NOVANEWS
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Student leader who tweeted about Obama assassination spent last weekend w/ pro-Israel group StandWithUs
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Susan Abulhawa’s Mornings in Jenin headed for the silver screen
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Critics of Palestine solidarity within Occupy Wall Street rely on distortion
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164 essential drugs are completely unavailable in Gaza
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Condi Rice was ‘shocked’ by ‘ethnic purity’ claims for Jewish state
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‘Proud Zionist’ tweets that assassinating Obama is ‘tempting’
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Pro-Israel rabbis slam Paterno for standing by while others were hurt
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Live video of today’s Occupy Wall Street protests
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Pakistani ambassador gets the Israel lobby’s blessing
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AIPAC Hollywood junket to Israel meets protest
Student leader who tweeted about Obama assassination spent last weekend w/ pro-Israel group StandWithUs
Nov 17, 2011
Philip Weiss
Lauren Pierce, the University of Texas Republican student leader who described assassinating Obama as “tempting” in a tweet Wednesday, had planned to attend a conference of the rightwing pro-Israel group StandWithUs last weekend.
The StandWithUs conference was in Santa Monica. 150 students attended. I don’t know if Pierce was there. But this is her Nov. 2 note on the facebook page of the Univ of Texas College Republicans, saying she wouldn’t be able to make a Nov. 12 Republican committee meeting in Texas:
Lauren Pierce I will be in Santa Monica for the Stand With Us Conference (Pro-Israel advocacy group) but I’m sure this will be a great event! Have fun y’all!
I have emailed StandWithUs seeking to learn whether Lauren Pierce was at the conference.
One thing for sure, it was a red-meat conference. Steven Emerson, the television expert on national security, was at the conference, per StandWithUs. So were Jon Voigt and Judea Pearl (Daniel Pearl’s father). So was settler advocate Itamar Marcus.
Matan Lurey, a student at UC Irvine, tweeted that Pierce had a fellowship with the group. StandWithUs tweeted that she did not.
Update: Lurey sent us the following image via Twitter which would seem to indicate Pierce attended the conference —
(Image: Matan Lurey)
Susan Abulhawa’s Mornings in Jenin headed for the silver screen
Nov 17, 2011
annie
Literary and film agency Pontas has announced film rights for Susan Abulhawa’s international bestseller Mornings in Jenin have been acquired by Filmworks Dubai.
Originally published in English by Bloomsbury the novel has already been published in translation in more than 20 countries and is a real phenomenon in Norway and Italy, among many other territories.
Tim Smythe and Rami Yasin are attached as producers and will be leading the project’s development with plans to go into production in the latter part of 2013. Filmworks Dubai are known for producing City of Life and Djinn…as well as being the production partners on major Hollywood features like Syriana, The Kingdom and most recently Mission Impossible 4 .
A brief synopsis for readers unfamiliar with Mornings in Jenin
Palestine 1941. In the small village of Ein Had a father leads a procession of his family and workers through the olive groves. As they move through the trees the green fruits drop onto the orchard floor; the ancient cycle of the seasons providing another bountiful harvest.
Palestine 1948. The Abulheja family are forcibly removed from their ancestral home in Ein Hod and sent to live in a refugee camp in Jenin. Through Amal, the bright granddaughter of the patriarch, we witness the stories of her brothers: one, as stolen boy who becomes an Israeli soldier; the other who is sacrificing everything for the Palestinian cause will become his enemy.
Amal’s own dramatic story threads it’s way through six decades of Palistine-Israeli tension, eventually taking her into exile in Pennsylvania in America. Amal’s is a story of love and loss, of childhood, marriage, parenthood, and finally the need to share her history with her daughter, to preserve the greatest love she has. Richly told and full of humanity, Mornings in Jenin forces us to take a fresh look of one of the defining political conflicts of our time. It is an extraordinary debut.
I’ve been wishing to hear this since I read the book.
There’s an untamed gypsy spirit coming thru Abulhawa’s writing, she conjures lyrical phrases that lull the reader into a magical sense of time and space. The book keeps growing after you put it down …… this heartwrenching historical Palestinian masterpiece with enduring charismatic characters spanning several generations.
And I want a movie if you don’t mind, if it isn’t too much to ask! Pronto!
Yeah! Go Susie! Super congrats.
