MONDOWEISS ONLINE NEWSLETTER

NOVANEWS

09/30/2010

• Avigdor Lieberman’s UN speech shows the true face of Israel

• Rosengarten, sole American on boat: It is Jew against Jew

• B’Tselem: In the 10 years since the beginning of the second intifada Israeli forces killed 6,371 Palestinians, including 1,317 minors.

• Once again, PA caves on Goldstone Report

• UN report: Israeli interception of the Gaza flotilla was illegal

• In NYT, Robt Wright dares to suggest that Palestinians should have a right to, unh, vote

• Freeze was meaningless

• Sailing into the storm

• Pseudo-freeze ends, pseudo-liberals rejoice

• IDF used excessive force to take Jewish Boat to Gaza. Shapira: ’soldiers’ actions were violent and disgusting’

Avigdor Lieberman’s UN speech shows the true face of Israel

Sep 29, 2010

Alex Kane 

Yisrael Beiteinu’s strong third-place showing in Israel’s February 2009 elections for the Knesset was met with dread and disgust from many different quarters. Avigdor Lieberman, the founder and leader of the far-right party and the current Foreign Minister, ran a campaign filled with fascist overtones as he called for “loyalty oaths” to be signed by Palestinian citizens of Israel.

But perhaps we should take a look at Lieberman again in light of his much-condemned United Nations General Assembly speech yesterday and instead feel glad that the true face of Israel is shining to the world because of his position of power.

At the UN, Lieberman called for a “long-term intermediate agreement” instead of a solution dealing with all the final-status issues, dismissed the notion that the occupation and colonization of Palestine is at the core of the conflict and proposed a deal with the Palestinians that would be “about moving borders to better reflect demographic realities.” Although Lieberman claimed that he was not talking about “moving populations,” it’s apparent that Lieberman’s plan would result in the expulsion of Palestinian citizens of Israel to a Palestinian state, all in the service of making Israel an “ethnically pure” Jewish state.

Reactions from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Jewish leaders were swift, and the media narrative laid out is that Lieberman’s speech revealed “differences” within Israeli politics about the “peace process.” The New York Times reports today that “sharp differences within the Israeli government over peace negotiations played out in the unusual setting of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday.”

Netanyahu’s office distanced the prime minister from the speech and said that Lieberman’s speech was “not coordinated” with Netanyahu and that Netanyahu wants “direct talks” with the Palestinian Authority to go forward.

The reaction from Netanyahu was about promoting the image of Israel as willing to sit down and negotiate for peace with the Palestinians, which Lieberman’s speech did damage to. But that’s all it was about–Netanyahu and the State of Israel’s policies are completely in line with Lieberman’s plan of ethnically cleansing the non-Jewish citizens of Israel and of continuing to colonize the West Bank.

Under Netanyahu, the Bedouin village of Al Araqib has been destroyed multiple times to make way for a Jewish National Fund “ambassador forest.” Netanyahu has presided over the continued colonization of the West Bank, despite talk of a “settlement freeze,” and that’s likely to accelerate in the coming weeks. An recent Israeli Supreme Court ruling has Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah worried about further dispossession at the hands of Jewish settlers, and Silwan in East Jerusalem is still under the threat of home demolitions to make way for Israeli settlements and a theme park.

The list can go on and on. Actions speak much louder than words, and the State of Israel under Netanyahu has continued routine Israeli policies of land theft, colonization and slow ethnic cleansing. That’s not much different than the Israel Lieberman showed at the UN yesterday in words. Maybe that’s a good thing; the true, ugly face of Israeli policy, which the Palestinians know all-too-well, was shown to the world, further confirming that the “peace talks” are useless, and that Netanyahu is playing a public relations game for the international community while the status quo is sustained.

This article originally appeared on Alex Kane’s blog.

Rosengarten, sole American on boat: It is Jew against Jews

Sep 29, 2010

Philip Weiss 

 

We have received two accounts of the treatment of passengers and crew on the Jewish boat to Gaza. The first is from the American passenger on the boat, Lillian Rosengarten of New York (pictured at left among boat’s passengers in Cyprus earlier this week), a former refugee from Nazi Germany. The second is from Nurit Peled-Elhanan, an Israeli married to Rami Elhanan (second from right). Rosengarten:

I was deported and very conflicted about leaving Edith Lutz [of Germany, second from left above] behind. I felt assured when I spoke to the vice consul from the American Embassy in Tel Aviv who had brought our human rights lawyer, Smadar Ben-Natan, and another lawyer who will meet with Edith and help her as she decided to resist deportation as a very personal statement of resistance.

I was extremely happy to hear that Reuven [Moskowitz, in white shirt at center], Rami, Yonotan Shapira [right, in Crocs] and Itamar Shapira [3d from left] were allowed to go home. Such wonderful people, now cherished friends. Glyn Secker and Vish Vishvanath were also deported along with myself. For me the deportation process was humiliating. Jew against Jew is totally against the dreams of so long ago, what we imagined how our beloved Israel would evolve. That dream was for me a safe haven, a country of compassion. Tolerance for all, and a completely open society. I can imagine that Israel would have become a beacon of light for the world to follow. In this dream there would be tolerance for political difference. Now sadly, Jews have become divided against one another and it is no longer a safe haven. We from the Jewish boat were treated as traitors and people to get rid of. We were not “good Jews,” but “bad Jews to deport without being allowed to enter Israel again.” Only in Fascist regimes are people forced to think the same. I experienced humiliation when arrested. I was not physically mistreated but suffered emotionally. I suffered when the immigration person asked me if I was Jewish after I told him I was a refugee from the Nazis, the last generation to be able to tell the heinous story. He wanted me to prove that I was Jewish. How was I to do that and yes, how deeply humiliating. When I witness the Israel of today, I feel enormous pain. I was deported because of my human rights beliefs and non violent actions. In detention I no longer felt safe or cared about. I don’t even think it mattered that I am Jewish. Now I will not be allowed to return to Israel as the cycle of hate and fear goes on and on. Those of us who dreamed of a different kind of Israel can only weep.

Nurit Peled-Elhanan is the wife of Rami Elhanan, who was on the Jewish boat to Gaza. Peled-Elhanan passes along the following report:

Coming out of the police investigation, Yonatan [Shapira] looked like someone coming out of prisoners’ camp: Long pale distorted face. It was the same monstrous soldiers who attacked the Marmara. They were all after him. They beat him up, kicked him and used a taser on him. The other passengers said he was palpitating and screaming like a wounded animal but the monster wouldn’t stop. When Rami asked him for his name he said Gepeto.

Now Rami is accused of threatening a soldier because he said he would find out his name and press charges against him. Yonatan and Itamar [Shapira, Yonatan’s brother], who were handcuffed and dragged and then thrown violently to another boat, are charged with assaulting the soldiers and resisting arrest. There were dozens fully armed comandos who attacked them on the boat, 4 navy war boats.

A very senior general, Amidror, head of research unit of the IDF said on the radio 2 days ago that Yonatan Shapira, an ex-pilot in the Air force is psychopath and should be locked away. I reacted to that so they interviewed me the day after. I told them this is the Russians did to Sakharov and that Yonatan is Israel’s best son and an example to Young people of what they should be as well etc.

However it seems the media are very eager to interview us along with their complete faith in what the IDF says. We were interviewed all day long, while waiting for them to come out of the investigation, by everybody, all the time, but it looks like they see us as a curiosity rather than reliable sources of information.

The whole world should support Yonatan and Itamar Shapira now because the security forces are surely after them and there are no limits to what these soldiers would do if ordered.

B’Tselem: In the 10 years since the beginning of the second intifada Israeli forces killed 6,371 Palestinians, including 1,317 minors.

