journal of Modern Jewish Studies - Morris devotes almost the entirety of his latest book to shooting down the case for both one state and two states in all their variations. Despite the book`s subtitle, “Resolving the Israel/Palestine conflict”, the writer keeps us in suspense about his big idea until the last three pages when all is finally revealed. Yet the denouement is a huge disappointment.

Why the Israeli-Palestinian conflict refuses to be resolved
A.B. Yehoshua - Haaretz - There is no precedent for a nation that lost its sovereignty 2,000 years ago, was scattered among the nations, and later decided for internal and external reasons to return to its ancient homeland and re-establish sovereignty there. (...) The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not a question of territory, as in the case of many historical conflicts between nations, but a battle over the national identity of the entire homeland - every stone and every part of it.

Jewish Jobs
Shula Kopf - Jerusalem Report - “When I opened the section for plumbers I saw that some promote themselves with the slogan ‘avoda ivrit’ [Hebrew labor]. I was horrified. It was very clear what was meant – only Jews work here – no Arabs," says Ron Gerlitz who happens to be on the board of Sikkuy, an NGO that aims to advance equality between Arab and Jews.

Israeli Occupation Forces Arrest Palestinian Writer Ahmad Qatamesh
Alternative Information Center - In the early hours of dawn on Thursday, 21 April 2011, a large force of Israeli soldiers and intelligence officers raided the home of the prominent Palestinian writer and academic Dr. Ahmad Qatamesh in Al-Bireh and arrested him. Qatamesh had been an `Administrative Detainee` [i.e. without charges] during the 1990s for almost six years. [Al-Bireh is in the PA administered `area-A`-bz]

Palestinian Prisoner Challenges Arrest By Israeli Forces As `illegal Extradition`
Saed Bannoura - IMEMC - An Israeli judge has allowed Mohamed Beni Gama`s lawyer Nachmi Finblatt to submit the argument, which could have broad implications for some of the 8,000 Palestinians currently imprisoned inside Israel. .

Settlers Torch Palestinian Stores In Hebron

Wednesday April 27, 2011 - 22:20

A group of armed extremist Israeli settlers hurled, on Wednesday at dawn, Molotov cocktails at several Palestinian stores in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, causing fire in four stores, leading to excessive damage, and massive losses. Full Story

Netanyahu Slams Palestinian Unity Deal

Wednesday April 27, 2011 - 22:02

Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud Party, denounced on Wednesday the draft agreement of Palestinian unity, and added that “Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas chose peace with Hamas instead of peace with Israel”. Full Story

Palestinian Factions Welcome Fateh-Hamas Draft Unity Deal

Wednesday April 27, 2011 - 21:39

Palestinian factions welcomed on Wednesday a draft unity deal that was signed in Cairo on Wednesday between the rival Fateh and Hamas movements, and expressed hopes that the four years of internal conflict will come to an end. Full Story

Bringing Shalit Home

David Suissa, 04.27.2011

Founder, OLAM magazine

Evidently, because Bibi has failed to convince Hamas to return Shalit in exchange for the release of almost 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, he's now the bad guy and must be punished.

Read Post

Israel's Lawless Arrest Of Ahmad Qatamish
By Stephen Lendman

Qatamish's latest ordeal began before dawn on April 21 when Israeli soldiers and intelligence officers arrested him, his wife, daughter, and two other female relatives (including a 14-year old child). He alone was taken to Beitunia's Ofer detention center

Arab Spring: A Discussion on Libya, Egypt and the Mideast with Palestinian Writer Rula Jebreal, Author of “Miral" & Journalist Issandr El Amrani

With former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in detention and Libyan leader, Col. Muammar Gaddafi, under attack, we discuss the state of the region with two leading Middle Eastern writers. Rula Jebreal, a former broadcast journalist in Italy, reflects on Italy’s decision to join the NATO bombing of Libya. Issandr El Amrani of Arabist.net talks about Libya and post-revolution Egypt. [includes rush transcript]

Harper’s Attack on the Arab and Muslim Communities

Canada Election 2011

by Edward C. Corrigan / April 26th, 2011

During the Israeli attack on Lebanon in 2006 – and in the five years since – Stephen Harper has strongly defended Israel’s policies even when other allies like the United States and Britain have made the occasional criticism of Israeli policy or called for compromise between the Israelis and Palestinians. This virtually unqualified support from the Harper government for Israel runs contrary to the view held by the vast majority of the World community.

