Mondoweiss Online Newsletter

NOVANEWS

• Erdogan to speak at Tahrir on Sept 12 and try and visit Gaza after, says Turkish news site

• Warped politics: Robert Gates says Israel is ‘ungrateful,’ but Obama will still veto Palestine UN bid

• Ari Fleischer says Obama is avoiding Muslims out of ‘sensitivity to Jewish vote’

• NYT’s Keller implies Iraq War aimed to save Israel from a ‘holocaust’

• Settlers deface and torch Nablus mosque in ‘price tag’ attack

• Shamai Leibowitz, a moral giant

• Obama’s Gaza test

• Giving new meaning to the expression, Bombing on Broadway

• Meet Captain Israel, anti-BDS superhero

• The ‘central issue’ of American policy that Shamai Leibowitz thought we had a right to know

Erdogan to speak at Tahrir on Sept 12 and try and visit Gaza after, says Turkish news site

Sep 06, 2011

Philip Weiss

From a Turkish broadcasting site. This could be big, in the runup to the statehood initiative. The item says that Erdogan may go to Gaza after addressing Tahrir, but that part of the trip has not been confirmed. This could be international theater on a grand scale. And a call for Palestinian freedom, heard round the world. Even National Public Radio is on the Israel-Turkey divorce.

Warped politics: Robert Gates says Israel is ‘ungrateful,’ but Obama will still veto Palestine UN bid

Sep 06, 2011

Alex Kane

Jeffrey Goldberg’s latest column in Bloomberg (which Paul Mutter covered here) shows exactly how the Israel lobby has warped the U.S. political system. The lobby has such a stranglehold on U.S. policy towards Israel that a Secretary of Defense’s distaste for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu means nothing to the Obama administration’s polices on Israel.

Goldberg reports:

It was Robert M. Gates, the now-retired secretary of defense, who seemed most upset with Netanyahu. In a meeting of the National Security Council Principals Committee held not long before his retirement this summer, Gates coldly laid out the many steps the administration has taken to guarantee Israel’s security — access to top- quality weapons, assistance developing missile-defense systems, high-level intelligence sharing — and then stated bluntly that the U.S. has received nothing in return, particularly with regard to the peace process.

Senior administration officials told me that Gates argued to the president directly that Netanyahu is not only ungrateful, but also endangering his country by refusing to grapple with Israel’s growing isolation and with the demographic challenges it faces if it keeps control of the West Bank. According to these sources, Gates’s analysis met with no resistance from other members of the committee.

Gates has expressed his frustration with Netanyahu’s government before. Last year, when Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel was marred by an announcement of plans to build new housing units for Jews in East Jerusalem, Gates told several people that if he had been Biden, he would have returned to Washington immediately and told the prime minister to call Obama when he was serious about negotiations.

Gates’s frustration also stems from squabbling with Netanyahu over U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia and other Arab allies. In an encounter in Israel in March, according to U.S. and Israeli sources, Netanyahu lectured Gates at length on the possible dangers posed to Israel by such sales, as well as by Turkey and other regional U.S. allies. Gates, a veteran intelligence officer, resented Netanyahu’s tone, and reminded him that the sales were organized in consultation with Israel and pro-Israel members of Congress.

Despite all of this, the U.S. relationship with the country that so displeases sectors of the U.S. establishment will not change one bit. Instead, the Obama administration will defend Israel full tilt later this month when the Palestinian Authority goes to the United Nations to ask for recognition of a Palestinian state.

Why is this? It’s simple: President Obama needs to be re-elected in 2012, and needs pro-Israel money and support. And while Gates is part of the military establishment, the larger military industry that profits from the Israeli occupation will certainly not be pushing back against Obama’s full-throated support for Israel. The only way to describe a political system like this is warped.

Alex Kane, a freelance journalist currently based in Amman, Jordan, writes on Israel/Palestine at alexbkane.wordpress.com, where this post originally appeared.  Follow him on Twitter @alexbkane.

Ari Fleischer says Obama is avoiding Muslims out of ‘sensitivity to Jewish vote’

Sep 06, 2011

Philip Weiss

Great reporting by Scott Wilson in the Washington Post— Obama’s outreach to Muslims is limited at home. Even Bush visited an Islamic center to show solidarity with Muslims. Excellent quote from Ari Fleischer; though note the lame disclaimer after it, the last line of this excerpt. But I don’t think we’re talking about voters. Let’s be real: We’re talking about a large segment of the U.S. establishment that is Jewish and that includes a Zionist hardcore that everyone defers to. Thanks to Saleema.

Obama has not visited a mosque in the United States since taking office, although he has done so in Egypt, Turkey and Indonesia as part of his project to repair U.S. relations with the Muslim world. Bold abroad, Obama’s outreach has been largely invisible at home as Muslim Americans confront enduring suspicion and, in some cases, outright hatred a decade after the attacks…

“The Muslim American community has been defined through the national security prism,” said [Nihad] Awad, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “That hasn’t changed. Law enforcement continues to be our gateway to this administration and government.”

The organization has faced a federal investigation for allegedly supporting Hamas, an armed Palestinian movement that the United States classifies as a terrorist organization. Neither the Bush nor the Obama Justice Departments have presented indictments, and CAIR officials have dismissed the allegations as fear-mongering.

Awad wrote a letter to Obama soon after his election, outlining what he calls the “minimum level” of support — set by the Bush administration — that he should show Muslim Americans, including continuing the White House iftar, visiting a mosque and meeting with Muslim American leaders. Obama has not done the last two.

“I suspect there is sensitivity about the Jewish vote that’s driving his reticence more than anything else, more than the illegitimate criticism left over about his birth,” said Ari Fleischer, who was White House press secretary under George W. Bush. “It’s a [Muslim American] community that for whatever reason he is partly dodging, and politics has a lot to do with it. And I’d also like to add that I think a lot of what he’s facing is unfair.”

Obama holds two White House events each year for Jewish Americans, a powerful political constituency, and this year he spoke at the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Current and former White House officials say Obama has not softened his Muslim outreach in deference to the Jewish community.

NYT’s Keller implies Iraq War aimed to save Israel from a ‘holocaust’

Sep 06, 2011

Matthew Taylor

NYT Executive Editor Bill Keller pens a tortured mea culpa about his support for the Iraq War, stopping short of a full apology because he “couldn’t have known better at the time.” Along the way, he drops this stunning revelation about where his and his colleagues’ priorities lie:

That leaves the elusive weapons of mass destruction. We forget how broad the consensus was that Hussein was hiding the kind of weapons that could rain holocaust on a neighbor or be delivered to America by proxy.

Which neighbor fears a “holocaust,” I wonder?

Also check out this laugher:

In the end, the costs [of the Iraq invasion and occupation] were greater than anyone anticipated because of calamitous mistakes in execution.

Speak for yourself Keller, but millions worldwide anticipated that the costs would be enormous – and were not fooled by the WMD scaremongering. Nowhere in Keller’s ramble does he mention the fact that Bush launched the invasion while inspectors were literally back in Iraq inspecting for WMDs, which I cannot see as anything but proof positive that this war had nothing to do with containing Iraq’s WMD ability.

A final note, interesting that Keller has some reflexive awareness that we progressives know that the NYT is a source of warmongering propaganda:

John F. Burns, a correspondent who chronicled the tyranny of Hussein while the man was still in power and stayed on to cover the invasion and aftermath, recalls the reflexive hostility he encountered as a Times reporter on trips home. “We were all liars, warmongers, lapdogs of Bush and Cheney and so forth,” he told me.

“Whatever we wrote — no matter what it was, and no matter how well documented — was dismissed as Bush propaganda,” added Dexter Filkins, who covered the battlefields and politics of Afghanistan and Iraq for The Times…

Keller only refers to the critics in vague terms, and makes no reference to international law scholar Richard Falk’s books Israel-Palestine on the Record: How the New York Times Misreports Conflict in the Middle East and The Record of the Paper: How the New York Times Misreports US Foreign Policy. And we can’t conclude a critique of Keller without mentioning his refusal to reassign Jerusalem Bureau Chief Ethan Bronner whose son serves in the Israeli Army, a clear violation of the NYT’s conflict of interestpolicies.

Settlers deface and torch Nablus mosque in ‘price tag’ attack

Sep 06, 2011

Kate

PA: Settlers torch Nablus mosque
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 5 Sept — Ultra-Orthodox Jewish settlers on Monday set fire to a mosque near Nablus area in the northern West Bank, Palestinian Authority officials said … PA settlement affairs official Ghassan Doughlas confirmed the incident and urged the international Quartet … to pressure Israel to stop such attacks. “This is not the first time settlers attack mosques,” he said, adding that it was the 25th attack on Muslim or Christian places of worship since 2010, and the second such attack in Nablus this year  …
Separately, witnesses said dozens of settlers gathered to throw rocks at Palestinian vehicles near Yitzhar settlement between Huwwara and Nablus on Monday morning.

