Articles Archive for June 2009
Iran, Israel, Media, Propaganda »
Iranian officials stepped up efforts to crush the remaining resistance to a disputed presidential election on Wednesday, as security forces overwhelmed a small group of protesters with brutal beatings, tear gas and gunshots in the air. (more…)
Somehow, I don’t think the Western press has ever referred to Israel’s weekly beating of demonstrators in the West Bank as “brutal”. Apparently, there are good thugs and bad thugs…
Israel, Palestine, Torture, United Nations »
The report, ‘Shackling as a Form of Torture and Abuse’, based on the evidence of over 500 prisoners, was released in advance of the UN International Day in Support of Torture Victims Friday, Jun. 26. It follows a report published in May by the UN Committee Against Torture that had criticised the continued mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners by Israel. The UN report also condemned Israel’s refusal to allow access to a secret detention centre known only as ‘Facility 1391′. (more…)
Human Rights, Israel, Military Occupation, Palestinian Center for Human Rights »
Jordan, Media, New York Times, Palestinian Authority, US Congress »
The U.S. Congress recently approved additional funding for the training in Jordan of three more battalions of the Palestinian national security force, and by the end of the year the Palestinian Authority will have a total of seven battalions at its disposal whose training was supervised by the Americans. (more…)
Notice that Isabel Kershner’s report in The New York Times does not mention U.S. training specifically and refers only to mysterious “western funds”.
Afghanistan, Taliban, United States »
The version of the official military investigation into the disastrous May 4 airstrike in Farah province made public last week by the Central Command was carefully edited to save the U.S. command in Afghanistan the embarrassment of having to admit that earlier claims blaming the massive civilian deaths on the “Taliban” were fraudulent. (more…)
Blackmail, Israel, Palestine »
The couple slept together and then he took her to an office in Tel Aviv, where Israeli security service agents apparently confronted her with a video of her in bed with the man, the prosecutors said. They threatened to pass the video back to her family unless she helped them and also apparently promised her 100,000 shekels (£15,500) if she would pass them regular information about a group of militants in Nablus. (more…)
Bush, George W., Israel, Palestine, Sharon, Ariel, Transportation »
After all, when Prime Minister Ariel Sharon assured President George W. Bush of his support for a Palestinian state in April 2004, he referred to Palestinians in the West Bank having what he called “transportation contiguity,” meaning tunnels beneath Israeli bypass roads to settlements that only Israelis could use. That constitutes a viable state? (more…)
Corporate Malfeasance, Corruption, Holocaust, Israel »
Israel’s second largest bank will be forced to defend itself in court in the coming weeks over claims it is withholding tens of millions of dollars in ‘lost’ accounts belonging to Jews who died in the Nazi death camps. Bank Leumi has denied it holds any such funds despite a parliamentary committee revealing in 2004 that the bank owes at least $75 million to the families of several thousand Holocaust victims. (more…)
High Court of Israel, Israel, Palestine, Racism »
“If you ask an Israeli, ‘are you in favor of equality for Arabs,’ they will say, ‘yes, of course.’ If you ask them are they in favor of throwing the [Arabs] into the sea, they say, ‘yes, of course.’ And it doesn’t feel like any contradiction to them.” (more…)
Israel, Sexism, Sexual Harassment »
During a discussion on sexual harassment in the army, MK Zeev said female troops must be instructed so they know “how to behave.” Later he said that while some female soldiers would interpret certain acts as sexual harassment, others would view them as a compliment. (more…)
Israel, Military Occupation, Racism, Zionism »
The aim of these laws is to impose the Israeli nationalist creed by coercion. It’s really that simple. Over the last decade, the Knesset has experienced several bursts of legislative activity seeking to restrict freedom of opinion and expression on the questions of the Jewishness of the state and the right to resist occupation. The advocates of these laws are indefatigable. If the proposals fail to pass through any of the necessary stages, they are resubmitted over and over again in the hope of wearing out their opponents. (more…)
Authoritarianism, Barak, Ehud, Iran »
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Wednesday that “the predatory nature of Tehran’s regime has been exposed” (more…)9
Georgia, Iran, Media, Peru, Propaganda, Protest »
These reasons explain why over recent weeks while the Iran elections were happening there has been virtually no coverage in most media of demonstrations numbering in the tens of thousands in Georgia or Peru. It has even been reported in Peru that dozens of persons have been killed during the protests, or “clashes” as they’ve also been labeled (since more than a dozen police have also been killed), more than the reported number killed in Iran. (more…)
DEmograph, Racism »
Mayor concerned with rising number of Arab residents, emigration of Jews from city, devises plan to tip demographics with construction of 3,050 housing units in ultra-Orthodox neighborhood built on land expropriated from Arabs in 1967. Mayor recruits Interior Minister Eli Yishai to cause, urges settlers to move in (more…)
