Mondoweiss Online Newsletter

NOVANEWS

 

Posted by: Sammi Ibrahem

Chair of West Midland Palestine Solodarity Campaign

• The siege, and Hamas’s inability to ease it, only empower jihadist groups

• ‘Mathilde Redmatn’ and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza

• Christian Zionists are wrong; this is not a religious conflict

• Just imagine that pruning trees on your land was an act of resistance

• ‘Haaretz’ bolsters Goldstone conclusion that Fakhoura St ‘massacre’ was disproportional– and says Israel failed to investigate it because it felt ‘persecuted’

• ‘Foreign Policy’ puts out a swimsuit issue

• An apology to International Solidarity Movement activists

• ‘Foreign Policy’ seeks ‘rebuttal’ of Oren tripe from Satloff, Benn, Goldberg and oh, Walt

• Tolerance project at leading D.C. theater will take on Islamophobia. Not

• Helen Thomas withdraws from Move Over AIPAC conference

The siege, and Hamas’s inability to ease it, only empower jihadist groups

Apr 26, 2011

Philip Weiss

Jared Malsin has a fine piece of reporting at Foreign Policy on the Salafi groups in Gaza, one of which is held responsible for the murder of international volunteer Vittorio Arrigoni. Note that the leader of one of the Salafi groups was imprisoned till Cast Lead, when the Israeli attack on the prison freed him. Excerpts:

Arrigoni’s death highlights a complex political context, a web of power relations among various actors in Gaza including Israel, Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, the Salafis, other Palestinian factions, and the international community. At the root of these dynamics is the Israeli and Western policy of isolating Gaza and ignoring Hamas. The crippling four-year-long blockade of Gaza has created the conditions of human misery and desperation in which a handful of people have turned to extremism. A new report from International Crisis Group states that the blockade has amounted to “an assist provided to Salafi-Jihadis, who benefit from…Gaza’s lack of exposure to the outside world.”

The subset of jihadi or militant Salafis in Gaza includes four main groups:

Jund Ansar Allah (Soldiers of God’s Supporters), Jaysh Al-Islam (Army of Islam),Jaysh Al-Umma (Army of the Nation), and finally Tawhid wa Al-Jihad (Monotheism and Jihad), whose members were blamed for the killing of Vittorio Arrigoni. Although membership estimates vary widely, the jihadi groups are believed to include no more than a few hundred activists, mostly young men, some of them still in their teens. Two Hamas officials said these groups together number fewer than 100 members. Many of these adherents are recruited from the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. An unknown further number of cadres within these larger factions have sympathy for the Salafis or may participate in Salafi armed action.

The jihadi Salafis are opposed to Hamas over two primary issues: implementation of Islamic law — the jihadis want the imposition of a puritanical reading of sharia — and ceasefires with Israel, which they oppose on principle.Tawhid wa Al-Jihad, the organization whose alleged members were blamed for killing Arrigoni, is said to be one of the smaller groups. According to Hamas and other Salafis quoted by Crisis Group, the group’s leader, Hisham Sa’idni, is “more vehemently against Hamas than other Salafi-Jihadis.” Saidini’s first arrest by Hamas was followed by an escape, Crisis Group reports, during Operation Cast Lead, when Gaza’s central prison was destroyed…

This is the crux of Hamas’ dilemma: if it allows attacks on Israel, it risks massive retaliation from the Israelis; if it imposes too strict a ceasefire, it risks eroding its credibility among its political base in Gaza, particularly among its armed cadres. A U.N. diplomat, quoted anonymously by Crisis Group explained the problem: “How long can Hamas sustain a policy of not engaging in resistance, while this non-engagement doesn’t produce any results in terms of liberating Palestine, easing the blockade, or any other political goal for which the movement exists?”…

The man [a member of Jund Ansar Allah interviewed by Malsin], who appeared to be in his twenties, said he was originally a member of Islamic Jihad but prefers Salafism because, “I believe it’s good to follow a respected ideology than a corrupt one. We are completely against any truce with Israel. We will attack our enemy by every means according to our military capabilities, we will never hesitate or shy from resisting.”

The role of the Salafi jihadis is not to be exaggerated, and much ambiguity still surrounds these groups’ activities, intentions, and relations with other internal and external forces. [Hamas] Interior Ministry spokesman Ehab Al-Ghusssain theorized that by targeting them for assassination, Israel was attempting to elevate these groups’ importance. The jihadis have become, he said, “like a white paper, whatever you write on it, it will be.”

‘Mathilde Redmatn’ and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza

Apr 26, 2011

Tim Haughton

As someone who spends a lot of time performing critical analysis of the press as well as studying propaganda in general, there are occasionally stories which prick my interest. A couple of days ago, a story appeared on the IDF Spokesperson’s Website which did just that. The story essentially reports on an interview with one “Mathilde Redmatn”, deputy head of the Red Cross in Gaza. The author quotes Redmatn as saying:

“There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” she explains. “If you go to the supermarket, there are products. There are restaurants and a nice beach.  The problem is mainly in maintenance of infrastructure and in access to goods, concrete for example. Israel has the legitimate right to protect the civilan population…”

As one might expect, this “bombshell” was quickly scooped up by the corporate press, and covered (sometimes with extra spin) by CNN, Haaretz, JPost and so on. Now, I’m naturally skeptical of anything that appears in the corporate press or in a government press releases, and this was no exception, although I do have respect for the ICRC.

The story was going to be important in terms of the War of Narratives, so I thought it prudent to check it since it didn’t come in the form of an official ICRC publication. What became immediately apparent is that seemingly no one within the corporate media had bothered to check the veracity of the story. Had they done so, they would have found that there is no one bearing the name “Mathilde Redmatn” in the employ of the ICRC. There issomeone called “Mathilde De Riedmatten”, a trivial fact that I was able to glean from speaking with the ICRC in Jerusalem, a fact that not one journalist seemed to care about enough to check.

This is a perfect example of what Herman and Chomsky described as the corporate media’s “symbiotic relationship with powerful sources of information” – the simple, reciprocal understanding that if you provide the information, I’ll print it, without question.

The gloating of the Israeli right surrounding this story is an indication of just how far their moral compass is out of alignment. That one person at a respected human rights organisation, in an unofficial document stating that “there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” can be a source of unbridled joy is certainly perplexing. We already knew from the Palestine Papers that:

“As part of their overall embargo plan against Gaza, Israeli officials have confirmed to (U.S. embassy economic officers) on multiple occasions that they intend to keep the Gazan economy on the brink of collapse without quite pushing it over the edge,” whilst keeping the Gazan economy “functioning at the lowest level possible consistent with avoiding a humanitarian crisis”.

A noble strategy indeed.

From the Palestinian perspective, the term “humanitarian crisis” is to be used by the corporate media, propagandists and humanitarian organisations. It in no way, shape or form alters the reality on the ground. What might amount to normalcy in Gaza would undoubtedly be viewed as a crisis in say the US for example. So, whilst it is of little value to debate the existence or non-existence of a “humanitarian crisis”, it is useful to remind ourselves of the facts.

• We know from the UN’s March update that a majority of Gazans are food insecure and rely on aid.

• We know that Gaza’s fishermen are limited to fishing within 3 miles of the shore, in a stretch of water heavily contaminated with raw sewage. (Incidentally this raw sewage also contaminates Gazas “nice beach”)

• We know that 35% of agricultural land is off limits to farmers, unless they wish to find death at the hands of the IDF, and this doesn’t take into account agricultural land rendered inoperable as a result of the Gaza Massacre.

• We know that 90% of drinking water extracted from the aquifer is brackish and fail’s to meet the WHO’s standard for drinking water.

In the drive to reduce the plight of the people of Gaza down to a sound bite, the details get lost, the facts become noise. Let’s not make that mistake. Let’s look at the documentary record and let’s expose the corporate media for what they are – the faithful servants of established power. I have asked the ICRC in Jerusalem for clarification on this issue, and await their reply.

Christian Zionists are wrong; this is not a religious conflict

Apr 26, 2011

Craig Nielsen

I would like to thank all the people who took the time to reply to the article I postedyesterday, “A concoction of distortions, half-truths and emotionally-potent oversimplifications of scripture is Christian Zionism.” I would like to clear up some points that I probably did not make clear in the initial article.

My statement that Orthodox Jews do not believe that the exile is over refers to Orthodox Jews that are believers in the Torah. It seems that term “Orthodox Jew” can also be used for Jewish people who observe the lifestyle of Orthodoxy while not being believers, i.e. agnostics or even atheists. My usage of the term did not include these and so my comments were not very clear on this point. For this I apologise. As far as all my own research has gone, plus conversations with every Orthodox religious Jew that I could find, religious Orthodox Jews do not believe that the exile is over. As for the religious Jews in the settlements in the West Bank, I guess I did not really consider them as Orthodox. I think that they represent a minority of religious Jews and so my statement would be better put as “the vast majority of religious Orthodox, believing Jews do not believe the exile is over.” I think this statement is far more accurate.