5 Sept. ’11: Suspected ‘price tag’ attack in Qusra following demolition of houses in Migron outpost
B’Tselem 5 Sept — This morning, Palestinians from Qusra, a village south of Nablus, discovered that the village mosque had been torched with burning tyres. On the first floor of the mosque, the tyres left burn marks and windows were shattered. A Star of David and the writing “Muhammad is a pig” and “Aley ‘Ayin and Migron = social justice” were scrawled on the walls … According to media reports from this morning, the torching was discovered several hours after Israeli police forces demolished three permanent structures in the nearby Migron outpost. In recent years, settlers have carried out violent acts under the slogan “price tag.” These are acts of random violence aimed at the Palestinian population and Israeli security forces. They generally follow actions by Israeli authorities that are perceived as harming the settlement enterprise, or follow Palestinian violence against settlers … These incidents are part of a clear pattern and can therefore be predicted. The security forces must prepare in advance in a way that will enable them to prevent harm to Palestinians. Israel is obligated to protect Palestinians and their property. This legal obligation has been reiterated in high court rulings and is not a good will gesture.

Israel demolishes three illegal houses in West Bank outpost; six arrested
Haaretz 5 Sept — Demolition takes place after Supreme Court reverses 12-hour delay; the buildings were ordered to be destroyed by the Court earlier this year, following petition issued by a Israeli human rights organization — .A force of approximately one thousand police officers demolished three buildings early Monday morning in the West Bank settlement outpost Migron, 14 kilometers north of Jerusalem. Around 200 settlers assembled and tried to make their way to the structures, hoping to stop the bulldozers in their tracks. Six youths were arrested.

Barghouthi: Settlers could commit massacres
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) — Palestinian lawmaker Mustafa Barghouthi on Monday warned of a conspiracy between the Israeli government and Jewish settlers to attack Palestinians ahead of the upcoming bid for UN membership. Barghouthi told Ma’an that Monday’s attack on a mosque in the northern West Bank was “a very dangerous development” and noted it was not an isolated incident … Hebrew-language graffiti reading “Mohammad is a pig” and the star of David were sprayed on the building.

And more news from Today in Palestine:

Settlers flood olive orchards with sewage
IMEMC 5 Sept — …On Monday at noon, settlers of the Beitar Illit illegal settlement, south west of Bethlehem, flooded with sewage water Palestinian olive orchards that belong to residents of Nahhalin village, near Bethlehem. Osama Shakarna, head of the Nahhalin Village Council, stated that the settlers flooded more than 40 Dunams planted with more than 2500 Olive. The sewage water reached Ein Fares natural spring used by the shepherds as the source of water for their herds.
link to www.imemc.org

Kiryat Arba settlers attack Palestinians home in Hebron
Hebron (WAFA) 5 Sept — A group of settlers from Kiryat Arba settlement attacked on Monday the home of a Palestinian resident in Al Baqa‘a area, east of Hebron, according to the local resident. Ata Jabber said that settlers attacked his home and family of six members and threatened to throw them out of their home and seize their land under the claim that it was an Israeli land. Jabber’s house was taken by the Israeli occupation forces in 2000 for 36 days by military order. He filed several complaints and lawsuits against the occupation and settlers. He has been suffering from settlers’ harassment and aggression from the occupation forces for the last 11 years in a bid to force him out of his home.
link to english.wafa.ps

Report: Settlers attack Bethlehem university lecturer
NABLUS (Ma‘an) — A lecturer at Bethlehem university was injured Monday evening after being attacked by settlers on the Ramallah-Nablus road. Dr Adwan Adwan, 41, told Ma‘an that he was on route to Zawata village in Nablus when settlers attacked his car with stones.
He suffered injuries to his head and hand and went to the nearest hospital for treatment.
link to www.maannews.net

Settlers outfitted with military training, equipment thanks to US tax deductible donations
AIC 5 Sept — While last week’s item about the Israeli military arming settlers in preparation for September made the international news, it is not new. All settlements have a ‘rapid response team’ armed by the Israeli military – and private, tax-deductible donations from their American supporters. Mikaela Levin investigates … So who are these settlers in the frontline of an eventual Israeli armed reaction to possible Palestinian protests?  They are normally part of groups called Rapid Response Teams, at least one of which exists in each settlement in the occupied Palestinian territory. Some of the teams are connected to the electric fence system, so they can react immediately to a breach in the military designed perimeter of their settlement. They are supposed to withdraw when Israeli soldiers arrive at the scene. These first-response “guards” are volunteer civilians, mostly army reservists under the command of a chief security officer, who is a public servant and the official link with the Israeli military.
link to www.alternativenews.org

Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Apartheid

Negev Bedouin to ask UN for help to quash Israeli transfer plan
Haaretz 5 Sept — Cabinet delays vote on plan to move thousands to recognized Negev towns — Representatives of Negev Bedouin will turn to the international community in an effort to keep the Israeli cabinet from approving a plan that would involve demolishing or moving some of their communities …The plan calls for relocating between 20,000 and 30,000 Bedouin residents of unrecognized villages in the Negev to existing Bedouin communities such as Rahat, Kseifa and Hura. These communities would be expanded to accommodate the new inhabitants. At a press conference in Be’er Sheva Sunday, representatives of human rights organizations and Bedouin rights activists announced their opposition to the plan
link to www.haaretz.com

Urgent Action: Save the Khan al Ahmar school!
The Palestinian-Bedouin community of Khan al Ahmar (Jerusalem periphery) is fighting for survival. The 180-strong community faces the threat of imminent displacement if the Israeli authorities demolish their homes and school as planned. This may well destroy the community, one of 20 in the area, who have become victims of creeping settlement expansion and ethnic cleansing. Write Israeli Minister of Defense Barak to demand he refrains from pursuing the demolition of the Khan al Ahmar School. The land the community lives on has been slated for the expansion of settlements in the Ma’ale Adumim municipal area, in the Jerusalem periphery, despite the community’s decades’ long presence. [More here]
link to www.icahd.org

Over one million Palestinian students back to school
JERICHO (WAFA) 4 Sept — More than one million Palestinian students Sunday started the new school year across the West Bank and Gaza. Schools in Arab Bedouin communities in Area C in the West Bank, which is controlled by Israel, fight to remain open to children’s return to school, noted United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). In a statement, UNICEF special representative to the Occupied Territory, Jean Gough, called to provide education and protection to Bedouins  children, the most vulnerable communities in Area C … Gough explained that children of Kaabneh, Bedouin site near Jericho, live in makeshift encampments in the middle of a desert landscape: the village was never linked to the main road, forcing children and teachers to walk long distances under the heat to reach the school, which is a mere handful of containers which are sometimes shared between several classes due to lack of space; sanitation facilities are run-down.
link to english.wafa.ps

Army surrounds Bethlehem village, uproots olive trees for Wall
IMEMC 5 Sept — Local sources reported Monday that Israeli soldiers are currently surrounding the Al Walaja Village, near Bethlehem, and are uprooting dozens of Olive trees in order to construct a section of the illegal Annexation Wall in the area … Adel Al Atrash, deputy head of the Al Walaja Village Council, stated that the army uprooted, so far, more than 50 trees in the area.
link to www.imemc.org

Fifty dunams for NIS 1 per year / Amira Hass
Haaretz 2 Sept —  That’s how much land a Civil Administration employee received in the West Bank — An officer in the Civil Administration who lives in the settlement of Reihan was given a 25-year lease on 50 dunams in the northern West Bank by the World Zionist Organization’s Settlement Division, at a price of one shekel per year. This information surfaced during a petition to the High Court of Justice filed by a Palestinian who claims ownership of around 16 dunams of the land. The 50 dunams in question are among the 3,500 dunams that the Civil Administration’s custodian of abandoned and government property transferred in 1994 to the WZO, which in turn granted Reihan permission to use it. But these are the land reserves of Palestinian villages in the area.
link to www.haaretz.com

VIDEO: Displacement
from ActiveStillsVideos – Palestinian testimony, beautiful photos and short video clips.  Since 1948 over 1,150,000 Palestinians have been displaced. “I’m afraid of the night. I can feel the settlers coming.” “We live in a place where we don’t plan for the future. We live day by day and hope our children’s future will be better than ours:
link to www.youtube.com