Critics of Palestine solidarity within Occupy Wall Street rely on distortion
Nov 17, 2011
Alex Kane
Activists from Adalah-NY sing songs promoting BDS at Occupy Wall Street on November 13, 2011 (Photo: Alex Kane)
“New York is different,” Riham Barghouti, a well-known member of Adalah-NY: The New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel, told me last weekend at the end of a boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) information action at Zucotti Park, where Occupy Wall Street (OWS) has taken root. She was referring to the fact that asserting Palestinian rights at Occupy Wall Street, or using the Occupy movement’s language when talking about Palestine, has engendered some controversy in New York City, as opposed to in Boston or California.
Indeed, two days after dozens of Palestine solidarity activists gathered at the OWS encampment in lower Manhattan to promote the BDS campaign, the Anti-Defamation League (whose main office is in New York City) went on the attack, and accused the “anti-Israel left” of “exploit[ing] the enthusiasm of the [OWS] movement and channel[ing] it for their cause.” The BDS action, as well as other Palestine-related actions at Occupy encampments, were criticized by the ADL.
Barghouti said that in NYC particularly, there is a constant process of Israel advocacy groups going on the attack, and a notion among some on the left that Palestine is a “divisive” issue. Barghouti has a point; while the Israel lobby has national reach, New York is a center of power for the lobby (as it is for finance; the line between Wall Street and the lobby is blurry). In addition, Palestine has long been a contentious issue in left politics, especially in the anti-war movement, but the issue has recently begun to make headway within movement.
The ADL criticism was a familiar one to activists involved in both Palestine solidarity and OWS work. Marc Tracy at Tablet leveled the charge that overt Palestine solidarity at OWS would “drown out” the movement’s “compelling economic message.”
The criticisms, though, rest on a distortion of the intentions of Palestine solidarity activists and a misunderstanding of the type of politics behind Occupy Wall Street. Activists involved in Palestine-related work have been involved in Occupy Wall Street actions since the beginning of the movement, and the movement’s message has not been “drowned out.” Palestine solidarity activists do indeed see the OWS movement as fertile ground for organizing, but so does the anti-police brutality movement, the environmental movement and a host of other social justice groups. With such a fluid, broad-based, left-wing movement, Palestine will come up.
For example, Jewish activists involved with both Palestine solidarity and the Occupy movements brought the movements together when they disrupted and “occupied” a Birthright Israel event promoting Wall Street last week. In a post on Mondoweiss, the activists explained that:
This movement’s power lies in its broad appeal to anyone oppressed by the economic status quo. OWS is about much more than banks, and the economy doesn’t stop at U.S. borders. We honor the OWS message by casting light on and holding our community accountable to a substantial economic problem: the occupation of Palestine yields huge profits for American corporations and has absorbed over 33 billion dollars in U.S. taxpayer dollars
In a similar vein was the Palestinian BDS National Committee statement that read:
Our aspirations overlap; our struggles converge. Our oppressors, whether greedy corporations or military occupations, are united in profiting from wars, pillage, environmental destruction, repression and impoverishment
Palestine solidarity activists organizing at OWS does not equal an attempt to make the movement about Palestine. And the big reason why OWS has found such broad appeal, as the “Occupy the Occupiers” statement points out, is that the tactics of the Occupy movement are so diffuse and decentralized, which makes room for a variety of groups who resonate with the message of the “1% in the U.S. has captured the government.”
BDS activists say they won’t be bowed by these criticisms, and are looking to continue organizing for BDS and Palestine at Occupy encampments.
Barghouti was optimistic about the potential for further Palestine solidarity activism at OWS.
“Around the world, Palestine is a part of this movement.” Looks like the ADL has their work cut out for them.
164 essential drugs are completely unavailable in Gaza
Nov 17, 2011
Seham
Gaza: Residents deprived of critical medications and medical care
By late September, 36% of necessary supplies were lacking, compared to 25% in 2010. The Israeli embargo of the Gaza Strip, which began in 2007, together with years of financial crisis within the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah and the chronic lack of cooperation between the Palestinian Authority and Gaza authorities, have caused harm and threaten Gaza’s health system and its patients. Last spring, drug companies stopped supplying the Palestinian Authority. The situation, which had been worsening steadily for several years, deteriorated further in 2011 and has reached an alarming level. As Israeli bombs struck the Gaza Strip in mid-August, local health authorities called on international aid actors working in the area for help. Since that time, they have asked for donations on a regular, long-term basis. However, no humanitarian actor – including Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) – has the financial and/or logistical resources to provide the drugs and medical supplies needed by the Territory’s health facilities.