It is not my intent to delegitimize the conversion experience of anyone. My comment about the coming and going of spiritual fads in the church in no way devalues anyone’s conversion experience. I have been involved in some of these fads myself and my involvement in them in no way affects the validity of my conversion experience and anyone else’s involvement in these fads does not invalidate their experience either. A valid conversion experience in no way guarantees that a believer will not take on views that stray or even contradict the ideas and values that the believer started with. What even constitutes a valid conversion experience is not obvious either. I do not agree that my statements about fads in the church imply that I invalidate the religious experiences of anyone in the Christian church or anyone of any faith regardless of the existence of these fads or who has been involved in them.

As far as the Oaths of the Talmud are concerned, I think that while they hold very little significance for many Jews today, they did have far greater importance for Jewish people in the past. The habit of dismissing anti-Zionist religious Jews as nuts and fanatics is unfair. I think that the rejection of Zionism by the vast majority of believing religious Orthodox Jews in the latter part of the 19th century went far deeper than the simple fact that the Zionists were secular. I think Professor Rabkin’s book clears this point up quite well.

Regarding the point I made about the Old Testament’s teaching about the conditionality of the Jewish people’s occupation of Canaan, I stand by what I said. I think this teaching is abundantly clear. If a person considers the Old Testament to be a flawed book of human origin, well that is his/her right, but that does not change what I feel is a fairly plain teaching of the Bible. If the Jewish people do not accept that particular interpretation of the Bible or choose to ignore the Torah completely then their decision to do so must be respected. The point of my article was to show that the Christian Zionist teaching that Christians must unconditionally support the State of Israel does not hold water Biblically even given the sort of presuppositions that they themselves hold to about the scriptures. I do not believe that the Israel-Palestine conflict is a religious one at all. The Christian Zionist doctrine that attempts to legitimise the Zionist state of Israel on religious grounds is completely unjustified and in the end is extremely unhelpful.

The Christian Zionist movement has, in my opinion, only fanned the flames of this conflict. My understanding of Christian Zionist teaching comes from not only reading mountains of their literature, but by being lectured by them for hour upon hour as to why I should be supporting the state of Israel unconditionally rather than being concerned with Palestinian calls for justice and human rights in the land of their birth.

I do not believe that the survival of the Jewish people is dependent upon the existence of the Zionist state of Israel. If it did, then I would be compelled to support the Israeli state like the many Jewish people who do indeed think that the Jewish people will perish if Israel does not exist in the form it does today. The Jewish people (thankfully) survived the Holocaust, without the Zionist state. I believe that they will endure as a people come what may, as they have done for thousands of years. Many times it has occurred to me that the Zionist state of Israel has not created a better world for the Jewish people, despite its lofty aims.

In the end I believe that the ethical traditions of Judaism are an inspiration to all who seek justice and equality in our world. That reality is a far greater reason to celebrate than the existence of the Zionist state of Israel.

Just imagine that pruning trees on your land was an act of resistance

Apr 26, 2011

Kate

and other news from yesterday and Today in Palestine:

Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Settlers
Settlers attack Palestinian children in East Jerusalem
IMEMC 25 Apr — Palestinian sources reported Monday morning that a group of fundamentalist Israeli settlers attacked, on Sunday evening, a group of Palestinian children in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, in occupied East Jerusalem … Eyewitnesses told WAFA that approximately 50 – 70 extremist settlers entered a Muslim graveyard in Sheikh Jarrah to pray on a grave said to be for a Jewish figure, and held prayers at the grave site. Later on, the settlers hurled stones at local Palestinian homes, and attacked three children with pepper spray wounding one.
http://www.imemc.org/article/61132
More than 150 residents of Silwan arrested in 4-month period
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 25 Apr — Throughout this year the city of Jerusalem has witnessed an ongoing campaign of arbitrary arrests of Palestinian residents on “security” charges. Arrest numbers have soared in particularly volatile areas, such as Silwan, Al-Thouri, Shu‘afat, Anata and Issawiya, all of which have been subject to sustained clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces. The largest number of detentions and arrests have been in the village of Silwan. Israeli forces executed over 150 detentions and arrests of Palestinians in Silwan between the months of December 2010 and March 2011. Included in this staggering number were 65 children detained by either Israeli police, military or undercover forces. Some were taken on the streets; others from their homes. This figure does not include the number of youth detained by Israeli forces stationed throughout the village for on-the-spot investigation.
http://silwanic.net/?p=15153
Unprovoked settler attack and military house invasion in Shuhada Street, Hebron
ISM 25 Apr — At approximately 11pm on Sunday 24, two Palestinians were physically beaten, one also attacked with pepper spray, by Israeli settlers in Hebron. Shortly afterwards, a reported 20 Israeli soldiers forcibly entered a house in Shuhada Street and ordered all under-16s out into the street.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/04/17960/
Settlers attack Palestinians in Hebron’s Old City
Hebron (PNN) 26 Apr — Israeli settlers attacked on Tuesday Palestinians inside the Old city of Hebron, southern West Bank and injured one man. Witnesses told local media that Firas al-Khateb was attacked by settlers with gas spray and rocks near the illegal settlement of Tal Romida in Hebron old city. Doctors at Hebron hospital said that al-Khateb was slightly injured and suffered effects of gas inhalation due to the settlers attack.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9955&Itemid=64
For 2nd year, settlement sewage floods town
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 25 Apr — Beit Ummar residents on Monday accused Israeli settlers of opening sewage pipes and causing a flood of human waste in fields growing grapes. The flood is the second in as many years, coming almost a year to the day after a 2010 flood from the Kfar Etzion settlement. Palestinian Authority Ministry of Agriculture spokesman Awad Abu Sway said a pipe running north of the town near Wad Shakhat was opened, covering more than 10 dunums of privately-owned vineyards with waste. Ibrahim Odeh Sabarneh, one of the owners of the flooded fields, said he was plowing the earth on Sunday morning and did not see any contamination at all. He accused settlers of “taking advantage of the night” and opening the pipes.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=381949
13-year-old boy among five Palestinians injured by Israeli settlers on Sunday
IMEMC 25 Apr — Several groups of Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian with rocks on Sunday, mainly in the Nablus area in the northern West Bank. At least five were wounded, including a 13-year old boy who was hit in the head with a rock, and taken to Rafidiya Government Hospital in Nablus. Settlers also torched one car, and broke the windshield of another. According to local eyewitnesses, Israeli settlers gathered on hilltops near Beit Furik, ‘Urif and Madama villages on Sunday afternoon, and began throwing rocks at Palestinian villagers in the area. One group of settlers attacked Palestinian drivers on a road near Huwwara, south of Nablus, setting fire to a taxi belonging to Murad Mustafa Al-Yatem, and breaking the windshield of a car carrying three passengers – two of whom were injured in the attack.
http://www.imemc.org/article/61130
Ancient home for friends of the Jordan Valley
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an)  25 Apr — Looking at the oldest straw-clay building in the Jordan Valley, it is hard to believe it is still standing. It is believed to date back to Ottoman times, and was originally built to be a clinic. As the years passed, the building was deserted and its features began to fade. But the building was bought by a popular campaign led by Palestinian and international solidarity activists, known as ‘Save the Jordan Valley.’ After a year of intensive work and with the help of volunteers, the building was rehabilitated and began to attract solidarity activists. It became the headquarters for the campaign itself.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=382084
Violence
Palestinian worker injured by police dogs
HEBRON (Ma‘an) — Palestinian worker Hatem Abdul Razzaq At-Talahma, 42, was injured Thursday morning in the city of Hebron, when Israeli military police dogs bit him at his workplace. At-Talahma told Ma‘an that he believed the dogs were released in order to attack him, as he worked in the area adjacent to a wall separating the city’s settler population from Palestinians in the Ar-Ramadeen area. Medics said the man was treated for dog bites on his limbs and body. At-Talahma said that following the attack, Israeli forces refused to give him first aid. He was evacuated to hospital by Palestinian Red Crescent medics.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=381899
Father says son’s liver damage caused by tear gas
NABLUS (Ma‘an) — Eleven-year-old Muhammad Bilal Abdul Salam At-Tamimi was taken to the intensive care unit in Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah, his father told Ma‘an, saying the boy’s condition had deteriorated throughout the week. Muhammad had been hit by a tear-gas canister during a protest against land confiscations in the central West Bank village of An-Nabi Saleh, and was admitted to hospital at the time but was released the same day. The child’s father said Muhammad’s health had deteriorated during the week, prompting him to return to the hospital, where he said doctors ran tests and determined that there were injuries to the liver and kidneys.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=381868
Restriction of movement / Control
Modes of control: Easter at Qalandiya / Lauren Banko
…To get any type of permit to cross into Jerusalem, even for Palestinians whose families, villages, and even streets are cut off from their neighbors by the separation wall, the applicant must meet age qualifications. Once a Palestinian child from the West Bank turns twelve years of age, he will be given a blue West Bank identity card and is banned from entering Jerusalem, even with his parents. Those West Bank Palestinians who do have permission to enter Jerusalem are not allowed further than Jerusalem into the 1948 borders of Israel. I am currently living in the town of Birzeit, close to the de facto Palestinian Authority capital of Ramallah and about twenty-two kilometers from Jerusalem, and as an American, I hold an Israeli tourist visa. As a foreigner with an Israeli visa, I usually do not have problems passing through Qalandiya checkpoint — besides the usual being treated as less than a human, or as part of a herd of cattle along with the Palestinians.
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16822
Hebron reflection: a morning like any other / Inger Steyrbjorn
Christian Peacemaker Teams 26 Apr — “Biladi, Biladi … my country, my country…” the Palestinians’ national anthem echoes from loudspeakers in schools all over Hebron, where Nina and I stand at the checkpoint and note how many children have their bags searched.  

