Mondoweiss Online Newsletter

NOVANEWS

• Nakba porn kingpin Michael Lucas bullies LGBT center against Anti-Apartheid Party

• Haaretz ad recommends ‘return’-ing Palestinians to Jordan

• Working around America: a new strategy on Israel/Palestine

• Netanyahu seems as delusional as Qadhafi

• Knesset debates bill to abolish status of Arabic as an official language

• 90% of Libya in opposition hands; Qadhafi says protesters are all drug addicts led by Bin Laden

• Ahmet Dogan: ‘US failure to support my son comes from the same policy that has led to support for Middle East autocrats & Israeli governments that have long oppressed Palestinians’

• NY’s LGBT center cancels pro-Palestinian event after donor/porn-merchant says it’s ‘anti-Semitic’

• Livni is PNG in many parts of the world but ‘Washington Post’ rolls out red carpet

• Warsaw palm tree sculpture wears kuffiyeh in protest of Jerusalem annexation

Nakba porn kingpin Michael Lucas bullies LGBT center against Anti-Apartheid Party

Feb 24, 2011

Max Blumenthal

 

Wealthy gay porn producer Michael Lucas has successfully pressured New York City’s LGBT Center to renege on its agreement to host a “Party to End Apartheid” on Israeli Apartheid Week. Lucas threatened to boycott the center and pressure its donors to pull their money out. He called the event an “anti-Semitic” affair held by a “hate group.” It seems that money talks, because I doubt that a progressive institution like the LGBT Center would have otherwise responded to an open bigot like Lucas who has used ethnically cleansed Palestinian villages as sets for sex scenes.

 

Israeli gay porn actor Jonathan Agassi describes his sex scene inside an ethnically cleansed Palestinian village in Michael Lucas’s “Men of Israel”

Lucas, who leads gay tours to Israel to promote the country’s supposedly tolerant gay culture, has celebrated fellow porn producer Charles Merrill’s public burning of a Qu’ran, calling it an act of “artistic bravery.” Last year, he joined the Islamophobic bandwagon incalling the Cordoba Initiative’s plan to build an Islamic community center near Ground Zero part of a covert plot to install Shariah law in the United States — he described the proposed center as a “monument to Muslim terrorism.” A laundry list of racist statements by Lucas would be so long it is impossible to compile (for more, see here); it is enough to note that his political views are defined by crude resentment of Muslims, the fetishization of an Israel that does not exist, and little else.

What is more remarkable about Lucas is the way in which he has fused extreme Zionism with homoeroticism in his films. His most widely promoted film, “Men of Israel,” contains a sex scene inside a Palestinian village that was ethnically cleansed by Zionist militias in 1947-48. Lucas describes the scene here (NSFW), deceptively stating that the village was “deserted centuries ago:”

…we went to an abandoned village just north of Jerusalem. It was a beautiful ancient township that had been deserted centuries ago…however, that did not stop our guys from mounting each other and trying to repopulate it. Biology may not be the lesson of the day but these men shot their seeds all over the village.

But again to get to the point of pleasure we had no easy task to tackle. We had to break down carefully replace the metal barrier guarding us from entering the village and hike up the treacherous mountain that was lined with barbed wire and dense torn bushes.

Never to miss a beat, the Israeli media was there to document and run a broadcast profile on our filming. Channel 1 Israel, the oldest and longest running public television station in the country, interviewed the cast and embraced our excursion Inside Israel!

Lucas does not name the village where the scene was shot, but my guess is it was Lifta, which was attacked by Zionist militias in December 1947 (five months before any Arab armies entered Palestine), bombed, and ethnically cleansed. Today, the ruins of the village are well preserved — so well that the Jerusalem municipality plans to transform it into a Jews-only luxury development.

It is not hard to imagine what would happen to an Arab porn director if he went to a site of Jewish genocide like a destroyed shtetl from the Pale of Settlement or a concentration camp, and filmed actors as they “shot their seeds” on it. Yet Lucas profits from desecration porn, and maintains enough cachet to bully a major gay institution in New York City.

This post originally appeared on Max Blumenthal’s website.
     

Haaretz ad recommends ‘return’-ing Palestinians to Jordan

Feb 24, 2011

 

A friend writes: I found this via Gaza mom Laila El-Haddad, her twitter feed:

“Retweeted by gazamom and 100+ others 
anyone else see the vile ad on haaretz that calls for the expulsion of Palestinians to Jordan?? about 23 hours ago via web”

I went to Haaretz and after browsing a few pages eventally had the ad pop up once.  I saved and attached a screen shot for you.

 

If you click on the add it goes to here.

Let Jordan be democratic and free, and let the Palestinian people accept upon themselves the full mantle and responsibility of democratic statehood in Jordan – without the destruction or diminishment of the state of Israel and without the physical transfer of any population, neither Jew nor Arab.
     

Working around America: a new strategy on Israel/Palestine

Feb 24, 2011

Jeff Halper

 

Last Friday’s vote in the UN in which the US refused to follow the other 14 members of the Security Council in condemning Israel’s ongoing settlement project – including, it should be noted, such traditionally pro-Israel stalwarts as Britain, France and even Germany and India (for whom Israel is the #2 supplier of arms, as it is with China) – revealed what international isolation into which the US has fallen. Without being pollyannish over the human rights records of the other members of the Security Council, human rights does, nevertheless, motivate the foreign policy of many countries of the world, if only because to be seen respecting human rights has become a standard of national legitimacy. Israel’s blatant violations of international law threaten the consensus upon which the international order rests, even if it is upheld in the breech. 

The Security Council vote show that this is not true for the United States, whose perceived cultural and legal exceptionalism rests upon a rapidly eroding economic and military hegemony. The very message of the American vote – that we do not see ourselves subject to international law and human rights; we set the policies and rules, not the UN or international courts – sends a chill down the spine of people everywhere, especially those, such as the peoples uprising in the Middle East or those in Burma, the Congo, China and in American prisons, who cannot revolt yet hold out hope that struggles for human rights will eventually each them. 

The American vote sent yet another, more concrete message: the United States simply cannot deliver on a just peace in Israel/Palestine. Assuming that Obama, Gates, perhaps Clinton and certainly Petraeus “get it,” that they understand that Israel’s occupation is unsustainable and only isolates the US in the international community, then how does one account for the American vote? The explanation given, that turning to the UN will somehow “undermine” a non-existent “peace process,” is laughable and persuaded no one. The answer, of course, is Congress. Structurally, not because of policy or will (though contempt for international law plays its role), the American Administration cannot resolve the conflict because the overwhelming majority of Congress, in both houses and both parties, feel they must be unwaveringly and uncritically “pro-Israel” if they are to be re-elected (even though this is patently mistaken; only 7 percent of Jews polled after the 2010 elections identified Israel as a decisive issue in their vote). 

Unlike other foreign policy issues, Israel has become a domestic American issue. A candidate for office, even in a state such as Nevada, Iowa or Maine with few Jews or Christian fundamentalists, must often stake out a more “pro-Israeli” position than his or her opponent before getting on to even local issues. The strategic funding and political support (or the threat of withdrawing them) of candidates in both parties by AIPAC and the clout of the Christian Right in the Republican Party is matched by the influence of Pentagon defense contractors, who keep members of Congress in line by arguing that any cut in the billions given to Israel and, by extension, to the other countries in the region (totaling some $125 billion over the next decade), will cost jobs in their states and districts. Indeed, Susan Rice’s vote in the Security Council cannot be explained in any way except as a capitulation of vital American interests to “pro-Israel” forces and manufactured perceptions on the part of the Administration and Congress alike.

Faced with the spectacle of an almost totally isolated US, why should any of us cling to the American default strategy of the past 44 years, whereby the United States is seen as the sole and ultimate arbitrator of the conflict? And in particular, why should the Palestinians? If the US cannot actually deliver on a just peace for structural reasons, and yet insists on an absolute monopoly over any “peace process,” the time is long overdue to develop a “working around America” strategy. Let’s look at the world beyond the US: 

· At least ten countries in Europe seem to be moving towards unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state within the ‘49/’67 borders; Cyprus did so a couple weeks ago. In fact, public opinion favoring the Palestinians is far in advance of the foot-dragging governments. Efforts to mobilize public opinion there should be redoubled, although much work needs to be done in the extremely conservative pro-American/pro-Israel states of Eastern Europe, which, Slovenia aside, hold the rest of the EU back on this issue.

· Most Latin American countries have already recognized a Palestinian state within recognized borders, although they have also accepted Israel as become the first non-Latin American country to sign a trade agreement with Mercosur, the region’s emerging common market. Given strong sympathies of Latin American peoples towards the Palestinians, vigorous campaigns calling for stronger government actions and BDS are called for. 

· Turkey has become a lead player against the Occupation in the Middle East and internationally, while the fundamental changes sweeping the Arab world signal a fundamental shift in relations to Israel and the US – and perhaps a more critical and active role for the Arab League and the possibilities of mobilizing the wider Muslim world. Here, ironically, pressure has to be put on the Palestinian Authority to be more pro-active. It deserves credit for bringing the anti-settlement resolution before the Security Council despite strong US pressures, but Abbas’s refusal to bring a Palestinian declaration of independence within recognized borders before the UN in the end neutralizes the recognition accorded the Palestinians by Latin American and other countries. 

· South Africa, recently made a member of the BRIC group of countries, is capable of taking a more active role on this issue given its expressed support for the Palestinian cause, and could play a leading role in mobilizing other African states. 

· Russia recently reaffirmed its recognition of a Palestinian state, although it does not seem eager to confront the US in an American “sphere of influence.” China and India have yet to play a major role – in part because Israel is the #2 arms supplier to both countries. But certainly in India and other countries of Asia much more could be done to mobilize both the peoples and their governments.

The UN vote demonstrates the great potential in organizing beyond the US, although it remains to be seen whether the PA is capable of pushing its case beyond the confines of American patronage, or having the courage to do so. Until now it has failed to mobilize and harness its greatest ally – us, the peoples of the world, the international civil society. Still, with or without the PA, the grassroots should pursue the next phase of the struggle: refocusing our efforts on a “working around America” strategy. Eventually the US will have to realize that its growing isolation is simply too great a price to pay for supporting an unsustainable occupation, or it will be left in the dust.

(Jeff Halper is the head of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD). He can be reached at jeff@icahd.org.) 

     

Netanyahu seems as delusional as Qadhafi

Feb 24, 2011

Seham

 

If he wasn’t he would be analyzing the events in the region and scrambling desperately to make peace with surrounding Arab countries.  Instead, since the fall of Ben Ali and Mubarak and now the impending fall of Qadhafi the world is witnessing increased brutality and cruelty by the Israeli regime against the Palestinian people, in particular the last few weeks Israelis have targetedchildren which they are harassing and arresting at alarming rates.  But, aside from this inhuman treatment of young children the pace at which Palestinians are displaced from their homes has not slowed down, see here, here and here.  Meanwhile, Palestinian resistance groups that were told by the international community (including Arabs) that they would see their freedom sooner if they backed and enforced a ceasefire just witnessed the Obama administration veto the UNSC resolution to condemn Israeli settlement expansion.   