Israeli police close Khaledi School in O. Jerusalem
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 5 Sept — The Israeli police on Sunday closed the old building of Ahmed Al-Khaledi school in occupied Jerusalem for one extendable month on allegation it is utilized for activities by Hamas Movement. The Israeli police chief said in a written decision that after he was personally convinced that the building in Abu Tor neighborhood known as Ahmed Al-Khaledi school was used for activities by Hamas … For his part, Sheikh Khalil Al-Ghazawi, head of Al-Najat institution’s board of trustees, said … the building is used as a kindergarten and was also supposed to be a high school for girls and a cultural center for the residents.
http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/09/05/israeli-police-close-khaledi-school-in-o-jerusalem/

Barakat plans to implement al-Bustan demolitions in election bid
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) — Silwanic has learnt that Jerusalem mayor Nir Barakat intends to demolish parts of al-Bustan neighborhood of Silwan in the lead up to city elections. The demolitions will form part of the overall City of David plan that will see the establishment of “biblical gardens” aimed at Jewish tourism over large areas of Palestinian-majority Silwan. Palestinian residents of Silwan have long suffered under the coalition of the Jerusalem Municipality and Elad settler association in their bid to dominate the strategically significant area of Silwan.
link to silwanic.net

Local children kidnapped by Israeli authorities in settler jeep
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 5 Sept  — An undercover Israeli unit driving a settler jeep arrested two children playing on one of the hills in Silwan today. The two youngsters were taken without warning by the unit as they stopped the jeep, grabbed the children and drove off. The kidnapping is the latest in an ever-lengthening record of tight cooperation between Israeli authorities and local settler security.
link to silwanic.net

Israeli forces

August 2011: 30 Palestinians killed, some 400 arrested in Israeli operations
NABLUS (PIC) 4 Sept — The International Solidarity Foundation for Human Rights has released a report documenting that 30 Palestinians died and almost 400 were arrested last month in Israeli occupation operations in the occupied Palestinian territories … While only three of those killed were from the West Bank, two of them in their early twenties, a total of 27 Palestinians were killed in mortar attacks and air strikes targeting the Gaza Strip that month. Five of them were under 18 years of age. During August, Israeli forces arrested more than 380 Palestinians, including 44 minors, in addition to dozens of Palestinian workers arrested beyond the green line. What made that month exceptional was that Israel launched one of the widest ranging arrest campaigns in the West Bank city of Al-Khalil in years, and it also carried out sweeps in Bethlehem, Jerusalem’s Silwan district, Tulkarem, Salfit, Ramallah, and Al-Beira.
https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/09/04/august-2011-30-palestinians-killed-some-400-arrested-in-israeli-operations/

Israeli surveillance plane circles Beit Ommar
PSP 5 Sept — Saturday 3rd September: At around 11am, residents of Beit Ommar witnessed an unmanned Israeli surveillance plane enter the village, and fly at a very low altitude over areas of the town. The plane appeared only a few hours before the town’s weekly protest against the illegal settlement of Karmei Tsur, and circled low over buildings where Palestinian and international activists were gathering. Unmanned planes such as the one spotted over Beit Ommar are often used in order to gather photographic evidence and intelligence on Palestinian villages and popular resistance activities. This is the first time such measures have been used against Beit Ommar’s peaceful protests. After circling several times, the plane left in the direction of the Gush Etzion settlement bloc.
http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2011/09/05/isreali-surveillance-plane-circles-beit-ommar/

Gaza

Egypt denies conducting operations to destroy Gaza tunnels
dpa 5 Sept – Egypt denied on Monday that it was undertaking drilling operations along the Gaza-Egypt border to destroy and seal a number of smuggling tunnels delivering supplies to Gaza. The governor of North Sinai, General Abdel Wahab Mabrouk, said there was no campaign intended to destroy the tunnels, adding that, if there were a plan, “residents in Gaza would be informed in order to protect the lives of Palestinians that work in the tunnels.”
link to www.haaretz.com

Video: Gaza schoolchildren plagued by siege
PressTV 5 Sept — Hamas Deputy Minister of Education Mohammed Abu Shkeir says Israel’s siege on the Gaza Strip has caused troubles for school children in the enclave, Press TV reported. “There are about 400,000 school children in Gaza schools, including governmental, UN-run, and private schools,” he told Press TV.  “There are shortcomings in classrooms and students have to study in two shifts due to lack of schools, which is a direct result to the blockade,” the Hamas official added. Tel Aviv’s restrictions on importing construction material into Gaza has forced schools to place students in cramped rooms and cut the class time by third.
link to www.presstv.ir

Egyptian forces arrest 3 Palestinians in north Sinai
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma‘an) 5 Sept — Egyptian authorities arrested three Palestinians on Monday in north Sinai. Matouq Atallah and brothers Mahmoud and Maher al-Qumeiz were reportedly smuggling goods from Egypt into the Gaza Strip, Egyptian forces said. Atallah, 37, was previously known to Egyptian security for smuggling livestock into the Gaza Strip.
link to www.maannews.net

Detention

Israel arrests hundreds of Palestinians in August
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 5 Sept — The Israeli authorities arrested hundreds of Palestinians across the West Bank during August, Monday said Minister of Prisoners Affairs Issa Qaraqi. He said that Israel arrested 443 Palestinians, most of them minors. Qaraqi said the Israeli authorities prohibited family visits to prisoners in almost 1500 cases, most of them prisoners from the Gaza Strip who have not seen their families for five years. The prisoners’ minister believes the steep rise in number of arrests in August is related to Palestinian plans to get United Nation recognition and membership of a Palestinian state.
link to english.wafa.ps

UFree discuss in Gaza internationalizing Israel’s persecution of Palestinian MPs
GAZA (PIC) 5 Sept – Palestinian MP Mushir al-Masri, who heads the international Free PLC members committee, has met with head of the European network to support the Palestinian prisoners (UFree) Mohammed Hamdan to discuss ways to internationalize the issue of Israel’s continued detention of Palestinian MPs. Meeting also with MP Rami Abdo, who chairs the Council for European Palestinian Relations, at PLC headquarters in Gaza on Sunday evening, the parties agreed that Israel is intent on systematically disposing of Palestine’s legislature, whether through detention or exile.
link to occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com

IOF soldiers storm Nablus, round up six citizens
NABLUS (PIC) 5 Sept – Israeli occupation forces (IOF) stormed a Nablus village and Askar refugee camp at dawn Monday and rounded up six citizens, five of them Hamas supporters, the international Tadamun institution said.
Ahmed Al-Beitawi, a researcher with the institution, said that the IOF soldiers rounded up three young men in ‘Askar refugee camp to the east of Nablus city, two of them brothers, and the third a father of three children.
He said that the soldiers then stormed ‘Asira al-Qibliya village, north of Nablus city, and detained two brothers, both university students.
Beitawi said that a sixth Palestinian, from ‘Awarta village to the east of Nablus, was apprehended at Hawara detention center where he was summoned for interrogation.
In Jenin, IOF soldiers stormed the home of Osama Najm in Siris village, south of the city, on Monday and handed him an interrogation summons to the headquarters of the civil administration at Salem army camp. Eyewitnesses said that the soldiers wreaked havoc inside the man’s home
link to occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com

IOF soldiers arrest 3 citizens, wound 4 in Al-Khalil
AL-KHALIL (PIC)– Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested three Palestinians in Samu‘ village, south of Al-Khalil city, at dawn Monday, local sources said. They said that two of the detainees were brothers.
The IOF soldiers also stormed a house in Doura village, also to the south of Al-Khalil, as eyewitnesses told the PIC reporter that IOF bulldozers installed sand barriers closing the road between Doura and Bani Na‘im village.
Meanwhile, locals reported that four Palestinian workers were wounded during a chase by IOF troops east of Yatta, Al-Khalil, adding that all four of them were hospitalized with one suffering a broken hip.
link to occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com

Israeli court fines, sentences Palestinian youth to 10 years
QALQILYA (WAFA) 4 Sept — The Salem Israeli military court Sunday sentenced Mohammad Abu Hanyyeh, 19, to 10 years in prison on charges of resisting the Israeli occupation, according to Abu Hanyyeh’s family. In addition to the 10 years sentence, the court fined Abu Hannyeh, a resident of the West Bank town of Azzun, east of Qalqilya, 2000 Israeli shekels (almost $600).
link to english.wafa.ps

Israel prevents Palestinian from receiving cancer treatment
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) — Israeli authorities prevented a Palestinian from leaving to Jordan for medical treatment for cancer, the patient’s family said. Zakariya Dawoud Issa, 43, was sent back from the Allenby border crossing in an ambulance after Israeli authorities refused to allow him to cross into Jordan. Issa, from Al-Khader near Bethlehem, was released from an Israeli prison in August due to his critical condition.  The Palestinian Authority civil affairs administration had received permission from Israel authorities to send Issa for treatment in Jordan but he was turned back at the border. Minister of Detainee Affairs Issa Qaraqe said Israel had tried to kill Issa twice, first by delaying his release and now by procrastinating over his treatment.
link to www.maannews.net