Film producer Robert Lantos was the first of several prominent members of the Liberal Party who defected to the Harper Conservatives. “We are fortunate to live …

(Full article …)

U.S. Needs its Own ‘Arab Spring’ to Counter Power of Pro-Israel Lobby

By Pam Bailey and Medea Benjamin

For too long, U.S. foreign policy has been skewed by a fear of offending Israel – or rather, the Israeli government and its right-wing arm in the United States, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Continue

The Syrian regime must change, or it will be changed  

27 April 2011

It is with a heavy heart that I am writing about the saddening situation in Syria, the country often described as the beating heart of Arabdom. The scenes of the ongoing wanton killings in the streets of Syria are revolting and repulsive to say the very least. They provoke even the most circumspect and detached of observers.
 
The victims are after all our brothers and sons, and their blood is as precious  as that which is spilled by the Zionists in occupied Palestine. Hence, as an Arab, Muslim and above all as a human being, I just can't view the tragedy now unfolding in Syria with indifference.
 
To begin with, they Syrian people have an inherent right to freedom from repression, dictatorship and tyranny. This is not the cold-war era, and what was arguably permitted or necessary then is no longer acceptable.

Read more...

Turkey warns Israel over Freedom Flotilla II  

27 April 2011

With the launch date for Freedom Flotilla II approaching at the end of May, Turkey's Foreign Minister has warned Israel about repeating "last year's mistake" in which Israeli commandos shot dead 9 Turkish civilians and injured dozens of others aboard the Mavi Marmara.
 
In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Ahmet Davutoglu said that it was Israel's responsibility to lift the blockade of the Gaza Strip and that an international commission of inquiry had pronounced the blockade to be illegal.
 
He reminded the world that when last year's massacre took place, those who were killed and wounded were in international waters 116 kilometres from Gaza. The Mediterranean Sea is not, he added, the property of any one state.

Read more...

• Arab spring: Fatah and Hamas reportedly reach deal for interim gov’t, elections in a year
• ‘PEP’ (Progressive Except Palestine) makes the Washington Post
• Medical centres in Bahrain raided & more news from the Arab spring and Saudi counter revolutions
• Vittorio knew the risks, and accepted them
• ‘NYT’ leaves out the facts on checkpoint shooting
• The bastards
• The siege, and Hamas’s inability to ease it, only empower jihadist groups
• ‘Mathilde Redmatn’ and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza
• Christian Zionists are wrong; this is not a religious conflict
• Just imagine that pruning trees on your land was an act of resistance
• ‘Haaretz’ bolsters Goldstone conclusion that Fakhoura St ‘massacre’ was disproportional– and says Israel failed to investigate it because it felt ‘persecuted’
• ‘Foreign Policy’ puts out a swimsuit issue
• An apology to International Solidarity Movement activists
• ‘Foreign Policy’ seeks ‘rebuttal’ of Oren tripe from Satloff, Benn, Goldberg and oh, Walt
• Tolerance project at leading D.C. theater will take on Islamophobia. Not

April 26, 2011 - The "induced euphoria" that characterizes discussions within the mainstream media around the upcoming declaration of an independent Palestinian state in September, ignores the stark realities on the ground and the warnings of critical commentators. Depicting such a declaration as a "breakthrough," and a "challenge" to the defunct "peace process" and the right-wing government of Israel, serves to obscure Israel’s continued denial of Pales tinian rights while reinforcing the international community’s implicit endorsement of an apartheid state in the Middle East.... 

Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=77179 

Settlers’ Stones and Sports Centers (By Harriet Straughen) - 28-apr-2011

April 27, 2011 - In a recent interview with The Jerusalem Post, the newly-appointed head of the Israeli government press office, Oren Helman, spoke about foreign media and their need to see a different side to Israel than the one which is so often a focus in international media. Aside from the conflict, Helman talks about a new initiative called 'There is more to Israel’ or TIMTI for short. He wants to 'take them to see things, give them briefings, give them more information’. All of this seems fair and appropriate for a government press office. Helman then uses, as his example, the West Bank city of Hebron. He tells the Jerusalem Post, 'You have to bring them there to see what is being talked about. It is not how they say, a city under the oppressive occupation of the Israelis. People are not suffering that greatly there.’ As a reflection of this, he cites the three malls and a new $10 million sports center found in Hebron. After reading this, I took my own trip to Hebron, so that I too could see what was being talked about....

Settlers Torch Palestinian Stores In Hebron (Saed Bannoura) - 28-apr-2011

April 27, 2011 - A group of armed extremist Israeli settlers hurled, on Wednesday at dawn, Molotov cocktails at several Palestinian stores in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, causing fire in four stores, leading to excessive damage, and massive losses. The Palestine Information Center reported that the attack was carried out in the Kazazeen Market in the old city of Hebron. The stores belong to residents Mohammad Al Shalloudi, Atta Al Shweiki, Sha’ban Hashlamon and Abdulhamid Al Natsha...

Israel's Lawless Arrest of Ahmad Qatamish (by Stephen Lendman) - 28-apr-2011

April 27, 2011 - On April 21, the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association expressed grave concern about Qatamish's arrest: "not only because (it's) motivated by his political opinions and beliefs and as such should be considered a case of arbitrary detention, but also because (he's) been (targeted by) Israeli authorities before on numerous occasions, notably" for long incarcerations without charge. As a result, Addameer feels he'll again be administratively detained "without proper recourse to justice and without any legitimate means to defend himself."...

28/04/2011

When a Palestinian child becomes an enemy
Joseph Dana - +972 - Tamimi’s internal bleeding is the latest injury to a child reported in Nabi Saleh. Many children have been injured from tear gas, beatings, rubber bullets and even live fire in the village over the last two years of demonstrations. This type of violence against Palestinian children is not uncommon, and sadly, it is growing as Israel explores new options of ending nonviolent Palestinian resistance to occupation.

Israel’s High Court: Knesset must explain why Arab MK Zuabi stripped of rights
Jack Khoury and Jonathan Lis - Haaretz - The High Court ruled on Tuesday that the Knesset must explain why they stripped the rights of Israeli Arab lawmaker Hanin Zuabi, which occurred after she participated in last year`s flotilla to Gaza.

Hamas-Fatah reconciliation a Palestinian form of Arab spring Agreement between the two rival groups will strengthen the Palestinians who can now pose a challenge to Israel, US and EU
Ian Black - The Guardian - If implemented, the unity agreement will make it easier for the Palestinians to go to the UN in September and demand international recognition for an independent state – without negotiations with Israel that seem doomed to failure

Abbas to meet Israeli Peace Initiative signatories
Ma`an - Prominent supporters of the deal include businessman Idan Ofer, former Israeli military chief of staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, former Labor party politician Dani Yatom, founder of the Haredi College of Jerusalem Adina Bar-Shalom, former Israeli ambassador to South Africa Alon Liel, Professor Aliza Shenhar and drafter of the plan Koby Huberman

If the rumours and conspiracies are true, then President Assad`s regime is on the road to civil war
Robert Fisk - The Independent - But these reports are important. For if the dead soldiers are victims of revenge killings by outraged families who have lost their loved ones at the hands of the secret police, it means that the opposition is prepared to use force against their aggressors. But if there really are armed groups roaming Syria, then President Bashar al-Assad`s Baathist regime is on the road to civil war.

5 Facts about the City of David you might not hear from your tour guide
Assaf - Just Jerusalem - The City of David is one of the most significant archeological sites in our region. Each year, hundreds of thousands of visitors enter the site and enjoy a fascinating journey through ancient Jerusalem. Only a few realize that this important site is being used to promote the highly controversial Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem. The extremist settlers who run the site take advantage of visitors like you to promote and fund their political agenda, first and foremost the prevention of a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

HEBRON REFLECTION: A morning like any other
Inger Styrbjorn - CPTnet- When the door eventually opens, a small child comes out. After several walks through the detector, the boy is finally free. His smile is a little embarrassed when he joins his waiting companion with his backpack, belt, and cell phone in hand. 