It’s amazing that both U.S. and Israeli policies could be so incredibly short sighted and stupid but it does appear to be so.  What could the Israelis be thinking, do they believe that they will continue to settle every inch of Palestinian land? And do they really think that they have the same options and abilities that they had say, two months ago?

It’s safe to assume that Hamas has in the last month rearmed via the tunnels in Egypt and that they are still rearming as I type this now and anyone who doesn’t believe that is happening is very delusional.  It’s also safe to assume that Israel will never be able to wage a war against Gaza or Lebanon again, they will no longer have Egyptian support to do so and it’s impossible that the Jordanians will at this point, or at any point in the future offer the same kind of logistic support as they have in the past.  A war against Lebanon?  Israel waged its last war in collaboration with the Lebanese government, now, Hezbollah’s coalition controls the government, Iranian warships are docked in Syria and they have access to the Suez.  Of course no one can predict exactly how stupid the Israeli regime is to the new facts on the ground in the Arab world, but, I would wager that if Israel ever tried to attack Gaza again that the Palestinian resistance would have military support from Turkey, Egypt and Hezbollah.

To the people complaining about the grad rocket attacks that hit Israel yesterday, I ask you, for how long did you think that Israel would be allowed to arrest and piss on Palestinian children, steal and destroy Palestinian land, enforce a barbaric siege against Gaza, murder peaceful protesters, look the other way while settlers murder Palestinians with impunity and just get away with it?  
     

Knesset debates bill to abolish status of Arabic as an official language

Feb 24, 2011

Kate

 

and other news from Today in Palestine:

Land, property, resources theft and destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Attacking minority cultures

Knesset debates bill to abolish the status of Arabic as an official language in Israel
MEMO 24 Feb — Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, is looking at a draft bill which proposes the abolition of Arabic as an official language in the Zionist state… The proposed law is one of a number of initiatives designed to undermine the status of Arabic, which is the mother-tongue of more than 1.25 million Palestinian citizens of the state, one-fifth of the population. A draft constitution, for example, supported by a number of Israeli institutions, also proposes the removal of Arabic’s official status.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2083-knesset-debates-bill-to-abolish-the-status-of-arabic-as-an-official-language-in-israel

Israel destroys hundreds of West Bank olive trees to lay settlement water line / Circarre Parrhesia
23 Feb — …Abu Taha’s struggle with the so-called Civilian Administration, i.e. the Israeli military that occupies and controls the West Bank, began when the Israeli water company applied to the Israeli military to build a water pipe on his land. Without consulting Abu Taha, permission was granted, resulting in the destruction of 60 of his trees, and the paving of part of his field . This water pipe supplies Israeli settlements with water that is, of course, not allowed to be used by the Palestinian population in the area.
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/02/israel-destroys-hundreds-of-west-bank-olive-trees-to-lay-settlement-water-line.html

Israel destroys agricultural lands near Salfit
SALFIT (Ma‘an) 24 Feb — Israeli bulldozers tore up recently cultivated agricultural lands north of Salfit on Thursday morning, mayor of the nearby Deir Istiya village told Ma‘an. Starting a few hours after sunrise, Mayor Nathmi Suleiman said, the bulldozers entered the village, accompanied by Israeli forces, and began destroying a stone fence separating fields in the Qattan Al-Jame area west of the village. During its work, the bulldozer ripped out several olive trees, and obliterated the half-meter high hand-crafted stone wall. 
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=362997

Vanishing East Jerusalem: EU must use association council to ensure Israel respects international law
AIC 24 Feb — In view of the upcoming EU-Israel Association Council scheduled for 21 February 2011 we, the undersigned Palestinian human rights organisations committed to the promotion and protection of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), would like to express our grave concerns about the continuous deterioration of the human rights situation. In particular, we are alarmed by Israel’s protracted policies aimed at entrenching the illegal annexation of East Jerusalem … The centre-of-life policyrequires Palestinian residents of East-Jerusalem (whom Israel considers as “permanent residents” rather than citizens) to consistently prove that their “centre of life” is in East Jerusalem or else they risk losing their residency rights. Since this policy was adopted, in 1995, Israel has revoked the status of over 10,000 Palestinian residents of the city.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/news/3342-vanishing-east-jerusalem-eu-must-use-association-council-to-ensure-israel-respects-international-law

Thursday of rage in Negev to protest Israeli demolitions
NEGEV, (PIC) 24 Feb — The Arab higher follow up committee has called on the Palestinian masses in 1948 occupied Palestine to participate in the day of rage against the Israeli demolition of Arab homes and villages on Thursday. It said in a press release on Wednesday that a demonstration would start at noon Thursday from a popular Bedouin market toward Israeli government buildings in Beer Sheba.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46

Violence / Clashes

Israeli strikes hit Gaza overnight
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 24 Feb — Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes on multiple locations in the Gaza Strip overnight, injuring two in the first round of bombings near Gaza City shortly after 11 p.m. Injuries were reported in the first strike, which hit the Az-Zaytoun neighborhood east of Gaza City, while the Abu Jarad neighborhood to the south was pummeled with four strikes. Local officials called the series of strikes an “escalation,” saying that Israeli forces have operated with increased aggression since an attack on a patrol which entered Gaza Wednesday morning, in the same area the second strike hit. 
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=362887

Fighter killed by army fire in Gaza
IMEMC 24 Feb — The al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, reported that one of its fighters died of wounds suffered during clashes with Israeli forces invading Gaza City on Wednesday morning. The Brigades stated that the fighter, Adel Jundiyya, 25 years old, was seriously injured when the army bombarded an area east of Gaza City, and died of his wounds during evening hours
http://www.imemc.org/article/60702

Dozens treated for breathing problems in Shufat night clashes
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC) 24 Feb — Dozens of Palestinian young men were treated for breathing difficulty in Shufat refugee camp, occupied Jerusalem, on Wednesday night after Israeli forces used teargas in abundance against them. Local sources said that the Israeli troops closed down the camp’s entrance for a few hours before traffic and movement of citizens going in and out of it. They added that large numbers of army troops were still positioned at the outskirts of the camp by Thursday morning, spreading fears of a possible large scale incursion.
In the West Bank, Jewish settlers threw stones and empty bottles on Wednesday at Palestinian vehicles passing along the road leading to northern Ramallah villages and to Salfit. Witnesses reported that a number of cars were damaged but no casualties were suffered.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%

Ashraf / Vera Macht
(graphic) (GAZA) 24 Feb – Ashraf Abdellatif Iqtifan was born in Gaza City in 1980. He grew up surrounded by five brothers, two sisters, and everyday violence. When Ashraf was eleven years old, his 14-year-old brother Rami, who on his slightly yellowed photo smiles cheekily and brightly into the camera, threw a stone at an Israeli soldier, Gaza was occupied by Israel. A soldier standing next to them saw this, he took his gun and shot Rami between the eyes … The soldier who had shot Rami, was sentenced for manslaughter of a child to 15 days of prison. Yes, days. He was also demoted two ranks. But in spite of everything, Ashraf dreamed of a better life in Israel. When he was 19 years old and Gaza was not yet a jail, he managed to escape. He went to Tel Aviv and began to work as a dishwasher .But five months ago, the horror from which he had escaped all those years came back to him… 
http://salem-news.com/articles/february242011/ashraf-abdellatif-vm.php

Reprisals

Grad rockets fired at Be’er Sheva for first time since Gaza war
Haaretz 23 Feb — One missile hit building in residential area, causing damage; no casualties reported; Palestinians report Israeli air strike retaliation, wounding two Islamic Jihad militants — Grad rockets were fired at the southern Israeli city of Be’er Sheva on Wednesday, several hours after the Israel Defense Forces fired at a group of militants on the Gaza border, wounding 11. Palestinian sources reported that the Israel Air Force retaliated late Wednesday with an airstrike in eastern Gaza City, wounding three Islamic Jihad militants. The IDF confirmed the airstrike.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/grad-rockets-fired-at-be-er-sheva-for-first-time-since-gaza-war-1.345280

Netanyahu: Israel will not suffer the bombardment of its citizens
Haaretz 24 Feb — Referring to the IDF reprisal of the first long-range missile attack against the southern city of Be’er Sheva since the Gaza war, Prime Minister warns Hamas-ruled Gaza against testing Israel’s ‘determination.’
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-israel-will-not-suffer-the-bombardment-of-its-citizens-1.345445

Detention / Deportation

Evangelist Church bishop faces deportation out of Jerusalem
24 Feb — Maysa Abu Ghazala – PNN Exclusive – The Israeli ministry of Interior still refuses to renew the Jerusalem residency permission of Evangelist Church Bishop, Suhail Doany. The story began last year when the ministry of Interior accused  Bishop Doany of faking papers that transfer land in Jerusalem from Jewish owners to Palestinian ones 
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9612&Itemid=64

Israeli troops arrest 13 Palestinians during West Bank invasions
Hebron (PNN) 24 Feb — Israeli troops arrested on Thursday 13 Palestinian men during morning invasions targeting a number of West Bank communities. Palestinian sources reported invasions in the cities of Bethlehem and Hebron, southern West Bank inb addition to central West Bank city of Ramallah and Jenin in the north.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9610&Itemid=64

Israeli internal security officers accused of ‘attempted rape’ of a child prisoner
MEMO 24 Feb — Lawyers from the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees’ and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs, have claimed that Israeli internal security officers from Shin Bet tried to rape a child prisoner at Etzion Prison, south of Bethlehem. The prisoner involved, a boy, gave his testimony to this effect, under oath, to the lawyers. The Shin Bet officers are accused of stripping the boy and threatening him with rape in order to extract a confession. 
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2080-israeli-internal-security-officers-accused-of-qattempted-rapeq-of-a-child-prisoner

Gaza man released from Israeli prison after 7 years
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 24 Feb — The Detainees Center in Gaza City reported Thursday the expected release of a Strip resident from the Ash-Shati refugee camp after serving a seven-year prison term. Ismail Jad Allah, 25, is expected to cross into Gaza on Thursday morning via the Erez terminal in the northern Strip. The young man was detained in 2004 and found guilty of affiliation with Fatah and resisting the occupation, the prisoners center said. 
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=362909

Report: PA arrests 200 Hamas men in January, 3,000 in 2010
GAZA, (PIC) 23 Feb — …The report, released by Gaza’s Ministry of Planning on Tuesday, says the Fatah-controlled PA continues to hold hundreds of supporters of Hamas, the resistance movement and other opposition. Out of those 3,000 politically motivated arrests, 1404 targeted individuals previously detained in Israeli occupation jails, the report details, also referring  to 49 imams in mosques, 23 university professors, 36 journalists, 32 local councilmen, 417 university students and nine teachers.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b

Israel’s Mossad is accused of kidnapping a Palestinian engineer in Ukraine
MEMO 24 Feb — The wife of a Palestinian engineer has accused the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad of abducting her husband. Derar Abu Sisi went missing five days ago while visiting his Ukrainian wife in her home country. The Ukraine-based Al Raed Press said that Mr. Abu Sisi is the head of operations at the only power station in the Gaza Strip and was on a visit to Ukraine when he disappeared during a train journey on 18 February.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2081-israels-mossad-is-accused-of-kidnapping-a-palestinian-engineer-in-ukraine