I count the children, but I also see that today the soldier stays inside the trailer where the metal detector is, probably so I cannot see how he treats the Palestinians. The metal detector beeps for each person who passes.  I hear the beep several times without anyone coming out, which means that people inside are undergoing a thorough search.  A young boy waits, presumably for his schoolmate.  He is trying to see what’s happening, but the brusque soldier pulls the door shut.  When the door eventually opens, a small child comes out.  After several walks through the detector, the boy is finally free.
http://cpt.org/cptnet/2011/04/26/hebron-reflection-morning-any-other
The military bars Palestinian journalist from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque
Jerusalem-Maysa Abu Ghazalih/PNN 26 Apr – On Tuesday the Israeli military banned Palestinian Journalist Farid Saleh from Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s old city for 15 days. The army forced Saleh to sign a ban order with a bail of  3,000 NIS (800 USD) if he violates the order. Saleh who works for the children’s TV channel, Touyor al-Janna, along with two cameramen working with him were filming a charity event for children that was taking place at al-Aqsa Mosque.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9953&Itemid=56
Israeli army harassment of the Al Ras Al Ahmar community continues
Jordan Valley Solidarity 24 Apr –Today, 1pm, Palestinian workers from Al Ras Al Ahmer were taken by the Israeli army from the village and detained at the side of the road for half an hour. Each man had his ID checked by both the army and then the police who arrived later. The men were returning home after working in a nearby settlement. The settlement is only 10 mins drive from the village but the army only opens the gate into the village twice a week. This means that every day the Palestinian workers have to drive 50 mins past the Hamara check point and on a small dirt track over the hill to reach their homes.
http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=240:israei-army-harassment-of-the-al-ras-al-ahmar-community-continues&catid=14:2009&Itemid=21
Gaza
International activists harvest on Gaza border
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 25 Apr — Just a kilometer from the ‘security fence’ separating Israel and Gaza, international solidarity activists and Palestinian volunteers on Monday began a wheat and barley harvest on behalf of landowners who fear Israeli artillery and gunfire in the no-go zone. Several Palestinian farmers have been killed and injured in the area as they tended their land or collected crops. The Israeli army imposes a no-go zone inside the Gaza Strip border areas, citing security concerns.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=382104
Housing ministry: Reconstruction of razed housing ongoing despite siege
GAZA, (PIC) 26 Apr — The ministry of public works and housing in Gaza said that reconstruction of Palestinian houses razed during the Israeli war on Gaza Strip was ongoing although at a slow pace. The ministry said in a statistics report on Monday that it was proceeding in reconstructing 1327 houses out of a total of 3407 houses which were completely destroyed during that war. It said 100 of them were completed while finances for the reconstruction of 800 others in 2011 were promised. The ministry said that UNRWA offered more than 58 million dollars in cash money to refugees in Gaza to repair their homes. [End]
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Gaza: Single border crossing partially open
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an)  26 Apr — Israeli authorities opened Gaza’s Kerem Shalom crossing Tuesday to allow the limited entry of goods and humanitarian aid into the besieged coastal enclave. The opening followed several closures for Israel’s observance of the Jewish Passover holiday, and a week-long closure before, after and during a spate of border clashes. UN reports noted shortages in cooking gas and wheat following the closures.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=382182
Egypt to re-open Rafah crossing
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 26 Apr– Following a one-day closure for Egypt’s spring holiday, the Rafah crossing on its border with the Gaza Strip reopened Tuesday, allowing travelers with permits to pass in both directions, officials said
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=382165
86 Palestinians enter Gaza from Cairo airport
CAIRO (Ma‘an) 26 Apr — The Palestinian embassy in Egypt announced Tuesday that 86 Palestinians were allowed to land at the Cairo International Airport. Airport staff escorted the group to the Rafah crossing and facilitated their return to the Gaza Strip. The embassy warned travelers trying to enter Gaza that Cairo’s airport would be closed from Thursday until Monday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=382317
Detention
Israeli occupation forces arrest Palestinian writer Ahmad Qatamesh
AIC 26 Apr — In the early hours of dawn on Thursday, 21 April 2011, a large force of Israeli soldiers and intelligence officers raided the home of the prominent Palestinian writer and academic Dr. Ahmad Qatamesh 1 in Al-Bireh and arrested him. An hour earlier, Qatamesh’s wife, 22-year-old daughter and two other female relatives, including a 14-year-old child, were taken hostage by Israeli troops in another apartment to compel him to surrender himself. He was led to “Ofer” detention center in Beitunia. Ahmad Qatamesh was born in 1950 in a cave in Bethlehem to a refugee family expelled during the Nakba from the village of Al-Malihah, near Jerusalem … In 1992, he was arrested by a massive Israeli force in the presence of his then 3-year-old daughter. Accusing him of being a particularly “dangerous” national leader, the Israeli Shabak tortured and ill-treated him 2 for a hundred days, an experience that he articulately exposed in his well-read prison notes titled I Shall not Wear Your Tarboush … Qatamesh’s detention was renewed continuously for almost six years, making him the longest serving administrative detainee ever. In April 1998, after a persistent public pressure campaign by Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights activists and organizations, Qatamesh was finally released.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/news/3549-israeli-occupation-forces-arrest-palestinian-writer-ahmad-qatamesh
Israel ignoring Palestinian prisoners’ urgent need for medical help
GulfNews 26 Apr — Ramallah: The Palestinian Prisoners Club, an organisation working for the welfare of Palestinians detained in Israeli jails, has accused the Israeli authorities of intentionally neglecting the medical needs of the Palestinian prisoners in order that they eventually die of their diseases. The club on Tuesday urged international humanitarian and legal organisations to intervene immediately in the situation and help the Palestinian prisoners who needed medical help.
http://gulfnews.com/israel-ignoring-palestinian-prisoners-urgent-need-for-medical-help-1.799539
Israel turns back detainee relatives at checkpoint
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 26 Apt — Israeli authorities refused Tuesday allow families of detainees to pass a checkpoint to visit relatives in Israeli prisons. Three buses were en route to Majdo, Shatta and Ramon prisons inside Israel. The passengers had permits to visit their relatives, the Tulkarem Prisoners’ Society said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=382325
Prisoner on hunger strike
JENIN (Ma‘an) 25 Apr — A Palestinian prisoner spent a fourth day on hunger strike Sunday in protest over the Israeli prison administration’s refusal to provide him with adequate medical treatment. Officials identified the striking prisoner as Yehya Hafeth Ash-Ishreida from the West Bank city of Tubas. He was imprisoned in 2002 and served sentenced to 22 years in prison for affiliation with groups involved with resistance activities. The Prisoners’ Society in Tubas said Ash-Ishreida was suffering from multiple disorders, forcing him to consume a liquid-only diet which was exacerbating his condition.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=381462
‘Hamas planning more kidnappings’
Ynet 25 Apr — Editorial published in Hamas’ newspaper al-Risalah claims organization ‘taking advantage of relative calm in south to plan more abductions in order to improve bargaining position’ … According to the authors, another kidnapping “would create essential pressure that would lead to the release of Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel as part of an exchange deal.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4060284,00.html
Teitel seeks conjugal visits
‘Jewish terrorist’ Jack Teitel appeals to court after Prison Service rejects request citing security reasons — [He committed] a number of severe offenses including the murder of two Palestinians
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4060835,00.html
Nablus shooting
PA orders its security elements not to open fire at Israelis in self-defense
RAMALLAH (PIC) 25 Apr — The Fatah-controlled Palestinian authority (PA) in Ramallah issued strict instructions to its security apparatuses in the West Bank not to open fire at Israeli troops or settlers even if it was in self-defense. The source affirmed that the leaders of the PA security apparatuses told their cadres that they would not be lenient with anyone of them shooting at Israeli troops and settlers under any reason, even if it was for self-defense because such act would be detrimental to the higher national interests and only serve the occupation as they said.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
Haaretz editorial: Nablus shooting is a deadly mistake until proven otherwise
26 Apr — As long as an inquiry into the death of Ben-Yosef Livnat is ongoing, it is improper to treat the shooting as a terror attack that must be avenged — The tragic death of Ben-Yosef Livnat in Nablus could have been prevented. The preliminary investigation shows that Livnat and his companions decided to visit Joseph’s tomb without coordinating their trip into the Palestinian Authority with the Israel Defense Forces. They apparently broke through a Palestinian roadblock, and Palestinian police officers shot them in response.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/nablus-shooting-is-a-deadly-mistake-until-proven-otherwise-1.358098