A small girl, maybe seven years, tries to take the shortcut past the trailer, but is observed by the soldier, who hastily comes out and sends her back. When she comes out of the trailer, I see that soldiers have searched her school bag. She stops and does up the zippers and hurries to her school

Gush Shalom Welcomes Reconciliation Agreement Between Hamas and Fateh

Thursday April 28, 2011 - 12:40

The Israeli Human Rights group, Gush Shalom, issued a press statement on Thursday welcoming the reconciliation agreement between the two Palestinian rival groups Hamas and Fateh in Cairo on Wednesday. Full Story

 In Light Of Palestinian Unity Deal, U.S. Threatens To Cut Aid To P.A.

Thursday April 28, 2011 - 10:36

The United States issued a statement on Wednesday denouncing the provisional unity deal signed between the rival Fateh movement of President Mahmoud Abbas, and the Hamas movement. The U.S. said that such a deal could lead Washington to cut U.S.. aid to the Palestinian Authority (P.A.). Full Story

Settlers Attack Farmers Near Salfit, Several Wounded

Thursday April 28, 2011 - 07:56

Palestinian sources in Salfit, in the central West Bank, reported Wednesday that a group of at least ten armed Israeli settlers violently attacked several farmers in Wadi Qana, near Salfit, and hurled stones at them. Full Story

Egyptian Protesters Demand Severing Ties With Israel

Thursday April 28, 2011 - 07:34

Dozens of Egyptians held a protest in front on the Israeli Embassy on Wednesday demanding the Egyptian government to sever ties with Israel, and to stop exporting natural gas to Tel Aviv. Full Story

Six Palestinians, Detained By Egypt, Allowed Back Into Gaza

Thursday April 28, 2011 - 07:26

The Egyptian Authorities allowed on Wednesday evening six Palestinians who were in Egyptian prisons to return to the Gaza Strip via the Rafah Border Terminal. Full Story

Lands conference awards Safed rabbi who said Jews shouldn’t rent to non-Jews

28 April 2011

Minister of Science and Technology Daniel Hershkowitz awarded Eliyahu with the prize for “his actions, effort and devotion to the Jewish nature of the Land of Israel.”

IOA Editor: The “devotion to the Jewish nature of the Land of Israel” is the same racist devotion to keep away the Palestinian people, dispossessed from the very same land, including Israeli citizens, even as short-term renters (e.g., Palestinian students in Safed). Ethnocentric Israel, a rapidly diminishing democracy-for-Jews only, now officially awards members of its ruling tribe often described by fellow Israeli-Jews as ‘racist’ and ‘extremist’ for their “devotion” to racist discriminatory laws and practices. Ethnic cleansing — “dunam here and dunam there,” bit by bit, one student and one family at a time — whether in Safed, or in Silwan, or elsewhere.

Lia Tarachansky: Consequences of Gaza activist’s killing (video)

28 April 2011

On April 15, 2011, Italian journalist and activist Vittorio Arrigoni was kidnapped and killed in the Gaza strip. According to a video released by his kidnappers, they belonged to a Salafi group, which Hamas identified as including a former Hamas policeman. While the mainstream media portrayed the killing as an act of an extremist group identifying with Al Qaeda, many are saying the group, as other Salafi groups operating in Gaza represents a growing force from inside Hamas itself.

Richard Silverstein: Israel prevents return of Gazan to Gaza

28 April 2011

The fact that the man has brought a case to the Supreme Court demanding that he be allowed to return to Gaza is a clear repudiation of the stupidity of Shabak’s claim that he is in danger if he returns.