Sep 29, 2010

Seham

And other news from Today in Palestine:

Land and Property Theft and Destruction/Ethnic Cleansing
It was barely a slowdown
The official statistics supplied by the Central Bureau of Statistics describe the story behind the 10-month construction moratorium in the West Bank. The story can be called many things but “freeze” is certainly not one of them.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/settlement-freeze-it-was-barely-a-slowdown-1.316074
Palestinian eviction threat comes at a sensitive moment
The evictions of three dozen Palestinians, ordered in a court ruling, would deliver a devastating blow to the peace process, Palestinian officials say. The ruling would allow Jewish landowners to build housing in an Arab-dominated Jerusalem neighborhood.  A threat to evict about three dozen Palestinians this week from their East Jerusalem homes to allow Jewish landowners to build housing in an Arab-dominated neighborhood is posing the latest threat to fragile Mideast peace talks.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/U0DdVWhcoe8/la-fg-jerusalem-eviction-20100929,0,7389553.story
Europe Offers Tax Benefits for Illegal Settlements
BRUSSELS, Sep 28, 2010 (IPS) – Organisations raising funds to benefit the Israeli army and illegal settlements in the West Bank enjoy tax-exempt status in Europe, an IPS investigation has shown.
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=52983
Why aren’t our congressmen hearing from this victim of endless Israeli expansion?, Philip Weiss
Meet Atta Jaber, a farmer whose house outside Hebron has been destroyed four times by settlers but who rebuilds and hangs on, rarely leaving his property, because he has no choice but to defend his livelihood and ancestral lands for the sake of his children. Last week, Jeff Halper of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions took me down to the occupied hills to meet Jaber. You see him above, standing next to his half-plowed zucchini and tomato field, left. And just past the tomatoes you can see the gas station that the Jewish colony Kiryat Arba built on his stolen land, and a hillside beyond that with settler “outposts” on it (not visible in my pic; but erected this year, Jaber says, in complete defiance of the alleged freeze).
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/09/why-arent-our-congressmen-hearing-from-this-victim-of-endless-israeli-expansion.html#more-26270
The Horrors Of Israeli Settlements, MJ Rosenberg
It looks like Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will get away with his refusal to extend the settlements freeze.  Actually, it wasn’t much of a freeze in the first place (it had the consistency of ice cream after the freezer door has been left open overnight).  But it was better than nothing and maintaining it was the one thing the Palestinians demanded as a condition to keep negotiating.  Palestinians rightfully believe that they can not negotiate with Israel about who is going to keep the occupied West Bank while Israel is building permanent structures all over the very land being discussed.  The usual suspects (the lobby and its cutouts on Capitol Hill) don’t think settlements are such a big deal.   They should go to Hebron, a major city on the occupied West Bank — one that right-wingers say Israel will hold on to no matter what.  It won’t change their calculations on the Middle East, but at least they will know what they are defending in the name of political expediency.
http://politicalcorrection.org/fpmatters/201009280004
A Lie at the Heart of Israel’s Settlement Project, Richard Irvine
As Israel’s self-imposed and largely irrelevant settlement freeze ends, Prime Minister Netanyahu has asked settlers to show ‘restraint’. It is an interesting choice of adjective, for people who show restraint are the injured and outraged; they are victims who although entitled to a full measure of justice settle for less to maintain good will and harmony. In the context of the West Bank settlers and Israel’s illegal colonisation no adjective could be less appropriate. Yet unwittingly it also reveals the mendacity behind Israel’s whole approach to these negotiations.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16296
* Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Sanctions & Divestment
Stand in Solidarity with Palestinian Political Prisoners in Bil’in
[Tadamon] For over five years the Palestinian village of Bil’in has sustained a grassroots struggle for land and livelihood. Every Friday, Palestinian villagers brave a volley of sound grenades, tear gas canisters and rubber-coated steel bullets to stage demonstrations against the apartheid wall and the construction of Israeli settlements on Palestinian agricultural lands. In many ways, Bil’in’s creative tactics have captured the imaginations of thousands of people both in Quebec and around the world, and have inspired other Palestinian villages across the West Bank. Resistance remains ongoing despite considerable repression on the part of Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF).
http://www.bilin-village.org/english/articles/press-and-independent-media/Stand-in-Solidarity-with-Palestinian-Political-Prisoners-in-Bilin
Irish Nobel Peace Prize laureate resists deportation from Israel
Mairead Maguire has been barred from entering Israel as a result of her participation in the Rachel Corrie Gaza-bound aid ship in June.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/irish-nobel-peace-prize-laureate-resists-deportation-from-israel-1.316211?localLinksEnabled=false
Israel holds Gaza blockade Britons
Israeli authorities boarded a British yacht, took down its flag and “almost strip searched” its crew as they attempted to break the blockade to Gaza, a Briton on board said today.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-holds-gaza-blockade-britons-2092814.html
‘Jewish vessel’ passenger: Soldier tasered me
Passengers aboard Gaza-bound vessel refute IDF claims of non-violent takeover. ‘There are no words to describe what we went through,’ former pilot Yonatan Shapira says. Holocaust survivor who took part in sail: I can’t sleep at night because of what Israel is doing to Gazans.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3961693,00.html
Jewish Gaza-bound activists: IDF used excessive force in naval raid
“I as a Holocaust survivor cannot live with the fact that the State of Israel is imprisoning an entire people behind fences,” Moscowitz said, adding that “it’s just immoral.”  “What happened to me in the Holocaust wakes me up every night and I hope we don’t do the same thing to our neighbors,” Moscowitz said, adding that he was comparing “what I went through during the Holocaust to what the besieged Palestinian children are going through.”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/jewish-gaza-bound-activists-idf-used-excessive-force-in-naval-raid-1.316247?localLinksEnabled=false
Jewish Boat to Gaza captured – peace activists converge to Ashdod Port in protest
28.09.2010 – Dozens of peace activists gathered on the beach near Ashdod port, to which the Jewish Peace Ship is being towed by the Israeli Navy, to protest the capture of the ship and the continued blockade of Gaza, which has turned it into a huge prison with no entry or exit. The activists held signs with the captions: “Medicines – A Security Risk?”, “Let Gaza Live,” The blockade and the construction on settlements destroy us all,” “Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies.” Later the demonstrators moved to the Ashdod Police where they currently remain.
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/events/1285681759
Yonatan Shapira’s testimony from the Jewish Boat to Gaza
The course is 120. Another 200 miles to the port in Cyprus and the automatic pilot in the boat, which is supposed to maintain the course, refuses to work and leaves me with the unending task of maintaining the course on a turbulent sea with no sign of land from horizon to horizon. In another half hour, Itamar, my brother, who is also a “refusenik,” will relieve me at the wheel, after him Bruce and then Glyn will take their shifts. If everything goes according to plan, we will reach Famagusta at midday on Saturday, and there we will pick up the rest of the passengers, who together with us, as strange as it may seem, will try to break the blockade of Gaza.
http://theonlydemocracy.org/2010/09/yonatan-shapiras-testimony-from-the-jewish-boat-to-gaza/
Palestinians condemn Israel’s interception of Gaza-bound ship
GAZA, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) — The Palestinian National Authority ( PNA) and Islamic Hamas movement on Tuesday both condemned the Israeli interception and seizing of a Gaza-bound aid boat carrying Jewish activists and aid before it reached Gaza territorial water.  Ghassan al-Khatib, director of the PNA media center, said the PNA strongly condemned all types of Israeli blockade and siege imposed on the Gaza Strip and the banning of the international campaigns from showing solidarity with its population.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-09/29/c_13534381.htm
Artery Of Life 5 Arrives in Istanbul
The Artery Of Live 5 solidarity flotilla heading to the Gaza Strip arrived on Tuesday in Istanbul and its activists held a press conference at a cultural center.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59495
Zionists did BDS, Philip Weiss
Observant Jews are celebrating the holiday of Sukkot this week, celebrating the journey to Jerusalem. During festival rituals, the observant use an esrog, a type of citron fruit. And yes, I had to look it up! How’d I learn about esrogs? From the following passage in the novel, A Simple Story, by the late Israeli writer S.Y. Agnon (who won the Nobel Prize in ’66). The story is set in Galicia, a section of Poland/the Ukraine in which Agnon grew up. The passage describes a train ride by the novel’s hero Hirshl Hurvitz, back home from a loonybin to his native city, Szybusz.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/09/zionists-did-bds.html
#BDS: The Jews Behind BDS
It was Feb. 12, 2009, and the Hampshire Board of Trustees had just voted to divest from the State Street Fund, an investment firm with holdings in Israel and the West Bank. It was, SJP thought, the first time that any school in the country had divested from Israel. Soon afterwards, however, the board of trustees issued a statement claiming that the school had not divested because of the company’s connections to the Israeli occupation. In fact, the board stated, the decision “expressly did not pertain to a political movement or single out businesses active in a specific region or country.”
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/09/bds-jews-behind-bds.html
The Siege (Gaza & West Bank)/Humanitarian/Restriction of Movement/Human Rights/Racism
Israeli court rules boy should be removed from his home
Palestinian human rights activists called the decision by the Israeli Ofer court to fine and impose a forced removal of a Palestinian child from his home “a dangerous precedent.”
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz
Gazan children still suffering from anxiety
Palestinian experts say children in the Gaza Strip continue to suffer from anxiety and depression despite Israel’s war ending 20 months ago.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz
Al Mezan: International Justice Mechanisms Must Be Employed in OPT Immediately
The United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) has started its fifteenth regular session (13 September – 1 October 2010). The Council is set to consider the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt); including the report of the Committee of Experts (CoE), which has presented its report (A/HRC/15/50) on its assessment of the investigations carried out by the Israeli and Palestinian authorities into violations of international law during Israel’s military operation in Gaza in the winter of 2008/2009 (codenamed Operation Cast Lead). The CoE has determined that the investigations failed, with the minor exception on the part of the Palestinian Authority, to live up to the standards determined in the UN General Assembly (GA) resolution 64/254; including the independence, effectiveness, genuineness of these investigations with international law. Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights has followed these investigations closely. The Centre commends the objectivity and credibility of the CoE findings. In light of its conclusions, Al Mezan calls on international community to effect international mechanisms of accountability and justice without any delay.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/LSGZ-89RGP7?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P
Hungry in Gaza, More and More, Eva Bartlett
GAZA CITY, Sep 29, 2010 (IPS) – “Sometimes, for a day or two we don’t even have bread, nor flour to make bread. There’s a store nearby that, when we are truly desperate, lets us take a bag of bread or something simple, on credit. I owe them a lot of money for the food I’ve brought from them, but I still can’t pay them.”
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=52996
Gaza Strip’s troubled tunnel trade reverses direction of traffic
RAFAH, Gaza Strip: Business has become so bad for Gaza’s smuggler barons since Israel relaxed its blockade that tunnel traders have given up spiriting goods into the enclave, and some have even turned underground exporters.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=3&article_id=119766
10 years to the second Intifada – summary of data
Israeli security forces killed 6371 Palestinians, of whom 1317 were minors. At least 2996 of the fatalities did not participate in the hostilities when killed. 2193 were killed while participating in the hostilities. For 694, B’Tselem does not know whether they participated in the hostilities or not. An additional 248 were Palestinian police killed in Gaza during operation Cast Lead, and 240 were targets of assassinations.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/VVOS-89QM89?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P
* Violence/Aggression & Provocations