Palestinian Authority to probe shooting death of Israeli in Nablus
Haaretz 26 Apr — …Nablus Governor Jibrin al-Bakri and the heads of the Palestinian security services in the city met with their Israeli counterparts on Sunday night in an effort to calm the situation. The Palestinian Authority also announced that it was setting up a committee to investigate the incident — Palestinian Military Intelligence is investigating the killing of a Bratslav Hasid, Ben-Yosef Livnat, early Sunday morning by the Palestinian police in Nablus. The worshipers had reportedly sneaked into Joseph’s Tomb.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/palestinian-authority-to-probe-shooting-death-of-israeli-in-nablus-1.358074
The mystery of Joseph’s Tomb / MW
Palestine Monitor 26 Apr — Truth is one of the first casualties of this conflict, and no one should assume the violence at Joseph’s Tomb will be any different. It could happen any time but it usually occurs under the cover of the night. Settlers come down from the mountain above the Palestinian city of Nablus to pay their respects to the purported resting place of Joseph, Patriarch and 11th son of Jacob. The early morning of Sunday, April 24th should have been no different. Sometime early in the morning, close to thirty settlers packed in five cars arrived in the area around Joseph’s Tomb to pray. After these established facts, the fog of war obscures … An old mustachioed shopkeeper in Balata village near Joseph’s Tomb did not see or hear anything unusual.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1774
Activism / Solidarity
South Hebron Hills: Palestinians prune trees as act of resistance in Susiya
Christian Peacemaker Teams 25 Apr — On the morning of 23 April, Palestinians from the village of Susiya pruned olive trees on their land in an act of protest against land confiscation and violence by residents from the nearby Israeli settlement, also named Susiya.  Six days earlier, Israeli settlers had attacked and injured a local Palestinian in the area near these olive trees. The Palestinians, accompanied by Israeli and international peace activists, began working on their trees at approximately 10:00 a.m. Almost immediately, Israeli soldiers appeared and stood above the orchards.  They did not interfere with the pruning. At approximately 11:00 a.m., four Israeli settlers arrived, then four more.  The soldiers, now re-enforced by Israeli police, did not allow them to approach the Palestinians pruning the olive trees.  After talking with the settlers, the soldiers insisted that all Israelis and internationals leave the area.  The Palestinian families were able to remain and continue working. As the Israeli and international activists slowly departed, the soldiers moved the settlers away also.  By noon, the villagers had successfully completed their pruning of the olive trees.
http://cpt.org/cptnet/2011/04/25/south-hebron-hills-palestinians-prune-trees-act-resistance-susiya
Weekly Palestinian popular demonstrations met with harsh Israeli violence
AIC 26 Apr — 16 demonstrators were injured this past weekend in demonstrations against Israel’s occupation …The weekly demonstration in Bil‘in commemorated the second anniversary of the killing of Bassem Abu Rahmah from a tear gas canister during a village demonstration. Demonstrators carried photos of Bassem and his sister Jawaher, who was killed from tear gas inhalation during a village demonstration, and of Marwan Barghouti. The demonstration opened with the national anthem and a call for a united national front against Israel’s occupation. When demonstrators reached the Wall, soldier shot tear gas, stun grenades, rubber coated steel bullets, live bullets and 022 bullets at them, in addition to skunk water. Demonstrators succeeded in pulling down part of the Wall and placing a Palestinian flag on an army jeep.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/news/3551-weekly-palestinian-popular-demonstrations-met-with-harsh-israeli-violence-
Volunteer in Gaza with the ISM
25 Apr — The International Solidarity Movement is appealing for activists to join our team in the besieged Gaza Strip. We are hoping that this coming month’s Freedom Flotilla along with the Italian Stay Human convoy will bring an influx of activists into Gaza who will help carry on the important work that Vittorio Arrigoni was an essential part of before his death … Those interested in joining the ISM Gaza team are required to attend a preliminary training in their home country and have communicate with the volunteers in Gaza prior to arrival. Entering Gaza is an arduous process that requires some time to be spent in Egypt. Also recommended: -Previous experience with organizing / activism, preferably in the Middle-East… gazaism@gmail.com
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/04/17347/
Activists prepare new 15-boat flotilla to Gaza
ISTANBUL (AP) 26 Apr — Pro-Palestinian activists say a planned convoy of aid ships to the Gaza Strip will be twice as big as a similar flotilla that was raided a year ago by Israeli forces, leaving nine people dead on a Turkish boat. Organizers say they hope to depart around the May 31 anniversary of the fatal raid, but say it could happen later than that. Huseyin Oruc, a spokesman for an Islamic aid group in Turkey, said Tuesday that an international coalition of 22 non-governmental organizations plans to send 15 ships with a total of 1,500 people.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110426/ap_on_re_eu/gaza_flotilla_1
International [land] convoy to Gaza
25 Apr — On the 21st April, a meeting regarding the discussions and reflections on the murder of Vittorio Arrigoni was held in Rome amongst different activists. From the gathering, the need to organize a convoy to Gaza through Egypt was decided. Let’s start this process by sharing those points: -We want to go to Gaza through Rafah Border Crossing with all in the world that need to say aloud what Vittorio used to say: Stay human! We want to do it from Egypt because, in the post Mubarak era, that border must be opened to break the siege imposed for too long on the people in Gaza….
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/04/17937/
Flyers threaten eviction, raise awareness
Yale Univ. Daily News 22 Apr —  Many students were surprised to wake up Wednesday to fliers warning that their suites would be demolished within three days. Luckily, the eviction notices were not real. They were distributed by members of the group Students for Justice and Peace in Palestine to raise awareness about the plight of Palestinians whose homes are being demolished by the Israeli government. 
http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2011/apr/22/flyers-threaten-eviction-raise-awareness/
Farewell to Vittorio Arrigoni
Mourners gather in Palestine and Italy for Vittorio’s funeral
ISM 25 Apr — Yesterday evening mourners gathered in Ramallah and Gaza in memorial events for ISM activist Vittorio Arrigoni. The events were planned to coincide with Vittorio’s funeral in Bulciago, Italy, which was attended by hundreds of people.
VIDEO from Ramallah: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ju8q_EkETU
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/04/17976/
Video: Bella Ciao Vik
Italian TV 24 Apr – short (1.25 min) excerpt from Italian funeral of Vittori Arrgioni in Bulciago, Italy [The family has asked friends and comrades of ‘Vik’ not to send flowers to the funeral but to donate the money to the Palestinian people.]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmJiwE1Zo5Y
Video: Bella Ciao al funerale del partigiano Vittorio Utopia Arrigone  — Bulciago 24 aprile 2011
24 Apr — After the religious funeral, mourners sing the WW II partisan song Bella Ciao
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRfnm96OPi0
Beit ‘Ula names garden after slain Italian activist
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 24 Apr — Hebron’s Youth Development Association re-named a small garden west of the city after murdered Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni in a Sunday ceremony. Beit ‘Ula Mayor Rateb Al-Omla presided over the event … Organizers invited solidarity activists working in the southern West Bank to the commemoration event, thanking them for their service to the Palestinian people.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=381631
Italian researcher in Gaza: Arrigoni murder will not affect Palestinian support
GAZA, (PIC) 25 Apr — Italian researcher Dr. Paola Manduca, who is currently visiting the Gaza Strip, has said that the murder of Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni will not affect the solidarity the Italians and world peace activists have with the Palestinians. The statement came during a meeting with Palestinian Health Minister Bassem Naim, after the latter sent the condolences of those working in the ministry and Palestinian government to Arrigoni’s family.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Vik, you are missed / Vera Macht
Salem News (ROME ISM) 24 Apr — Vik, you wanted only happy farewell letters. Vik, we didn’t often agree on things. After some time, my friend, when it’s less painful. You are missed with such an intensity that makes you even more present … And Gaza of course, which I can’t imagine without you, probably no one here can imagine it without you yet. Your Arabic vocabulary of: Mushkile? Leeesh? Mish Mushkile! Yallah! was completely enough to brighten up the people around you, and to make everyone in Gaza your rafiq and your rafiqa. 
http://salem-news.com/articles/april242011/vik-missed-vm.php
Political/Diplomatic/International news
Abbas: Obama led me on
In unusually blunt remarks to Newsweek, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas lashes out at US president over his handling of peace process with Israel, attitude to Egypt’s Mubarak
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4060435,00.html
Lingering PA cabinet calls for halt to settlements