Authoritarianism, Domestic Surveillance, European Union, Iran »
The Iranian regime has developed, with the assistance of European telecommunications companies, one of the world’s most sophisticated mechanisms for controlling and censoring the Internet, allowing it to examine the content of individual online communications on a massive scale. (more…)
Human Rights, Torture, UNHCR, United Nations, United States »
“People who order or inflict torture cannot be exonerated, and the roles of certain lawyers, as well as doctors who have attended torture sessions, should also be scrutinized,” Pillay, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said in a statement dedicated to victims of torture. (more…)
Israel, United States »
If the Prime Minister refuses to accept what the U.S. has defined as a ‘national interest’, Israel could well land up being labelled not ‘just one key ally’ in the Middle East, but ‘a problematic ally’. (more…)
Israel, Palestine, Racism, Social Welfare »
Israeli woman denied social benefits for visiting Palestinian husband. (more…)
Abu-Khalil, As'ad, Academia, Ahmadinejad, Mahmoud, Authoritarianism, Iran, Saudi Arabia »
As’ad AbuKhalil, Lebanese politics professor at California State University, said Iranian opponents of Ahmadinejad — if they come out on top — would still likely promote a nationalist agenda that Riyadh sees as a threat to its interests. Opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi was prime minister under the Islamic Republic’s founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. “The site of public demonstrations by the thousands against their leaders …troubles all Arab leaders,” AbuKhalil said, pointing to the lack of popular democracy on a par with that of Iran in most of the Arab countries. “Arab regimes may also fear that if the Iranian regime feels cornered and pressured, it may lash out, and Saudi Arabia may be the first to feel the wrath of the regime,” he said. (more…)
Israel, Jewish Settlements, Military Occupation, Palestine, West Bank »
Israel’s defence ministry has proposed legalising 60 existing homes at a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, and building another 240 homes at the site, despite US calls for a halt to settlement growth. (more…)
Palestine, Palestinian Center for Human Rights, Sourani, Raji, Torture »
“We as Palestinians have experienced political detention and abuse for 41 years under the Israeli occupation, and now we are doing it to ourselves.” (more…)
Berlusconi, Silvio, Israel, Italy, Jewish Settlements, Netanyahu, Benjamin »
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi raised the settlement issue in a meeting with Netanyahu in Rome yesterday, telling him that settlement construction may become an obstacle for peace, and must be stopped. (more…)
Who cares what this clown has to say about the settlements? The guy has the moral integrity of Tony Soprano… In fact, I prefer the neo-fascists in the Israeli government.
AIPAC, Israel, Pentagon, United States »
Two people asked a Pentagon official cooperating with prosecutors in an investigation into the American Israel Public Affairs Committee to fake his own death to avoid testifying against two pro-Israel lobbyists charged in the case, according to the Justice Department. (more…)
Human Rights, Israel, Palestine, Shit Bet, Torture »
The army and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) shackle Palestinian security detainees as a form of torture and abuse, the Public Committee against Torture in Israel (PCATI) charged in a report issued early Tuesday morning. (more…)
Antisemitism, Israel, United States »
Nixon is known for making quite a few anti-Semitic remarks during his term, but this did not prevent him from sending weapons to Israel during the Yom Kippur War. (more…)
Gaza, Israel, Military Occupation, Palestine, United States »
It apparently takes American pressure to get the Israeli military to allow 350 cows into Gaza today — the first in nine months. This, it should be noted, is for 1.5 million human beings. (more…)
Israel, Military Occupation, Obama, Barack, Palestine »
When US President Barack Obama called on Palestinians to practice nonviolence, I laughed just like Mahmoud. Palestinians like Mahmoud have never needed to be told about nonviolence. The English word may be unfamiliar but the steadfast, daily acts of resistance known as nonviolence are nothing new. In the south Hebron hills, Palestinians face Israeli soldiers and violent Israeli settlers who are illegally expanding their settlements and attacking Palestinians, including children walking to school. In response to this profound injustice, Palestinians are organizing demonstrations, refusing to comply with military orders, filing complaints against settlers, and courageously working their land despite the risk of arrest and attack. They don’t need President Obama to tell them to practice nonviolence. (more…)
Canada, Israel, Palestine, al-Nakba »
Canada’s chief diplomat in Israel has been honored at an Israeli public park — built on occupied Palestinian land in violation of international law — as one of the donors who helped establish the park on the ruins of three Palestinian villages. (more…)
Cyprus, Gaza, Israel, Military Occupation, Palestine »
Activists campaigning for an end to Gaza’s blockade by Israel will sail to the Hamas-run enclave from Cyprus despite the presence of the Israeli navy, they said on Thursday. (more…)
Bush, George W., Guantanamo, Obama, Barack »
But Mr. Bush, in an appearance here on Wednesday, maintained that he would not criticize President Obama, though he did discuss his policies.