Infant injured in Hebron raid
HEBRON (Ma’an) — An infant was hospitalized Monday after inhaling tear gas fired by Israeli police during a raid near Hebron, activists said.  Mahmud Muhammad Abdul Fattah At-Teet, 18 months, was transferred to a clinic in Beit Ummar and then to a hospital, Palestine Solidarity Project spokesman Muhammad Ayyad Awad said, after the raid on the village at 10:30 p.m.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=318913

Settlers attacks reported in a number of West Bank locations

Israeli settlers attacked on Tuesday morning some areas in the village of Qaryut south of Nablus and broke into some houses, local sources reported.

Settlers attacks reported in a number of West Bank lcoations

Israeli forces injure worker in northern Gaza
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A Palestinian worker was injured by Israeli fire on Wednesday near the northern no-go area in Beit Lahiya.  Medical services spokesman Adham Abu Silmiyya said Muhammad Yousif Ma’rouf, 23, was injured as he collected scrap in the area.  Ma’rouf was transferred to the Kamal Odwan Hospital for treatment.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=319231
   
Medics: Worker injured by Israeli fire near border
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Gaza medics said Wednesday that a Palestinian worker was injured by Israeli fire near the border area in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza.   Medical services spokesman Adham Abu Silmiyya said Muhammad Yousif Ma’rouf, 23, was injured by Israeli fire as he collected scrap in the area.  Ma’rouf was transferred to the Kamal Odwan Hospital for treatment.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=319164
Scores of Israelis enter Al-Aqsa compound
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Scores of Israeli settlers entered and toured the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City on Wednesday, as Jews marked the end of the religious holiday of Sukkot.  A guard at the mosque compound told Ma’an that approximately 95 Israelis entered the holy site, escorted by Israeli forces, and toured the compound’s courtyard.  On Tuesday, Tareq Abu Subieh, a guard at the mosque compound, was detained for attempting to prevent 75 settlers from entering the site, where many Jews believe the First and Second Temple were located.  Abu Subieh said he received a restriction order barring him from entering the compound for two weeks.  A spokesman for Israel’s National Police did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=319185
Israeli Police Close Roads In East Jerusalem Neighborhood After Renewed Clashes
In the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem, on Tuesday, Israeli settlers assaulted Palestinian neighborhood residents, provoking a scuffle between Palestinians and Israeli settlers, according to local sources.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59493?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Video proves: Israeli guard lied about shooting that led to East Jerusalem riots
New video, aired on Israeli channel 2, might indicate that the version of the Israeli security guard for the killing which led to Silwan (East Jerusalem) riots last weekend was false.  The protest in East Jerusalem lasted three days and resulted in the death of a Palestinian baby. The demonstrations started after a private security guard for one of the settlements opened fire on Palestinians in Silwan (an East Jerusalem neighborhood, located next to the old city).  The guard later told the police he drove into a Palestinian ambush at 4 am in the morning. The protesters blocked his way, and his jeep wouldn’t start. Fearing for his life, he claimed to have been forced to open fire. Samer Sarhan, father of five, died from the shooting.  The Jerusalem police accepted the guard’s story, released him on the same day and issued a statement supporting him.  But new evidence from a local security camera might indicate that the guard could have drove away from the scene immediately, without opening fire.
http://www.promisedlandblog.com/?p=3488
New video disproves settler version of Silwan shooting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb8pq9qrfRQ&feature=player_embedded
Zionists: terrorist pioneers
http://pulsemedia.org/2010/09/28/zionists-terrorist-pioneers/
* Detainees