Activism / Solidarity 

Adalah-NY: New Yorkers protest Israel Philharmonic for whitewashing apartheid, protests planned in other US cities
23 Feb — Seventy New Yorkers protested the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra’s (IPO) performance at Carnegie Hall Tuesday evening, using chants, songs and street theater to highlight the IPO’s role in whitewashing Israel’s apartheid policies against the Palestinian people. The orchestra’s performances are being met with protests in six of the seven cities on its US tour
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/02/16756/

#BDS: Free Palestine rap song
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2011/02/bds-free-palestine-rap-song.html

Warsaw palm tree sculpture wears kuffiyeh in protest of Jerusalem annexation / Philip Weiss
24 Feb – From the press release: Today, Palestinian and Polish activists tied a giant traditional Palestinian scarf (Kuffeyah) around the iconic Palm sculpture in Jerusalem Avenue, central Warsaw. … The action is a response to the top-level meeting between Israel and Poland, taking place not in Israel’s diplomatic capital Tel-Aviv but Jerusalem – the Eastern part of which is recognised by the EU and United Nations as occupied territory.
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/02/warsaw-palm-tree-sculpture-wears-kuffiyeh-in-protest-of-jerusalem-annexation.html

Siege

Two Gaza crossings open for goods transfer
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 24 Feb  …Imports on Wednesday were again short of Israeli promises, with the total entering at Kerem Shalom coming in at 197 loads, below the 220 estimated in the morning … At the bulk goods crossing, which opened three times during the week, only 42 truckloads of wheat and animal feed were transported in, short of the 120 loads expected, as Gaza remains in a wheat supply shortage.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=362879

Palestinians and Mideast revolts

Israel to let 300 Palestinians return to West Bank from Libya
Haaretz 23 Feb — Netanyahu makes humanitarian gesture to Palestinians as foreigners from all over the world flee Libya; More than 12 countries send planes to help their citizens escape an increasingly unstable situation.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-to-let-300-palestinians-return-to-west-bank-from-libya-1.345272

Egypt: Palestinian prisoners enter 5th day of strike
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 24 Feb — Family members of 24 Palestinian men detained in Egyptian prisons said relatives entered their fifth day of a hunger strike initiated when their promised release was delayed. A statement released by the families said that detainees were political prisoners, and had been promised release under the new Egyptian leadership. 
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=362936

Hundreds of Gazans stranded at many int’l airports due to Egyptian restrictions
GAZA, (PIC) 24 Feb — Hundreds of Palestinian passengers are stranded outside Egypt and their suffering is exacerbating because of the Egyptian authorities’ refusal to allow them to fly back to Cairo airport in order to return from there to the Gaza Strip.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b

Breaking the siege of Gaza is high priority for Egypt’s young revolutionaries
MEMO 23 Feb — With regards to lifting the siege of Gaza, Maher said that the issue cannot be ignored. It is, he stressed, one of the demands of the revolution: “Pressure exerted by the revolutionaries as well as Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi’s call to end the siege has obliged the army to fulfill this demand.” It is time to end the suffering of the people of Gaza, he said. This, ended Maher, has made the government in Israel “fearful” of Egyptian youth.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2076-breaking-the-siege-of-gaza-is-high-priority-for-egypts-young-revolutionaries

Islamic Jihad slams ‘criminal’ Gaddafi regime
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 24 Feb — Muammar Gaddafi’s crimes against his people are “no less than what Israel is doing to the Palestinians and America is doing to Iraq and Afghanistan,” a senior Islamic Jihad member said Wednesday. 
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=362815

Political/Diplomatic news

Thousands in Nablus rally against US veto
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 24 Feb — Thousands of Palestinians demonstrated Thursday in Nablus, in the second West Bank protest in as many days against a US veto of a UN resolution condemning Israeli settlements. Protesters backed President Mahmoud Abbas’ decision to censure the US
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=363037

2,000 rally in Bethlehem to end rivalry – clashes erupt at checkpoint
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 23 Feb — Clashes broke out at the 300 Checkpoint on Wednesday afternoon, following a rally in the city of Bethlehem that saw an estimated 2,000 gather and call for an end to Palestinian political division. Witnesses said protesters passing through the checkpoint clashed with Israeli forces there. 
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=362717

PLO leader: Hamas loyal to other countries
(UPI) 24 Feb — …Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Riyad al-Malki … said Hamas allowed countries like Iran and others to intervene and influence internal Palestinian affairs and decisions … He said Hamas must be convinced to become a Palestinian political party concerned with Palestinian affairs. “When this happens, then the reconciliation becomes a possibility,” al-Maliki said.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/02/23/PLO-leader-Hamas-loyal-to-other-countries/UPI-67341298481623/

Gaza govt may postpone cabinet reshuffle
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 24 Feb — Yousef Rizqa, political advisor to Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza, announced Tuesday that his government has not set up a deadline to declare the ministerial reshuffle.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=362785

MKs chide PM in stormy Knesset debate
Ynet 23 Feb — Both left-wing, right-wing MKs slam Netanyahu, blame government for stalled peace negotiations, racist legislation. ‘You must think you are popular because there are no mass protests here, but you are wrong. People aren’t out on streets because they’re too busy surviving,’ says Kadima faction chairwoman
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4033140,00.html

Only four MKs vote to annex West Bank
JPost 24 Feb — The Knesset voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to reject a bill sponsored by National Union chairman Ya’acov Katz that would have extended full Israeli civil authority to the West Bank.
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=209603

Other news

Israel bars AIC, independent journalists from Jerusalem press conference with Chilean miners
AIC 23 Feb — Representatives of Israel’s Ministry of Tourism, the official host of the eight day visit by the Chilean miners who survived a record 69 days underground following an August 2010 cave-in at the San Jose copper-gold mine, refused entry to to Connie Hackbarth, Executive Director of the Alternative Information Center (AIC). Officials told her that only journalists formally recognized by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) were permitted to attend the press conference, and then only if they had received invitations via the GPO and confirmed their attendance. Hackbarth’s comments about the crucial importance of independent journalists, as clearly seen recently in Tunisia, Egypt and now Libya, were ignored and she was told not to be “ideological” and “to stop wasting (our) time”.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/israeli-society/3341-israel-bars-aic-independent-journalists-from-jerusalem-press-conference-with-chilean-miners-

Israeli intelligence blackmails Palestinian workers
NAZARETH, (PIC) 23 Feb — Israeli intelligence is blackmailing Palestinians wishing to work in 1948 occupied land, one of those workers said. Mahmoud Al-Masri, from Nablus, said that Israeli intelligence agents at Qalqilia crossing told him he should cooperate with them or else his work permit would be revoked. Masri said that he refused to cooperate with them which made them confiscate his permit
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO

Fisherman from Gaza shot to death at Jaffa port
A fish merchant from Gaza who was living in Israel was shot to death by a motorcyclist in Jaffa on Thursday. 
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/fisherman-from-gaza-shot-to-death-at-jaffa-port-1.345463

Thailand scrape narrow win
24 Feb — Thailand could face a tough task in the return leg in the West Bank after they managed only a 1-0 win against Palestine in a preliminary round tie of the Olympic qualifying at Supachalasai stadium last night.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/sports/223215/thailand-scrape-narrow-win

Analysis / Opinion

In Gaza: Jeans, hookah, a bike, my rights? / Fidaa Abu Assi 
Pal Telegraph 23 Feb — If you are a Gazan woman and you have desperately sought to garner some media attentions and international support, you’d better start by adopting then declaring one of these statements: “I’m secular”; “I’m liberal”; “I’m oppressed with no rights”; or you could simply say “sorry, Hamas, I’m wearing Jeans”; I bet you’d be pleased with the outcomes. Some did and they are now well-known respectable ladies. The more defiant against the society’s norms a Gazan woman becomes, the more media attentions she will get.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/gaza-strip/8553-in-gaza-jeans-hookah-a-bike-my-rights.html

In Israel, the revolution has already begun / Bradley Burston
Haaretz 23 Feb — This new revolution aims not only at the end of occupation, but at the beginning of a new Israel. Not for settlers, this time, but for Israelis — People often ask why, at a time when revolutionary fervor has seized nation after nation here in the Middle East, no revolt has yet begun in my country. Actually, it has. Right under the government’s nose … Here, now, on this side of the recognized border, a potent opposition is emerging, young, largely unknown, social network-savvy. 
http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/a-special-place-in-hell/in-israel-the-revolution-has-already-begun-1.345239

People get ready — there’s a train a-comin’ / Larry Derfner
JPost 23 Feb — It’s become pretty clear to me how Israeli rule in the West Bank is going to end – through Palestinian people power … Masses of Palestinians, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, marching to IDF checkpoints and outposts, marching to Israeli-only roads, to settlements, to the security fence – to the nearest Israeli presence and screaming, “Out! Out!” And refusing to leave. WHAT THE hell is the IDF going to do then? Shoot them? Arrest them? With the whole world not only watching but, for the first time, already won over by other unarmed Arab masses facing down their oppressors?
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=209574

An irresponsible rabbinate / Yedidia Stern
Haaretz 24 Feb — Rabbis are influential in Israeli society. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, 54 percent of Israel’s Jewish citizens believe that rabbis should be consulted when the country makes diplomatic decisions. So it’s important to examine how rabbis use their influence. The following was the harvest of recent weeks, a source of pride: Religious Zionist rabbis issued the “rabbis letter” that seeks to exclude Arabs from Israeli cities, the book “The King’s Torah” permitted killing them, Rabbi Dov Lior refused to obey the rule of law, and dozens of rabbis supported this refusal. 
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/an-irresponsible-rabbinate-1.345362

Iraq

Wednesday: 3 Iraqis killed, 55 wounded
Anti-government demonstrations continued across the country leaving scores wounded. The extent of the demonstrations is unknown as reports of them are not thorough even with extensive amounts of casualties. At least three Iraqis were killed and 55 more were wounded in the protests and other incidents. Although Iraqi officials are publicly supporting further demonstrations, journalists are claiming intimidation ahead of mass demonstrations scheduled for Friday. Not only were their offices raided andlaptops stolen, but they also say officials are trying to scare the public away from the protests.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2011/02/23/wednesday-3-iraqis-killed-55-wounded/

Iraqis rally through social media in ‘day of rage’
BAGHDAD, Feb 24 (Reuters) – A wave of uprisings across the Arab world have inspired Iraqi youth to plug into social media and organise their own “day of rage” on Friday against poor basic services in Iraq. Thousands of Iraqis are expected to take part in the demonstration, organised mainly through social networking site Facebook, after weeks of scattered protests around the country calling for an end to shortages of jobs, food, power and water.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/iraqis-rally-through-social-media-in-day-of-rage

Iraq oil exports highest since Saddam: ministry
BAGHDAD (AFP) – Iraq’s oil exports and revenues from crude sales in January hit their highest levels since the 2003 US-led invasion which ousted Saddam Hussein, the oil ministry announced on Wednesday. Iraq exported a total of 67 million barrels of oil last month, generating $6.082 billion in income at an average price of $90.78 a barrel, according to figures published by the ministry.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110223/wl_mideast_afp/iraqenergyoilexports

