NOVANEWS
-
George W. Bush in the remainder bin of history
-
US ambassador to Israel calls for ‘stronger commitment to Zionist education’ in US to overcome young Jews’ disaffection
-
Sullivan takes spears for Mearsheimer
-
Krugman seems to want to talk about pundit-class responsibility for Iraq disaster
-
On September 11, 2011
-
Guess it wasn’t Saddam after all: Israeli media now trying to pin 9/11 on Hezbollah and Iran
-
Question from an Israeli teacher on the 1st anniversary of 9/11: ‘So looking back, how did we benefit from September 11th?’
-
We’ve learned nothing since 9/11
-
Summer lesson
George W. Bush in the remainder bin of history
Sep 11, 2011
Lizzy Ratner
Earlier today I quietly imploded when I read that George W. Bush, our former man-child president, “drew a brief cheer from the crowd” before reading a letter from Abraham Lincoln to a Civil War mother at today’s Ground Zero ceremony. George W. Bush! The man who froze over a copy of My Pet Goat when he learned that a commercial jetliner had struck the World Trade Center, whose response was to go cowboy, invading two countries not one while failing to capture Osama Bin Laden in either (for obvious reasons), who brought us Guantanamo, the Patriot Act, water-boarding, Abu Ghraib, AND a recession. This man belongs in a prison cell for war crimes, not on the receiving end of applause.
And yet, as I struggle to assimilate all of this, resist the urge to call it quits on this crazy country once and for all, I take some tiny shard of consolation — or pleasure, really — in a recent sight I was lucky enough to see at a Borders Bookstore bankruptcy sale near Cleveland, Ohio. There, on several prominent rungs of bookshelf, not far from the signs advertising $75 for a Borders light fixture (since everything must go!), I saw a large cache of unsold Bush biographies.
Yes, I know, the book sold brilliantly when it came out last year, it was reassuring to know that at least in this one small eastern corner of the heartland, Bush and his presidential legacy were right where they belonged: unclaimed, rejected, floating in the remainder bin of a bankrupt cultural bazaar.
US ambassador to Israel calls for ‘stronger commitment to Zionist education’ in US to overcome young Jews’ disaffection
Sep 11, 2011
Philip Weiss
Dan Shapiro, the new ambassador to Israel for the Obama administration, is doing major outreach for Obama. He glowingly describes his Zionist bona fides in this speech to the Jewish People Policy Institute five days ago.
Not a word about settlements or the occupation or Palestinian human rights. (When even Ahmadinejad is criticizing Syria!) Here is the closest Shapiro comes to referring to settlements:
When an effort was made to insert the United Nations into matters that should be resolved through direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians in February of this year, we vetoed it.
Then noting how committed he and his family are to Israel, he notes the American trend is against them:
The percentage of our friends who, like us, have chosen to address issues of concern to the Jewish community, including Israel, prominently in their professional lives never ceases to amaze me. But it may be deceptive. Much research has shown that growing numbers of younger American Jews feel disconnected, or at best ambivalent, toward Israel. Valuable programs like Birthright have exposed many to this connection, but many more have not been reached.
As JPPI and others have observed, a stronger commitment to Zionist education for American Jewish youth could do much to strengthen bonds that we want to be even stronger in the next generation, but may not be if left untended.
Sullivan takes spears for Mearsheimer
Sep 11, 2011
Philip Weiss
Sullivan has an excerpt of a piece John Mearsheimer wrote in 2001 saying that the U.S. shouldn’t invade Afghanistan. Sullivan: “And this is another reminder of the strategic brilliance of Mearsheimer, a man subjected to a vicious smear campaign because of his resistance to the Greater Israel Lobby.”
This is courage. Sullivan has a mainstream perch. He is spending political capital on an important issue. As Mearsheimer himself says, Tenure means that you are supposed to speak out on important issues. And being a columnist is supposed to mean the same thing…
Krugman seems to want to talk about pundit-class responsibility for Iraq disaster
Sep 11, 2011
annie
Krugman sounds pissed. His NYT 9/11 commemoration column is called The Years of Shame. It’s brief, this is half of it.