Israel releases child charged with stone throwing
HEBRON (Ma’an) — An Israeli military court Tuesday released a 13-year-old child following six days of detention on charges of stone throwing, fining the boy 2,000 shekels ($545).  Karam Da’na was detained from his school in the Old City of Hebron on 22 September by Israeli forces and taken to the Ofer detention center in Ramallah.  A Palestinian Prisoner Society lawyer said the military court ruled that Da’na was not allowed to return to his family home until his next trial is heard. During Da’na’s hearing, he said, the military prosecutor objected to the child’s release, prolonging the session for over an hour.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=319005
* War Criminals and their American enablers
UN backs damning report on Israel’s flotilla attack (AFP)
AFP – The UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday agreed to back a report which found “clear evidence” for legal action against Israel over its attack on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100929/wl_mideast_afp/israelconflictgazaunrightsflotillaresolution
ICC can examine aid flotilla case: UN expert (AFP)
AFP – The International Criminal Court could examine Israel’s deadly storming of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in May, a member of a UN Human Rights Council’s probe into the incident said Tuesday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100928/wl_mideast_afp/israelconflictgazaunrightsflotillaicc
UN panel: Israel suppressing footage of Gaza flotilla raid
Member of the UN Human Rights Council’s fact-finding mission says Israel is trying maintain a monopoly over its version of the deadly May 31 events aboard the Turkish aid ship Mavi Marmara.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/un-panel-israel-suppressing-footage-of-gaza-flotilla-raid-1.316201?localLinksEnabled=false
UN mission finds Israel used “incredible violence” in Flotilla raid
“No one was safe,” once Israeli soldiers began using live ammunition on board the Mavi Marmara, says an authoritative UN investigation team into the Israeli attacks on the Gaza aid flotilla.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11539.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
Obama Administration Silent on Israeli Murder of 19-Year-Old American
Murder is murder, and terror is terror, you might think. But when terror is committed against an American citizen by the state of Israel the response from the US government is not protest, and it is surely not to demand justice, much less seek vengeance. It is silence.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26471.htm
* Israel’s Arab Helpers
Hamas Prisoner In P.A Jail Hospitalized Due To Torture
Palestinian media sources reported Tuesday evening that a political prisoner of the Hamas movement was moved to hospital after being reportedly tortured by security personnel of the Fateh movement.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59497
Obama continues Bush policy promoting anti-democratic crackdown in the West Bank, Adam Horowitz
Nathan Thrall has a great article in the current issue of the New York Review of Books on an issue that has received scant attention in the US press – US support for Salam Fayyad’s anti-democratic crackdown in the West Bank. US support has come mainly through the work of Lieutenant General Keith Dayton, who has been training the Palestinian security forces being used to round up, arrest and intimidate the Palestinian Authority’s opponents. One of the most notable, though understated, points of the article is the continuity from the Bush to Obama administrations in supporting this misguided and dangerous policy.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/09/obama-continues-bush-policy-promoting-anti-democratic-crackdown-in-the-west-bank.html
The Israel Project Loves Fayyad
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Two months ago the Israel Project was wondering, in a Capitol Hill briefing, “Is the Palestinian Authority preparing its people for peace?”  The answer was a pretty unequivocal “no.”  Delivering the briefing was Itamar Marcus, a founder of Palestinian Media Watch who in his writings has posited that anti-Semitism is not just endemic to Palestinian nationalism but central to it.  Last week, the same Israel Project said it was “honored” to host a dinner for Jewish groups in New York with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad — and was even more willing to be charmed by him.  “Prime Minister Fayyad’s spirit of hope was extremely welcome,” said Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, the founder and president of The Israel Project. “We know that some people will criticize us for falling for a Palestinian ‘charm offensive.’ However, there is nothing offensive about charm. More Jews and Muslims, Israelis and Palestinians, should sit together over dinner and exchange ideas — especially when it can help lead to security and peace.”  Contradiction?  Not at all, Mizrahi told JTA in an interview: Both events stem from The Israel Project’s mandate to accurately represent Israel’s policies. In this case, Mizrahi said, she got her hechsher for Fayyad from Benjamin Netanyahu.
http://m.jta.org/news/article/jta/2010/09/28/2741075/the-israel-project-pitching-peace-as-well-as-israel
Read more about what Fayyad’s fans think of Palestinians:  Teaching the Culture of Hate in Palestinian Classrooms
The culture of hate persists under the leadership of Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, despite promises to promote peace and end incitement that influence Palestinian children. Since Abbas was elected, Palestinian schools continue to teach from the same textbooks used under Arafat’s administration. Consequently, the number of children that have been recruited to commit acts of terror increased in 2005 despite the democratic election of Abbas and cooperation between PA and Israeli police forces.
http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=hsJPK0PIJpH&b=883997&ct=1789033
Read more about what Fayyad’s fans think of Palestinians:  Background: The Palestinian Refugees
Although most of the Arabs had left Israel by November 1948, there were still those who chose to leave even after hostilities ceased. An interesting case was the evacuation of 3,000 Arabs from Faluja, a village between
Tel Aviv and Beersheba:  Some impartial observers felt that with proper counsel after the Israeli/­Egyptian armistice, the Arab population might have advantageously remained. They state that the Israeli Government had given security guarantees of both person and property. However, no effort was made by Egypt, Transjordan or even the United Nations Palestine Conciliation Commission to advise the Faluja Arabs one way or the other (New York Times, March 4, 1949).
http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=hsJPK0PIJpH&b=883997&ct=1226383
ADC Silent About FBI Raids
The American Anti-Arab Discrimination Committee, more commonly known as the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), has yet to condemn the past few days’ FBI raids on anti-war activists. The self-proclaimed “civil rights organization committed to defending the rights of people of Arab descent” has yet to release a statement denouncing these scare tactics intended to intimidate both Arabs and those in solidarity with Arabs.  Other groups, like the Minnesota-based Anti-War Committee, have organized emergency demonstrations. It’s been five days since the raids and we haven’t even seen a press release from the ADC, which is somehow considered “at the forefront in addressing discrimination and bias against Arab-Americans wherever it is practiced.” Oil sheikh funding probably comes with lots of strings attached.
http://ikhras.com/2010/09/adc-silent-about-fbi-raid/
The Middle East’s Worst-kept Secret
IT IS an open secret that at least some Gulf countries maintain covert contacts with Israel, primarily for intelligence sharing. It has been reported often (though with questionable reliability) that Saudi Arabia would allow the IAF to use its airspace to attack Iran’s nuclear sites, and that senior Israeli officials, including the head of the Mossad, meet with Gulf officials with increasing regularity
http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2010/09/28/the_middle_easts_worst-kept_secret_99204.html
* “Peace” Talks/Political Developments
PPP calls for united, popular resistance front
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The leftist Palestinian Peoples’ Party called on Tuesday for a united front for the popular resistance, in a statement marking the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000.  The PPP said Palestinian factions should learn from the First and Second Intifadas “to adopt the peoples’ way of facing aggression,” demanding the formation of a united front to face renewed settlement activity in the West Bank.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=319269
Mash’al, Egypt intelligence chief meet over unity deal
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — A high-ranking Hamas official said Wednesday that party leader-in-exile Khaled Mash’al met with Egyptian Intelligence chief Omar Suleiman over progress made on unity talks with Fatah.  Ismail Radwan told Ma’an that “in the coming days, we will witness a meeting between Hamas and Fatah delegations to complete agreements on disputed points that will be signed and then agree to steps on conciliation.”  Radwan denied, however, that Cairo had invited a Hamas delegation to Egypt to discuss the unity deal, which officials from both parties have said has shown significant progress since a meeting in Damascus last week.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=319169
Haniyeh welcomes ‘positive action’ on unity
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Gaza government premier Ismail Haniyeh said Tuesday that national reconciliation requires genuine will as well as an agreement on political and security partnership.  Addressing ministers during the weekly cabinet meeting in Gaza City, Haniyeh said “we welcome the latest positive actions for reconciliation; we assure that we will put our efforts in order to reach a genuine stable national reconciliation.” His comments come days of positive feedback from on between rival party officials in Damascus last week.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=318967
Fatah: Reconciliation with Hamas ‘close’
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Senior Fatah official and Palestinian Legislative Council member Azzam Al-Ahmad says the ratification of a unity deal with rival movement Hamas is nearing as officials are scheduled to meet over the last disputed terms next week.  Al-Ahmad said that once the last issues relating to internal security and the restructuring of the security services are agreed on in meetings in Damascus over the first week of October, party officials will head to Cairo to finalize the Egyptian-sponsored reconciliation document.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=319124
PA says no change in position on settlements
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — President Mahmoud Abbas’ position remains that peace talks cannot coexist with settlement activity, his office said Monday, a day after Israel’s moratorium on new building ended and settlers renewed construction.  Presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudaineh told Ma’an radio that Abbas would wait for Israel’s final response to demands that it extend a freeze on building before making a decision on whether to remain in talks.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=318656
Abbas: Israel to blame if talks fail over settlements
Palestinian leader says will deliver ‘very important speech’ during Arab League meeting; Netanyahu tells Sarkozy, Clinton peace deal possible within a year.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3961654,00.html
PA official: No special treatment for settlers
NABLUS (Ma’an) — A Palestinian Authority official denied Tuesday that Israeli settlers had been granted permission to restore Joseph’s Tomb in the northern West Bank district of Nablus, saying only the PA would be allowed to undertake the work.  The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said reports in Israeli media that Israeli settlers would be entering the shrine for restoration works aimed at “blackmailing” the PA and to “impose a situation where settlers achieve their goals.”  The tomb, he said, was under PA control and that access to the area is granted with prior arrangement with the PA.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=319036
Palestinians don’t expect “effective” U.S. pressure on Israel: official
RAMALLAH, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) — The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) doesn’t expect “effective” U.S. pressure on Israel to halt Jewish settlement in the West Bank, a Palestinian official said Wednesday.  Neither the PNA nor the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) were aware of any U.S. pressure on Israel to get peace talks, which have stalled shortly after being re-launched on Sept. 2, back on track, said Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of the PLO’s Executive Committee.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-09/29/c_13535941.htm
PM says will meet Abbas in Paris, but PA yet to agree, KHALED ABU TOAMEH [Don’t worry Khaled, he’ll show up…]
Palestinians: If building continues, we will stop the talks; Mitchell arrives in Israel to broker compromise.  Israel accepted France’s invitation to hold direct talks with the Palestinians in Paris next month, even as the Palestinians continued to threaten Tuesday to pull out of the fledgling negotiations unless Israel halted West Bank settlement construction.  Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s office said that no decision had been made regarding an invitation French President Nicolas Sarkozy had extended to both sides.
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=189575
Israeli calls for intermediate peace agreement (AP)
AP – Israel’s foreign minister is calling for “a long-term intermediate agreement” with the Palestinians and land swaps.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100928/ap_on_re_us/un_un_world_summit_israel
Lieberman: Peace deal may take decades
In address to UN General Assembly, foreign minister says, ‘New generation that will have mutual trust and will not be influenced by incitement,’ must be raised before Israeli-Palestinian agreement possible. Adds: Deal must be based on ‘exchange of populated territory’.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3961572,00.html
Netanyahu: I did not approve the contents of Lieberman’s UN speech  [Sure…]
In his address, the foreign minister presented his draft for a population and territory swap, as part of an eventual peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-i-did-not-approve-the-contents-of-lieberman-s-un-speech-1.316220?localLinksEnabled=false
Ministers: Lieberman causing Israel damage
Netanyahu, Barak shake connection to foreign minister’s UN speech, which ministers say was meant to stymie peace process. Minister Herzog: Lieberman shames his country in public. US clarifies that only prime minister leading peace talks.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3961736,00.html    
   