Islamic movement in warns of Israeli plan to turn volume down on Jerusalem minarets

28 April 2011

The Islamic movement in occupied Palestine has denounced a proposal by the Israeli occupation authorities to turn down the sound of the call for prayer in the mosques of Jerusalem, including Al-Aqsa Mosque. The reason behind the plan is, apparently, because the illegal Jewish settlers "are disturbed". The movement described the settlers' claim as "the height of arrogance".

In a statement, the movement's spokesman added, "The Israeli establishment is reacting to the current events in the region, and now feels like a thief who knows that the owner of the house is on the way home."

Read more...

Israeli rabbi calls for Israel's Palestinian citizens to be "encouraged" to move to Saudi Arabia and Libya

28 April 2011

A leading Israeli rabbi has called on his government to "encourage Bedouins to return to their native land in Saudi Arabia and Libya". Rabbi Dov Lior made his statement during the fourth Ramla conference on 26 April.

"With regards to the Bedouins I say that incentives should be nurtured, including financial incentives, to encourage them to return to their countries of origin," he said. "Today there is a great deal of land in Saudi Arabia. Libya also has some available land. They have enough land. I'm not saying that we won't help them from a humanitarian perspective - we'll help them there. If they are left here, there won't be any solution as they work against the people of Israel and the State of Israel," added the rabbi of the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba, near Hebron in the occupied West Bank.

Read more...

Egyptian youth call for million-man marches to support Palestinians

28 April 2011

A call for "million-man" marches in support of the Palestinians has been made by Egypt's Coalition of the Youth of the Revolution. The first march, to be held in Alexandria on 13 May, will also demand the opening of the Egypt-Gaza border for food, medical and humanitarian aid; marchers will head for the Israeli Consulate in the city.

According to the Egyptian newspaper Al-Shorouk, the protests will put pressure on the Zionist state by demanding that the Egyptian government stops exporting natural gas to Israel, as the Israelis use it to produce military equipment used against Palestinians. The protesters will also call for a review of the Camp David accords to remove the inbuilt favouritism towards the Zionist state.

Read more...

Honest people can't be indifferent to Israeli fascism

28 April 2011

I read with utter contempt the article by Israeli apologist Michael Weiss in which he asked, "Why is Amnesty hosting a Hamas-friendly publisher of racists?".
 
It deserves a response, not because Weiss and other propagandists for the Zionist state of Israel are right; as far as I and millions like me are concerned, they aren't, and never will be. They inhabit a murky "hasbara" world, a fact which is being acknowledged and condemned not only by Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims but also by millions of conscientious people around the globe, including many Jews. Increasingly, the creation of the state of Israel is being seen for what it was and remains; the rape of a land and people to create a racist entity devoid of any moral legitimacy.
 
Weiss named me in his article, so I think I have the right to respond, lest readers fall victim to furthe Zionist mendacity and malicious distortion of the facts.

Read more...

Qaradawi calls on Arab revolutionaries to act in support of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa

28 April 2011

The prominent Egyptian scholar Sheikh Youssef El Qaradawi, who heads the Board of Trustees of the Quds International Institute, has called on the Arab world's revolutionaries to act promptly in support of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque. His call comes at a time when Israel's Judaisation programme against the holy city and mosque is escalating.

"Arab Jerusalem is being subjected to systematic Judaisation aimed at replacing its Arab and Islamic identity with Jewish identity," said Sh Qaradawi. "First in the Judaisation firing line is the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque. The possibility of the mosque's division between Muslims and Jews is imminent if Arab, Muslim and international silence continues despite Israel's illegal acts."

Read more... 

• Egyptians continue protests against Israel and call for a million-man march to support Palestinians
• As a Holocaust survivor, AIPAC does not speak for me
• Zuckerman rag prints bald-faced lies on upcoming flotilla to Gaza
• 9/11 and western prejudice fostered the Arab revolutions –Abdelkader Benali
• Backgrounder on Hamas-Fatah split
• Why are secular assimilating American Jews so Zionist?
• Where does Israel end and the Diaspora begin? Or Zionism end and Judaism begin?
• Bipartisanship at last: U.S. politicians line up to castigate Palestinian unity deal
• 350 rabbis warn Netanyahu there can be no withdrawal from ‘Hebrew state’
• Arab spring: Fatah and Hamas reportedly reach deal for interim gov’t, elections in a year
• ‘PEP’ (Progressive Except Palestine) makes the Washington Post
• Medical centres in Bahrain raided & more news from the Arab spring and Saudi counter revolutions
• Vittorio knew the risks, and accepted them
• ‘NYT’ leaves out the facts on checkpoint shooting
• The bastards