“I will just tell you that there are people at Gitmo who will kill Americans at the drop of a hat,” Mr. Bush said at a dinner held by a group of business leaders. “Persuasion isn’t going to work. Therapy isn’t going to change their mind.” (more…)
This is potentially one of the worst aspects of Bush’s presidency… We are going to have to suffer through his bumbling, ignorant speeches for every dinner from the American Chamber of Commerce to the Rotary Club. Oh… and he’s also writing a book. I can’t wait.
Israel, Palestine, United States »
The people who are living in Tel Aviv want to be able to get on a bus safely, and get to where they’re going without worrying about any sort of bomb blast. And what are the people worrying about in the Palestinian areas? They want to be able to make sure their children have a bright future, a good education, and can actually realize their dreams. (more…)
Sure, Israelis are scared of bombs attacks and Palestinians are only concerned with the education of their children… And this is considered a radical position in the United States.
Jewish Settlers, Lieberman, Avigdor »
First of all, we really don’t have any intention to change the demographic balance in Judea and Samaria. (more…)
Abu-Khalil, As'ad, Ahmadinejad, Mahmoud, Iran »
It is frustrating that everyone I talk to from Pakistan to Egypt loves Ahmadinejad and is shocked to hear that many Iranians think he is ineffective and embarrassing. Meanwhile every Westerner seems to think that Mousavi is a great reformist or revolutionary, and some kind of saintly figure beloved by all. He’s an opportunist crook. (more…)
Israel, Jewish Settlers, Netanyahu, Benjamin, Palestine »
In his speech last Sunday, the prime minister failed to address the continual growth of Israeli settlements on the occupied West Bank, where close to 300,000 Israeli settlers live. (more…)
East Jerusalem is on the Palestinian side of the Green Line (notwithstanding Israel’s illegal annexation of it) and the number of settlers expands to approximately 500,000 when you account for that. I’ve noticed recently that the media (on both sides) consistently ignores this fact.
Democracy, Fatah, Friedman, Thomas, Gaza, Hamas, New York Times »
Hamas is facing an energized Fatah in the West Bank and is increasingly unpopular in Gaza. (more…)
I know it may come as a surprise to Thomas Friedman but unpopular as Hamas may be, Abu Mazen and Fatah are even more unpopular. Friedman’s use of the word “energized” simply means “U.S./Israeli-trained proxies”. But that doesn’t fit his silly narrative of “space” opening up for democracy thanks to the United States. Doesn’t he remember the failed coup attempt aimed at undermining the Palestinian elections? Paid and sponsored by the U.S.
And why did he basically repeat everything he wrote in an op-ed a few days ago? Same op-ed, different title. Not only is he weak (for lack of a better word) on his facts, but he’s lazy…
Torture, United States »
To date, the highest-ranking officer to be prosecuted for detainee abuse is a lieutenant colonel who was acquitted by a court-martial panel. Yet there is simply too much evidence of high-level orders and authorization for the use of torture and abuse to justify limiting criminal investigations to those in the field. What does it say about our commitment to justice when we are willing to sacrifice a few at the bottom but unwilling to hold accountable those at the top? When we are willing to prosecute military personnel but not the civilian officials and contractors who were also part of this horrific enterprise? What kind of legacy does that leave for future generations, and future administrations, when it comes to the consequences of those in power breaking the law? (more…)
I agree in principle, but these questions are silly because none of this is new territory for the United States. Illegal behavior? Torture? Unaccountable government? Come on. We should be indignant, but it’s dishonest to pretend that these activities are any real deviation from longheld U.S. policy.