Press freedom

Rallies held outside Ofer prison as Palestinian reporters kept behind bars
RAMALLAH (PIC) 5 Sept — Dozens joined a sit-in Monday noon outside of the Israeli Ofer prison near Ramallah/Baituniya in the occupied West Bank as Israeli occupation authorities continue to hold four Palestinian reporters. Among the protesters were Palestinian and foreign reporters, senior officials from Palestinian factions, representatives from the Palestinian Prisoner Society, rights groups, and news syndicates.
link to occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com

Racism

Jewish Agency: We discriminated against North Africans
Haaretz 2 Sept — “Harsh remarks against official and unofficial discrimination in all matters related to immigrants from North Africa were heard at a conference of people from North African countries” on the morning of August 28, 1949, Haaretz reported 62 years ago.
link to www.haaretz.com

Statehood bid

Fatah official: 140 countries to recognize Palestinian state
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 4 Sept — Senior Fatah official Nabil Shaath said Sunday that he expects 140 countries to recognize and vote for a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly’s 66th meeting, due to be held on September 23.  During a press conference held Sunday at Fatah’s foreign relations commission, Shaath stated that the focus in coming days is to increase the number of countries recognizing Palestine to secure membership as the world’s 194th state. At present, 125 countries recognize Palestine, he added.
link to www.maannews.net

‘Palestine 194’ campaign gets underway in Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 4 Sept — A national Palestinian campaign to support the September UN bid for statehood organized its first activity in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, organizers said. Groups of children traveled in a vehicle from the southern Gaza Strip to the Erez crossing in the north, waving Palestinians flags and chanting slogans in support of statehood.
link to www.maannews.net

PA launches multi-language radio propaganda campaign
Ynet 5 Sept — PA national radio to air messages aiming to gain support for statehood bid in 26 languages, including Hebrew, Russian … The campaign is intended for audiences worldwide … The PA expressed hope that the initiative will reach Israeli listeners as well, which is why some of the jingles were recorded in Hebrew and Russian.  “The Russian message targets the million Israelis who immigrated from Commonwealth of Independent States, inviting them to recognize a Palestinian state with 1967 borders. The establishment of the state will stabilize the region,” Zaki said.
link to www.ynetnews.com

Abbas: PA will return to talks regardless of UN outcome
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) — …Speaking Sunday at a meeting of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council in Ramallah, Abbas said: “Regardless of the results that we will get at the UN, we will return to negotiations to solve all final status issues, such as prisoners and detainees.” … Abbas noted that the PLO is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people worldwide and heading to the UN does not signal the end of the organization. The PLO will remain the guardian of Palestinian rights until the establishment of an independent state and the end of Israeli occupation, he concluded.
link to www.maannews.net

New Palestinian strategy to avoid US veto at UN
Ramallah – A. Zarzar – PNN – 5 Sept — Fatah’s leadership is re-wording the proposal for a Palestinian State to submit to the United Nations this September. The new version is designed so that those countries which have been more reluctant to accept a Palestinian state will be more likely support Palestine’s bid for recognition, or at least abstain from voting. Instead of posing the recognition of Palestine within the 1967 borders, the new draft asks for a state with permanent borders to be determined in later negotiations with Israel. The new borders would be based on the borders of 1967, but with more flexibility than the original draft proposed.
link to english.pnn.ps

Palestinians keeping options open on UN
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) 5 Sept — The Palestinians have yet to decide how they will press their statehood agenda at the United Nations this month, a Palestinian official said, indicating less certainty than had previously been signalled on details of the plan. Hanan Ashrawi, a leading member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), said the U.N. initiative was a step towards “breaking Israel’s power hold over us and the American monopoly over peacemaking”. She also warned of “hysterical” Israeli responses to the diplomatic move, adding that reports of the Israeli army training Jewish settlers to confront possible Palestinian protests was a step “that could blow up in all our faces”.
link to af.reuters.com

PA slams Israeli escalation
IMEMC 5 Sept — The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank denounced the Israeli military escalation and settlement construction, describing the Israeli violations as an attempt to foil the Palestinian initiative to seek international recognition and full membership at the United Nations this month. Nabil Abu Rodeina, spokesperson of the Palestinian Presidency, stated that Israel is escalating its assaults to pressure the P.A into withdrawing its UN initiative.
link to www.imemc.org

Abbas met Israel’s Barak — Palestinian official
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) 5 Sept — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak last week, Palestinian officials said on Monday, his first publicly declared meeting with an Israeli government official for almost a year. Abbas told members of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council that Barak had requested the meeting in Jordan to discuss the possibility of resuming negotiations which broke down a year ago because of a row over Jewish settlement expansion. “The meeting did not produce any result,” a Fatah official who heard him speak told Reuters
link to uk.news.yahoo.com

Turkey – Israel

Foreign ministry officials admit Turkey citizens routinely humiliated at Israel’s airport
Haaretz 5 Sept — Dozens of Israelis say they were humiliated at Istanbul airport, forced to strip to their underwear on Monday; Foreign Ministry officials say humiliation of Turkish citizens happens on regular basis in Israel … The officials also said that almost every Turkish citizen who arrives at Ben-Gurion airport undergoes a routine procedure of extensive, humiliating examinations that also includes undressing to one’s underwear. “Turkish citizens are always separated from the rest of the passengers at the airport,” said a Foreign Ministry official.
link to www.haaretz.com

Davutoğlu says flotilla issue not just between Israel and Turkey
Today’s Zaman 4 Sept — Firmly opposing the portrayal of the recent escalation of the crisis between Turkey and Israel solely as a bilateral affair which must be resolved between the two countries, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has warned that when dealing with Israel’s lethal 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, in which nine pro-Palestinian activists were killed, the international community should not ignore the fact that Israel’s repeated breaches of international law and ethics lie at the core of the issue.
link to www.todayszaman.com

Israel angry over Erdoğan’s plans to visit Gaza
Gaza, (Pal. Telegraph) 5 Sept — Israel warned on Monday that the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s considered visit to Gaza Strip would be a diplomatic mistake. Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli officials saying that Erdogan’s visit would affect Turkey’s relations with the US. Adding that the move would also weaken Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, presumably because a trip to Hamas-controlled Gaza would challenge him as the legitimate representative of the Palestinians
link to www.paltelegraph.com

Greece, Israel improve cooperation on security
Today’s Zaman 5 Sept — Greek Defense Minister Panos Beglitis on Sunday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on security cooperation with his Israeli counterpart, Ehud Barak, the Greek Defense Ministry has announced. The defense memorandum, which focuses on security concerns and defense cooperation between the countries, was signed during Beglitis’ visit to Israel … Beglitis, however, noted that the memorandum of cooperation was not signed under the influence of the current condition between Turkey and Israel, in words that aimed at refuting claims that Greece was exploiting the tension between Israel and Turkey.
link to www.todayszaman.com

Political / Diplomatic / International

Lebanon tells UN Israeli maritime borders threaten peace
[with map] Beirut (Daily Star) 5 Sept — Lebanon warned the United Nations on Monday that Israel’s proposed sea border threatens peace and security, as tensions rise between the neighbours over offshore oil and gas reserves … “[Israel’s demarcation violates Lebanon’s] regional waters and economic zone and misappropriates around 860 square kilometers, consequently placing international peace and security in danger,” [Foreign Minister Adnan] Mansour said in his letter.
link to www.dailystar.com.lb

Waqf minister: Palestinian sheikh arrested in Cairo released
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) — A Palestinian sheikh detained in Cairo was released on Sunday, the Palestinian Authority Waqf minister told Ma‘an. Abdul Aziz Odeh was detained at Cairo’s international airport on Saturday after returning from a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, his family said … The reason for his arrest is unknown.
link to www.maannews.net

Other news

Defense establishment to simulate strike on nuclear facility
Ynet 4 Sept — The defense establishment will hold a special emergency drill this week, simulating an enemy strike on Israel’s nuclear facility. “Operation Fernando” will aim to test the defense establishment’s readiness for the worst case scenario — a missile strike on the facility itself or its immediate surroundings, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
link to www.ynetnews.com

IDF Home Front Command: Likelihood of all-out Middle East war increasing
Haaretz 5 Sept — Home Front Command chief says Middle East regional war could include use of weapons of mass destruction; warns that Arab Spring may turn into ‘Radical Islamic Winter’.
link to www.haaretz.com

Officials accuse Israeli PM of withholding information that could have prevented attack
IMEMC 4 Sept — At a hearing on Sunday, the Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister were accused of ordering Israel’s top intelligence officials not to share warnings and information that could have been used to prevent the shooting attack on an Israeli bus and car by Egyptian suspects on August 18th in which five Israeli civilians and three soldiers were killed.
link to www.imemc.org