April 28, 2011 - Summary : Israeli violations of international law and humanitarian law in the OPT continued during the reporting period (21 – 27 April 2011): Shooting: During the reporting period, IOF wounded eight civilians, including a child, in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Five of the wounded, including a child and a Spanish human rights defender, were wounded in peaceful protests in the West Bank and a Palestinian worker was wounded in the far southwest of Hebron while trying to have access to Israel for work. In the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian farmer was wounded when IOF fired at Palestinian farmers in the northern Gaza Strip. In the West Bank, during the reporting period, IOF used excessive force to disperse peaceful demonstrations organized in protest to Israeli settlement activities and the construction of the annexation wall in the West Bank. As a result, six civilians, including a child and a Spanish human rights defender, were wounded...

Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=77236

Masha'al, Abbas to sign unity deal

Hamas chief and president to sign long-awaited reconciliation agreement at Arab League headquarters in Cairo next week, officials say.

Haniyeh calls on PLO to withdraw Israel recognition

Egypt FM: Rafah border to open permanently

Israeli forces shut down anti-wall protests

Palestinian identity under attack in Israel

One word: Bravo - Uri Avnery

4 Palestinian detainees injured as Israeli forces raid prison

Israel extends detention of Palestinian writer

Thousands of Israelis pray in Salfit village

Health union: Talks to end strike 'dialogue with deaf'

Haniyya Demands PLO To Withdraw Its Recognition Of Israel

Friday April 29, 2011 - 22:38

Prime Minister of the de Hamas-led government in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniyya, demanded the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) to withdraw its recognition of Israel after Tel Aviv announced its rejection to Palestinian unity. Full Story

 Four Detainees Injured As Army Breaks Into Eshil Prison

Friday April 29, 2011 - 22:12

The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) reported on Friday evening that four Palestinian political prisoners were injured after the Dror Unit of the Israeli Military, broke into section 10 of the Eshil prison compound where 114 detainees are being held. Full Story

Richard N. Haass: Weakened U.S. in Stormy Mideast

President, Council on Foreign Relations

The recent revolutionary turmoil in the Middle East has underscored the limited ability of the United States to influence outcomes there now

Read Post

Questions About "Hamas-Fatah Reconciliation"
By Ali Abunimah

If there is an agreement on a joint “government” how can it possibly function without Israeli approval? Will Israel allow Hamas ministers be able to operate freely in the occupied West Bank? Will PA officials be able to move freely between the West Bank and Gaza?

One Word - Bravo!
By Uri Avnery

The news about the reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas is good for peace. If the final difficulties are ironed out and a full agreement is signed by the two leaders, it will be a huge step forward for the Palestinians – and for us

As A Holocaust Survivor,
AIPAC Doesn't Speak For Me
By Hedy Epstein

The vicious discrimination brought to bear against Palestinians in the occupied territories deserves no applause from members of Congress attending the AIPAC conference

Spain a bastion of support for Palestine?

David Cronin

28 April 2011

The notion that Spain’s government is more favorably disposed to the Palestinians than to the State of Israel falls apart under scrutiny. David Cronin analyzes for The Electronic Intifada.

Read more about Spain a bastion of support for Palestine?

Remembering Palestinian prisoners, renewing our struggle

Ameer Makhoul

27 April 2011

Palestinian Prisoners Day was marked on 17 April, an annual day to contemplate the individual and collective suffering and impossible pain of political prisoners and their families. Ameer Makhoul writes from Gilboa prison.