And then the attack was used to justify an unrelated war the neocons wanted to fight, for all the wrong reasons.
A lot of other people behaved badly. How many of our professional pundits — people who should have understood very well what was happening — took the easy way out, turning a blind eye to the corruption and lending their support to the hijacking of the atrocity?
The memory of 9/11 has been irrevocably poisoned; it has become an occasion for shame. And in its heart, the nation knows it.
I’m not going to allow comments on this post, for obvious reasons.
On September 11, 2011
Sep 11, 2011
Shakeel Syed
My tears are more than a drop – they are an ocean pregnant with silent sorrows
In it are my tears for the thousands on the morning of september eleven [1]
Those who were dressed in slacks and shorts, and
Those who were running or being run in the strollers
… full of colors and cheers were they.
They were each on their own way but apart from one another, and yet …
Every one of them were one created by the same One
My tears are more than a drop – they are an ocean pregnant with silent sorrows
In it are my tears for the millions since october seven [2]
Those who were shirtless and in jilbabs [3]
Those who were plowing their fields and playing with their children
… full of life and love were they.
They were each on their own way but apart from one another, and yet …
Every one of them were one created by the same One
My tears are more than a drop – they are an ocean pregnant with silent sorrows
In it are my tears for tens of thousands since march nineteen [4]
Those who were shoeless and in burqas [5]
Those who were idling around the corner and learning in madrassat [6]
… full of hope and happiness were they.
They were each on their own way but apart from one another, and yet …
Every one of them were one created by the same One
My tears are more than a drop – they are an ocean pregnant with silent sorrows
In it are my tears for the hundreds since january eleven [7]
Those who were innocent fathers and carefree sons
Those who were simply striving and shyly singing
… full of mercy and mischief were they
My tears are more than a drop – they are an ocean pregnant with silent sorrows
My tears are for all and not for some
My sorrow is same for the New Yorkers, the Baghdadis and the Kabulis
My grief is equal for the Washingtonians and the West Bankers
My love is for all and not only for some
My tears are more than a drop – they are an ocean pregnant with silent sorrows
Shakeel Syed is the Executive Director at Islamic Shura Council of Southern California.
Notes
[1] The infamous terrorist attack (9.11.2001)
[2] U.S. invasion on Afghanistan (10.7.2001)
[3] Head to toe skirt that Arab women wear
[4] U.S. invasion on Iraq (3.17.2003)
[5] The south Asian version of Arab women’s attire
[6] Literally – translated as a school
[7] First batch of detainees brought into Guantanamo (1.11.2002)
Guess it wasn’t Saddam after all: Israeli media now trying to pin 9/11 on Hezbollah and Iran
Sep 11, 2011
Seham
Was Iran behind 9/11?
Ynet: US lawsuit charges that Iran, Hezbollah involved in facilitation of September 11 attacks. Ynetnews presents special report about dramatic revelations that could change everything we knew about 9/11.
And more news from Today in Palestine:
Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Apartheid
OCHA: Movement restrictions in occupied West Bank affecting 200,000 Palestinians
A fresh report by OCHA said that the Israeli occupation authorities set up 522 obstacles across the West Bank, marking a four percent increase since a similar report made June 2010.
link to Palestinian Information Center
Illegal in their own country
The Jaouni family, fighting for their right to remain in Jerusalem, is stuck in an area annexed to the capital but left outside the separation wall.