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an)25 Apr — Palestinian Authority ministers convened for a weekly meeting in Ramallah Monday, despite President Mahmoud Abbas’ announcement seven days prior that a new cabinet would be appointed within the week.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=382116
Germany will not support Palestinian statehood declaration
IMEMC 25 Apr — Despite ongoing diplomatic talks and efforts carried out by Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, and his teams, Germany announced it will not be supporting the Palestinian intentions to declare statehood this coming September at the United Nations. German paper, Der Spiegel, reported that German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, wants to pressure Abbas during his upcoming visit to Berlin, in order to try to convince him to cancel the plan.
http://www.imemc.org/article/61134
PLO official: PA prefers negotiations to unilateral declaration of Palestinian state
dpa/Haaretz 25 Apr — PLO Secretary General Yasser Abed Rabbo calls for ‘real and serious’ negotiations with Israel in interview with Al-Hayat newspaper, says Palestinian state must be based on 1967 borders and population transfer not an option.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/plo-official-pa-prefers-negotiations-to-unilateral-declaration-of-palestinian-state-1.358002
Israeli settlement programme blamed for collapse of peace process
MEMO 25 Apr — A senior member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has blamed the Israeli government for the collapse of the peace process. Saeb Erekat, who, as the ex-Chief Palestinian Negotiator, has insider knowledge of the stalled negotiations, has said that Israel chose its settlement programme over peace and rejected the terms of reference for the discussions.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2274-israeli-settlement-programme-blamed-for-collapse-of-peace-process
Egypt oil ministers to be tried over Israel deal
CAIRO (AFP) 24 Apr  — Two former Egyptian ministers are to face trial for selling natural gas to Israel at a low price, judicial sources said on Saturday. Sameh Fahmi and Mahmud Latif are accused of costing the state $714 million in losses because of the deal, the sources said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=381653
More than half of Egyptians want to cancel peace treaty with Israel
AP 26 Apr — More than half of all Egyptians would like to see the 1979 peace treaty with Israel annulled, according to results of a poll conducted by the U.S.-based Pew Research Center released Monday. According to the poll results, only 36 percent of Egyptians are in favor of maintaining the treaty, compared with 54 percent who would like to see it scrapped.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/poll-more-than-half-of-egyptians-want-to-cancel-peace-treaty-with-israel-1.358107
Turkey: Israel shouldn’t repeat its Gaza flotilla mistake
Haaretz 26 Apr — Speaking with the Sydney Morning Herald earlier this week, Turkish FM says it is Israel’s responsibility to lift its blockade on the Strip, saying no one nation owned the Mediterranean — Israel mustn’t attempt to stop a planned aid flotilla bound for the blockaded Gaza Strip, Turkey’s Foreign Minister told in an interview on Monday, adding that Turkey could do nothing to stop organizers from launching the flotilla.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/turkey-israel-shouldn-t-repeat-its-gaza-flotilla-mistake-1.358162
Netanyahu to visit London, Paris for talks
JERUSALEM (AFP) 26 Apr  — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to Britain and France next week for talks on the peace process, his office said Tuesday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=382398
Other news
Jerusalem’s time tunnels / Nir Hasson
Haaretz 24 Apr — Horizontal excavations throughout the Old City of Jerusalem and Silwan are producing important archaeological discoveries, but opponents charge that they are undermining Palestinian foundations, in more ways than one
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/jerusalem-s-time-tunnels-1.357872
‘Gaza’s Tears’ wins Al Jazeera prize
26 Apr — Norwegian film director Vibeke Løkkeberg has won one of the main prizes up for grabs at the International Documentary Film Festival, organized by global news network Al Jazeera, for her film Gaza’s Tears … The film documents the Israeli attack on Gaza during late 2008 and early 2009 by following the stories of three children. It was described as “the ultimate antiwar film” by the Hollywood Reporter when it aired at the Toronto Film Festival.
http://www.newsinenglish.no/2011/04/26/gazas-tears-wins-al-jazeera-prize/
Traditional bath offers relief to people of Gaza
GAZA, April 26 (Bernama) — Dozens of Palestinians visit Hamam al-Samra, one of the traditional baths in the Gaza Strip, every day to bathe themselves and cleanse their skin while sitting in rooms filled with high temperature steam. The bath is open on three shifts each day. The first shift in the morning is for men, the second shift in the afternoon is for women, and the third shift is, again, for men at night … As part of history, the traditional bath is located in a compound containing an archaeological site that includes the Al-Omari mosque, the old market and the Catholic church. The bath was built by the Mamaleek empire, which ruled Palestine from 1260 to 1570.
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsgeneral.php?id=581825
Palestinian prime minister celebrates Easter with promise of return to Jerusalem
IMEMC 24 Apr 18:30 — The Palestinian Prime Minister of the appointed Fateh government in the West Bank, Salam Fayyad, told Christian worshipers in Bethlehem Sunday that it would not be long before the blockade would be lifted, and they would be able to celebrate Easter in Jerusalem as they had traditionally done for 2,000 years before Israeli authorities blocked access. Fayyad emphasized that Muslims and Christians in Palestine are brothers and sisters, and that Easter is an important holiday for both religions (Muslims recognize Jesus Christ as an important prophet in the lineage of prophets, although they do not accept him as the Messiah).
http://www.imemc.org/article/61129
In pictures: Iran Jews celebrate Passover, Persian-style
Haaretz 25 Apr — Iran’s Jewish community celebrated Passover this week, gathering to pray at the Pol-e-Choubi Synagogue in Tehran, a synagogue catering to the largest Jewish community in the Middle East outside of Israel … Iran’s Jewish community has decreased from 80,000 before the Islamic revolution, to about 20,000 today. It is represented in parliament by a Jewish lawmaker and is the largest Jewish community in the Middle East outside of Israel
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/in-pictures-iran-jews-celebrate-passover-persian-style-1.358018
Analysis / Opinion
Young Mizrahi Israelis’ open letter to Arab peers
24 Apr — In a letter titled “Ruh Jedida: A New Spirit for 2011,” young Jewish descendants of the Arab and Islamic world living in Israel write to their peers in the Middle East and North Africa — …We, too, live in a regime that in reality — despite its pretensions to being “enlightened” and “democratic” — does not represent large sections of its actual population in the Occupied Territories and inside of the Green Line border(s). This regime tramples the economic and social rights of most of its citizens, is in an ongoing process of minimizing democratic liberties, and constructs racist barriers against Arab-Jews, the Arab people, and Arabic culture. Unlike the citizens of Tunisia and Egypt, we are still a long way from the capacity to build the kind of solidarity between various groups that we see in these countries, a solidarity movement that would allow us to unite and march together–all who reside here–into the public squares, to demand a civil regime that is culturally, socially, and economically just and inclusive.
http://972mag.com/young-mizrahi-israelis-open-letter-to-arab-peers/
When a child becomes an enemy / Joseph Dana
25 Apr …As we swam in the cool water, the topic of conversation turned to his reserve service. This friend of mine, let’s call him Avichai, had just finished a round of reserve duty in the Palestinian village of Ni‘ilin, where I often attend and cover the demonstrations against the Separation Barrier. I was shocked to hear that he had served there and quickly realized that he had probably fired tear gas, rubber bullets or live ammunition at me. Our conversation took an uncomfortable turn. I asked him directly, “what does it take for you to look at children and shoot at them with tear gas, rubber bullets and live fire?” He nonchalantly informed me that they are not children, rather enemies on a battlefield.
http://josephdana.com/2011/04/when-a-child-becomes-an-enemy/
Will a Palestinian Autumn follow an Arab Spring? / Yousef Munayyer
22 Apr — With much of the Arab world experiencing uprisings in recent months, there has been one resounding question among Palestinians: why not us? It is a sad irony that the Palestinians, under Israeli occupation for nearly 44 years, watch from the sidelines as other Arabs shake off their repressive shackles by pouring into the streets – a tactic employed by Palestinians in the first intifada two decades ago. But the transformational moments of this “Arab Spring” may be outdone by a Palestinian Autumn. Indeed, a combination of events taking place around September may reorient the Palestinian struggle for liberation in a fundamental way.
http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/ht/display/ContentDetails/i/28840/pid/2254
Letter: Inspiring theatre must take risks / Naomi Wallace & Erin Meet
Guardian 26 Apr — Conal Urquhart gives the impression that Juliano Mer Khamis was an unpopular, quixotic outsider, disliked by most and hated by some, and a victim of irreconcilable cultural differences (A killing inspired by drama not politics, 22 April). He quotes extensively from a “fatwa-style” extremist leaflet and speaks with a “group of elderly women” . But to the public who went to the Freedom Theatre and the actors and students who participated in its productions, this Palestinian theatre was extraordinarily popular and successful.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/26/inspiring-theatre-must-take-risks