As war ebbs Baghdad blast walls start coming down
(AP) 23 Feb — BAGHDAD – At a time when other parts of the Arab world are in turmoil, Iraq is feeling stable enough to begin removing some of the tall concrete blast walls that went up as protection against bombings and insurgents during the height of the war. Iraqis have seen it before. In 2009 Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki started taking down walls, only to restore them when a series of government buildings were bombed.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110223/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq_blast_walls

Syria and Israel

US lawmaker, Syria’s Assad working to renew peace talks with Israel
Haaretz 24 Feb — Netanyahu refrains from attacking an initiative by U.S. Senator Kerry and Syria’s Assad, but is openly skeptical of the Syrian President’s sincerity.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/u-s-lawmaker-syria-s-assad-working-to-renew-peace-talks-with-israel-1.345303

4 nuclear sites found in Syria
Ynet 24 Feb — Satellite images show Damascus established four facilities to accompany reactor bombed in 2007 … The facility’s current use is unknown, but the ISIS suspects that after the latter was bombed Syria attempted to disguise its operations. 
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4033407,00.html

US

US judge dismisses defamation lawsuit by former AIPAC official
Haaretz 24 Feb — Steve Rosen sued his former employers for publicly criticizing him after he was charged with passing sensitive information to Israeli diplomats.
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/u-s-judge-dismisses-defamation-lawsuit-by-former-aipac-official-1.345411
     

90% of Libya in opposition hands; Qadhafi says protesters are all drug addicts led by Bin Laden

Feb 24, 2011

Seham

 

Tunisia sends its message to the world (Photo: Feb17.info)

More of the latest news from Libya:

The Massacres/The Protests/Eyewitness Accounts
Updates from Al Jazeera Live Blog
6:34am Further to reports we got in from Tripoli late last night, of up to ten tanks – as well as carloads of people cheering for Gaddafi – heading toward the city centre, a medical student identified as Sara called us on Skype. She said she had seen men in civilian dress holding swords – and running toward the farm opposite her house in the Janzour suburb of east Tripoli. She and her family barricaded their front door with couches and furniture, which she doesn’t think will be enough if a group tries to break through.  They can hear “booming sounds in the near distance”, which Sara thinks are doors being broken down at other houses. 

Gadhafi forces attack rebelling Libyans in mosque, at airport in cities near Libyan capital
BENGHAZI, Libya — Army units and militiamen loyal to Moammar Gadhafi struck back against rebellious Libyans who have risen up in cities close to the capital Thursday, attacking a mosque where many were holding an anti-government sit-in and battling with others who had seized control of an airport. A doctor at the mosque said 10 people were killed.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5glgW68SijY8Ukno3hNAselVW9fVg?docId=6045483

NY Times: Gaddafi may be preparing final showdown today
New York TimesWitnesses have told the newspaper’s reporters that “thousands of mercenaries and irregular security” personnel have been deployed on roads to the city. Here are some parts of the article:  “[They are] massing on roads to the capital, Tripoli, where one resident described scenes evocative of anarchic Somalia: clusters of heavily armed men in mismatched uniforms clutching machine guns and willing to carry out orders to kill Libyans that other police and military units, and even fighter pilots, have refused. Some residents of Tripoli said they took the gathering army as a sign that the uprising might be entering a decisive stage, with Colonel Gaddafi fortifying his main stronghold in the capital and protesters there gearing up for their first organized demonstration after days of spontaneous rioting and bloody crackdowns. “ “Distrustful of even his own generals, Colonel Gaddafi has for years quietly built up this ruthless and loyal force. It is made up of special brigades headed by his sons, segments of the military loyal to his native tribe and its allies, and legions of African mercenaries he has helped train and equip. Many are believed to have fought elsewhere, in places like Sudan, but he has now called them back.”
http://liveword.ca/libya/2011/02/24/ny-times-gaddafi-may-be-preparing-final-showdown-today/

Qaddafi Massing Forces in Tripoli as Rebellion Spreads
Forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi were reported to be striking back in cities near Libya’s capital, as defections of military officers multiplied.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=9f84c9e3fa84813e76fcd5483451526e

French doctor in Libya: over 2000 dead
A 60-year old French doctor working in Benghazi estimated the death toll to be over 2000. He says that out ambulances counted 75 bodies the first day, 200 on the second and more than 500 on the third day.  “From Tobruk to Darna, they carried out a real massacre… In total, I think there are more than 2,000 deaths,” he said.
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2072 

Gaddafi’s helicopters transporting Foreign Mercenaries to Fashloom, Tripoli
Gaddafi’s son Khamees is transporting mercenaries from a military base in the town of Tajura (20 km east of Tripoli). The mercenaries come from many African countries such as Chad, Guinea, Niger, Somalia, Ethiopia, Mauritania, and Sudan to crush the Libyan citizens’ resistance to Gaddafi’s brutal dictatorship. The narrator says (translated from Libyan-Arabic): “These planes are going to Fashloom. The planes are coming now (a reference made to the attention of Al-Jazeera)… They are going to crush our Libyan sons. This is the second squadron that passed by. These (helicopters) are filled with mercenaries. They came from Khamees’ (one of Gaddafi’s sons) battalion in Tajura.”
http://feb17.info/media/gaddafis-helicopters-transporting-foreign-mercenaries-to-fashloom-tripoli/ 

Qaddafi Gunnmen Roam the Capital
Protesters aren’t the only targets of Pro-Qaddafi gunmen. The BBC is reporting doctors and patients in hospitals all over Tripoli being gunned down by the Qaddafi regime’s special forces. They are also reporting that the same gunmen have been firing indiscriminately at citizens in bread queues. Reports of Libyan citizens receiving SMS messages from the Qaddafi regime, have also been reported. The messages urge civil servants to return to work however one Tripoli resident said: “I hope residents don’t go to work – this can be our way of a peaceful protest – we will all stay at home indefinitely.”
http://feb17.info/confirmed/1642/ 

Gaddafi battles for western Libya
Libyan ruler Col Muammar Gaddafi battles to control the country’s west as protesters consolidate eastern towns and foreigners continue to flee.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-middle-east-12556005 

Clashes reported in Tripoli as pressure mounts on Gaddafi
SANAA, YEMEN – Heavy gunfire was reported Wednesday in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, as anti-government demonstrators clashed with loyalists of leader Moammar Gaddafi and international pressure mounted on him to end a bloody crackdown on opponents.
http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=3d3ef1bca9767a3d77726d5239e63eb1 

Robert Fisk: Tripoli: a city in the shadow of death
Up to 15,000 men, women and children besieged Tripoli’s international airport last night, shouting and screaming for seats on the few airliners still prepared to fly to Muammar Gaddafi’s rump state, paying Libyan police bribe after bribe to reach the ticket desks in a rain-soaked mob of hungry, desperate families. Many were trampled as Libyan security men savagely beat those who pushed their way to the front.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/tripoli-a-city-in-the-shadow-of-death-2223977.html 

BREAKING! Caller Personally Confirmed: 1500 young men buried alive in an Underground room in Benghazi
Jazeera, I want to deliver this information, I confirmed it personally, on my responsibility. I am a Libyan citizen. Today in Benghazi they discovered a room underground, a room that is completely locked-in. Completely locked. Holding 1500 young men from Benghazi. From the 15th of February the first day of demonstrations to today when they got them out, the 22nd, they had been without food or water. They heard the voices from the barracks, noise, people. After they went to check, they got them out, God be praised, alive. 1500 young men, buried alive, buried alive. Muammar must be obliterated. We will not surrender. Our dead are in heaven, he is in hell. God bear witness that I have delivered this message, if there are any Muslims. God willing.
http://feb17.info/media/breaking-caller-personally-confirmed-1500-young-men-buried-alive-in-an-underground-room-in-benghazi/

Mass Burial Site in Tripoli
Footage of numerous graves of the fallen martyrs in Tripoli, a proceeding funeral, and men preparing more graves in anticipation of additional martyrs…  from God we come, and to Him we shall return.
http://feb17.info/media/mass-burial-site-in-tripoli/ 

Libya escapees tell of violence
RAS JDIR, Tunisia, Feb 23 (Reuters) – Weighed down with suitcases, blankets and plastic bags, people fleeing turmoil in Libya crossed into Tunisia on Wednesday with tales of the violence they were leaving behind.  About 2,000 people had streamed over the Ras Jdir crossing point by midday, part of a wider exodus of tens of thousands of foreign nationals trying to escape the North African country whose leader Muammar Gaddafi is attempting to crush a revolt against his 41-year rule.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/libya-escapees-reach-tunisia-tell-of-violence 

Benghazi’s deep wounds
As journalists are entering the country, we finally have access to much more information about the events of the past week. The Guardian writes about the overwhelming sense of joy and jubilation in Benghazi, with citizens enjoying freedoms they haven’t had in four decades.  However, the wounds are deep. And it’s not just from the carnage of the last few days, but also from neglect and repression of the last 40 years.
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2090 

BREAKING: Husband grieves at the loss murdered wife shot in the head (English Transcription)
Translation
Man 1: move out the way, let me see
Man 2: more than 15!
Camera man: come closer, come closer and show them, they’ve got bullet casings over there
Crowd: May Allah accept her from the martyrs
Camera man: what…didn’t you find the …. casings?
Another man: They are present, we have them..
Camera man: look for them, look for them
Man 1: they were here
Camera man: toss them here, throw them on the ground
Camera man: To Allah is martyrdom AbdulRazaq
Man 1: May Allah write her amongst the martyrs uncle Lotfi
(Husband walks out blue bloodstained shirt)
Husband: They obliterated her head, the bastards
Crowd: A martyr, a martyr
Husband: They blew her head off..
Off-shot man: There is no god except God.
Husband: they blew her head those infidels. Infidels, by God infidels. By God they are infidels. By God they are infidels. Burning and piercing (describing the the bullet) they blew her head apart those infidels. Burning and piercing even the Jews didn’t do the likes of this, Jews didn’t do the likes of this, the Zionists didn’t do the likes of this, the zionists didn’t do the likes of this. Watch this Mu’ammar! The world, Watch Mu’ammar, watch what Mu’ammar is doing, watch what Mu’ammar doing to his people! To his people!
Crowd: There is no god except God!
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2029

BREAKING: Soldiers in Derna killed for not firing at Libyans – GRAPHIC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qBtHZT36GfY
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2048 

Shocking Footage: Yesterday Mercenaries Raid Homes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL8pQHsU2G0&feature=player_embedded 
http://feb17.info/media/shocking-footage-yesterday-mercenaries-raid-homes/ 

Tripoli Central Hospital   **GRAPHIC**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5-bNKvnvXE 

Martyrs at hospital morgue in Benghazi (Feb. 21)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFoyUVs-zgc&feature=player_embedded 
http://feb17.info/videos/martyrs-at-hospital-morgue-in-benghazi-feb-21/