Report: Obama trades weapons for talks
TEL AVIV (Ma’an) — US President Barack Obama sent a letter of guarantees to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in bid to save direct peace talks from collapse, Israel’s Hebrew language daily Maariv reported on Wednesday.  The guarantees were reportedly in exchange for an immediate halt to settlement construction, and dealt with issues around Israeli security negotiated between Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and head of the Israeli negotiating team Isaac Molcho during their New York and Washington visits over the past weeks.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=319266
Mitchell to meet Arab leaders on Mideast tour (AFP)
AFP – The United States said Tuesday that US Middle East envoy George Mitchell is scheduled to meet Arab leaders during his regional tour aimed at rescuing fledgling Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100928/pl_afp/israelpalestinianspeaceustalks
* Other News
PA slams ‘Israeli leniency’ toward racial incitement
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday slammed Israel’s leadership for failing to distance itself from increasing episodes of racial incitement in the Netanyahu government.  PA spokesman Ghassan Khatib termed an Israeli parliament member’s statements, which the official said called for killing hundreds of Palestinians, “pure racist incitement that goes uncared for by the Israeli government.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=318966
Peres: Rabbi Ovadia Yosef a peace seeker
President visits sukkah of Shas spiritual leader, praises him for love of Israel. Rabbi thanks Peres for relaying his letter to Mubarak.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3961313,00.html
 
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef calls for annihilation of Arabs
The spiritual leader of Israel’s ultra-orthodox Shas party, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, has provoked outrage with a sermon calling for the annihilation of Arabs.  “It is forbidden to be merciful to them. You must send missiles to them and annihilate them. They are evil and damnable,” he was quoted as saying in a sermon delivered on Monday to mark the Jewish festival of Passover.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1270038.stm
Gissin talks Sharon’s Temple Mount visit 10 years later
“It was a sensitive time during the High Holy Days and at the end of Ramadan,” Gissin said. “I told him the situation was tense in the West Bank and that [Palestinian general Tawfik] Tirawi’s people were planning to do something on the Temple Mount, whether the trigger would be Sharon or something else. Sharon knew he was playing into their hands, but he went in a clear-headed manner to prove that he wouldn’t compromise on Jerusalem and that Israel would stand up for its rights.”
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=189593
US and Israel ink deal on short-range missile defense
WASHINGTON: The United States and Israel on Monday agreed to advance work on a weapons system that would help Israel defend against short-range ballistic missiles similar to those launched by Hizbullah during the 2006 summer war.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=119802
Settlers heavily overrepresented among IDF commanders
13% of all combat company commanders on active service come from settlements while only three hail from Tel Aviv.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/settlers-heavily-overrepresented-among-idf-commanders-1.316271?localLinksEnabled=false
Women protest haredi discrimination
Dozens march in haredi area in central Jerusalem in protest of separation between men and women on sidewalks in Mea Shearim neighborhood, hold signs reading ‘Jerusalem is not Tehran’.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3961877,00.html
Arabs from north accused of recruiting for Hamas
Two residents of Shfaram and Umm al-Fahm indicted for attempting to locate weapons cache set aside for Hamas-directed attacks. One of them admits to trying to recruit Arab to Hamas, sending him for training in Turkey or Syria.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3961581,00.html
Israeli’s media campaign in Turkey (AP)
AP – A brief visit by an Israeli hospital official was meant to counter tensions over new efforts to break the Gaza blockade, and help to revive damaged ties between Turkey and Israel, both close U.S. allies.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100928/ap_on_re_eu/eu_turkey_israel
MK: Release prisoners ‘with blood on their hands’ for Shalit
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — An Israeli member of parliament said Tuesday that his government should consider the release of Palestinian prisoners “with blood on their hands” if it would secure the release of a captured Israeli soldier.  Speaking to Israel Radio, Shaul Mofaz said the prisoners’ release should be implemented “if there wasn’t any other choice” in a deal that could secure the release of Gilad Shalit.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=319062
MP Mona Mansour: PA military trials in the West Bank unconstitutional
NABLUS, (PIC)– Palestinian Legislative Committee member Mona Mansour (Nablus) said PA military trials organized against Islamic movement supporters and leaders in the West Bank are “unconstitutional” and “unlawful”.  Mansour told Jordanian weekly Assabeel published on Monday: “We, as representatives, unequivocally oppose any military trial against any person, especially as they are unlawful and unconstitutional; and the military courts have no jurisdiction to try non-military personnel in non-military affairs.”  “The detainees who were presented to those courts in the West Bank are civilians and not military personnel, so we oppose violating the rights of any person regardless of his affiliation, and regardless of his social and political status,” Mansour went on to say.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/en/default.aspx?xyz=
14 justices sue PA over vehicle restrictions
NABLUS (Ma’an) — Fourteen Palestinian supreme court justices have filed a lawsuit against the Palestinian Authority, prime minister and finance minister Salam Fayyad, and transportation minister Sa’di Al-Krunz.  The plaintiffs complain that the Ramallah-based Palestinian government’s decision to reduce the number of government cars used by civil servants has inflicted social and financial harm on them. The complaint suggests that PA’s decision inflicted heavy material and moral damage on the plaintiffs without any legal right. The plaintiffs say that they were privileged to have government cars to enhance their prestige as their counterparts in many countries in the world.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=318809
Jerusalem street theater tackles touchy topic
JERUSALEM: A Jewish man holds a sign that says “Temple Mount.” Next to him stands a Muslim Arab holding a similar sign claiming the sacred mountaintop in Jerusalem. They fight over a third sign that reads “In my hands.”
http://arabnews.com/lifestyle/sidelights/article149212.ece
* Analysis/Opinion/Human Interest

Mahmoud Abbas gives Israel a week to halt settlement expansion. Does he mean it this time?
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas backed down again on his threat to quit peace talks over Israeli settlement expansion, this time pending consultation with the Arab League Oct. 4.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/ltKYJH79y24/Mahmoud-Abbas-gives-Israel-a-week-to-halt-settlement-expansion.-Does-he-mean-it-this-time
Inside Story – Mahmoud Abbas’ dilemma
Settlement building in the West Bank is once again underway after the Israeli government allowed the ten month moratorium on settlement expansion to expire. With the peace process under serious threat, what will Abbas do next? And can diplomacy find a way out of this dilemma?