Israel, Military Occupation, Netanyahu, Benjamin, Palestine »
If either party has a claim on protection from the other side’s violence, the Palestinians surely have the more reasonable claim. They have suffered by far the most violence in the long conflict. And Israel will certainly keep a massive margin of military superiority no matter what the future brings. Imagine the United States insisting that Cuba or Haiti must be demilitarized because its army might threaten the very existence of America. That’s how absurd this Israeli fear seems to most Palestinians. (more…)
Israel, Netanyahu, Benjamin, Palestine, Peace Process, United States »
Once again, most Israelis can snuggle up around what appears to be a daring and generous offer, but what is in fact, as usual, a compromise between the anxieties, the weakness and the self-righteousness of the center just-to-the-right and the center a-little-left. But what a great distance between them and the harsh demands of reality, as well as the legitimate needs and rightful claims of the Palestinians, now accepted by most of the world, including the United States. (more…)
Israel, Military Occupation, Palestine »
The UN said 128 Palestinians, including 66 children and 34 women, were displaced from this agricultural land, deep inside the occupied West Bank and barely a few miles from the border with Jordan. Eviction orders still hang over dozens more farmers in the area, all of whom live close to three Israeli agricultural settlements which are among many built along the fertile Jordan valley. The demolitions drew little international attention: they happen often and these farmers are remote and poor, at the bottom of the Palestinian social scale. (more…)
Israel, Jerusalem, Jewish Settlers, Military Occupation, Netanyahu, Benjamin, Palestine »
Little wonder the Palestinians sounded sorely disappointed: Netanyahu gave no commitment to end the occupation, reiterated Israel’s determination to retain the whole of Jerusalem as its “united capital”, rejected any possibility of a compromise on Palestinian refugees, and even had fulsome praise for the Jewish settlers in the West Bank whom he called “Israeli pioneers”. (more…)
Israel, Netanyahu, Benjamin, Palestine, Walt, Stephen »
In addition to the relatively new condition (i.e., something Ben Gurion or Rabin never demanded) that the Palestnians accept not only recognize Israel’s existence (something the PLO already did back in 1988), but also recognize it as “the state of the Jewish people.” Moreover, after saying that neither side should “threaten its neighbor’s security and existence,” he insisted that the Palestinians agree to permanent state of abject vulnerability. Specifically, once the Palestinians agree to have no army, no control of their air space, and to forever forswear military treaties — then Israel “will agree to a real peace agreement.” (more…)
Israel, Levy, Gideon, Netanyahu, Benjamin, Palestine »
Netanyahu adopted the language of the day before yesterday. No Palestinian people, rather a “Palestinian population” that lives in Judea and Samaria. He invoked the infamous lexicon of Golda Meir, not of occupation rather “Israeli presence” in the West Bank.
There was also the repeated flight from the subject of final borders, the lack of even superficial reference to the road map peace plan, the repetition of “Jerusalem forever undivided,” the repeated claim that “they started it,” and the ridiculous, excessive demand that Palestinians recognize the Jewish state by one who has failed to recognize the Palestinians as a people. (more…)
Carter, Jimmy, Israel, Jewish Settlers, Military Occupation, Palestine »
“This particular settlement is not one that I envision ever being abandoned, or changed over into a Palestinian territory,” Carter said. “This is part of the close settlements to the 1967 line that I think will be here forever.” (more…)
Israel, Jewish Settlers, Military Occupation, Palestine »
The Land of Israel Faithful group said Monday it has a plan to construct 30 new outposts in the West Bank over the summer, in response to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s speech a day earlier in which he said that no new settlements would be built and no additional land would be expropriated for settlement development. (more…)
Fatah, Hamas, Israel, Palestine, Palestinian Authority »
A Hamas operative died in a Hebron prison overnight Monday after being interrogated by Palestinian Intelligence personnel. (more…)
Israel, Palestine, Racism, West Bank »
As the day progressed Danny said he realized the scene he had witnessed was not an isolated incident. “It kept repeating itself. At one point I asked the people at the register if they really weren’t letting Arabs in and they answered straight out that they were not. One of the workers told me that the men just aren’t let in alone, but families are. I asked why and she said that they bothered the female tourists… she said there’s nothing that can be done, it’s just the way it is. (more…)
Featured, Israel, Jewish Settlers, Military Occupation, Netanyahu, Benjamin, Palestine »
This speech was nothing new or interesting on Netanyahu’s behalf. The man is a racist and his speech reflected this very clearly. It was aimed simply at reassuring his fellow extremists in Israel (and in the settlements) that he is not about to “sell-out” to Washington. I won’t go into his ridiculous distortions of history because the are easily refuted by anyone with the most basic appreciation for the facts.