Mercenaries in yellow helmets terrorise a street in Benghazi before the city’s liberation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xL8pQHsU2G0
http://pulsemedia.org/2011/02/23/mercenaries-at-work/ 

BREAKING: Photo compilation of Fashloum, Tripoli – 23 Feb
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2149 

Soldiers Killed : – Video – Hands tied behind their back and shot in the head
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBtHZT36GfY

Sorrowful Video: Child Massacred by Gaddafi’s Army in Benghazi, Libya: According to informed sources death toll reached more than 1200 hundreds and 5000 others injured
http://www.abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&Id=227802 

Horrifying video of Gaddafi’s supporters entering homes in Benghazi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL8pQHsU2G0&feature=youtu.be 

Raw Video: : Man in Cyrene (Shahat) recalls his story from a bed in the hospital
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_W9j4s0rCk 

Raw Video: Green Square Tripoli, Libya 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNPVtAm160c

Raw Video of bloody Libya unrest as protests rage in Tripoli, Benghazi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vovl6h4Qmuw&feature=player_embedded#at=46

Protesters Gaining Ground
Map of the Libyan liberation…so far
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2161

90% of Libya in Rebel Hands, Juan Cole
The LAT reports that the rebellion against Muammar Qaddafi’s 41-year dictatorship in Libya headed toward an end-game on Wednesday, as Misurata, the country’s third-largest city (pop. 600,000), fell to the opposition. Significantly, Misurata is in the west of the country, where support for Qaddafi had been stronger. It is only 100 miles east of the capital, Tripoli. 
http://www.juancole.com/2011/02/90-of-libya-in-rebel-hands.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+juancole%2Fymbn+%28Informed+Comment%29

Gaddafi loses more Libyan cities
Protesters wrest control of more cities as unrest sweeps African nation despite Muammar Gaddafi’s threat of crackdown.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/02/2011223125256699145.html

More Libyan cities fall to the opposition 
A day after Muammar Gaddafi threatened protesters with death in a televised speech, an army commander tells Al Jazeera that his forces are with the people, not the Libyan leader. The town of Misurata, in western Libya, has reportedly fallen to the opposition, and much of the east seems to be controlled by pro-democracy protesters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OispaOm8r4&feature=player_embedded

Libyan city dubbed ‘Free Benghazi’ as anti-Gaddafi troops take control
• Guardian reporter enters country’s second city
• Local doctors put massacre death toll at 230
• Rebel officers talk of army revolt against mercenaries
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/23/libya-free-benghazi-anti-gaddafi-troops

Benghazi, cradle of revolt, condemns Libyan dictator
BENGHAZI, Libya: The eastern city of Benghazi, the cradle of revolt against Moammar Gadhafi, was alive with celebration Wednesday with thousands out on the streets, setting off fireworks and condemning the Libyan leader.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=125226 

Libyan opposition reportedly seizes city of Misurata
Opponents of Moammar Kadafi’s regime reportedly take control of Misurata, which would be the first city to fall in Libya’s western half, where Kadafi traditionally has maintained strong tribal support.  Anti-government protesters claimed control of their first major city in Libya’s far west Wednesday, a significant expansion of their popular uprising a day after embattled strongman Moammar Kadafi vowed to defend his regime “to the last drop of blood.”
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/h1QtfFnEHmQ/la-fg-0224-libya-mideast-protests-20110224,0,1328983.story 

Libyan city no longer ruled by Kadafi, but protests continue
Days after the police were run out of town or joined the revolution, the police station was burned down and its files strewn on charred ground, residents of this coastal Libyan city still are on the streets protesting Moammar Kadafi’s regime.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/IL2HXUdNXCg/la-fgw-libya-color-20110224,0,5844312.story 

Gadhafi’s grip on Libya slipping
BENGHAZI, Libya: The scope of Moammar Gadhafi’s rule in Libya was whittled away Wednesday as major cities and towns closer to the capital fell into the hands of protesters demanding his ouster. In Libya’s east, now all but broken away, the opposition vowed to “liberate” Tripoli, where the Libyan leader is holed up with a force of militiamen roaming the streets.  In a further sign of Gadhafi’s faltering hold, two air force pilots, one from the leader’s own tribe, parachuted out of their warplane and let it crash into the deserts of eastern Libya, rather than follow orders to bomb a opposition-held city.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=125253#axzz1EqcZqB8x 

Elderly Woman Celebrating the Liberation of Benghazi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXwQkm6HrYw&feature=player_embedded
http://feb17.info/media/elderly-woman-celebrating-the-liberation-of-benghazi/ 

Handing out bread to the protesters in Benghazi
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2064 

Qaddafi holds no sway over these Libyans
In eastern Libya, local youths – some in uniform, some with guns slung over their shoulders – and tribes that have dropped their support for Qaddafi appear to be running the show.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/KRbDWIB-Mq8/Qaddafi-holds-no-sway-over-these-Libyans

Moving Letter from Libya: “My Heroes: A Libyan Story”
Now I understand. As I see waves of protesters breaking the muzzle of fear Gaddafi has put on the people for 42 years, now I understand. As I see young men and women sacrificing their lives to give other people a fighting chance to live a dignified existence, now I understand. As I see solidarity from all over the world calling out to Gaddafi with one voice: “Enough!” now I understand.
http://feb17.info/media/moving-letter-from-a-libya-my-heroes-a-libyan-story/

Scandalously Done
Our witness in Tripoli writes:  At 2am I hear gunfire and screaming coming from far. Hours later, I heard that a woman was randomly shot by ‘security forces’ while she was standing by her window in an area called Zawiyat Adahmani, which is near the area of Ben Ashour, where I live.
http://pulsemedia.org/2011/02/23/scandalously-done/ 

Protesters in Misratah seize arms to fend off attacks from mercenaries
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2156 

Fashloum demonstrators take down and destroy Gaddafi portrait
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2109 

Breaking Images: Oppostion to Muammar Gaddafi’s regime with a tank in Misrata
http://feb17.info/videos/breaking-images-oppostion-to-m7ammar-girdafis-regime-with-a-tank-in-misrata-feb-23/ 
https://picasaweb.google.com/msalem875/bWWVLG#slideshow/5577077270105422450 

Women of Derna come out to protest against Gaddafi
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2151 

Breaking Video: Liberated Zlitan (Feb. 23)
http://feb17.info/videos/breaking-video-liberated-zlitan-feb-23/

Breaking Footage: Abandoned Mercenary Tank
These men are saying that Saif Gaddafi is a liar. That the Libyan people were not the ones hyped up on drugs and alcohol but instead was the mercenaries hired by him and his father to kill at will. And they show empty bottles and shells to prove it.
http://feb17.info/videos/breaking-footage-abandoned-mercenary-tank/

Angry Benghazi residents trash mercenaries’ barracks
BENGHAZI, Libya, Feb 24 (Reuters) – Angry residents of Benghazi have destroyed a compound used by African mercenaries recruited by Muammar Gaddafi to fight a revolt in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi.  The building where residents said the mercenaries’ battalion was holed up stood in ruins with its shattered walls scrawled with graffiti condemning Gaddafi saying “Libya is Free” and “Down with Gaddafi”.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/angry-benghazi-residents-trash-mercenaries-barracks/

Defections
Report: Libyan aircraft crashes after troops refuse bombing orders
(CNN) — A Libyan military aircraft crashed Wednesday southwest of Benghazi after the crew refused to follow orders to bomb the city, Libya’s Quryna newspaper reported.
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/02/23/libya.plane.crash/ 

‘Libya air force pilots refuse orders to bomb opposition-held Benghazi’
Muammar Gadhafi keeps grip on Tripoli, but protesters seize control over much of eastern Libya; Italy foreign minister says some 1,000 people killed in Libya violence.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/libya-air-force-pilots-refuse-orders-to-bomb-opposition-held-benghazi-1.345246?localLinksEnabled=false

Gaddafi should be tried for crimes against humanity – Former Libyan PM
London, Asharq Al-Awsat – Former Libyan Prime Minister Mustafa Ahmed Ben Halim has said that the ousting of Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi is not enough, and that he should be internationally tried for the crimes that he has committed. In a telephone interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, former Prime Minister Ben Halim, who currently resides in the UAE, has called for an “independent international investigation” into the events in Libya to investigate claims of “crimes against humanity.” He called for international lawsuits to be raised against Colonel Gaddafi and his sons, and confirmed that the innocent and defenseless people of Libya are facing “genocide” at the hands of the security forces. 
http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=24270 

Diplomats at Libyan Embassy in Rabat, Morocco (Feb. 22)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkmqFhvWXRg&feature=player_embedded#at=12 
http://feb17.info/videos/libyan-embassy-in-morocco-feb-22/

Libyans in Malaysia defy Gaddafi
The Libyan Embassy in Malaysia has hit out at Muammar Gaddafi’s regime over its action against anti-government protesters. “We strongly condemn the barbaric, criminal massacre and the total elimination of our innocent civilians,” Reuters reported the embassy in Malaysia as saying in a statement after it was briefly occupied by around 200 protesters. The protesters smashed a portrait of Gaddafi and hauled down the country’s flag to replace it with what they said was a pre-Gaddafi flag.
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2153

DOC: LIBYAN EMBASSIES RESIGNED OR DENOUNCED GADDAFI
http://feb17.info/media/doc-libyan-embassies-resigned-or-denounced-gaddafi/ 

Libya: Defections leave Muammar Gaddafi isolated in Tripoli bolthole
• Crucial tribes and military units desert the president
• Uprising edges closer to his only remaining bastion
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/23/muammar-gaddafi-libya-tripoli-uprising

Humanitarian Issues

The UN’s duty to Libyans | Carne Ross
The United Nations’ statement on Libya was completely inadequate. Gaddafi needs a tough resolution ringing in his ears. Several days after the Gaddafi regime began attacking its own people, the UN Security Council, relaxed and refreshed from its long weekend (the UN was on holiday on Monday), met on Tuesday afternoon to issue its weakest form of expression: a press statement. Thatstatement condemned the violence, demanded that civilians be protected, and – almost laughably – called for political dialogue. It was, of course, lowest common denominator stuff.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/feb/23/unitednations-libya 

Muslims Without Borders American medical convoy just reached Libya
MWB is currently the only NGO operating inside Libya, more details to come. Donate online to help. For more information  and updates on their mission in Libya, check back at the Medical Convoy in Libya Page.
http://feb17.info/media/muslims-without-borders-american-medical-convoy-just-reached-libya/ 

Grain cargoes being diverted from Libya -sources
* Port closures due to violence lead to re-routing – sources
* Two French barley cargoes of to divert, one to Lebanon
* WFP aid cargoes being re-routed to Port Sudan
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/grain-cargoes-being-diverted-from-libya–sources

Confusion at Tripoli airport
At least 26 nations have begun efforts to get their citizens out of Libya and to safety. A military Hercules aircaraft was en route to Tripoli on Thursday to collect British citizens, and Turkey says it’s mounted the biggest evacuation effort in its history. An Algerian who landed safely in his home country, told Al Jazeera that it took him four days to get to the airport in Tripoli, the capital of Libya. Al Jazeera’s James Bays speaks to Imran Garda after returning from Tripoli, where he heard first-hand accounts of people caught up in the violence.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD1i94WT9FQ&feature=youtube_gdata