‘For as long as I can, I will continue’: Hajo Meyer interviewed
EI 26 Apr — Since being interviewed by The Electronic Intifada in 2009, Auschwitz survivor Hajo Meyer has toured numerous countries to speak about his efforts to combat Zionism and his support for the struggle of the Palestinian people for freedom and equality … In a new interview with The Electronic Intifada contributor Adri Nieuwhof, 86-year-old Hajo Meyer about his continued activism in the past two years. Adri Nieuwhof: In our interview two years ago — in which you compared your childhood experiences to that endured by Palestinian youth today — you said you planned to continue to be active because you “had still so much to say.” Can you tell us more about what happened  since then?
http://electronicintifada.net/content/long-i-can-i-will-continue-hajo-meyer-interviewed/9867
Costs of arming Israel can no longer be ignored / Josh Ruebner
EI 25 Apr — Israel may be forgiven for failing to realize the current fiscal woes of the United States. After all, US military aid to Israel not only sailed unscathed through this month’s passage of the 2011 budget, but reached the record level of $3 billion. The US additionally provided Israel $415 million for procurement, research and development of joint US-Israeli missile defense projects, including $205 million to fund Israel’s newly-deployed Iron Dome system.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/costs-arming-israel-can-no-longer-be-ignored/9873
Palestinians not invited / Yousef Munayyer
26 Apr — When it comes to US-Israel relations, few people are more effected by the dynamics of this relationship than Palestinians. Billions of dollars in military equipment shipped from the United States to Israel most often ends up used against Palestinians. Seemingly endless American diplomatic support for Israel permits them to wantonly ignore international law at the expense of Palestinians and their land in occupied territory and refugee camps. Yet, when it comes to debating the US-Israel relationship and its implications, Palestinians are systematically excluded from the discussion.
http://blog.thejerusalemfund.org/2011/04/palestinians-not-invited.html
A. B. Yehoshua and Zionism identity politics / Joseph Dana
26 Apr — A.B. Yehoshua, the acclaimed Israeli fiction author, has an opinion piece in today’s Haaretz where he addresses a fundamental question: why has the Israeli-Palestinian conflict gone on for so long. For Yehoshua, the answer is simple; identity … if we understand the conflict in terms of Zionism (i.e. identity of the Jewish people, claim to the land, historical justice, etc), then we can forget about the unmitigated aggression of Israel in its maintenance of its military occupation of Palestinian land. The Palestinians merely become another people which have similar claims to the land.
http://josephdana.com/2011/04/a-b-yehoshua-and-zionism%E2%80%99s-identity-politics/
Michael Oren: Israeli is the ultimate ally
Israel’s ambassador to Washington publishes article in which he numerates reasons why Jewish State is best friend America can have. ‘In return for its aid, US receives not only an armed but an innovative ally,’ he claims
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4060605,00.html
JPost Editor’s Notes: The moralist / David Horowitz
22 Apr — When your enemies do not follow the rules of war… An eye-opening interview with the man who helps set the IDF’s ethical parameters [fascinating look at the thinking of the man who influences the  ‘morality’ of the IDF]
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=217479
Izzie in HolyLand Part 21 — Hell freezes over in Israel / Ami Kaufman
Izzie: Ruthie! Get me the minister of interior security in here! Ruthie: Yes Mam! YitzhakAharonovitz: Mam, you called for me? Izzie: Yeah. Sit down, Yitzhak. Aharonovitz: What can I do for you? Izzie: I just read about this brutal murder in Jaffa. Aharonovitz: Oh yeah, that. Five members of the XXX family. Terrible, terrible. Izzie: And there’s no suspect? Aharonovitz: Nope. But I can promise you we’ll do everything we can. Izzie: I want you to do more. Aharonovitz: Such as? Izzie: Well, I saw what happened in Awarta after the murder of the Fogel family from Itamar. Aharonovitz: Well, Ms. HolyLand, those are tactics we use only in the West Bank. Izzie: Are you saying there’s a different law for Palestinians? Aharonovitz: Well…. Izzie: What is this, some kind of apartheid state?!?! Aharonovitz: Well, I wouldn’t go so far as — Izzie: Yitzhak! Shut up and use the Awarta technique! Now! 
The next morning, Izzie picks up the paper and reads the Haaretz lead story: “6,000 citizens of Bat Yam arrested, city under siege BAT YAM — The Israeli police literally took over the town of Bat Yam yesterday in an effort to search for the murderers of the XXX family last week. Just under 10% of the city, 16,000 people, have been taken into custody and been held without due process…..”
http://972mag.com/izzie-in-holyland-part-21-hell-freezes-over-in-israel/
U.S.
WikiLeaks – just a few examples from The Guardian:
‘Guantánamo files’: Dozens held were innocent
AJ video 25 Apr — The United States released dozens of so-called “high-risk” detainees from the Guantanamo Bay prison facility and held more than 150 innocent men for years, according to new reports about a trove of leaked military documents.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2011/04/201142561524783918.html
Video: Guantánamo Bay files: ‘The vast majority were not extremists’
Guardian 25 Apr — Clive Stafford Smith, legal director of Reprieve, discusses the ‘extraordinarily thin’ evidence used to hold prisoners and the ‘nonsense’ cooked up by a group of serial informers to get privileges… what this material shows you is the sheer bueaucratic incompetence of the US military when it comes to sweeping people up
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2011/apr/25/guantanamo-bay-files-reprieve-video
Guantánamo files: US agencies fought internal war over handing of detainees
Guardian 25 Apr — One of the biggest and most explosive clashes at Guantánamo Bay has been fought not between guards and prisoners but between US interrogators, the leaked files reveal. It was a fundamental clash of cultures: between those who stuck rigidly to US law and those who, in the frightening post-9/11 world, adopted techniques from a US manual detailing psychological and physical torture used by China during the Korean war.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/25/guantanamo-files-internal-battle-interrogators?CMP=twt_fd
Guantánamo Bay files: Torture gets results, US military insists
Guardian 25 Apr — Camp X-ray authorities defiant in face of official criticism, arguing ‘harsh interrogation’ yielded valuable leads from 9/11 suspects
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/25/guantanamo-files-qahtani-salahi-torture
Guantánamo Bay files: Children and senile old men among detainees
Guardian 25 Apr — The Guantánamo files reveal the often fragile physical and mental condition of Guantánamo’s oldest and youngest residents, who have included an 89-year-old man and boys as young as 14.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/25/guantanamo-files-children-old-men
US condemns WikiLeaks release of Gitmo files / Jason Ditz
White House officials today condemned WikiLeaks, again, for the release of classified documents that are hugely embarrassing to the administration. The latest leaks, theGuantanamo Files, detail the information the administration has and the treatment of detainees. Officials said the leaked files were “unfortunate” and condemned the various media outlets around the world for reporting their contents to the American public. They also expressed concerns about a possible backlash. And not without good reason. The documents detail a shameful number of detainees being mistreated or held under ridiculously dubious circumstances.
http://news.antiwar.com/2011/04/25/us-condemns-wikileaks-release-of-gitmo-files/
How your tax dollars fuel the hatred of Muslims / Alex Kane
AlterNet 18 Apr — Public servants are regularly presented with misleading, inflammatory, and dangerous information about the nature of the terror threat — The decade after the 9/11 attacks has seen the creation of a profitable cottage industry of self-styled ‘experts’ on Islam. As Sarah Posner recently noted in an article on Religion Dispatches, anti-Muslim fear-mongers, ranging from politicians to national security experts, have “cultivated a wide-ranging conspiracy theory that totalitarian Islamic radicals are bent on infiltrating America, displacing the Constitution, and subverting Western-style democracy in the U.S. and around the globe.”
http://www.alternet.org/rights/150648/how_your_tax_dollars_fuel_the_hatred_of_muslims/
Iraq
Sunday: 12 Iraqis killed, 28 wounded
State-run television broadcast Mass last night so that Iraq’s Christians could safely celebrate Easter at home today. Nevertheless, attacks left 12 dead and 28 wounded across the country. At the signing of a prisoner exchange agreement between Iraq and Iran, Justice Minister Hassan al-Shimari reminded those in attendance that the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran would be expelled from Iraq this year, generating fears that the agreement would mean the forced repatriation of Camp Ashraf‘s residents.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2011/04/24/sunday-12-iraqis-killed-28-wounded/
Monday: 5 Iraqis killed, 23 wounded
At least five Iraqis were killed and 23 more were wounded in the latest violence. Also, an official at the Human Rights Ministry said that over 14,000 Iraqis have gone missing since 2003. Army forces surrounded al-Ahrar Square in Mosul this morning to prevent demonstrators from reaching it. Clashes broke out, wounding ten people. Security forces claim that they didn’t cause any injuries, but hospital sources reported some baton injuries among the wounded….
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2011/04/25/monday-5-iraqis-killed-23-wounded/