Avigdor Lieberman takes settlement policy to its logical conclusion, Jesse Bacon
Lost in the debate over the settlement phase is its real purpose, to claim Palestinian land for Israel. Even its hardcore defenders like Avigdor Lieberman, know there will come a time when that has reached its end, when all available Palestinian land has been taken, and all Palestinians capable of being forced to leave will have done so. What to do then?
http://theonlydemocracy.org/2010/09/avigdor-lieberman-takes-settlement-policy-to-its-logical-conclusion/
Pseudo-Freeze Ends, Pseudo-Liberals Rejoice, Daniel Luban
Israel’s mostly-for-show settlement moratorium has expired, over the objections of the liberal pro-Israel group J Street, and the usual suspects on the right couldn’t be happier. More revealing, however, is the sight of Jeffrey Goldberg’s scarcely-concealed gloating over the fact that J Street “lost” the battle over a settlement freeze.  Why revealing? Because Goldberg is perhaps the classic example of the ostensibly “liberal” Zionist pundit who ostentatiously touts his opposition to settlements as proof of his liberal bona fides. By doing so, he hopes to gain greater credibility when he calls for invading Iraq, or bombing Iran, or finishing the job during the Gaza assault. In this he is typical of many Jewish establishment pundits — Alan Dershowitz is another example — who use their nominal opposition to settlements as a fig leaf to cover their generally unquestioning support of the Israeli government. Generally speaking, these pundits did so in the confidence that they would never be forced to act on their statements against settlements.

Pseudo-Freeze Ends, Pseudo-Liberals Rejoice

Is South African Foreign Policy with Palestine Tied in Knots?, Iqbal Jassat – Pretoria
In a recent interview, South Africa’s ambassador to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Ted Pekane, made an intriguing observation:  Currently we have no intention of breaking ties with Israel. That would be counter-productive. Our policy of engagement applies to Israel as well. Only if the [Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas] asked us to support the disinvestments and sanctions campaign against Israel would we consider packing our bags”.  This admission is the closest any senior foreign ministry official has come to in revealing an inherent weakness in this country’s relations with Israel/Palestine.  It is shocking too in that it implies our diplomatic engagement in the world’s number one conflict zone is blinded and being pursued while voluntarily having our hands tied behind our back!
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16295
Israel’s Political Firewall against the Truth, George Polley 
In an article published in the September 6th edition of The Palestine Chronicle (“Imagining Palestinians as Equal”) I began with this quote from novelist Aldous Huxley: “The propagandist’s purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human.” It is the key to separating out what is blatant propaganda and what is fair and honest communication. The purpose of Israel’s political firewall is blocking out and discrediting the testimony of the people it abuses on a daily basis and their supporters, through using high level elites.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16293
You Only Get the Truth From Former Officials, BOUTHAINA SHAABAN
Warning us about the Obama administration’s submission to Israeli pressure, in an interview with Lebanon’s OTV, Michael Scheuer, a former senior CIA officer, said: “Three hundred million Americans could wake up tomorrow to discover that a foreign leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, led them to war with Iran, which might lead to war with the rest of the Muslim world”.   He added, “Israel has no value whatsoever when it comes to American interests.  It does not produce or give us anything we need.  The only thing we get from it is that it is leading us to a religious war it seeks with Islam”.
http://www.counterpunch.com/shaaban09282010.html
Imperial Israel, Steve Lendman
In his book “Against Empire,” Michael Parenti defines imperialism as “the process whereby the dominant politico-economic interests of one nation expropriate for their own enrichment the land, labor, raw materials, and markets of another people.”  In a September 21 article, titled “What Do Empires Do?” he says “Imperialism is what (they) do.” They don’t just pursue “power for power’s sake. There are (significant) interests at stake, fortunes to be made many times over,” including land, mineral wealth, cheap labor, and easily exploited markets. They’re there, so take them, the strong dominating the weak. Besides seizing and controlling Syrian and Lebanese land, it’s how Israel rules Palestine, no regional country a match for its military might with no shyness about using it.
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/09/imperial-israel.html
* Lebanon
Tough Days Lie Ahead in Lebanon
29/09/2010 Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem stressed the Special Tribunal of Lebanon (STL) “has been irredeemably politicized,” and that Damascus has received word that members of Hezbollah were soon to be formally charged with the murder case of former PM martyr Rafiq Hariri.  Moallem told the Wall Street Journal in remarks published Wednesday that “such developments risked plunging Lebanon into a new round of sectarian strife and that the U.N.’s investigation should be replaced by a purely Lebanese investigation to ensure fair treatment.”  In short, tough days could be lying ahead in Lebanon.  Hezbollah believes that the STL will issue an indictment that would implicate “undisciplined” party members in the 2005 Hariri murder.  S.G. Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah has said that Prime Minister Saad Hariri told about the nature of the indictment. Some MPs in Hariri’s bloc denied Sayyed Nasrallah’s comments, however Hariri did not.
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=155985&language=en
US ambassador says aid to Lebanese Army will continue
BEIRUT: American Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly stressed that her country would continue supporting the Lebanese Army. Connelly said that her country “trusts the role of the Lebanese Army and its determination to continue to support it and enhance cooperation with it in all fields.”
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=119793
Key spokesperson for STL resigns after just 20 days
BEIRUT: The spokesperson for the prosecutor in the UN probe into the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri resigned on Tuesday, citing “personal reasons,” in the latest blow for the beleaguered court.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=119792
Sleiman rejects settlement of refugees in any peace deal
BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman stressed Monday that Lebanon would not accept any resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict at its expense with regard to the settlement of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=119794
Hezbollah Praises Lebanese President’s Unifying Positions
28/09/2010 The head of the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Mohammad Raad praised President Michel Sleiman’s unifying stances at the UN, saying they express the fixed standards of the Lebanese and their patriotic pulse.  In a statement, Raad said “the president was perfectly clear when he stressed Lebanon’s adherence to its right to gain back and liberate our land in every legitimate way possible, and when he underscored the necessity to distinguish between condemned terrorism and legitimate resistance to foreign occupation.”  “The president’s call for the international community to adopt a decisive position with regards to the Israeli violations, aggression, and recruitment of agents to destabilize Lebanon was meant to express the Lebanese dismay at the international failure to assume responsibility in the face of Israeli aggression,” the statement read.  On the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), the Hezbollah MP said the party received with great understanding and relief “the president’s stances during his interview with Al-Jadeed TV in New York. He said that the STL should gain back its credibility by staying away from politicization and by carefully dealing with an issue that does not tolerate dubiety,” in reference to the indictment expected to issued in December implicating Hezbollah in martyr Rafiq Hariri’s assassination.
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=155814&language=en
* Iraq
Tuesday: 3 Iraqis Killed, 24 Wounded
At least three Iraqis were killed and 24 were wounded in mostly late evening attacks in and near Baghdad. Meanwhile, a U.S. servicemember is in custody for the deaths of two fellow soldiers last week. Also, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari called on the United States to increase its role in helping Iraq form its new government.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/09/28/tuesday-3-iraqis-killed-24-wounded/
Attacks kill 3 Iraqi police (AP)
AP – Officials say three police officers have been killed in late night attacks in two northern Iraqi cities, including a bombing that also injured eight bystanders.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100929/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq
Iraq defence minister in Ankara with PKK on agenda (AFP)
AFP – Iraq’s defence minister met with Turkish officials in Ankara on Tuesday, a spokesman said, a day after Turkey said it wanted to extend a mandate for air strikes on Kurdish rebel bases in Iraq.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100928/wl_mideast_afp/iraqturkeydiplomacydefence
Media watchdog: Iraqi forces attacking journalists
A media watchdog group is criticizing Iraqi security forces for what it describes as recent attacks on local journalists.  The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders also is condemning an attack this week that wounded an anchor at state-run Iraqiya TV. The bomb was attached to the journalist’s car.  The media watchdog group cited three incidents last week during which it said Iraqi reporters, photographers and cameramen were roughed up by security officials.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/09/media-watchdog-iraqi-forces-attacking-journalists/
Biden calls for ‘inclusive’ new Iraqi government (AFP)
AFP – US Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday urged Iyad Allawi, one of two principal contenders vying to become Iraq’s next prime minister, to speed up negotiations to form an “inclusive” government.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100928/pl_afp/iraqunrestuspolitics
Iraq’s Allawi asks Syria to press Iran not to meddle (AFP)
AFP – Former Iraqi premier Iyad Allawi said he had asked Syria on Wednesday to persuade Iran to keep out of his protracted battle for the premiership with incumbent Nuri al-Maliki.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100929/wl_mideast_afp/iraqpoliticssyria
Iraqi Shiite Militia Hints of Iran’s Hand in South
Nearly four minutes of shaky, hand-held video clips show roadside bombs hitting U.S. convoys, a battery of Katyusha rockets and a soldier who appeared to be downed by sniper fire.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=5ad063ac3de72680b0e17afd04c35c5f
* U.S. and other world news
CIA seeks to gag critics of terror hit list
THE Obama Administration is trying to use national security laws to pre-empt an embarrassing court case over its targeted assassinations of terror suspects.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/cia-seeks-to-gag-critics-of-terror-hit-list/story-e6frg6so-1225929827788
‘Afghan children’ die in Nato raid
Local official contradicts Nato claim of insurgents being killed, saying four children have died in Ghazni attack.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/09/2010929114014622446.html
1st U.S. Soldier of Alleged “Kill Team” Targeting Afghan Civilians Faces Military Tribunal for War Crimes
Army Specialist Jeremy Morlock is the first of twelve US soldiers accused of forming a secret “kill team” in Afghanistan that murdered unarmed Afghan civilians at random and collected body parts, such as fingers, for trophies. They are also accused of using hashish, dismembering and photographing corpses, and possessing human bones such as a skull and leg bones. The Army is attempting to prevent the release of dozens of photographs that reportedly show Morlock and other soldiers posing with the murdered Afghan civilians.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/9/29/1st_us_soldier_of_alleged_kill