The thrust of his speech had to do with the Palestinians recognizing Israel—not merely as a state with an inherent right to exist (as Israel had previously demanded), but as a specifically Jewish state with a right to exist. The second point of his speech had to do with his vision for a Palestinian state, namely a demilitarized enclave subordinate to Israeli security needs.
To the first point, this is fluff. Israel is unprepared to recognized the West Bank as a specifically Muslim or Palestinian entity (and it shouldn’t in any case). But Israel cannot bring itself to recognize the basic right to Palestinian existence even without silly ethnic or religious predicates. So demanding the Palestinian leadership to recognize Israel as a specifically Jewish state is intended simply to undermine peace negotiations by precluding discussion over the right to return for the 1948 refugees. After all, why should Israel negotiate over refugees if the Palestinians have themselves granted legitimacy to Jewish apartheid? So on the issue of recognition, Netanyahu has only further radicalized Israel’s position. (more…)
Gaza, Health, Human Rights, Israel, Military Occupation, Palestine »
Gaza: No right to life
Israel, Justice, Military Occupation, Palestine »
A Border Guard officer who shot and killed a Wadi Ara man during a police chase in January 2006 was acquitted of manslaughter on Monday. (more…)
Israel, Jewish Settlements, Palestine »
The poll also found that 58% of Israeli Jews back the continued expansion of West Bank settlements. (more…)
Israel, Military Occupation, Netanyahu, Benjamin, Palestine »
The prime minister’s declaration that Jerusalem will remain he “undivided capital” of Israel – only Israel – slammed the door before the entire Muslim world. And his Hebron is solely the city of the Jewish patriarchs; the Arabs have no such rights at all. The Palestinians can have a state, but only if those foreign invaders show us they know how to eat with a fork and knife. Actually, without a knife. (more…)
Apartheid, Ethnic Cleansing, Israel, Palestine, Racism, South Africa »
To be sure Verwoerd was correct. Both apartheid South Africa and Zionist Israel were colonial, settler states created on the basis of the harsh dispossession of the land and birthright of the indigenous people. This is unblushingly documented in Israel’s case from the time of Herzl through Jabotinsky, Ben Gurion, Menachem Begin, Moshe Dayan to Sharon et al. Both states preached and implemented a policy based on racial ethnicity; the sole claim of Jews in Israel and whites in South Africa to exclusive citizenship; monopolized rights in law regarding the ownership of land, property, business; superior access to education, health, social, sporting and cultural amenities, pensions and municipal services at the expense of the original indigenous population; the virtual monopoly membership of military and security forces, and privileged development along their own racial supremacist lines – even both countries marriage laws are designed to safeguard racial “purity”. The fact that the Palestinian minority within Israel is allowed to vote hardly redresses the injustice in all other matters of basic human rights. In any case those Palestinians allowed to stand for election to the Knesset do so on condition that they dare not question Israel’s existence as a Jewish state. (more…)
Gay Rights, Homosexuality, Obama, Barack, United States »
But American gays and lesbians are still waiting in vain for Obama to fulfill his election promises. While the US in general is clearly heading in the direction of a relaxation of homophobic policies, the White House is shying away from the issue. Even worse, on some issues, it has actually put new stumbling blocks in the way of gay rights. (more…)
Abu-Khalil, As'ad, Democracy, United States »
Some Western principles in assessing elections in developing countries:
1. When the favored candidates win, the elections are free and fair. And when they lose, elections are certainly unfree and stolen.
2. Violent protests against elections that produce winners favored by the west, are to be strictly condemned and protesters are to be called terrorists, hooligans and mobs (can you imagine if Lebanese opposition supporters were to engage in violent protests against the election results in Lebanon), while violent protests against enemies of the US when they win elections (like in Moldova) are to be admired (and the protesters in those cases are called “democracy activists”.
3. It is not against free elections to have Western governments interfere in elections and in funding candidates through Western groups for the promotion of democracy.
4. Candidates (or even dictators) who serve Western interests are automatically labeled as “reform candidates” (even the Saudi tyrant is referred to as “reform-minded”), while candidates who oppose Western economic and political interests are to be labeled enemies of reform.