link to www.haaretz.com
Israel Targets Vittorio Arrigone School in Embattled Jordan Valley
As schools around the world begin another year of instruction, one school, near to completion in one of the most grief-stricken and resilient areas of occupied Palestine, has suffered a massive set-back because the Israeli military has carried away its infrastructure- the Vittorio Arrigone school, in the small village of Ras Al Auja
link to www.alternativenews.org
In occupied Nablus, people live inside a 6-kilometer radius and dream of a normal life, Lynn Gottlieb
George Rishmawi is a dedicated activist from Beit Sahour who I’ve known since 1999 when we stood in front of Deiheshe Refugee Camp as he told the story of Palestinian nonviolent resistance against the background of the ordeals of occupation. Over the years we have visited each other’s homes and met at conferences. I have had the opportunity to travel with George through the varied landscapes of Palestine which he knows so well and meet his network of friends and associates from Hebron in the south to Jenin in the north. Today Dara, Jared and I joined George as he translated speeches from elected officials in Jenin to a special program out of the University of California schools called the Olive Tree Initiative. About 33 Jewish, Israeli, Palestinian, Muslim and Christian students travel together to learn each other’s narratives and develop a sensitivity to ‘the situation’ by being on the ground.
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/09/in-occupied-nablus-people-live-inside-a-6-kilometer-radius-and-dream-of-a-normal-life.html
Settlers
Press Release: Israeli settlers set fire to an house-tent in the palestinian village of Susiya
At-Tuwani – During the night between the 8th and the 9th of September settlers from the Israeli settlement of Suseya set fire to a house-tent in the palestinian village of Susiya. Around 1.00 am the settlers took a tyre that was inserted in a nearby wall, set fire to it and threw it against the outside wall of the house. The plastic tent covering the house took fire immediately. The owner, awakened by the smoke was able to move out a of the tent a gas cylinder that was near the fire; once out of the burning tent the man saw some torch lights in the valley below the village heading toward the settlement of Suseya. When Israeli army and police arrived, called by the villagers, the lights were still in sight but nor the soldiers nor the policemen followed or stopped the people carrying them.
link to www.operationdove.org
Salfit farmers say settlers unleashed pigs on their land
SALFIT (Ma’an) — Farmers say Israeli settlers unleashed pigs overnight Saturday to destroy their land in Salfit in the northern West Bank. Palestinian farmers told Ma’an that the pigs destroyed a fence and broke branches on fig trees. They said they were afraid to remain on their land and appealed for help to protect their property.
link to www.maannews.net
French JDL recruiting Jews with military experience to ‘defend’ Israeli settlements
Rightist group, founded by late Rabbi Meir Kahane, is bringing volunteers to counter Palestinian marches on settlements planned for week of September 20.
link to www.haaretz.com
Palestinian Activism / Israeli Regime Against Protesters
Help us release Ni’lin’s Ibrahim Srour from Israeli prison
When I was in prison for organizing protest in my village of Bil’in, I knew that if I make bail or have to pay a fine to be released, someone would pay it. Worrying about such technicalities was literally the last thing on my mind. But now that I am free and other protesters are in prison, that knowledge has turned into a responsibility. My responsibility is to make sure other don’t have to worry about it as well.
link to palsolidarity.org
Two Arrested, Pepper Spray Used As Activists Try to Tear Down Fence In Beit Ommar
Today, twenty-five Palestinian, international, and Israeli activists peacefully marched towards an Israeli Apartheid fence built on Palestinian land in the village of Beit Ommar. When they reached the fence, several activists attempted to pull the fence down as an act of symbolism against the occupation and apartheid system in Palestine, while others peacefully demonstrated on the other side of the fence on Route 60. After ten minutes of trying to bring down the fence and protesting, several Israeli military jeeps arrived and the activists stopped pulling on the fence, and joined the others on the other side of the fence on the road.
link to palestinesolidarityproject.org
a-Nabi Saleh: demonstration dispersed before it begins
link to www.youtube.com
Palestinians hold non-violent protests in four West Bank villages
This week, non-violent weekly protests in four villages were in support of UN resolution 194 and in support of the statehood bid at the UN later this month
link to www.imemc.org
Israeli Apartheid Regime Violence
IOF troops bombard Gaza suburb, fishing boats
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) fired a number of artillery shells at agricultural land in Shujaia suburb east of Gaza city at an early hour on Friday, local sources said.