Analysis / Opinion

In occupied West Bank, Jews and Arabs see different sides of justice / Amira Hass
Haaretz 5 Sept — The Israeli justice system in the occupied territories treats similar crimes committed by Jews and Arabs differently – impunity toward settlers, harsh repercussions for Arabs. 1. There is a law in Israel. It is the Dromi Law, named for the farmer Shai Dromi who in January 2007 shot to death Khaled el-Atrash, a Bedouin who broke into his farm in the Negev at night. In June 2008, a law was passed that “a person will not bear criminal responsibility for an act that was required immediately in order to curb someone who breaks in, or tries to break in, in order to commit a crime.” The district court acquitted Dromi of manslaughter … 2. There is a judge in Israel. He is Colonel-Lieutenant Netanel Benishu, who is deputy president of the military appeals court in the occupied West Bank. He heard the case of three members of the Bedouin Ka’abneh family, who were arrested on July 19th of this year after Israelis attacked their tent encampment on the lands of the village of Mukhmas east of Ramallah….
link to www.haaretz.com

Palmer Report’s fatal flaws / Julie Webb-Pullman
Palestine Chronicle 2 Sept — The most fundamental fault of the Palmer Report on the 31 May 2010 Flotilla Incident is its one-eyed view of security. The second is its exceeding of the Terms of Reference (TOR) … While Israel, and lazy mainstream media, touts the Palmer Report as finding Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza is legal, a closer reading shows no such thing.
link to www.palestinechronicle.com

Turkish red alert / Akiva Eldar
Haaretz 5 Sept — The crisis in relations with Turkey is a red alert of the attacks we’re in for on the diplomatic, security and economic fronts, affecting the lives of 450,000 protesters, demanding social justice … When Turkey called its ambassador home, it showed the way for the ambassadors of Egypt and Jordan in Israel, and that’s just the beginning. After the United Nations fulfills the Palestinians’ request for a state, the Palestinians won’t be able to consider themselves a temporary entity called the “Palestinian Authority.” How will the French react to Israel’s refusal to allow Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to return from an official visit to Paris with a passport from independent Palestine? … The young people from Rothschild Boulevard should keep their tents handy. They will need them soon, when they’re sent to guard their brethren, the settlers. Those who don’t want to deal with the occupation today will be dealt with by the occupation tomorrow. And if protesters don’t have the time to address marginal issues like universal justice, they should ask their economists how much the looming international crisis will cost us.
link to www.haaretz.com

groups.yahoo.com/group/f_shadi (listserv)
www.theheadlines.org (archive)

Shamai Leibowitz, a moral giant

Sep 06, 2011

James North

Daily newspapers are supposed to put the most important news right at the top.  But today’s New York Times article about Shamai Leibowitz leaking documents to blogger Richard Silverstein waits until the 6th paragraph, on an inside page, to tell us why  he took the step that landed him in federal prison for 20 months.  He did not not pass on documents for money, or for vindictiveness.  He broke the law because he was afraid Israel was going to launch a dangerous and disastrous strike against Iran’s alleged nuclear program, and he wanted to sound a warning  He broke the law because he was answering to a higher law, and his name should go down in history as an example of courage.

Shamai, who was born and raised in Israel, had a job translating F.B.I. wiretaps of the Israeli embassy in Washington.  Something he heard in those wiretaps spurred him into action.  Israel’s campaign of threats against Iran was no secret, but quite a few people interpreted it as just noise.

Shamai Leibowitz is a 40-year-old lawyer, clearly intelligent, a family man with 2 small children.  Something he heard coming out of the Israeli embassy must have clearly frightened him to the point where he had felt he had to act, despite the risk to himself and his family.

So far, Shamai Leibowitz, who is still in federal custody, is declining to comment about the case.  His right to move on with his life must be respected.  But that does not mean we cannot salute him, and add him prominently to the long list of people who over the decades of conflict in the Middle East have put humanity first.

Obama’s Gaza test

Sep 06, 2011

Philip Weiss

David Bromwich writes that the New York Times story on wiretaps of the Israeli embassy in Washington is significant for an additional reason, having to do with the Times’s revelation that “the Israeli Embassy provided ‘regular written briefings’ on Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza to President Obama in the weeks between his election and inauguration.” Bromwich:

It adds to the probability that the IDF invasion and bombing of Gaza were brought to a close by pre-arrangement just in time to yield a stainless Inauguration Day. Something Obama could have learned from Reagan: the Iranian hostages released on Inauguration Day 1981.

Obama’s silence about the Gaza onslaught was noted by many at the time. Not a word, even, about the hundred-to-one disproportion of deaths. His only comment on the subject came by anticipation, during a July 2008 visit to Sderot,when he said that if his daughters were sleeping while rockets were coming in from Gaza, he would do everything he could to stop them. Nothing further about the particular “everything” the Israelis chose to inflict.

There was likely a double quid pro quo. In exchange for receiving reports in December, the president-elect agreed to say nothing about the Israeli action; just as Olmert, Barak, and Livni for their part agreed not to spoil his opening day. They would have learned something else, too, from the transaction and the silence of Obama afterward. It showed that he would never be a serious obstacle to any plan they made or any action they undertook. The test was administered before his presidency began. He passed.

Giving new meaning to the expression, Bombing on Broadway

Sep 06, 2011

Philip Weiss

‘Tablet’ hires Judy Miller as theater critic. I guess she won’t be fomenting any new wars…  (My wife always praised the right for picking up their wounded. Apropos of the late Eric Breindel.)

Meet Captain Israel, anti-BDS superhero

Sep 06, 2011

Seham

captain israel

Creators of a new comic hope that they can counter the ‘venomous’ Israel boycott movement. From Al Jazeera.

And more news from Today in Palestine…

Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Apartheid

Israel temporarily suspends demolition of Palestinian homes
AP – An Israeli defense official says the military is temporarily suspending its contentious policy of demolishing illegally built Palestinian homes in the West Bank.
link to us.rd.yahoo.com

Village council: Israeli soldiers destroy trees in Al-Walaja
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli soldiers uprooted a number of trees on Monday in the village of Al-Walaja, north of Bethlehem, the official Palestinian Authority news agency WAFA reported. Saleh Khalifa, head of the village council, said that soldiers entered the village Monday morning and cut down olive trees to make way for a section of the separation wall. Israeli forces also blocked the main entrances to the village, Khalifa added. He called on rights groups to intervene to prevent the destruction of Palestinian land.
link to www.maannews.net

Graveyard for trees, Mazin Qumsiyeh
An apology for writing more frequent than the usual 2-3 messages a week but our hearts broke when we arrived to find that much of the Israeli uprooting of Palestinian olive trees was already done in Al-Walaja today.  The old farmer Mohammed Al-Atrash (Abu Wajih) was standing there in shock, speechless, wondering where humanity is on this black day.  Israeli authorities picked the day well: it was the day of returning to school and to work from the 5 day Eid (Holiday) at the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan.  They brought massive forces starting at dawn and circled an area of over one square mile declaring it a closed military area.   No media presence was allowed (so much for “democracy”) so that we could not even videotape the destruction as it happened, only its aftermath.  Dozens of olive, almond, za’rur, and pine trees were destroyed. For pictures of the corpses, see footnote 1 below.  This despite the fact that there is a court case pending on this land to be heard at the end of this month.  The villagers called for presence in the village tomorrow (Tuesday morning).  Tel for info 0522054595
link to popular-resistance.blogspot.com

Israeli Authorities block foundation’s use of historical East Jerusalem building for school
Israeli forces have closed off the historical Ahmad Sameh al-Khaldi buildings in Abu Tur district adjacent to Silwan to the public for one month. The buildings were leased by the local Abbasi family to a foundation for use as a school; however, authorities are claiming that the properties in fact belong to the Hamas party. The building, which was constructed in 1948, traditionally housed a school under the Jordanian mandate of East Jerusalem and then under the Israeli Jerusalem Municipality. In 2009 the Municipality returned title of the buildings to the original owners, the Abbasi family, claiming that the structures were classified as unsafe. The owners then leased the buildings to the Survival Foundation, for use as a school.
link to silwanic.net

Settlers

Report: Settlers attack Bethlehem university lecturer
NABLUS (Ma’an) — A lecturer at Bethlehem university was injured Monday evening after being attacked by settlers on the Ramallah-Nablus road. Dr Adwan Adwan, 41, told Ma’an that he was on route to Zawata village in Nablus when settlers attacked his car with stones. He suffered injuries to his head and hands, and managed to drive to the nearest hospital for treatment.
link to www.maannews.net

U.S. has made no statement and continues to fund settlers: EU’s Ashton: Settler attack on West Bank mosque undermines Mideast peace
European High Representative for Foreign Affairs urges Israel to investigate torching of Qusra mosque, calling it an attack on ‘freedom of religion or belief’.
link to www.haaretz.com