‘Haaretz’ bolsters Goldstone conclusion that Fakhoura St ‘massacre’ was disproportional– and says Israel failed to investigate it because it felt ‘persecuted’

Apr 26, 2011

Philip Weiss

There is a breathtaking piece of investigative journalism in Haaretz‘s magazine today by Shay Fogelman on the most cursed event (in Israel’s view) of the Gaza onslaught two years ago: the mortar attack on the Jabaliya refugee camp on January 6, 2009 that killed between 34 and 43 civilians gathered near a UN school in al-Fakhoura Street.

The piece begins unforgettably with a portrait of Lina Hasan, a 10-year-old girl killed in the attack when she was going out to buy candy. The horrifying images of carnage outside a school stirred international outrage and helped to establish the factfinding mission that would lead to the Goldstone Report. The words “Family Massacre” occur as a drophead in the Haaretz account– and describe the mortar dropped on the Deeb family house, killing 11 of 16 family members.

The thrust of the Haaretz report is clear: yes there were Hamas operatives in a nearby orchard, but the most reliable accounts of Palestinian firings undermine the Israeli official accounts — a claim of “mortal danger” to Israeli troops 2 miles north– and leave unanswered questions about why the Israelis would fire four mortar shells into an area teeming with civilians. The Israeli investigations of the incident are completely unconvincing in Haaretz’s view. Note that the investigator the IDF provides to Haaretz for an interview claims that the mortar attacks were in the morning, when they took place near 4 in the afternoon, approaching dusk.

Though yes, Fogelman appends an afterword concluding that Israel did not deliberately target civilians in the incident (displaying merely shocking negligence and disproportion) and that the IDF’s sense of “feeling threatened and persecuted” by international pressure has kept it from investigating the episode in any meaningful way.

Here are some excerpts of the report:

In regard to the location of the Palestinian mortar unit, the officer says, “We know that it is outside the school, at a distance of 80-100 meters from it, in an orchard. If someone had said to me, ‘Listen, there is a crowd there, all the schoolchildren are standing next to that place,’ and mortar fire against me had continued, I would not have opened fire at the place. By the way, it’s not certain that that would be the right thing from the military viewpoint, but that’s what I would have decided….[B] because we understood that it was far enough from the school and that this barrel was firing repeatedly – not one or two shells – authorization was given to return fire.”

However, a very different picture emerges from many testimonies given by paratroopers who took part in the incident and from a large number of previously unpublished documents obtained by Haaretz Magazine. None of the soldiers who were interviewed for this article and none of those who gave testimony to Breaking the Silence – an organization of veteran soldiers seeking to raise awareness of the reality of life in the occupied territories – described similar feelings of mortal danger. Many of them do not even remember coming under mortar fire. Moreover, some of the operational logs and military reports summing up the Gaza operation also make no mention of Palestinian mortar fire at the paratroopers in Al-Atatra.

A previously unpublished report drawn up by the fire coordination unit of Southern Command, based on the spotting of mortar and missile fire from the Gaza Strip, indicates that all the shells fired by Palestinians from the area of Jabalya refugee camp landed inside Israel, far from where the paratroopers were located. One landed near Sapir College in Sderot, the report states, another in Begin Square in Sderot and the others in open areas, mainly around nearby Kibbutz Gevim.

Another document obtained by Haaretz – “Summary of Major Events,” a routine daily report drawn up by the operations section of the Gaza Division detailing all the incidents of the past day – lists all the cases in which the [sraeli] paratroopers in Al-Atatra [2.5 miles away] came under fire on January 6, not only from mortar shells. According to this report, only four cases of firing took place in the hours that preceded the mortar attack by the IDF (which took place at about 3:45 P.M. ) – at 8:41 A.M., 9:06 A.M., 11:59 A.M. and 12:38 P.M. True, five soldiers were wounded lightly in the first of the four instances, and the division’s log states, “Light arms and mortar shells fired at our forces.” But later it turned out that all five soldiers were wounded by the light-arms fire, not by a mortar shell, as all the later summaries for that day also note.

Another daily summary, drawn up by the operations branch of the Gaza Division, also states that during the whole of that day, a total of four mortar shells were fired at Israeli forces in the northern sector of the Gaza Strip. Furthermore, the shells landed near a Golani Brigade force that was operating in the sector, and not near the paratroopers. In sum, none of the reports and events logs obtained by Haaretz states that mortar shells were fired that day from Jabalya at the paratroopers in Al-Atatra. Incidentally, the senior officer, who made it clear at the start of the interview (which was arranged through the IDF Spokesman’s Unit ) that he is well informed about the details and that he witnessed “the event from end to end,” insisted on two different occasions that it occurred in the morning. Even when he was shown army documents stating that the Israeli mortar shells landed in the street close to 4 P.M., along with soldiers’ testimonies to the same effect, he continued to insist: “Morning. Near midday.” It is also noteworthy that on the January day on which the incident occurred, sunset was at 4:52 P.M., meaning that the mortars were fired toward the onset of twilight.

…. Taken as a whole, the testimonies and other evidence show that the first three mortar shells landed in the middle of Fakhoura Street, just meters from the UNRWA school. The fourth shell hit the porch of the home of the Deeb family – at least 50 meters away from the place where the Palestinian mortar squad could have been operating.

Photographs that were taken in the course of a classified internal investigation conducted by a highly regarded international human rights organization whose reports are generally reliable, show shrapnel and the tail ends of shells that were found on the street and in the home of the Deeb family. The report of the investigation, which was obtained by Haaretz Magazine, also locates the places where the Israeli shells fell according to map coordinates based on GPS technology. The findings closely match the Goldstone Report and the testimonies taken from Gaza residents for this article. They show that the four IDF mortar shells fell a few dozen meters apart, across a total distance of 160 meters. The “aiming point” – the average strike point of the shells – is about 150 meters from the site of the Palestinian mortar squad according to both the senior officer and the report of the General Staff.

Video footage shot within seconds of the incident on Fakhoura Street leaves no room for doubt about where three of the shells struck. The footage shows a busy street with buildings all around….

the paratroopers apparently had direct eye contact with the area of the Fakhoura School, at a distance of only 1,600 meters, and in that case could see that the area was bustling with people. With binoculars, they could also identify relatively easily the armed individuals and distinguish them from the dozens of civilians on the street. This raises serious questions about the decision to use mortar fire…

a number of pilots who took part that day in Operation Cast Lead and were interviewed for the article vehemently rejected the allegation that the air force was unavailable for the mission. According to one of them, “We maintained a constant presence in all the combat sectors. And even if there was a technical hitch with one of the [aircraft], or someone left the area in order to rearm, there were always backups.” Moreover, the combat logs from that day describe a number of events in which paratroopers on the ground guided helicopters and aircraft to targets, sometimes even to eliminate a wall or other barrier, certainly against armed individuals…

The Israeli response to the Goldstone Report stated that the military advocate general had “also found that the IDF’s choice of weapons was appropriate under the circumstances. The Israeli forces employed a burst of four Keshet 120 mm mortar rounds, fired in quick succession. The Keshet mortar contains advanced target acquisition and navigation systems.” This description of mortar shells is hardly consistent with reality. As anyone who has ever fired a mortal shell knows, the shell plummets like a stone from the sky and cannot navigate itself to the target. No evidence exists either in the professional military literature or in the catalogs of the leading manufacturers of mortar shells that these weapons “contain advanced target acquisition and navigation systems.”…

The military advocate general found that the IDF response had been “measured” and “proportional,” a finding that is difficult to accept given the result in practice: the death of dozens of civilians. Israel’s response to the Goldstone report stated, “Israel acknowledges that, while the strike was effective in removing the threat to Israeli forces, it also resulted in the regrettable loss of civilian lives … [T]he MAG reiterated the recommendation of the special command investigation to formulate more stringent definitions in military orders to govern the use of mortars in populated areas and in close proximity to sensitive facilities.”

The IDF does not elaborate about the “more stringent definitions” that were drawn up concerning the use of mortars in populated areas in the wake of the Fakhoura Street incident. It’s a pity that many civilians had to die to prompt the IDF to redefine what should have been self-evident. Beyond this, it might have been expected that the paratroopers who fired the mortars would be more cautious in choosing the mode of response, target and weapon, even without a formal order. True, they fired at Hamas combatants who were operating in the area, and hit a few of them, but what effort did they make to avoid harming innocent civilians? In response to a query from Haaretz Magazine, the IDF Spokesman chose not to address specific claims and not to reply to questions about the seeming contradictions between the comments of the senior officer and those of the military advocate general.

This is journalism to fill your eyes with tears and your mind with questions. Why has no American newspaper undertaken this kind of inquiry, when day after day we are subjected to hectoring about the Goldstone “reconsideration”? Why is this all on Haaretz’s shoulders? Where are the American Jewish groups to lend support to brave Haaretz? Why is the New York Times bureau chief in the middle of this story a man with an Israeli wife and a son in the Israeli armed forces– a position that forced the Times correspondent in Gaza, Taghreed El-Khodary, who surely could have matched this Haaretz report with on-the-ground reporting, to quit her job in embarrassment?

These are historic times, dire times that have called on the best that journalists have to offer. Fogelman along with Roni Efrat and Rayad Zuabi have risen to the challenge. I pray that the New Yorker, which praised Haaretz’s contribution a few weeks back in a 10,000-word article, will give the newspaper some reinforcement here, and do its own investigation of the orders during Cast Lead, and subsequent investigations.

‘Foreign Policy’ puts out a swimsuit issue

Apr 26, 2011

Philip Weiss

Foreign Policy runs a cheesecake story with photos from Alexandria’s beaches in the ’50s, to prove what I’m not sure– the fluidity of culture, the error of the burqa, the radicalization that is Zionism, or Islamism, or just a naked cry for traffic?