Read more about Remembering Palestinian prisoners, renewing our struggle

Israel arrests writer, activist Ahmad Qatamesh, again

Jillian Kestler-D'Amours

28 April 2011

Last week, Israeli forces raided the West Bank home of Suha Barghouti, arresting her husband, activist and writer Ahmad Qatamesh. Qatamesh was a political prisoner in the 1990s and was the longest-serving prisoner held without charge by Israel under administrative detention orders.

Read more about Israel arrests writer, activist Ahmad Qatamesh, again

Poetry review: Plunging humanity's depths in "Book of Sins"

Patricia Sarrafian Ward

29 April 2011

Nidaa Khoury is a widely-known Palestinian poet with seven collections already published in Arabic and translated into multiple languages. Book of Sins is the first time her writing is available in English, and as such marks a significant accomplishment in the effort to bring Arab writers to an English audience.

• Read more about Poetry review: Plunging humanity's depths in "Book of Sins"

• More from Art, Music & Culture

Gaza: Israel’s war and the Goldstone Report

29 April 2011

A panel discussion dedicated to examining the reality and consequences of Israel’s war and siege of Gaza. The panelists are Norman Finkelstein, Rashid Khalidi, and Peter Weiss. Columbia University, New York – 2 May 2011.

Noam Chomsky: Israel Social TV interview

29 April 2011

Noam Chomsky in a telephone interview held on 1 March 2011 with Gadi Algazi of Israel Social TV. The interview covers the democracy uprising in the Middle East, US and the Occupation, democracy in Israel, Chomsky’s vision for Israel and Palestine, Iran and Israel’s nuclear policy, and Israel’s mainstream media.

Sri Lankan ambassador meets with the head of the Palestinian Legislative Council

29 April 2011

On Tuesday (26.04.2011), the Sri Lankan ambassador in the Palestinian territories, Jaya Singh, met with the head of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Dr Aziz Duweik, along with a number of other Islamic deputies in Ramallah. The two sides discussed a range of issues relating to the Palestinian people and their cause and the relationship between the Palestinians and Sri Lankan people.

Dr Duweik and Mr Singh discussed the issue of internal Palestinian division and the means to achieving national unity. The ambassador asserted his country's willingness to assist in the matter and confirmed its concern that the Palestinian division should not continue.

Read more...

Gaza is still the issue, despite the Arab revolutions

29 April 2011

The revolutions taking place across the Arab world have taken the spotlight away from an ongoing issue which Israel would like the world to forget: the siege of Gaza, which has now been in place for four years. In May last year, Israel's murderous attack on the Freedom Flotilla caused worldwide outrage and it was forced to announce that it would "ease" the siege; a year later it is still in place and continues to affect the lives of 1.5 million Gazans.

Most inhabitants of Gaza have seen little or no improvement in their lives as a result of Israel's "easing" measures, which have been largely cosmetic. Exports from the Gaza Strip remain almost totally prohibited. Gaza's factories, most of which were forced to shut down because of the Israeli siege, have been unable to resume operations because Israel blocks the import of the raw materials they need. These two measures together have crippled the economy. Today, poverty in Gaza is widespread and it has one of the world's highest unemployment rates, at 39%; according to the UN, 80% of its population is dependent on food aid.

Read more...

• American journalists want to see the Arab spring as taking place everywhere but Palestine
• How about banning Israeli politicians for supporting terrorism?
• ‘NYT’ front-pages Egyptian shift in policy re northeastern neighbor
• Klein, Erakat, Travers, Flanders, Ratner to discuss Goldstone in NY
• Tweeting Hedy Epstein
• ‘Equal rights for Palestinians’ billboard is deemed offensive in Seattle
• ‘So you come to take Amina’ — a loving Syrian father saves his gay blogger daughter from the security services
• More from Lupe Fiasco, ‘Words I Never Said’
• Egypt FM: Gaza border to be permanently opened
• To be a teenager in Bil’in
• Egyptians continue protests against Israel and call for a million-man march to support Palestinians
• As a Holocaust survivor, AIPAC does not speak for me
• Zuckerman rag prints bald-faced lies on upcoming flotilla to Gaza
• 9/11 and western prejudice fostered the Arab revolutions –Abdelkader Benali
• Backgrounder on Hamas-Fatah split