Settler attack on mosque condemned by Egypt
Egypt’s Foreign Minister has condemned the attack by Israeli settlers on a mosque in the village of Qusra in the occupied West Bank. Mohammed Amr said that the occurrence of such criminal acts with no decisive intervention by the Israeli occupation authorities is yet more evidence of Israel’s disregard for the cultural and social rights of Palestinians.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk

Activism and Israeli regime violence against activists

They’ll shoot with tolerance… Israel vows “tolerance” for Palestinian protests (Reuters)
Reuters – A senior officer said Monday that Israeli soldiers would show “much more tolerance” toward Palestinian demonstrations than in the past thanks to riot-control training and new equipment designed to reduce injuries and deaths.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110905/wl_nm/us_palestinians_israel_riot_control

Israel allows shooting at Palestine protesters
Israel allows security forces to shoot at Palestinian protesters who are preparing to march in support of their bid for statehood at the UN later this month.
link to www.youtube.com

Alert: French JDL is recruiting ‘militants’ to travel to West Bank in 2 weeks
Content in French, click on Mondoweiss link for google translation.
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/09/alert-french-jdl-is-recruiting-militants-to-travel-to-west-bank-in-2-weeks.html

Boycott, Sanctions & Divestment/ Solidarity

Wikileaks: U.S., Saudis reached 2010 compromise over Israeli-made Cadillac parts, Paul Mutter
“He [Deputy Minister for Foreign Trade Abdullah Al-Hamoudi] . . . anecdotally explained that the small Israeli-made fuel filters in General Motors vehicles are acceptable as long as they are not shipped directly as spare parts.”
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/09/wikileaks-u-s-saudis-reached-2010-compromise-over-israeli-made-cadillac-parts.html

Dishonest media continues lies over BDS to smear support for Palestine as anti-Semitic After Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon defended her right to be pro-Palestinian and not anti-Semitic (a leap of logic only made by desperate Zionists and hack media), a flurry of letters ensued.
link to antonyloewenstein.com

Sarah’s Eyes on Hebron’s Walls
Gaza — The legend of prophet Abraham’s cherished wife Sarah has been revived near the water spring of ‘Our Matriarch Sarah,’ as residents of the occupied city of Hebron like to call it. Modern artist Yousef Katalo (1965) was inspired by Sarah’s story and adapted it to a contemporary Palestinian context. His mural “Sarah’s Eyes” turned out to be a recasting of the Nakba and subsequent resistance to Israeli occupation.
link to english.al-akhbar.com

Eight from UAE join Cycling 4 Gaza project
DUBAI — Natasha Hanoun never learned to ride a bike growing up. The Palestinian native has taken a pledge to master the skill for a good cause this October as she joins eight others from the UAE as part of the international Cycling 4 Gaza project. “Donating money is important, but it’s easy. When you’re investing in an awareness campaign, that takes a lot of your time, effort and money, it’s a personal commitment that makes more of a difference,” Natasha said.
link to www.khaleejtimes.com

Siege/War on Gaza

Israeli Air Force Bombards An Area In Gaza
Israeli war-jets bombarded, on Monday night after midnight, an empty area close to the Electricity Company, west of the Al Nusseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
link to www.imemc.org

Obama and the Gaza war, revisited, Issandr El Amrani
Report: Documents expose U.S. wiretaps of Israeli officials in Washington – Haaretz: the Israeli Embassy in the United States provided “regular written briefings” on Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza intended for “President Obama in the weeks between his election and inauguration.” Remember, back then when Obama was studiously ignoring the Gaza war and refusing to comment on it because “there is only one president at a time.” Even though he commented on other things.
link to www.arabist.net

Press Release: Al Mezan Center for Human Rights Press Release on Illegality of Gaza Siege
In flagrant contradiction of the position of the international community, the report concludes that the Israeli blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip is legal and complies with the standards of international law, in view of Israeli security and military circumstances.The report considered the Israeli use of force against passengers on board the Mavi Marmara, in the manner it was carried out, as “excessive and unreasonable.” The report also criticized the ill-treatment of passengers once they were detained. The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights condemns the conclusions of the Panel of Inquiry, particularly those related to the Israeli blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip. Al Mezan calls on the international community to begin working immediately towards bringing to an end the illegal and immoral blockade.
link to www.mezan.org

Erdogan to visit Egypt, but not Gaza
Turkish premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to visit Egypt on September 12 on an official visit, a Turkish official announced on Sunday, denying news reports that Erdogan would also visit Gaza Strip.
link to Palestinian Information Center

Detentions

Israel arrests East Jerusalem Hamas lawmaker near Ramallah
Abu Tir, who had his Jerusalem residency revoked last year, is expelled to PA-controlled Ramallah. An Israeli military spokesman in Tel Aviv said he was checking the details of the arrest.
link to www.haaretz.com

IOF soldiers detain 7 Palestinian citizens
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) stormed the villages of Azzun and Kufr Qaddoum to the east of Qalqilia at an early hour on Tuesday and rounded up seven youths after breaking into their homes.
link to Palestinian Information Center

Israeli army detains 20 Palestinians in West Bank
QALQILIYA (Ma’an) — Israeli forces detained 20 “wanted Palestinians” across the West Bank overnight, an Israeli military spokesman said Tuesday. The detainees will be questioned by security forces, the army spokesman added. Hassan Shbeta, local head of detainee affairs in Azzun, east of Qalqiliya, told Ma’an that Israeli forces detained Hussam Younis Salama, 18, Fadi Anwar Mishal, 21, Loay Anwar Misha, 19 and Yousef Ghassan Salim, 18, early Tuesday morning.
link to www.maannews.net

Soldiers Invade Hebron, Kidnap Three
Israeli soldiers kidnapped, on Monday morning, three Palestinians from Al Sammoa’ town, south of Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank, and installed roadblocks leading to several nearby villages.
link to www.imemc.org

Israeli Soldiers Arrest Son of Senior DFLP Member in Ramallah
RAMALLAH, September 6, 2011 (WAFA) – Israeli soldiers Tuesday arrested the son of Ramzi Rabah, a senior member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), after raiding his home in the heart of Ramallah, according to a rights groups. The Center for Defense of Freedoms and Civil Rights (Hurryyat) said in a statement that 18 Israeli army vehicles raided Ein Misbah area of Ramallah, only meters away from the headquarters of President Mahmoud Abbas. It said masked soldiers forced their way into Rabah’s home, searched and ransacked it before leaving after arresting his son, Murad.  No reason was given for the raid or the arrest. Rabah is a member of the DFLP politburo.
link to english.wafa.ps

Prisoners Club Concerned For Life of Minor Prisoner
HEBRON, September 6, 2011 (WAFA) – The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club (PPC) Tuesday expressed deep concern for the life of a minor Palestinian prisoner from the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, and held the Israeli government responsible for his life. Director of the Hebron branch of the PPC, Amjad Najjar, said that 16-year-old Mohammad Awwad was suffering from Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF), which can be fatal if not treated. He said his health was quickly deteriorating and he needs constant and extensive medical supervision. Awwad was arrested a month and a half ago and a court ordered him expelled from his home town for six months, a sentence which was cancelled due to an intervention by rights groups.
link to english.wafa.ps

Racism / Discrimination
If you’re an Arab (Palestinian) citizen of Israel you have to go to court to build a house: Israeli Arab couple wins legal battle to build home in northern Jewish town
Residents of Sahknin, Ahmed and Fatina Zabeidat, petitioned High Court of Justice five years ago over rejection by Rakefet’s admissions committee.
link to www.haaretz.com

Petah Tikva schools in chaos over struggle to absorb Ethiopian children
Municipality has failed to place all 160 children from Ner Etzion school, which was shut down last week; city says reassignment of pupils almost complete, but most of the children still at home after start of semester on Sunday.
link to www.haaretz.com

Human Rights Violations

Save the Children UK: Annual Review of Child Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
Save the Children presents the major trends of 2010 that affected the rights of children in the occupied Palestinian territory to live, learn and play in freedom and safety.
link to www.dci-palestine.org

Israel’s Supreme Court chief slams police decision to nix human trafficking force
Dorit Beinisch spoke during hearing on High Court of Justice petition against closure by chairman of Knesset subcommittee for the battle against trafficking in women, and Kav La’oved and Hotline for Migrant Workers organizations.
link to www.haaretz.com

Political / Diplomatic / International

Egyptian call for stronger measures against Israeli border aggression
The Secretary General of Egypt’s Freedom and Justice Party has demanded that Essam Sharaf’s cabinet take stronger measures against Israeli aggression on the border with Egypt. Saad Al Katatny said that his country should follow Turkey’s example, which has expelled the Israeli ambassador following the Zionist state’s refusal to apologise for the Freedom Flotilla attack in May 2010.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk

Iranians suspected in hacking of Mossad, CIA, MI-6 info
By forging security certificates, the hackers were also able to steal information from Google, Yahoo, Facebook and Twitter.
link to www.haaretz.com

Gates is also worried about the “demographic threat” aka Palestinians having babies: Robert Gates: Israel an ungrateful ally
Former US secretary of defense says Prime Minister Netanyahu’s policies isolating Israel on a global level.
link to www.ynetnews.com

Turkey/Israel

Turkey: Israeli diplomats must leave country by Wednesday
Move marks latest step taken by Turkey against Israel following the release of the UN-commissioned report on the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid.
link to www.haaretz.com

Turkey Suspending Trade, Military Ties with Israel
Turkey says it is “totally suspending” all trade and military ties with Israel as relations between the two countries continue to worsen. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the freeze Tuesday, a day after Turkey ordered all senior Israeli diplomats to leave the country by Wednesday. Mr. Erdogan also said he may visit the Gaza Strip, but would finalize plans after speaking to Egyptian officials. He is planning to visit Egypt later this month. Last week Turkey expelled the Israeli ambassador and downgraded diplomatic relations. Israel refuses to apologize for the deaths of eight Turkish citizens and a Turkish-American during last year’s Israeli raid on a ship carrying aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
link to blogs.voanews.com

Turkey clarifies: Trade sanctions against Israel include only defense industry
Speaking with the Wall Street Journal, aide to Turkey PM Erdogan clarifies earlier remarks by the Turkish premier, according to which all trade with Israel would be suspended.
link to www.haaretz.com

Top Israel defense official: Military ties with Turkey still in effect
Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad says Israel’s military attaché is still at work in Ankara despite Turkish declarations of total freeze, discounts threats of all-out war and adds Israel’s security ‘has never been better’.
link to www.haaretz.com

Israelis held in Istanbul airport
Passengers arriving in Turkey detained by local police after their passports taken away from them; passenger: Everyone was in shock.
link to www.ynetnews.com

Israelis can barely keep their lies straight anymore, see item directly below from yesterday’s news list: Israel’s airport chief: Turks twist reality
Airport Authority chief dismisses Turkish claims of mistreatment by Israeli security officers.
link to www.ynetnews.com

Foreign ministry officials admit Turkey citizens routinely humiliated at Israel’s airport
Haaretz 5 Sept — Dozens of Israelis say they were humiliated at Istanbul airport, forced to strip to their underwear on Monday; Foreign Ministry officials say humiliation of Turkish citizens happens on regular basis in Israel … The officials also said that almost every Turkish citizen who arrives at Ben-Gurion airport undergoes a routine procedure of extensive, humiliating examinations that also includes undressing to one’s underwear. “Turkish citizens are always separated from the rest of the passengers at the airport,” said a Foreign Ministry official.
link to www.haaretz.com

Born again War Criminal offers his two cents: Former Prime Minister Olmert: Turkey is not Israel’s enemy
Olmert says he is very familiar with Turkish leadership and that diplomatic ties must be restored, responding to crisis following release of UN report on 2010 Gaza flotilla events.
link to www.haaretz.com

Turkish hackers target 350 Israeli websites
Hundreds of domains in Israel, worldwide fall pray to hijacking by Turkish group. Expert: strike a possible ‘test-run’ ahead of future attack.
link to www.ynetnews.com

Palestine/Israel Wikileaks

Viewing cable 10JERUSALEM286, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY SECURITY OFFICIALS ON COORDINATION WITH ISRAEL
Atallah echoed Minister Abu Ali’s comments on the importance of continued security coordination with Israel, and underscored his own willingness to continue meeting with Israel Defense Forces (IDF) representatives regardless of the political climate. Atallah said that security coordination is not only required by Oslo-era Agreements, but also is in the Palestinians’ interest. He expressed concern about what he described as asymmetrical information sharing, with far more information flowing from the Palestinian side to Israel than is received in return. He also juxtaposed positive GOI statements on PA security efforts (such as Israeli Minister of Defense Ehud Barak’s praise at the recent Herzilya conference) with the GOI’s unwillingness to change its rules of engagement on the ground.
link to wikileaks.org

Statehood Bid

Abbas: Palestinians will resume peace talks with Israel after UN recognition of state
Palestinian Authority president tells meeting of Israeli intellectuals who support UN bid ‘we don’t want to delegitimize Israel. We want to legitimize ourselves’; stresses negotiations are top priority.
link to www.haaretz.com

U.S Envoys In Israel To Discuss “The Day After UN Vote”
Israeli paper, Haaretz, reported on Monday evening that a number of senior American officials, headed by Dennis Ross, advisor to President Barack Obama, will be arriving in Israel Tuesday to meet with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for talks regarding the Palestinian UN move.
link to www.imemc.org

Analysis/Op-ed

Abbas’ Recognition Bid Sells out Palestinians 
September’s UN General Assembly vote on Palestinian independence is turning into a minefield for embattled President Mahmoud Abbas. Already he is losing allies, outraged at the course he has chosen. The Israeli and American governments that backed him against Hamas- and kept him in power when he lost the 2006 election- are now fiercely attacking him. For all that the Palestinian president will rightly fear the consequences of falling out with the Whitehouse- which would likely begin with a crippling loss of financial support- he should worry more about how he is perceived in Ramallah. His blueprint for Palestinian advancement is not widely shared. Ironically, in Abbas’ most statesmanlike moment he has shown himself to be out of touch with the real patriot movement.
link to www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

the Turkish-Israeli rift?
First of all, i should say that Erdogan’s interest in Gaza has both long-historical and conjunctural context. Historically, his interest and sensitivity comes from the movement he was part of until his imprisonment and his later transformation (roughly, this corresponds to the period between the quasi-coup of 1997 [28 February] and the constitution of AKP in 2001). Welfare Party of the era was very critical of Israel –at least in theory and only in terms of Palestine– and had a very clear target for the salvation and independence of Palestine. However, Turkey of the time had much bigger problems inside. The conflict was hardly a matter of top interest in the Turkish media and politics.
link to www.maxajl.com

Saudi to US: Give us Predator drones to use in Yemen
U.S.-Saudi military cooperation in Yemen (which I  for The Arabist a few months ago) have not been without controversy. While the U.S. conducts it own drone strikes in Yemen against suspected al Qaeda targets and provides extensive funding, intelligence and training to government forces, it also provides satellite imagery to the Saudis, who conduct airstrikes and ground offensives against suspected al Qaeda targets and anti-government Shia militias. Given that much of the U.S.-Saudi joint effort has come in the form of airstrikes, many of the same objections regarding civilian casualties in Afghanistan and Pakistan have been raised over the air campaigns in Yemen. In February 2010, according to diplomatic cables from the U.S. embassy in Riyadh recently released by Wikileaks, the U.S. raised such objections with the Saudi Ministry of Defense, but was satisfied with their response to the matter and has continued supplying them with satellite data.
link to www.arabist.net

Fawwaz Traboulsi: Escaping Mumana’a and the US-Saudi Counter-Revolution
Fawwaz Traboulsi (FT): People I’ve talked to in Syria tell me that spirits are very high. People are very optimistic. I think they are moved by the certainty that this regime cannot remain. Now that’s not necessarily going to happen soon, if it happens at all. And if it does, it will not necessarily be a comprehensive regime change. But people are now serious that the time has come to end the Ba‘th regime in Syria, which has been in power since 1963. This is what we’re talking about. For the Syrian people the last forty-eight years represent continuity. People don’t care about the political shifts along the way, like Hafez al-Assad coming to power in 1970, or his son taking over in 2000. For them, the period from 1963 until the present is one single era characterized by repression, military dictatorship and one-party rule.
link to english.al-akhbar.com

Petrodollars at Work and in Play in the Post-September 11 Decade, Karen Pfeifer
What does one do with a $1.3 trillion windfall? That was the cumulative value of current account surpluses that flushed into the Arab region from 2000 to 2008, according to the International Monetary Fund. The main source was hydrocarbon export revenues, thanks to the rise in demand for oil and everything else during the roaring 2000s. It was also fed by foreign direct investment (FDI) into the region, remittances by émigré workers in Europe and North America, and sales of other types of exports, like textiles, electronics and processed foods, encouraged by the liberalization of trade. Domestic consumption demand and aggregate economic growth in the diversified economies of the region, like Egypt and Jordan, boomed right along with the oil exporters and the rest of the world.
link to www.merip.org

Other Mideast News

Civilians killed in Yemen air attack
Deaths and injuries reported after mosque is mistakenly shelled and hospital also targeted by fighter jets in Abyan.
link to english.aljazeera.net