An apology to International Solidarity Movement activists

Apr 26, 2011

Mohammed Said AlNadi

Dear all ISM activists,

I’m awfully sorry for this belated letter; please forgive me. For days, I wasn’t able to write anything. Every time I wanted to write, I felt like there were no words to exactly describe how I felt upon knowing Vik [Vittorio Arrigoni] was killed; I couldn’t find words to express my condolences to you. At that moment, “I’m sorry for your loss” seemed unworthy. And as I’m writing to you right now, I don’t know if my words will be of any comfort to you. Probably not, for Vik now is gone.

We are sorry we couldn’t protect your friend and save his life; we couldn’t cut off the dirty hands before they touched him. However, on behalf of every Palestinian, I would like to offer you my deepest condolences for having lost your comrade Vittorio Arrigoni. I know what Vik meant to you. Not only was he your colleague, but also he was a brother, a friend and a compassionate humanist. Vik was one of the oldest ISM members; he came to Gaza on the first Free Gaza boat in 2008 and stayed until he took his last breath. He was the finest paradigm of how we can be truly human.

Dear friends, I know you are still heartbroken, and some of you even still refuse to believe Vik was murdered. I know it’s difficult for all of you to succumb to the fact that Vittorio is no longer around. All of you knew Vik when you came to Gaza and joined the ISM, and soon you became one family because of the vibrant big hearts and boundless humanity you all had. Yes we as Palestinians are sad because we lost a great custodian and defender of the Palestinian cause, but I’m sure the shock was even harder for you. You were all more than one family: you were brothers and sisters, you lived together, you protested together, you always did your utmost to serve whoever needed help in Gaza, and you always were at the forefront together along with farmers and fishermen defying Israeli bullets and inhumane blockade. You so passionately embraced us and our cause with open arms; you lived among us, where you endured the same hardships and suffering. You all are undisputedly Palestinians, of whom we are most proud.

It might be inappropriate of me to explain to you how the people of Gaza felt when they heard that it was some Palestinians who committed this crime, because you know better; you know that those bunch of criminals don’t represent the Palestinians at all. I, however, am sorry for them because they killed someone who they knew very well was for them; they betrayed a person whose heart overwhelmed Gaza with love and warmth. I also feel sorry for them because of the tragic end they deserved. Did they not think about it? Didn’t they know that this was what Israelis wanted, and that they were doing them an invaluable favor? Stupid!

Dear friends, for Vik is gone now, let’s not make the Israelis happy. Let’s show them who we are and what we can do. Let’s show them the undying spirit of Vik living in all of us. Let’s just follow in his steps and continue the noble work he began. Vik did an unparalleled job, and it’s time for him to take rest; I’m sure he is very happy now seeing how much we love and honor him, how we are becoming more and more determined to go on in our struggle for freedom and justice and how his death has further inspired us, and awakened humanity in millions of people as well.

Dear friends, I assure you that your endurance, perseverance and dignity in the face of the unjust and cruel Israeli occupation has added so very much to the Palestinian cause; without your tireless efforts, we would be lost and forgotten. You have proved unbreakable determination against injustice and atrocity. Vik and you have taught us how to “Stay Human”, and we will definitely continue on this route together.

Dear friends, thank you all from the bottom of my heart and much love and reverence for you all… A big hug

Stay human Yours, Mohammed

‘Foreign Policy’ seeks ‘rebuttal’ of Oren tripe from Satloff, Benn, Goldberg and oh, Walt

Apr 26, 2011

Philip Weiss

This is discouraging. I thought we were having a little perestroika in these parts. But no, Foreign Policy yesterday ran a piece of pure propaganda by Israeli ambassador Michael Oren saying that the U.S. and Zionists have had utterly-overlapping interests since the days of George Washington and forever after, and who did it ask to respond in “rebuttal”? Aluf Benn of Haaretz, Robert Satloff of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (a lobby group), and Jeffrey Goldberg of the Iranian frenzy patrol. I can’t motivate myself to read the Goldberg and the Satloff, but how’s this for a rebuttal, from Benn:

Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, asserts rightly that in view of the current political upheaval, America has no better or more trustworthy friend in the Middle East than Israel.

Oh and Steve Walt. Who cleans the floor with Oren in a long piece that combines realism with a fullthroated human-rights argument. Excerpt:

Oren would prefer that the United States continue backing Israel to the hilt no matter what it does. His first line of argument is the odd suggestion that Americans have been Zionists ever since the Founding Fathers (i.e., even before modern Zionism existed). Some early U.S. leaders did have biblically inspired notions about “returning Jews to the Holy Land,” but that fact tells us nothing about the proper relationship between the United States and Israel today. America’s Founding Fathers also opposed colonialism, for example, so one might just as easily argue that they would oppose Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and support the Palestinians’ efforts to secure their own independence. George Washington also warned Americans to avoid “passionate attachments” to any foreign nations, in good part because he believed it would distort U.S. domestic politics and provide avenues for foreign influence. Thus, Oren’s highly selective reading of past U.S. history offers little grounds for unconditional support today.

Oren’s second line of argument is the familiar claim that the United States and Israel share identical “democratic values.” Yet this argument cannot explain why the United States gives Israel so much support, and gives it unconditionally. After all, there are many democracies in the world, but none has a special relationship with the United States like Israel does.

It is true that both states are formally democratic, but there are also fundamental differences between the two countries. The United States is aliberal democracy, where people of any race, religion, or ethnicity are supposed to enjoy equal rights. Israel, by contrast, was explicitly founded as a Jewish state, and non-Jews in Israel are second-class citizens both de jure and de facto. To take but one example, Palestinians who marry Israeli Jews are not permitted to become citizens of Israel themselves. This may make sense given Israel’s self-definition, but it is wholly at odds with deep-rooted American values.

Just as importantly, Israel’s democratic status is undermined by its imposition of a legal, administrative, and military regime in the occupied territories that denies the Palestinians there basic human rights, as well as by its prolonged, government-backed effort to colonize these conquered lands with Jewish settlers.

In the end, it is hard not to see Oren’s article as a sign of desperation. A more open discourse about Israel is beginning to emerge in the United States, and that will gradually make it harder for American politicians to continue their craven subservience to the lobby. Furthermore, younger American Jews are less enchanted with an Israel that is drifting steadily rightward and whose political system is increasingly dysfunctional and ridden with scandal. Autocracies like Hosni Mubarak’s regime in Egypt actively colluded with Israel, but future Arab leaders are likely to be more responsive to popular sentiment and less tolerant of Israel’s brutal suppression of Palestinian rights. If the United States wants these countries’ policies to be congenial to its core interests, it will have to make its own policies more congenial to Arab peoples, not just their rulers.

Tolerance project at leading D.C. theater will take on Islamophobia. Not

Apr 26, 2011

Philip Weiss

My theme that Jews are the most significant element in the liberal American cultural/political establishment. From today’s Washington Post. No comment necessary:

Ford’s Theatre has announced a five-year project to mount one play each season with themes of tolerance, equality and other social issues and pair them with a month of weekly dialogues.

“The Lincoln Legacy Project,” a new initiative, will start in the fall with the musical “Parade,” the theater announced Tuesday. The play follows the true story of Leo Frank, a Jewish factory manager in early-20th-century Atlanta, who, after being accused of murdering a 13-year-old girl, was lynched by a mob.

Ford’s has enlisted several partners for the “Legacy Project,” starting with the Anti-Defamation League, which was founded in the wake of Frank’s lynching in 1913; the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington; the D.C. Jewish Community Center…

The founding sponsor of the project, the theater also announced Tuesday, is Ronald O. Perelman, chairman of MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc., who pledged $500,000.

Helen Thomas withdraws from Move Over AIPAC conference

Apr 26, 2011

Philip Weiss

As everyone already knows (I’m always late to report news, inspired by Eugene Roberts, who used to say that great stories don’t break, they ooze), Helen Thomas has withdrawnfrom the anti-AIPAC hoedown in Washington in late May. Jim Abourezk at Counterpunchsays that she was pressured to withdraw.

I’m fencesitting on this. In an earlier post I said it was a tactical mistake to invite Thomas because it would alienate the center and Jewish groups. Though yes I essentially agree with her view of the Jewish importance in the establishment, I find it crude. My friend Gail Miller takes me to task:

It’s a disappointment to me that you have contributed to this. I’m surprised that you think making nice to centrists and the Jewish community is the way to make progress on these issues; it’s dirty work that leaves behind a pile that smells bad. You kind of try to backtrack in the body of the post but I think the damage done by her withdrawal because of concerns from within MoveOverAIPAC will be, at the end of the day, damaging to our movement.

Fair enough. Gail has a lot more political experience than I do. Though I’d (typically) seek to extract good news: in the rallying of Arab-Americans and leftwingers around Thomas, I see a solidification of the movement behind the awareness that conservative Jewish influence must be addressed — the lobby, which is coextensive with the Jewish leadership– and therefore the importance for Jews of reconstructing Jewish identity before Zionism eats the media completely.