Assad to Ahmadinejad: Don’t visit Lebanon
Kuwaiti newspaper al-Anbaa says Syrian president asked his Iranian counterpart to postpone planned trip to southern Lebanon, tone down his statements during visit so as not to harm country’s security.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3961987,00.html
Damascus hails ‘constructive’ dialogue despite US warnings
DAMASCUS: Syria on Tuesday hailed its “constructive dialogue” with the United States after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met her Syrian counterpart Walid al-Moallem in New York and warned Damascus not to undermine stability in Iraq or Lebanon.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=119800
Teachers filmed hitting kids: The Facebook video that rattled Syria
After vigorous questioning, the teachers admitted their actions. It turns out that the two were already investigated regarding a complaint filed against them in 2004. At the time their punishment was a 3% reduction in salary for three months. Now, when it has become clear they have reverted to these abusive methods, they were fired and are prohibited from ever working with children again. Syria’s education ministry published a statement saying it is “determined to fight violence of this kind.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3961715,00.html
Kuwait defends decision to ban 25 books ahead of October fair
KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait’s Information Ministry Tuesday dismissed criticism from liberal MPs for banning books from a fair due next month while Islamists praised the move.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=119773
Mubarak versus Nasser
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/09/mubarak-versus-nasser.html
Obama, Bush, and the Judicious Use of Hellfire Missiles
Much has changed since the Bush administration left office. Two years ago, the CIA was worrying about legal issues surrounding the killing of Americans at an alleged terrorist training camp in Pakistan. Now the Obama administration has apparently put American citizens on a “targeted killing” list.
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2010/09/anwar-al-awlaki-and-dead-americans-pakistan
www.TheHeadlines.org

Once again, PA caves on Goldstone Report

Sep 29, 2010

Philip Weiss 

Complete cave: The Palestinian Authority today acted in the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva to freeze the Goldstone Report, preventing it from going to the Security Council and International Criminal Court.
Raji Sourani of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights blasted the PA’s action as a “grave mistake.”

Reports a friend: The resolution the PA sponsored would “extend the mandate” of the Human Rights Council’s committee of experts on the Goldstone Report, asking for further investigation and reporting by this committee— even though that committee has completed its favorable report already. What the PA deliberately failed to do, notwithstanding the urging of countless domestic and international human rights groups, was to put forward a resolution to refer the HRC experts’ report to the General Assembly and Security Council. This would put in motion action on the Goldstone Report recommendation that the Security Council submit that matter to the ICC for prosecution, should parties fail to adequately investigate/punish, which the HRC report delivered last week so concluded. The PA was under pressure from the US and Israel to let Goldstone languish in Geneva, which this pathetic resolution accomplishes– for the sake of the peace process.

And thus the PA confirms the worst accusations of its critics.

Peace process? Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli Foreign Minister, addresses the General Assembly in New York and says the peace process should continue for “decades” and include population transfers, ethnic cleansing by another name.

UN report: Israeli interception of the Gaza flotilla was illegal

Sep 29, 2010

Adam Horowitz

More from the UN report into the Israeli attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. Notice that the report also makes clear that the entire Israeli blockade of Gaza is illegal as a form of collective punishment. The following appears on pages 14 and 15 of the UN report:

Under the laws of armed conflict, a blockade is the prohibition of all commerce with  a defined enemy coastline. A belligerent who has established a lawful blockade is entitled to enforce that blockade on the high seas. A blockade must satisfy a number of legal requirements, including: notification, effective and impartial enforcement and proportionality. In particular a blockade is illegal if:

(a) it has the sole purpose of starving the civilian population or denying it other
objects essential for its survival; or

(b) the damage to the civilian population is, or may be expected to be, excessive in
relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated from the blockade.

A blockade may not continue to be enforced where it inflicts disproportionate
damage on the civilian population. The usual meaning of “damage to the civilian
population” in LOAC refers to deaths, injuries and property damage. Here the damage may be thought of as the destruction of the civilian economy and prevention of reconstruction of past damage. One might also note, insofar as many in Gaza face a shortage of food or the means to buy it, that the ordinary meaning of “starvation” under LOAC is simply to cause hunger.

In evaluating the evidence submitted to the Mission, including by the Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian territory, confirming the severe humanitarian situation in Gaza, the destruction of the economy and the prevention of reconstruction (as detailed above), the Mission is satisfied that the blockade was inflicting disproportionate damage upon the civilian population in the Gaza strip and as such the interception could not be justified and therefore has to be considered illegal.

Moreover, the Mission emphasizes that according to article 33 of the Fourth Geneva
Convention, collective punishment of civilians under occupation is prohibited. “No
protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism, are prohibited.” The Mission considers that one of the principal motives behind the imposition of the blockade was a desire to punish the people of the Gaza Strip for having elected Hamas. The combination of this motive and the effect of the restrictions on the Gaza Strip leave no doubt that Israel’s actions and policies amount to collective punishment as defined by international law. In this connection, the Mission supports the findings of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Richard Falk, the report of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict and most recently the ICRC that the blockade amounts to collective punishment in violation of Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law.

It might be suggested that a belligerent in an armed conflict has a right to visit,
inspect and control the destinations of neutral vessels on the high seas, irrespective of any declared blockade. Whilst there is some controversy on this issue, the San Remo Manual and a number of military manuals take the view that the right may only be exercised upon reasonable suspicion that a vessel is engaged in activities which support the enemy. The Mission takes the view that a right of interference with third States’ freedom of navigation should not lightly be presumed.

Thus, if there is no lawful blockade, the only lawful basis for intercepting the vessel
would be a reasonable suspicion that it:

• was making an effective contribution to the opposing forces’ war effort, such as by carrying weaponry or was otherwise closely integrated into the enemy war effort (belligerent right of capture); or

• posed an imminent and overwhelming threat to Israel and there was no alternative but to use force to prevent it (self-defence under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter).