link to Palestinian Information Center
PA police dismantle Israeli ordnance near Nablus
NABLUS (Ma’an) – Palestinian police on Saturday dismantled ordnance left by Israeli soldiers in a village south of Nablus, officials said. Authorities responded to a call after a man discovered an ambiguous object in the Qabalan village, police said. The object was dismantled without causing any injuries, the officials said. Police reminded residents never to approach such objects, which could be dangerous.
link to www.maannews.net
Medics: Israeli forces shell car in southern Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Israeli forces on Saturday fired an artillery shell at a civilian car in southern Gaza causing no injuries, medics said. Gaza medical services spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya said the car was shelled east of Khan Younis. Locals reported hearing a huge explosion near the border in the area. An Israeli military spokesman said he was not immediately aware of any shelling in the area but said he would look into it. [end]
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ ViewDetails.aspx?ID=419067
Boycott, Sanctions & Divestment / Solidarity
How Kobe Bryant blows a hole in the Irvine 11 prosecution’s case, Max Blumenthal
Did the Irvine 11 really “shut down” Michael Oren? Or did he simply have better things to do than finish his engagement with a packed auditorium of avid pro-Israel supporters?
link to Electronic Intifada
US colleges to receive warning letters on anti-Semitism
Universities, colleges “may be liable for massive damages” if they fail to prevent anti-Semitism on campus, Israel Law Center warns. Hundreds of US college and university presidents were set to receive warning letters on Thursday morning, instructing them of their legal obligations to prevent anti-Semitism on campus. The letters also remind universities it is their legal duty to prevent university funds from being diverted to unlawful activities directed against the State of Israel.
link to www.jpost.com
Siege on Gaza
Turkish PM will not visit Gaza (AP)
AP – Turkey’s foreign minister says the prime minister will not cross the border into the Gaza Strip during his trip to Egypt but warns that Israel faces “growing isolation” in the region.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110911/ap_on_re_eu/turkey_israel
Haneyya: Erdogan’s visit to Gaza historic
Palestinian premier in Gaza Ismail Haneyya has said that his government was preparing for the historic visit of Turkish premier Recep Erdogan to the Strip even it was not yet formally determined.
link to Palestine Information Center
Tunisian aid convoy to enter Gaza soon
The Tunisian aid convoy Karama (dignity) left Carthage airport for Cairo on Saturday afternoon to deliver symbolic humanitarian assistance to the besieged Gaza Strip.
link to Palestine Information Center
Detainees
Undercover Forces Kidnap Five Youths In Gaza
Eyewitnesses reported on Saturday evening that an undercover unit of the Israeli army infiltrated an area east of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, and kidnapped five Palestinian youths, the Palestine-Info reported.
link to www.imemc.org
Israeli navy abducts 7 Palestinian fishermen at sea
Israeli navy forces attacked and kidnapped seven Palestinian fishermen from Shati refugee camp to the northwest of Gaza city while fishing at sea off the coast of the Strip on Sunday.
link to Palestine Information Center
A Call To Release Palestinian Journalist
Lawmakers and human rights advocates must intervene to free Samer Allawi, a Palestinian who works as Afghanistan bureau chief for Al Jazeera, says the organization UFree in a press release issued today. Allawi was detained without charges by the Israeli military on Aug. 9 when he was attempting to cross into Jordan from the West Bank, where he had been visiting family. He has been held in jail ever since.
link to www.imemc.org
Israel bars entry of books into jails
RAMALLAH: The Palestinian Prisoners Club (Nadi Al-Asir) on Saturday said that the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) barred the entry of books into prisons. The club said that the IPS barred the entry of books, of all its fields, into 23 prisons and detention camps as punishment against some 7,000 Palestinian prisoners. The club said that it prevented the families from bringing books to their relatives during their visitation. In early July, the Israeli security authorities decided to bar six Palestinian families from entering Israel for smuggling cell phones into prisons. It added that the Palestinian prisoners who are held in solitary confinement are “the biggest sufferers from the Israeli decision since the books are a sole source of engagement for them.”