U.S. citizens evacuating from Libya via ferry, Josh Rogin
The State Department is evacuating U.S. citizens from Libya on Wednesday using a chartered ferry, with the assistance of the Libyan government. The U.S. government’s chartered ferry is expected to depart the As-shahab Port in central Tripoli en route for Valletta, Malta, on Wednesday, the State Department said. Those on board are required to have their travel documents in order in advance and are allowed one suitcase and one carry-on item. Pets are only allowed if they met stringent European Union requirements and will probably be quarantined for six weeks upon arrival in Malta. 
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/02/23/us_citizens_evacuating_from_libya_via_ferry

Exodus to leave Libya
On Libya’s western border with Tunisia, thousands passed the checkpoints in a matter of hours, weighed down with as many of their belongings as they could carry.  One witness said Libyan police deliberately picked on Tunisians and Egyptians after successful revolutions there set a precedent for the anti-Gaddafi uprising.  One Tunisian man who made it onto home soil said: “The situation is bad. People died. They killed them. They took their money.”  It is estimated up to 80,000 ex-pat Tunisians live and work in Libya.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd2lBEDPvWk&feature=player_embedded 
http://feb17.info/videos/exodus-to-leave-libya/ 

300 Palestinians in Libya to be let into PA-Israel
JERUSALEM, Feb 23 (Reuters) – Israel will allow 300 Palestinians in Libya to enter the Palestinian territories in the coming days, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday., “Because of the current violence in Libya I received a personal request from (Palestinian) President (Mahmoud) Abbas … that Israel allow a number of Palestinians to leave Libya and to enter the Palestinian territories … so Israel will enable 300 Palestinians to enter the Palestinian areas,” Netanyahu said., Netanyahu said the move was made as a humanitarian gesture because the Palestinians were under threat. 
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/israels-netanyahu-says-will-allow-300-palestinians-in-libya-to 

Israel allows return of 300 Palestinians from Libya to WB from a total of 70,000
The Israeli occupation authority refused to allow the return of Palestinians residing in Libya and only allowed 300 of them back to the West Bank out of a total of 70,000.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%

3 Planes Airlift All Russians From Tripoli
Russian officials announced Wednesday that all Russian citizens had been airlifted from the capital of violence-torn Libya, but reports emerged about people stranded elsewhere in the country.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/all-russians-airlifted-from-tripoli/431527.html 

Developments

Gadhafi says al-Qaida’s bin Laden behind Libya uprising, giving youth drugs in their coffee
BENGHAZI, Libya — Leader Moammar Gadhafi says al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden is behind the uprising in Libya and al-Qaida followers give young Libyans hallucinogenic pills in their coffee to get them to revolt. Gadhafi has made the comments in a phone call to Libyan state TV Thursday, expressing condolences for deaths in the city of Zawiya but chiding its residents for joining the rebellion.  He says those revolting are “loyal to bin Laden … This is al-Qaida that the whole world is fighting.”  He says al-Qaida militants are “exploiting” teenagers, giving them “hallucinogenic pills in their coffee with milk, like Nescafe.”  Witnesses said 10 people were killed when pro-Gadhafi forces attacked opponents at a mosque in Zawiya, east of Tripoli.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5glgW68SijY8Ukno3hNAselVW9fVg?docId=6045483

Saif Gaddafi appears on State TV
Al JazeeraSaif Gaddafi has appeared a second time on State TV, speaking of a conspiracy by “Arab brothers” and that the media “spread lies”. He particularly asks Egyptians not to be part of the conspiracy.  He also said he would invite the media to Tripoli tomorrow, and says that life is normal in the capital.  At the same time, Al Jazeera mentions that text messages are reportedly circling in Tripoli, calling for mass anti-Gaddafi protests after Friday prayer.
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2186

Malta turns back ‘Gaddafi kin jet’
Plane carrying Ayse Gaddafi attempts to land but is forced to turn back after being denied permission.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/02/2011223164125540203.html

Ghaddafi’s private pilot has fled Libya 
The pilot of Moammar Ghaddafi’s private jet, a Norwegian citizen, has been able to flee Libya with his family. They are now safe in Vienna after fearing for their lives in Libya. 57-year-old Odd Birger Johansen for the last year has been the pilot of the private jet of Colonel Ghaddafi. Until yesterday, he was in Tripoli, together with his wife and daughter that had chosen this unhappy moment to visit him for a holiday in Libya.
http://feb17.info/confirmed/ghaddafis-private-pilot-has-fled-libya/ 

Guardian: Libya threatens to treat western journalists as ‘outlaws’
Warning made as reporters enter Libya through eastern border with Egypt as Muammar Gaddafi loses grip on country.  Journalists from the BBC, CNN and other western media who have entered Libya will be “considered outlaws”, the country’s deputy foreign minister warned on Wednesday.  Khalid Kayem said that the influx of reporters who have streamed across Libya’s border with Egypt in the past 24 hours are there “illegally and will be considered outlaws”, according to the news agency AFP.
http://feb17.info/media/guardian-libya-threatens-to-treat-western-journalists-as-outlaws/ 

BREAKING: Equipment confiscated and content deleted at checkpoints
Paul Danahar on the Egypt-Libya border: “A Tunisian woman who was living just outside Tripoli but fled to the border said that at checkpoints along the way people’s phones were being checked for images of unrest. If any were found they were deleted and any computers with images were confiscated. This is the second group of people to tell me this.”
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2016 

Gaddafi uses scare tactics to lock down capital
The GuardianThe streets are being patrolled by forces loyal to Gaddafi  in 4x4s. They fire their automatic weapons to force people to stay indoors. Residents say they can’t open doors or windows for fear of being shot. At night it becomes even more dangerous, with security forces shooting at random. The atmosphere in Tripoli is tense
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2082 

Gaddafi ordered Lockerbie bombing: Ex-minister
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi personally ordered the Lockerbie bombing in 1988, former justice minister Mustapha Abdeljalil told Swedish daily Expressen, the paper reported on its website Wednesday.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/02/23/138957.html

Gaddafi fell on first day of revolt: Libyan diplomat
A Libyan diplomat resigned from his post in the Libyan embassy in the Moroccan capital Rabat in protest against Muammar Gaddafi’s crackdown on demonstrators and stressed that the regime fell on the first day of the February 17 revolution.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/02/24/139004.html

WikiLeaks: Gadhafi Turned Down Madoff
Even despotic leaders, it turns out, can make sound investment decisions. Libyan leader Moamar Gadhafi turned down a chance to investment with Bernie Madoff and accused ponzi schemer Allen Stanford, according to a new diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks. (The U.K.’s Telegraph has the full cable, dated January 28, 2010.) The head of the Libyan sovereign wealth fund, Mohamed Layas, claimed to control $32 billion in liquid assents, most of which was deposited at U.S. banks. Layas, according to the cable, was miffed at Libyan funds were “mismanaged” by Lehman Brothers, the failed investment bank.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/23/wikileaks-gadhafi-turned-_n_827176.html

Wikileaks: Gadhafi Family A Web Of Greed, Nepotism
CAIRO — The children of Moammar Gadhafi were increasingly engaged in recent months in covering up scandals fit for a “Libyan soap opera,” including negative publicity from extravagant displays of wealth, such as a million-dollar private concert by pop diva Beyonce, according to a new batch of secret diplomatic cables released Wednesday.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/23/wikileaks-gadhafi-family-_n_827042.html 

Cables show Libya pressed oil firms to reimburse terror costs
By Sara Ledwith LONDON, Feb 23 (Reuters) – Libya’s ruling family tried to coerce billions of dollars from Libyan and foreign oil companies, and its leader Muammar Gaddafi exhorted the United States to sow division in Saudi Arabia, leaked American diplomatic cables reveal.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/cables-show-libya-pressed-oil-firms-to-reimburse-terror-costs 

Najjar orders inquiry into Sadr claims
BEIRUT: Caretaker Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar has asked the Foreign Ministry to look into recent reports indicating that Imam Musa Sadr was assassinated by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s agents.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=125240#axzz1EqcZqB8x 

International Reactions

Global community isolates Gaddafi
European Union calls for investigation into possible crimes against humanity ahead of emergency UN meeting.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/02/201122313501843624.html

EU prepares possible sanctions on Libya, U.S. may freeze Libya assets
Obama condemns Libya violence, considers Libya sanctions; EU experts to prepare list of proposed measures, potentially including visa bans, asset freezes, arms embargo and other restrictions.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/eu-prepares-possible-sanctions-on-libya-u-s-may-freeze-libya-assets-1.345268?localLinksEnabled=false

BREAKING: The International Criminal Court Releases Statement on Crimes in Libya
“The decision to do justice in Libya should be taken by the Libyan people. Currently, Libya is not a State Party to the Rome Statute. Therefore, intervention by the ICC on the alleged crimes committed in Libya can occur only if the Libyan authorities accept the jurisdiction of the Court, (through article 12(3) of the Rome Statute).  In the absence of such step, the United Nations Security Council can decide to refer the situation to the Court.  The Office of the Prosecutor will act only after either decision is taken”.
http://feb17.info/media/breaking-the-international-criminal-court-releases-statement-on-crimes-in-libya/

Silence is not an option – The Human Rights Council must use its voice
The undersigned organisations urge the Human Rights Council to act urgently to respond to the violent repression of demonstrations currently underway in the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. The Human Rights Council cannot be a passive bystander of such events, during which the lives of ordinary citizens have been taken or put at risk through violent and unlawful repression.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/02/23/silence-not-option-human-rights-council-must-use-its-voice

Qatar’s ambassador leaves Libya – state TV
DUBAI, Feb 23 (Reuters) – Qatar’s ambassador to Libya has left the country a foreign ministry official told a briefing of foreign diplomats on Wednesday in Libya, where a revolt is threatening Muammar Gaddafi’s 41-year rule.  The official said he had offered to take Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based television news channel, to areas that had been reported bombed to verify whether such attacks had taken place, and that Al Jazeera had declined.  “And the Qatari ambassador left the country,” the official, whose name was not given said on state television.  Earlier this week Al Jazeera said Libya’s intelligence agency was behind the powerful jamming signals disrupting its broadcast across much of the region. 
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/qatars-ambassador-leaves-libya-state-tv 

Too Little, Not Yet Too Late
Much of official Washington has greeted the evidence of an ongoing massacre in Libya with a helpless shrug. “We don’t have personal relations at a high level,” lamented David Mack, a former U.S. diplomat in North Africa, in a Washington Post article titled “U.S. struggles with little leverage to restrain Libyan government.”
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/02/23/too-little-not-yet-too-late 

US mulls all options against Libya
Barack Obama orders his national security team to prepare the full range of options for dealing with the crisis.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/americas/2011/02/2011223225218542841.html

U.S. considering sanctions and asset freezes on Libyan government
The United States is considering punitive measures against the Libyan government for using violence against peaceful protesters, the State Department said. Sanctions and asset freezes are being discussed by U.S. policymakers, but an international no-fly zone over Libya is less likely.
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/02/23/us_considering_sanctions_and_asset_freezes_on_libyan_government 