5. Candidates who are not strident in their language about Israel are always favored.
6. Western observers of elections are always on hand to declare an election unfair and rigged if the favored candidates lose.
7. The corruption of pro-US candidates (like the March 14 bunch) is preferred to the non-corruption of, say, Mugabe.
8. The democratic credentials of dictators immediately improve if they change their policies toward the US and if they express willingness to serve US economic and political interests.
9. Countries where dictators do a good job in serving US economic and political interests need not hold elections.
10. If favored candidates can’t guarantee electoral victory (like the PA tool, Abu Mazen whose term has expired months ago), they don’t need to hold elections and will be treated as if they won an election anyway.
11. It is just not logical to assume that people in developing countries can freely ever decide to make choices that are not consistent with political and economic interests of the US.
12. Elections that are held under American and Israeli occupations are free and fair if the preferred candidates win.
Israel, Israeli Arabs, Jerusalem, Palestine »
But this morning there’s no relief on the horizon for Palestinians hoping to ease their desperate housing shortage. Only a day earlier, employees of Jerusalem’s Israeli-run municipality handed house demolition orders to three more families in the Al-Bustan area of Silwan, which lies alongside Wadi Qadoum and abuts the walls of the Old City. All of the homes in Al-Bustan – 90 in total – are slated for demolition, despite ongoing negotiations between residents and City Hall. (more…)
Bush, George W., CIA, Cold War, Obama, Barack, Torture, United States »
If, like me, you’ve been following America’s torture policies not just for the last few years but for decades, you can’t help but experience that eerie feeling of déjà vu these days. With the departure of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney from Washington and the arrival of Barack Obama, it may just be back to the future when it comes to torture policy, a turn away from a dark, do-it-yourself ethos and a return to the outsourcing of torture that went on, with the support of both Democrats and Republicans, in the Cold War years. (more…)
Food, Gaza, Health, Israel, Military Occupation, Palestine »
After four pages filled with detailed charts of the number of grams and calories of every type of food to be permitted for consumption by Gaza residents (broken down by gender and age), comes this recommendation: “It is necessary to deal with the international community and the Palestinian Health Ministry to provide nutritional supplements (only some of the flour in Gaza is enriched) and to provide education about proper nutrition.” Printed in large letters at the end of the document is this admonition: “The stability of the humanitarian effort is critical for the prevention of the development of malnutrition.” (more…)
Friedman, Thomas, Media, New York Times »
Third, the Bush team opened a hole in the wall of Arab autocracy but did a poor job following through. In the vacuum, the parties most organized to seize power were the Islamists — Hezbollah in Lebanon; pro-Al Qaeda forces among Iraqi Sunnis, and the pro-Iranian Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq and Mahdi Army among Iraqi Shiites; the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan; Hamas in Gaza. (more…)
So according to Friedman, none of these situations is in any way unique or region-specific. Nope. This kind of generalized political analysis is so refreshing.
Afghanistan, Military Occupation, Pakistan, Taliban, United States »
The implication of the system of purchasing targeting information for drone strikes is that there is “no guarantee” that the people being targeted are officials of al-Qaeda or allied organizations, he said. (more…)
Bush, George W., Climate Change, Obama, Barack, United States »
CLIMATE CHANGE: Obama Sounds Too Much Like Bush (more…)
Israel, Palestine, Water, West Bank »
“We have been waiting for a permit from the Israelis to install a water network since 2000,” Dr. Amer Abu Farha, head of the village council told IPS. “But they refuse to give us one. We are also not allowed to dig deep wells or repair current wells. The Israeli settlements are allowed to dig wells far deeper than us, and to repair their other wells.” (more…)
AIPAC, Israel, Israel Lobby, United States »
A former Pentagon analyst who pled guilty to passing secret information to two former AIPAC staffers had his sentence drastically reduced. (more…)
Gulf War II, Iraq, al-Maliki, Nouri »
When the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, held a meeting with 300 top military commanders last week a US general who tried to attend was asked to leave. “We apologise to you, but this is an Iraqi meeting and you’re not invited,” he was told. (more…)
Children, Israel, Military Occupation, Palestine, Torture »
Ill-treatment and torture of Palestinian children (more…)
Israel, Jewish Settlers, Palestine, West Bank »
[M]any settlers say the West Bank is Jewish land and if Palestinians want to live there they must abide by Israeli law. (more…)
Fine, then annex the West bank once and for all and give the Palestinians full rights as Israeli citizens. Oh, but this would end the Jewish demographic balance… Ok, then you have another choice: get out now.