link to arabnews.com
Racism / Discrimination
Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to dominate UN racism conference, Thalif Deen
A high-level UN meeting on racism, scheduled to take place later this month, looks set to be dominated by questions relating to Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.
link to Electronic Intifada
Kiryat Arba culture center courts controversy
Kiryat Arba’s answer to artist boycott: The local council near Hebron where a culture center is set to open next week is mulling a proposal whereby only performers who served in the military will be welcome to perform at the center. The proposal also states that artists hoping to perform at the center will have to declare their loyalty to the State of Israel. But that is not all – they will be forced to undergo an “audition” from a spiritual committee led by Rabbi Dov Lior in order to certify that the content of the performance does not go against the character of the settlement.
link to www.ynetnews.com
Political / Diplomatic / International
WikiLeaks: STRATEGY FOR THE GAZA BORDER
Since the Egyptian-brokered “tahdiya” (“calming”) between Israel and Palestinian groups in Gaza took effect June 19, rocket attacks from Gaza have decreased, and Israeli public pressure on the GOE to stop smuggling via tunnels into Gaza has relaxed. However, smuggling remains an important security issue. We are working closely with Egypt to develop a comprehensive counter-smuggling strategy. Assisting the GOE with deployment of a U.S.-supplied counter-tunneling system on the Egypt-Gaza border provides Egypt with an opportunity to more fully exploit tunnels and break up smuggling rings. As Egypt moves forward into a new phase of counter-smuggling efforts, we will continue our cooperation in a variety of areas: helping interdict smuggling on Egypt’s western, southern, and eastern borders; economic development in the Sinai; border security assistance; and de-mining. End summary.
link to wikileaks.org
White House Memo: Obama and Abbas: From Speed Dial to Not Talking
President Obama’s relationship with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority has withered, creating more obstacles to Middle East peace.
link to feeds.nytimes.com
Abu Marzouk rules out unity deal will be implemented soon
Deputy chairman of Hamas’s political bureau Mousa Abu Marzouq has ruled out that the Hamas-Fatah unity deal signed on 4 May 2011 would be implemented anytime in the near future.
link to Palestinian Information Center
Statehood Bid
An Urgent Call for Transparency and Participation, Palestinian Grassroots Anti-apartheid Wall Campaign
At not more than 15 days from the UN General Assembly session on Palestine, during which the Palestinian official leadership will present an initiative on the Palestinian state to the world community, many pros and cons are being hotly debated. Yet, even without entering these debates, one of the most serious concerns is the fundamentally flawed process underlying the UN bid. It appears to be a distressing dejá-vu of past mistakes.
link to stopthewall.org
Palestinian UN envoy says delegation to announce moves regarding statehood Monday
Palestinian leadership to make decision during a meeting in Cairo that is likely to include supporters from other Arab nations.
link to www.haaretz.com
Erekat says US veto will destroy peace process
JERICHO (Ma’an) — PLO official Saeb Erekat said Friday that a US veto at the Security Council of a Palestinian request to join the UN would amount to a rejection of the two-state solution, “destroying” the peace process.
link to www.maannews.net
Mahmoud Abbas Hangs Tough on Palestinian Statehood (Time.com)
Time.com – In a meeting with the Western press, Mahmoud Abbas talks about how the Palestinian Authority is going to push forward at the U.N. in September.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20110910/wl_time/08599209249200
PFLP says it will back UN bid for membership
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine has decided to support the Palestinian bid for membership in the United Nations, the faction’s deputy secretary-general said Saturday. [end]
link to www.maannews.net
Ethan and the Israelis are “horrified” In Seeking Statehood, Palestinians Stir Concern, Ethan Bronner
Israel is horrified. To abandon Oslo, its leaders say, is to destroy any hope of negotiations, because that will rip up the legal basis for talks. If a United Nations resolution defines Palestine as within the 1967 lines, that means 500,000 Israelis will be defined as occupiers in another country. To pre-empt that, there are suggestions here to annex certain areas first or withdraw travel privileges for Palestinian officials in the West Bank. “If the Palestinians go to the United Nations, it will begin a long funeral for the peace process and negotiations,” Yuli Edelstein, Israel’s minister for public diplomacy, told a group of visitors in Tel Aviv on Thursday night.