Anger over UN ‘waffle’ delaying action to combat Gaddafi’s brutal crackdown
Impatience was growing last night over the lack of international consensus on how to stop the bloody crackdown by dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/anger-over-un-waffle-delaying-action-to-combat-gaddafis-brutal-crackdown-2223981.html

Italy: Press Gaddafi to Halt Violence Against Protesters
(Brussels) – Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy should use his longstanding relationship with the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, to help protect protesters from unlawful attacks by Libyan security forces and militias, Human Rights Watch said today.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/02/23/italy-press-gaddafi-halt-violence-against-protesters 

France hopes Gaddafi rule in last moments -minister
PARIS, Feb 24 (Reuters) – French Defence Minister Alain Juppe said on Thursday he hoped Muammar Gaddafi’s time as leader of Libya was coming to an end. “I hope wholeheartedly Gaddafi is living his last moments as leader,” Juppe said in an interview on France Inter radio where he repeated French calls for sanctions after Gadaffi’s bloody crackdown on the revolt in Libya. 
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/france-hopes-gaddafi-rule-in-last-moments–minister/

Solidarity

London Demonstration, Feb 22
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2056

NEW YORK RALLIES IN BIG NUMBERS FOR LIBYA
http://feb17.info/media/new-york-rallies-in-big-numbers-for-libya/ 

Anti-Massacre Protest in Tokyo, In front of Libya Embassy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jetalone/sets/72157626117990060/ 

Solidarity from our brothers and sisters in Tunisia Bouazizi Square (Feb. 23)
Chants: “A million greetings from Tunisia to the liberators of the Libyan Revolution!”  “The people demand the toppling of Gaddafi!”
http://feb17.info/videos/solidarity-from-our-brothers-and-sisters-in-tunisia/

Solidarity from our brothers and sisters in Egypt
Freedom Square: 
Chants: “Get out! Get out! Get out!” once Gaddafi appears on screen
“Good news for you oh Omar Mukhtar! Your beloved ones are all free!”
“Oh Benghazi, much peace to you! Revolution! Revolution against oppressors!”
http://feb17.info/videos/solidarity-from-our-brothers-and-sisters-in-egypt/

Solidarity from Jordan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1T3uCsXKCk&feature=player_embedded

Ashrawi supports Libyan demands for freedom
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — PLO Executive Committee member and member of the PLC Hanan Ashrawi expressed her support Wednesday for the Libyan people in their demands for freedom.  “Throughout the Arab world, ordinary people are confronting outdated and intransigent regimes that refuse to relinquish their grip on power, and demanding democracy, accountability and the rule of law in their place.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=362660

The Madman’s Friends

A video of Berlusconi kissing Qadhafi’s hand
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se79NO4ODP0 

Anlaysis/Op-ed

Western inaction aids a massacre
People around the world are enraged at what is taking place in Libya, as the regime of Moammar Gadhafi commits massacres against innocent civilians.  People throughout the Arab world are enraged at what is taking place in Libya, buoyed by the earlier, dramatic developments in Tunisia and Egypt, and the hope that change might be near.  Libyans in Gadhafi’s own regime – its diplomatic corps and its armed forces – are also enraged, and have begun deserting the colonel.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=17&article_id=125249#axzz1EqcZqB8x 

Libya: To oust a tyrant
Libyans never had much faith Moammar Kadafi would learn new tricks. Their stand against oppression is awe-inspiring.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-whitson-libya-20110224,0,1203934.story

VIDEO: Can Gaddafi’s regime go on?
Colonel Gaddafi shows no sign of stepping down despite widespread protests.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-middle-east-12561442 

Gaddafi has lost it …
With his hold over Libya loosening, Muammar Gaddafi seems to have lost his mind and perhaps his nerves.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/02/2011223183054698463.html# 

Qaddafi’s ties to rebel groups scrutinized as ‘African mercenaries’ patrol Libya
Libya’s leader Muammar Qaddafi is known to have strong patronage networks with tribal leaders throughout Africa. Multiple witnesses say African mercenaries have brutally suppressed Libyan protesters in recent days.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/XdpbPdKQjvA/Qaddafi-s-ties-to-rebel-groups-scrutinized-as-African-mercenaries-patrol-Libya 

Robert Fisk with the first dispatch from Tripoli – a city in the shadow of death
Up to 15,000 men, women and children besieged Tripoli’s international airport last night, shouting and screaming for seats on the few airliners still prepared to fly to Muammar Gaddafi’s rump state, paying Libyan police bribe after bribe to reach the ticket desks in a rain-soaked mob of hungry, desperate families. Many were trampled as Libyan security men savagely beat those who pushed their way to the front.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-with-the-first-dispatch-from-tripoli–a-city-in-the-shadow-of-death-2223977.html

Setback to Gaddafi’s African dream
Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan president, has always promoted himself as one of Africa’s great leaders touting a vision of progress and wealth for the entire continent. Now, after a week of violence in Libya, the African Union has condemned his actions against the pro-democracy movement. Al Jazeera’s Yvonne Ndege reports from Abuja.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_6wI_BqaX8&feature=youtube_gdata

Gaddafi follows path of ousted dictators
CAIRO (IPS) – The brutal response by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi against pro-democracy protestors in the country indicates his determination not to leave office without a bloody battle, but his moves follow the path that eventually led to ouster of two neighboring dictators.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11825.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29

Muammar Qaddafi: Five ways Libya’s leader has held onto power 
Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi has long elicited chuckles abroad with his outlandish attire and over-the-top rhetoric, but his brutal crackdown this week is no laughing matter. This backgrounder offers a look at how the eccentric dictator came to power – and how he’s held on to it for more than 40 years.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/EA9rMtltDL4/Muammar-Qaddafi-Five-ways-Libya-s-leader-has-held-onto-power 

Libya corruption, cult of personality drive Qaddafi’s grip on power: WikiLeaks cable
Libya leader Muammar Qaddafi has retained power for four decades by playing political rivals, including his sons, off one another, cables from the US ambassador to Libya reveal.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/peR4Ncq5U1Y/Libya-corruption-cult-of-personality-drive-Qaddafi-s-grip-on-power-WikiLeaks-cable

The Enigma Of Gadhafi, A Pariah Once Again
The arc of Moammar Gadhafi’s rule in Libya took a new turn in 2004, when Britain, the United States and several close allies began to renew ties with a country and a ruler who had become a pariah. That rapprochement seemed expedient in the post-9/11 era.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/02/23/134004967/the-enigma-of-gadhafi-a-pariah-once-again

Libya: The urge to help | Editorial
What can outsiders do to hasten the inevitable, avoid further bloodshed, and let Libyans start remaking their country? The quicker Muammar Gaddafi falls, the better. So what, if anything, can outsiders do to hasten the inevitable, avoid further bloodshed, and let Libyans get started on the task of remaking their country? Yesterday the European Union was considering sanctions, Nicolas Sarkozy was calling for an end to all economic relations, and there were demands in the press for the seizure of Gaddafi family assets abroad. David Cameron, while against sanctions, was arguing for a stronger statement from the United Nations than the one made earlier this week. And, at the tougher end of the spectrum of possible pressure, there were voices raised in support of a no-fly zone like that which helped keep Saddam out of the Kurdish areas of Iraq, and even some discussion of intervention on the ground.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/24/libya-urge-to-help-editorial 

Jadaliyya Interview with Ali Ahmida
In this interview, Ali Ahmida (bio here) discusses how the recent civilian revolt began as a reformist movement and quickly transformed into a revolutionary one demanding regime change. Ahmida also places the opposition forces in their geo-political context in light of Libya’s legacy of post-colonial state building. Hamida concludes by exploring the three possible scenarios in the next phase of Libya’s revolt. Please excuse the low quality audio at the outset of Ali Ahmida’s comments.
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/729/jadaliyya-interview-with-ali-ahmida 

Cockroach Rule, Robin Yassin-Kassab
Our informant in Tripoli, last I heard, was at home, terrified, trying her best to remain calm amid the sound of heavy gunfire. Tripoli is very hotly contested. Reports suggest eastern Libya, meanwhile, has become an anarchist’s paradise.
http://pulsemedia.org/2011/02/23/cockroach-rule/ 

Middle East: One Libyan Battle Is Fought in Social and News Media
Whichever side wins this media battle is likely to be well on the way to ruling the country.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=949b03345b5a03b997cf09c05bac533e 

On International Intervention and the Dire Situation in Libya
Yesterday, the United Nations Security Council held a formal meeting in which they condemned the violence in Libya and threatened to hold violators of international law accountable. At the same time, the Arab League held an extraordinary session in which it suspended Libya’s membership. These measures, and others, come eight days into the Libyan people’s courage and persistence in the face of shoot-to-kill policies by police, military, and mercenary forces as well as the use of helicopter gunships, fighter jets, and other artillery to indiscriminately attack unarmed demonstrators. While this violence may have initially been intended as a strategy for maintaining power, it now appears to be the regime’s revenge for its ongoing unraveling. As credible reports of civilian death tolls mount, so too have demands on Western and Arab powers that they lend greater support to protesters, through humanitarian and other assistance.
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/725/on-international-intervention-and-the-dire-situation-in-libya

Libyans have suffered enough. Muammar Gaddafi must go | Nahla Daoud
For 42 years, Gaddafi has repressed and brutalised his people. The west should support Libya’s heroic struggle for freedom. Even to Libyans familiar with Muammar Gaddafi’s oratory style, his speech last night surprised many of those watching. While the logic was classic Gaddafi, the tone was one none of us had heard before. The man was livid. Gaddafi had managed to keep his cool even when the US bombed Tripoli in April 1986 and destroyed his home at the Bab al-Aziziya barracks. But on 22 February, speaking to a nation that had finally called his bluff on the power of the people, he was clearly and visibly distressed.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/23/libyans-muammar-gaddafi 

Europe rethinks dependence on Libyan oil
Italy and Spain depend on Libya for as much as 22 percent and 13 percent of total crude consumption, respectively, a supply not easily replaced on short notice.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/ym3nKmzuow0/Europe-rethinks-dependence-on-Libyan-oil 

Listening to Hillary – the sound of silence?
I just heard a joint press conference by Hillary Clinton and the Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota.  During the Q&A Hillary was asked what the USA’s position on the situation in Libya was and I was quite amazed to see how lame, how vapid, how completely banal her response was.  I think that this shows that US diplomats are both overwhelmed, clueless and quite frightened by these developments.  They seem unable to offer anything but vague pious statements about freedom, democracy, human rights and the obligatory condemnations of violence.  I also think that the crisis in Libya really frightens them.  Not only does Libya sit on a non-trivial amount of oil, it has a common border with Egypt, whose future is still in the balance: will the puppet-change in Egypt eventually lead to a real regime change?  I would say that it is quite possible.  Hence the clear mix of bafflement and fear which seems to paralyze the otherwise endlessly preaching mouths of US diplomats. On another (but related) topic: any news from Algeria?  How are bad old Abdelaziz Bouteflika and his minions doing?
http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.com/2011/02/listening-to-hillary-sound-of-silence.html 