Gaza, Military Occupation, Zionism »
“Two Years of Gaza Closure by the Numbers.” (more…)
Gaza, Israel, Military Occupation, Palestine, War Crimes »
Though Mr Deeb, 40, is not the self-pitying type, the reaction of his colleagues was understandable. For among the many thousands of Gazans bereaved by the war, few lives can have been as shattered as his. Alerted by phone, he had rushed back from work on the afternoon of 6 January to find the family home in Jabalya hit by two Israeli 120mm mortar shells in the same series of attacks that killed up to another 30 civilians outside the UN Al Fakhoura school a mere 100 metres away. The 11 dead included five of his six children, aged between four and 22, his wife, his mother, one of his brothers, two of his nephews, and a niece. (more…)
Gaza, Israel, Military Occupation, Palestine, War Crimes »
Former Gaza Division Commander Brig.-Gen Moshe “Chico” Tamir plans to appeal a military court decision on Thursday to demote him to the rank of colonel for permitting his underage son to drive an IDF dune buggy and attempting to cover-up a subsequent accident. (more…)
But for participating in the massacre of 1,400 Palestinians—now that’s a whole different story.
Guantanamo, Obama, Barack, United States, War on Terror »
The Obama administration has all but abandoned plans to allow Guantanamo Bay detainees who have been cleared for release to live in the United States, administration officials said yesterday, a decision that reflects bipartisan congressional opposition to admitting such prisoners but complicates efforts to persuade European allies to accept them. (more…)
Media, Obama, Barack, Palestine »
AP Edits Palestinian Suffering Out of Obama’s Speech (more…)
Gaza, Israel, Military Occupation, Palestine »
The security cabinet decided on Wednesday that any opening of crossings into the Gaza Strip would be linked to progress in the case of kidnapped soldier Gilad Schalit. (more…)
Yeah, and the rockets are tied to the 10,000 kidnapped Palestinian prisoners.
Israel, Military Occupation, Palestine »
Israeli forces seized four Palestinian children during a raid the West Bank village of Hizma, northeast of Jerusalem early on Wednesday morning. (more…)
Gaza, Health, Israel, Military Occupation, Palestine »
The years of closed borders has severely crippled Gaza’s health sector, denying patients vital medicines, replacement parts for hospital equipment, access to outside medical care, and preventing the entrance of outside expertise. Moreover, Gaza’s civilian infrastructure was devastated during Israel’s three week assault on Gaza (December 2008-January 2009), making the treatment of patients within the tiny coastal territory near impossible. (more…)
Gaza, Israel, Military Occupation, Obama, Barack, Pilger, John »
“Just as it devastates Palestinian families, the continuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” said Obama, “does not serve Israel’s security.” That was all. The killing of 1,300 people in what is now a concentration camp merited 17 words, cast as concern for the “security” of the killers. This was understandable. During the January massacre, Seymour Hersh reported that “the Obama team let it be known that it would not object to the planned resupply of ’smart bombs’ and other hi-tech ordnance that was already flowing to Israel” for use in Gaza. (more…)
Gaza, Israel, Military Occupation, Palestine »
[Israeli] military sources said that Monday’s incident was the most complicated one the soldiers have had to deal with since the end of Operation Cast Lead. (more…)
Israel, Jerusalem, Military Occupation, Palestine »
Israeli authorities ordered a Palestinian to demolish his own home in the Old City of Jerusalem on Tuesday. (more…)
Israel, Palestine, al-Nakba »
Salah claimed that 120 mosques and dozens of churches have been razed since the State of Israel’s establishment, adding that new neighborhoods were established at sites previously used as cemeteries. (more…)
Israel, Military Occupation, Palestine »
“We feel proud that we found a way to defy the situation,” said Najar. “It is difficult, but we must survive. When people see this collective punishment against them they have to find ways to live their lives.” (more…)
Apartheid, Israel, Military Occupation, Palestine, Racism, South Africa »
The Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa (HSRC) has released a report confirming that Israel is practicing both colonialism and apartheid in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). (more…)
Human Rights, Israel, Military Occupation, Palestine, Zionism »
In letter to defense administration heads Yesh Din reports of alarming increase in number of attempts to uproot or damage Palestinian farmers’ trees as part of settlers’ efforts to ‘achieve political goals through terrorists acts’ (more…)