Red Cross granted access to Syrian prison
Permission to visit detention centre for first time granted following talks between ICRC head and President Assad.
link to english.aljazeera.net

In Damascus, Amid Uprising, Syrians Act Like Nothing’s Amiss
While protests against the government of Bashar al-Assad break out across Syria, many Damascenes insist on another reality.
link to www.nytimes.com

Qatar fighting for freedom: Fireworks show begins
The free and progressive citizens of Qatar are tired of the current Emir’s dictatorship. They have been demanding democratic reforms during a lot of meetings and protest actions which are not shown on Al Jazeera which belongs to the Emir. Desperate people decided to attack the Emir’s cortege since he has become a symbol of dictatorship and suppression of dissidents.
link to english.pravda.ru

More than $800 million are missing from Iraqi Trade Ministry’s 2008-2010 books
Investigators from the Commission of Integrity could not account for $866 million dollars that were said to have been spent on food purchases between 2008-2008, a member of parliament said. Khalid Abdulah al-Alwani, the head of Iraqi parliament’s Integrity Commission, said the money that was said to have been spent is not covered by the contracts signed by the country’s Ministry of Trade which handles food purchases from abroad. The ministry is reported to be one of the most corrupted Iraqi bodies in the post-U.S. invasion of 2003. Despite billions of dollars it reportedly pays for food purchases every year, Iraqis still get less in food rations that the days of former leader Saddam Hussein.
http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2011-09-05\kurd.htm

Revealed: Australians kill Afghans with drones
Australia’s special forces commander has defended his troops’ use of US drones to kill “insurgent leaders” in southern Afghanistan, a deadly military tactic that gives the enemy no chance to surrender.
link to www.smh.com.au

9/11 colouring book & Muslim-American outlook since 9/11
We look at a controversial 9/11 colouring book and why Muslim Americans have a more positive outlook.
link to www.youtube.com

Minorities targeted in 9/11 ‘revenge attacks’
After September 11, 2001, hundreds of Arab Americans, Muslims, and Sikhs were targeted in what were termed “revenge attacks”. Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo went to Mesa, in the state of Arizona, to meet one man whose brother was killed. For more from Gabriel’s Across America journey, visit our spotlight page or follow the stories on Twitter at #AJE911.

link to www.youtube.com

Other Wikileaks

Saudi King Abdullah is 92 years old, is a heavy smoker and uses Viagre “excessively”
“A western physician whose professional duties include frequently consulting with members of the Saudi Royal family shared with DCM on July 11 personal information gleaned from Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud’s personal medical file, including King Abdullah’s true age and current use of medication. This physician was called in to perform routine medical treatment for one of King Abdullah’s wives (he has four). Upon arrival, the Royal Clinic accidentally provided this physician with the King’s medical file instead of that of the wife he was to treat, giving him the opportunity to review King Abdullah’s personal medical information. ¶2. (S/NF) It was related that King Abdullah is 92 years old (born 1916), he remains a heavy smoker, regularly receives hormone injections and “uses Viagra excessively.” The SAG has always kept close-hold any personal information on Royal family members, including not making public statements of individual ages.”
link to www.cablegatesearch.net

The ‘central issue’ of American policy that Shamai Leibowitz thought we had a right to know

Sep 06, 2011

Philip Weiss

The key paragraph in the New York Times story about former FBI translator Shamai Leibowitz leaking classified wiretaps of the Israeli embassy to blogger Richard Silverstein is this one:

The men shared a concern about repercussions from a possible Israeli airstrike on nuclear facilities in Iran. From his F.B.I. work from January to August of 2009, Mr. Leibowitz also believed that Israeli diplomats’ efforts to influence Congress and shape American public opinion were excessive and improper, Mr. Silverstein said.

Silverstein then goes on to praise Leibowitz as a whistleblower determined to stop a war.

I think he’s right, and that there is evidence for Leibowitz’s concern in Wikileaks cables from the State Department.

One cable reveals that ten days after the 2008 election in which Obama defeated McCain, Stewart Levey, the under secretary of Treasury under Bush, flew out to Israel to make a commitment to the Israelis that our Iran policy would not change under Obama.

National Security Council (NCS) Chairman, Dani Arditi, in a November 16 meeting with U/S Stuart Levey, asked whether Levey thought his efforts would continue into the next U.S. administration. Even though he said he planned to resign as required in January, Levey told Arditi that he believed the Obama team would be committed to continuing the ambitious program against terrorism finance that he has shepherded over the last several years. Saying counter- terrorism finance was not a partisan issue in the U.S., Levey subsequently confirmed these sentiments to Foreign Minister (FM) Tzipi Livni and Mossad Director Meir Dagan in separate meetings that occurred on the following day, November 17.

Consider: Here is a political appointee in the Bush administration rushing out to Israel to make a commitment to the highest officials there (the Mossad director, the Foreign Minister, and National Security chairman) that the next American administration will not change Bush policies. No, these policies are not partisan.

I would guess that Stuart Levey had talked to Obama personally before making this commitment. The two surely knew one another. They were at Harvard Law School together for a year, and indeed, two months after Levey’s visit to Israel, Obama reappointed him to the same high-ranking political job in his new administration.

But the question here is, What was Levey afraid of that he rushed out to Israel? And I think he was afraid of just what Shamai Leibowitz was afraid of in the months to come, that Israel would launch a strike against Iran.

You can see that concern in Levey’s nearly-craven responses to the Israelis [more excerpts at the end of this post], which I am guessing were provided to him by Obama himself.

And the great pity of this whole question is this: That the American people have no clue about any of this. No, it’s not a partisan issue. That means we are not permitted to discuss the American-Israel war policy openly.

More from the cable:

FM [Foreign Minister Tzipi] Livni asked Levey during their November 17 meeting why the USG was considering a rapprochement with Iran through a U.S. Interests section in Tehran. … Levey told Livni that this was a question better posed to the State Department, but that her concern was the central issue being debated by policy makers in Washington.

Read that again:

that her concern [about “rapprochement” with Iran] was the central issue being debated by policy makers in Washington

The United States had just been through an election in which this issue was not openly discussed. Yes Obama was for engaging Iran, and McCain slammed him for it. But if it was the “central issue” for policymakers in Washington, voters didn’t have a clue.

And meanwhile, this was The Central Issue for policymakers– and why, I believe they feared Israel was going to start a war. The war Shamai Leibowitz was trying to stop, and Stuart Levey too, and Barack Obama, too, each in his own way. It’s my theory that stopping an Israeli strike is one of the main reasons that Obama has capitulated to the Israelis again and again on the Palestinian issues. And why Stuart Levey ran around the world for years clamping down on the Iranian banking system. (That and his love of Israel, but I’ll be getting to that in days to come…)

Shamai Leibowitz wanted an open, democratic discussion of these most important issues. According to Richard Silverstein, Leibowitz thought that Israeli diplomats were doing their utmost to manipulate the American congress and American public opinion.So he wanted the information out there, so Americans could talk about it.

Shamai Leibowitz, grandson of a great Israeli religious philosopher Yeshayahu Leibowitz. God bless him.

From the December cable on Levey’s visit to Israel after the 2008 election:

In a visit to Israel on 16-17 November, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Stuart A. Levey, reassured GOI officials that no momentum would be lost in USG efforts to combat terrorist financing or to pressure Iran during the transition to a new US administration in January. In meetings with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Mossad Director Meir Dagan, National Security Council Chairman Dani Arditi, and others, U/S Levey emphasized recent U.S. designations against the Union of Good, the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), and the recent revocation of Iran’s “U-Turn” license. In response to GOI officials’ pressure to have the U.S. designate the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), Levey underscored the importance of international, multilateral concurrence for such an effort to be a success….

National Security Council (NCS) Chairman, Dani Arditi, in a November 16 meeting with U/S Stuart Levey, asked whether Levey thought his efforts would continue into the next U.S. administration. Even though he said he planned to resign as required in January, Levey told Arditi that he believed the Obama team would be committed to continuing the ambitious program against terrorism finance that he has shepherded over the last several years. Saying counter- terrorism finance was not a partisan issue in the U.S., Levey subsequently confirmed these sentiments to Foreign Minister (FM) Tzipi Livni and Mossad Director Meir Dagan in separate meetings that occurred on the following day, November 17…

15.(S) FM Livni asked Levey during their November 17 meeting why the USG was considering a rapprochement with Iran through a U.S. Interests section in Tehran. She questioned whether the tactic would have a net positive outcome when measured against the negative perceptions such a move would be bound to create. Levey told Livni that this was a question better posed to the State Department, but that her concern was the central issue being debated by policy makers in Washington. In Levey’s previous meeting with MFA officials Bar and Gal, he said that engagement with Iran would not work without leverage, indicating that sanctions would need to be in place no matter what the USG decides to do.