In view of the information available, the Mission is satisfied that the interception of the flotilla and related preparatory planning by Israel was not purely motivated by concerns as to the vessels’ contribution to the war effort. Evidence attributed to the Chief of General Staff, Gabi Ashkenazi who testified that he did not believe that the IHH, one of the coalition members organizing the Flotilla, was a “terrorist organization”. The evidence of Prime Minister Netanyahu to the Turkel Committee indicates that the decision to stop the flotilla was not taken because the vessels in themselves posed any immediate security threat. In any event, no such right of belligerent interdiction or wider claim of self-defence against the Flotilla has been asserted by Israel.

Therefore the Mission is satisfied not only that the flotilla presented no imminent
threat but that the interception was motivated by concerns about the possible propaganda victory that might be claimed by the organizers of the flotilla.

Given the evidence at the Turkel Committee, it is clear that there was no reasonable
suspicion that the Flotilla posed any military risk of itself. As a result, no case could be made to intercept the vessels in the exercise of belligerent rights or Article 51 self-defence. Thus, no case can be made for the legality of the interception and the Mission therefore finds that the interception was illegal.

In NYT, Robt Wright dares to suggest that Palestinians should have a right to, unh, vote

Sep 29, 2010

Philip Weiss 

Robert Wright of the New York Times is a great journalistic ally in the road ahead. Because he knows the story, because he understands that the current situation is oppressive, because he’s in the mainstream, and because he couldn’t really care less about Zionism. Today he has a pretty good piece about demanding a one-state solution as a means to a two-state solution. Though it is circumlocutory, its essence is that Palestinians should have a right to– sit down– vote. And he suggests very indirectly that BDS is the path. Good work. Onward. Remember, Wright is working in a den of Jewish nationalism, the MSM, so someone must bake him a cake with a hacksaw blade inside it, so that we might look forward to his continuing liberation from the militaristic and often-racist rationalizations of the status quo.

 

Freeze was meaningless

Sep 29, 2010

Philip Weiss 

Great precise journalism by Matti Friedman of AP on how the settlement freeze was really just a slowdown, and hardly a slowdown, given the dropping of the freeze. “A few projects were delayed,” says Hagit Ofran of Peace Now. Let’s hope more mainstream news organizations pick up on this insult to American policy and intelligence.

Sailing into the storm

Sep 29, 2010 

Philip Weiss

One of the most disturbing things about visiting Israel and Palestine is seeing the bifurcated reality. Political freedom and prosperity in Israel, despair and 60 years of no-rights right across the Green Line. Time Magazine brilliantly captured this separation in its cover story on Israelis making too much money to care about peace. Everything’s in the bubble, the Palestinian situation is being contained, and this explains why, historically, people resort to violence. As Patrick Henry wrote (in a quote Annie dug up), “Sir, we have done everything that could be done, to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament…. If we wish to be free, if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending… we must fight!”

This is my preamble to a desperate photograph that Rob Buchanan pointed out to me in the New York Times today. Buchanan: 

Look at this picture [byJim Hollander of European Press Photo agency] that accompanied the Times Gaza intercept story today. There’s the seized catamaran and the military vessels accompanying it into port, but in the hazy background are two really big sailing yachts with their spinnakers up. Looks like they’re headed south for a little gambol along the Gaza coast. Of course there’s nothing wrong with big sailboats, but it’s somehow jarring–here’s this concentration camp with a million or two miserable people, its borders zealously guarded lest any real food or medicine get in, and right next door here are these majestic wind-driven vessels flying along through the blue blue Med. 

Just out for a sail, not a care in the world.

Pseudo-freeze ends, pseudo-liberals rejoice

Sep 29, 2010

Daniel Luban

 

The following post originally appeared on Lobelog.

Israel’s mostly-for-show settlement moratorium has expired, over the objections of the liberal pro-Israel group J Street, and the usual suspects on the right couldn’t be happier. More revealing, however, is the sight of Jeffrey Goldberg’s scarcely-concealed gloating over the fact that J Street “lost” the battle over a settlement freeze.

Why revealing? Because Goldberg is perhaps the classic example of the ostensibly “liberal” Zionist pundit who ostentatiously touts his opposition to settlements as proof of his liberal bona fides. By doing so, he hopes to gain greater credibility when he calls for invading Iraq, or bombing Iran, or finishing the job during the Gaza assault. In this he is typical of many Jewish establishment pundits — Alan Dershowitz is another example — who use their nominal opposition to settlements as a fig leaf to cover their generally unquestioning support of the Israeli government. Generally speaking, these pundits did so in the confidence that they would never be forced to act on their statements against settlements.

Thus when the Obama administration actually pushed Israel for a full settlement freeze, their discomfiture was obvious, and most of the leading “liberal” voices of establishment Jewry suddenly got a bad case of stage fright. J Street and Americans for Peace Now were virtually alone in being willing to offer unambiguous public support for the exact policy that they had previously claimed to back. The Goldbergs and Dershowitzes of the world weren’t quite willing to admit that they simply opposed a settlement freeze, so they waffled furiously — it’s just that the timing wasn’t right, you see, and anyway, Israel should at least be allowed to build in the nebulously-defined areas that “everybody knows” it will keep in a peace deal, and anyway, can’t we just change the subject to Iran? (We can see more of this waffling from Goldberg today, as he first timidly proposes a settlement freeze outside of the Greater Jerusalem area — which, of course, exempts an enormous chunk of settlement-building from the “freeze” — before turning the mic over to neocon Robert Satloff to explain why any freeze is a terrible idea.)

This is why Goldberg’s gloating over the failure to impose a settlement freeze is so revealing. Of all the Obama administration’s mistakes in its Israel/Palestine policies, one of the biggest was assuming that the allegedly liberal Zionists in the American Jewish establishment actually supported the goals that they professed to support.

IDF used excessive force to take Jewish Boat to Gaza. Shapira: ’soldiers’ actions were violent and disgusting’

Sep 29, 2010

Adam Horowitz 

The story is starting to change regarding the IDF interception of the Jewish Boat to Gaza. Initial reports (including ours) seemed to indicate that the IDF took the boat in a relatively nonviolent manner. The Times Lede blog included the Israeli military’s version of events, “The boarding of the yacht was without incident, and no violence of any kind was used by neither the passengers on board nor the Israel naval forces.” But now that the boat passengers are being interviewed a different story is coming out.

From Haaretz:

Earlier Tuesday the IDF reported that Israeli naval commandos peacefully boarded the Jewish aid boat attempting to break a naval blockade on Gaza, saying “IDF naval forces recently boarded the yacht ‘Irene’, and it is currently being led to the Ashdod seaport along with its passengers.”

However, testimonies by passengers who were released from police questioning later in the day seemed to counter the IDF’s claims, with Israeli activist and former Israel Air Force pilot Yonatan Shapira saying that there were “no words to describe what we went through during the takeover.”

Shapira said the activists, who he said displayed no violence, were met with extreme IDF brutality, adding that the soldiers “just jumped us, and hit us. I was hit with a taser gun.”

“Some of the soldiers treated us atrociously,” Shapira said, adding that he felt there was a “huge gap between what the IDF spokesman is saying happened and what really happened.”

The former IAF pilot said he and his fellow activists were “proud of the mission,” saying it was organized “for the sake of a statement – that the siege on Gaza is a crime, that it’s immoral, un-Jewish, and we have a moral obligation to speak out. Anyone who stays silent as this crime is being committed is an accessory to a crime.”

Eli Usharov, a reporter for Israel’s Channel 10 affirmed Shapira’s version of the events, telling Haaretz that the takeover was executed with unnecessary brutality.

“They used a taser gun against Yonatan. He screamed and was dragged to the military boat,” Usharov said, adding that both Yonatan and his brother Itamar were handcuffed.

The Channel 10 reporter also said that the activists managed to have a serious heart-to-heart conversation with the troops once they were all placed on board the military vessel, and that “overall the atmosphere was good.”

Reuben Moscowitz, a Holocaust survivor who took part in the mission, expressed his disbelief that “Israeli soldiers would treat nine Jews this way. They just hit people.”

On the Orwell watch, note that the New York Times’ main story’s lead on the interception described it as taking place “peacefully.” Then the story quotes an Israeli army spokesperson saying a “stun gun” was used. Is this peaceful?