If the tide turns: some pros and cons of military intervention in Libya
In the last few days there have been a number of calls for international intervention to try to stem the atrocities that the Qaddafi regime is carrying out against Libyan civilians, including military measures such as the imposition of a no-fly zone. (Sanctions and other steps have also been proposed, but I doubt that they would have much impact on a regime fighting for its life). We might be past the point where the declaration of a no-fly zone would make a major difference — the Libyan air force (that part which has not defected) does not appear to be terribly effective and airlifted mercenary forces in the east seem to be contained. The city of Tripoli and several other towns on the west coast do appear to be at the mercy of loyalist mercenaries and militias, and are suffering terribly, but there is probably little that could be done militarily, short of a massive and prohibitively problematic amphibious invasion, to rescue them. Rebels in Benghazi are reportedly beginning to mobilize to move west, so it’s quite likely that Libyans will be able to complete the overthrow of Qaddafi without outside help.  However, dictators have come back from the brink before: Saddam in 1991, for example, although his hold on the country was probably never as tenuous as Qaddafi’s is right now. If there is any chance Qaddafi were to stage a major turnaround, and bring major rebel-held cities like Benghazi or Misrata under siege, then the United States and other powers capable of intervention in Libya should consider what might be done to prevent a terrible humanitarian disaster.
http://www.arabist.net/blog/2011/2/24/if-the-tide-turns-some-pros-and-cons-of-military-interventio.html 

Qaddafi’s Sinking Ship, Ali Younes
The one thing clear about the Libyan people’s revolt against the dictatorial rule of Mummar Qaddafi is the absence of any resemblance of something called the Libyan government. The murder of scores of protesting Libyan citizens by Qaddafi’s security agencies proved that Qaddafi in 42 years of power had built no state; no institutions, not even a real government. Any resemblance of government had just melted away during the revolt and most likely in disgust at the mass killing of innocent citizens.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16676 

Khadafi On the Outs; “Khadafi had clearly reached an accommodation with the United States and the rich men of Europe.”
The worst possible consequence of the Libyan crisis would be for the United States to find some way to intervene, in any way whatsoever.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27552.htm

The Col. isn’t Leaving Until the Press Agrees on How to Spell His Name, JAMES McENTEER
Khadafy, Qaddafi, Gaddafi or just plain Dick? The name of the despotic Libyan leader confounds Western headline writers.  Everyone agrees he’s a bad guy. Paul Wolfowitz in the Wall Street Journal lists dozens of good reasons why the U.S, should intervene to unseat this nut case dictator. What he doesn’t say is why he and his neo-con cronies didn’t do the job themselves while they held power and were busy invading other Islamic countries. Instead, Dubya and company – including the Wolfman – removed the U.S. sanctions against Ghada… Kad…. Libya.
http://www.counterpunch.com/mcenteer02232011.html 

Cartoons
The Tyrant’s Latest Speech, by Carlos Latuff
http://palestinianpundit.blogspot.com/2011/02/tyrants-latest-speech-by-carlos-latuff.html
     

Ahmet Dogan: ‘US failure to support my son comes from the same policy that has led to support for Middle East autocrats & Israeli governments that have long oppressed Palestinians’

Feb 24, 2011

Adam Horowitz

 

Ahmet Dogan, Furkan Dogan‘s father, writes about his son today in the Albany Times Union. It’s really worth reading the whole article “A father speaks for his son.”Dogan is currently on a speaking tour in the US.

Furkan’s particular sensitivity was always for the children, especially those killed and injured despite their obvious innocence. The killing of more than 300 Palestinian children during the 2008-2009 Israeli assault on Gaza profoundly influenced him and motivated him to participate in the humanitarian flotilla to Gaza. He was determined to find a solution to their need — to do something, to not look away as too much of the world was doing.

He never got the chance. While filming the Israeli takeover of his ship, he was shot five times and died on board.

Though Furkan was an American citizen born in Troy, American officials jumped to take Israel’s side, notwithstanding clear evidence that Israel selectively released footage to exonerate its soldiers for the deadly mayhem they unleashed while storming the humanitarian ship in the dead of night.

The Obama administration’s failure to support my son and my family’s humanitarian concern for Palestinians comes from the same misguided policy that has led to decades of support for Middle East autocrats and Israeli governments that have long oppressed Palestinians.

And the American position seems oblivious to the findings of the fact-finding mission of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The mission determined that the “circumstances of the killing of at least six of the passengers were in a manner consistent with an extra-legal, arbitrary and summary execution.” My son’s name was included among the six.

Faced with such facts, what family would not push Furkan’s government to take up his case? I am in Washington and New York City this week, not only to champion justice for my son, but also to remind Washington that the U.N. mission concluded that “a humanitarian crisis existed” in May 2010 in Gaza and that “for this reason alone the blockade is unlawful.”

Furkan, though young, also saw the bigger picture. He sought not simply humanitarian relief for Palestinians, but also freedom from Israeli subjugation. With freedom advancing in Tunisia, Egypt, and around the Gulf, Palestinians’ long efforts to free themselves from Israeli domination are also worthy of recognition and support.
     

NY’s LGBT center cancels pro-Palestinian event after donor/porn-merchant says it’s ‘anti-Semitic’

Feb 24, 2011

Philip Weiss

 

This is awful. New York’s LGBT Center was to host a “Party to End Apartheid” on March 5 during Israeli Apartheid Week. The event has been cancelled, under explicit financial pressure from a large donor. (Forward did the story yesterday.)

Here, under the title “Don’t let wealthy bigots shut down free speech” is a petition signed by Sherry Wolf and Judith Butler among others, protesting the cancellation.

We, the undersigned, are LGBT people and allies who condemn the stifling of free speech at New York’s LGBT Center due to pressure from wealthy supporters of Israel’s anti-Palestinian policies.

A slanderous press release followed by a threatening call-in campaign led to the cancellation of an Israeli Apartheid Week event scheduled for March 5, 2011, and the right of peaceful pro-Palestine activists in the Siegebusters group to meet at the Center.

New York’s LGBT Community Center has a 28-year history of accommodating the needs of oppressed and marginalized groups and allowing controversial opinions to be aired. It is a sanctuary for those seeking a democratic organizing space.

The recent press release by Michael Lucas, a wealthy gay porn entrepreneur, threatened a boycott and defunding campaign if the Center didn’t cancel the event, which it tragically agreed to do. If activists allow this decision to stand, the Center will go from being a liberated space of democracy and free speech to yet another occupied, homogenized venue where wealthy and powerful voices can squelch all the rest.

Village Voice gets it:

The LGBT Center released a two-sentence statement: “We have determined that this event is not appropriate to be held at our LGBT Community Center, which is a safe haven for LGBT groups and individuals. Therefore, the meeting at The Center has been cancelled and the host group will no longer meet at The Center.”

But the LGBT Center hosts hundreds of events a year, ranging from A to Z and beyond. Does the Center endorse the viewpoint of every group, forum and discussion that occurs within its walls? Why did the Center find the Israeli Apartheid Week event to be appropriate when it booked the space, but not after Lucas complained?

Here is porn king Michael Lucas’s press release attacking the event and describing the Israel Apartheid Week group as “an anti-Semitic organization.”

He further demands that the LGBT Center’s leaders publicly apologize, and pledge to ban any and all anti-Semitic groups from using their facilities in the future.

“I’m preparing to organize a boycott that would certainly involve some of the Center’s most generous donors,” said Lucas. “It was an inexcusable decision on the Center’s part to associate itself with a hate group like Israeli Apartheid Week, but there’s still time for them to reverse course and begin restoring their reputation.”

Lucas says he has already spoken with a number of other furious LGBT Center supporters who plan to withdraw all future donations should the “Smash Israeli Apartheid” party go forward.

Anti-Israeli groups, like IAW, are using the pretext of support for Palestinians to stoke old anti-Semitic hatreds and perpetuate Jewish stereotypes. They’re also growing increasingly and aggressively pro-Islam.

What does aggressively pro-Islam mean? Oh my god. This is sad, pathetic awful, and reflects the deep divisions within the liberal New York community over Israel. And yes the deep divisions within Jewish life, which is such a determinative factor in liberal culture.Note that on any other issue you would not see the donors coming forward, you wouldn’t see the brave advocates of freedom quailing and flailing and folding. But they do, they do!
     

Livni is PNG in many parts of the world but ‘Washington Post’ rolls out red carpet

Feb 24, 2011

Philip Weiss

Tzipi Livni was Israel’s foreign minister when Israel massacred Gaza two years ago, killing more people than Mubarak killed and more people than Gaddafi is said to have killed at this point– though Mubarak’s murders drew international media attention and outrage, and Gaddafi’s murders have drawn our meditative president to the microphone. Remember that when children were dying in Gaza, Obama had nothing to say at all.

Because the Goldstone Report of ’09 (read an excellent abridged version here; buy the book, please) found that Israel had likely committed war crimes in Gaza, and alleged war crimes by Hamas as well, and said those war crimes should be investigated under universal jurisdiction, Livni has cancelled some travel plans. But today she is in the Washington Post op-ed page. I haven’t read it, can’t bring myself to. Moon of Alabama has quaffed some of the poison for me:

In which Tzipi Livni explains that Israel isn’t a democratic state:

“democracy to take root in the Arab world – not merely as a government system but as a values system that embraces nonviolence, coexistence, freedom, opportunity and equality”
     

Warsaw palm tree sculpture wears kuffiyeh in protest of Jerusalem annexation

Feb 24, 2011

Philip Weiss

From the press release:

Today, Palestinian and Polish activists tied a giant traditional Palestinian scarf (Kuffeyah) around the iconic Palm sculpture in Jerusalem Avenue, central Warsaw. …

The action is a response to the top-level meeting between Israel and Poland, taking place not in Israel’s diplomatic capital Tel-Aviv but Jerusalem – the Eastern part of which is recognised by the EU and United Nations as occupied territory. East Jerusalem’s Palestinian residents have been subject to a violent eviction campaign by Israeli-state sponsored settlers and home demolitions for decades.

The meeting between the two governments includes Prime Ministers Benjamin Netenyahu and Donald Tusk as well as senior representatives from the Ministries of Culture, Defence, Intelligance and Foreign Affairs.

Poland, often described as Israel’s unofficial ambassador in Europe, seeks to upgrade military, research and development, and cultural ties with Israel. Human Rights activists of the Polish Solidarity Campaign with Palestine have called the meeting a normalisation of occupation and apartheid….

Artist and creator of the Palm Joanna Rajkowska said: “The Palm has always been on the side of those who are absent, deprived of their voice or spoken for by others who have no legitimacy to do so. She has been a Jewish woman, a nurse, and a victim of climate change and right-wing governments in Poland. This time she is the voice of opposition to the illegal annexation of Jerusalem and Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestine which the Polish government appears to encourage. The Palm has always been and always will be a voice speaking up for all emancipatory and liberation movements. In this turbulent time for the Middle Meast, the Palm firmly stands on the side of radical democracy.”

In July 2011 Poland will take over presidency of the European Union