link to www.nytimes.com
Egypt/Israel
Egypt officer shot by Israeli forces dies from injuries
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — An Egyptian police officer shot by Israeli forces near the Egyptian border in August died from his injuries on Saturday, a rights group said. Egyptian Federation of Human Rights chairman Nadeeb Jubrail said he was informed by the military hospital in Cairo that Imad Abdul Malak had died.
link to www.maannews.net
Remember that Obama never expressed concern over Cast Lead slaughter of Gaza civilians: US ‘deeply concerned’ by anti-Israel violence in EgyptWASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States is “deeply concerned” about violence in Cairo where protesters stormed the Israeli embassy, and is doing all it can to keep vital Egypt-Israel ties from fraying further, the State Department said Saturday. “We have been in contact with the Egyptian and Israeli governments about this serious incident,” and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has “reached out” to Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Amr to highlight US concerns, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
link to www.maannews.net
Tantawi didn’t respond to Netanyahu, Barak during crisis
Egyptian officials claimed head of Supreme Military Council ‘could not be located’. Stranded Israeli security guards evacuated from embassy while wearing keffiyehs and Muslim garments.
link to www.ynetnews.com
Israel sends jets to Cairo to rescue diplomats after embassy is stormed
Israel yesterday sent two airforce jets to evacuate more than 80 diplomats and family members after its embassy in Cairo was stormed by demonstrators. Six Israeli security guards were trapped until they were finally rescued by an Egyptian commando unit.
link to www.independent.co.uk
U.S. told Egypt it must rescue Israeli embassy workers or suffer ‘consequences,’ sources say
Officials involved in attempt to resolve mob attack on Israeli embassy in Cairo say U.S. Secretary of Defense Panetta managed to speak with head of Egypt’s ruling military only after 2 hours of repeated calling.
link to www.haaretz.com
Netanyahu: Egypt turmoil proves need for security assurances in Mideast peace deal Speaking less than a day after Israel’s Cairo embassy was attacked by protesters, PM says Israel committed to its peace treaty with Egypt, would work to restore Turkey ties.
link to www.haaretz.com
Israeli exporters fear drop in Egypt trade following embassy attack; Export figures to Egypt for the first half of the year have already dropped 33%
Israeli exporters to Egypt fear a further weakening of trade between the two countries in the wake of the riots that left Israel’s embassy in Cairo ablaze over the weekend. Egypt’s government declared Saturday it is reinstating emergency laws following the protests, which reportedly left three dead and 1,000 injured and prompted the evacuation of Israel’s ambassador to Egypt and 80 other embassy staff and dependents.
link to english.themarker.com
The storming of Cairo’s Israeli embassy: an eyewitness account (part I)
Despite Israeli denials, eyewitnesses verify that indeed revolutionaries broke into the Israeli Embassy in Giza, sending hundreds of documents out of the building and into the streets below.
link to english.ahram.org.eg
It’s all revolution goddamit, Sarah Carr
I don’t usually like to expound on events I haven’t witnessed first hand (I was stuck at home with flu) but can’t shut up about what happened at the Israeli Embassy last night, or more specifically the response to what happened at the Israeli Embassy last night.
link to inanities.org
Israel is paying for Gaza war with Turkey and Egypt crises
During that fateful Hanukkah, the Israel Defense Forces attacked failing to see that war on their televisions as people saw it in Istanbul and Cairo.
link to www.haaretz.com