Over 26% of Palestinian Children Live in Poverty, says PCBS
RAMALLAH, November 17, 2011 (WAFA) – Over 26% of Palestinian children in the West Bank and Gaza Strip lived below the poverty level in 2010, according to a new release by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) published Thursday marking the International Child Day. It said poverty average among Palestinian households according to patterns of consumption was 21.4% in 2010, divided into 16% in the West Bank and 31.9% in Gaza Strip. Children who are suffering from poverty form the proportion of 26.9% out of all children, divided into 19% in the West Bank and 38.4% in Gaza Strip. Poverty among Gaza households who have children was 53.8% of the total poor households who have children compared to 46.2% in the West Bank.
link to english.wafa.ps
link to sjlendman.blogspot.com
Land theft and destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Palestinian culture & history
link to www.haaretz.com
Israeli housing ministry to build 5000 new housing units in OJ
The Israeli housing and construction ministry has published tenders inviting those interested to bid for the construction of 5000 new housing units in occupied Jerusalem.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk
Israel to build 2,000 West Bank apartments
Move seen as latest Israeli retaliation for Palestinian Authority’s UNESCO bid; construction plans condemned by US, Europe in past.
Palestinian land in Wadi Hilweh to be converted to Municipal park
Jerusalem Municipality officers and Israeli troops raided a plot of Palestinian land in Wadi Hilweh yesterday morning, 16 November. Troops removed the iron gate to the land, which belongs to the Al-Helaisi family of Wadi Hilweh. Several olive trees were destroyed by troops, the Municipality later claiming that they had been planted there “without permission”.
link to silwanic.net
Municipality earmarks Palestinian land for park in Silwan
Jerusalem Municipality officers officially surveyed a piece of land in Silwan on 15 November, claiming that the land has been earmarked for construction of a public park. The land in question belongs to two Palestinian and lies between Abbasiyeh, Abu Tur and Rababeh Valley neighborhoods, and next door to an elementary school for girls. There is fear that the land could be the next Israeli appropriation of Palestinian land under the auspices of the Nature Authority. Municipality officers conducted the visit in conjunction with representatives of the Mount of Olives Development Center, an organization linked to the Municipality. Palestinian residents of Silwan have expressed fear that the land will be taken over by the Israeli Nature Authority for conversion to a protected green space, completing the Israeli-controlled encirclement of Al-Bustan and Wadi Hilweh districts. The adjacent school had requested permission to expand on to the land but was refused by the Municipality. Municipal officers stated that the park project will commence implementation in the coming week.
Urgent: Stop Home Demolitions in Al Hadidiye
Stop the Wall has issued an urgent call to action to stop nine fresh demolition orders issued by the Israeli authorities in the Palestinian Bedouin community of Al Hadidiye. The destruction of Palestinian homes and the ongoing colonization of Palestinian land is being carried out under the cover of US acquiescence and with the assistance of US companies like Caterpillarand Motorola. Stand in solidarity with the Palestinian families facing demolition and heed Stop the Wall’s call to action!
Haaretz: The Israeli gov’t hid a report against illegal Derech Ha’avot outpost
The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) has withheld a report prepared about one year ago on Derech Ha’avot outpost, so as it would not be used in a court of law, Haaretz newspaper said on Monday.
Israel stalling release of report proving West Bank outpost built on Palestinian land
Chaim Levinson – Haaretz “The Military Advocate General (MAG ) is delaying the publication of an internal report from a year ago which shows that most of the West Bank outpost of Derekh Ha`avot is on private Palestinian land. The report, a copy of which was obtained by Haaretz, indicates that 60 percent of the Etzion Bloc community is on Palestinian farmland.
link to www.haaretz.com
“The Independent: Jewish settlements are encroaching on Palestinian territory
The Independent newspaper said Monday that the Jewish settlers are expanding their presence in the occupied city of Jerusalem as the number of Palestinian natives continues to shrink.
AFEH documents the digging of more graves at Ma’manullah cemetery
AFEH revealed that dozens of Zionist workers have been engaged in digging up Muslim graves at the historic Ma’manullah cemetery in occupied Jerusalem.
Russia and France slam Israel’s settlement expansion in O. Jerusalem
Russia and France denounced Israel’s declared intention to build 800 settlement units in the occupied city of Jerusalem.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk
AICafe 19.11.11: discussion with Dr. Adnan Musallam, Bethlehem University history professor
Please join us at the AICafe on Saturday, 19 November 2011 at 8:00 p.m. as Dr Adnan Musallam, professor of history at Bethlehem University, discusses the Balfour Declaration and Jewish attempts to establish a national homeland before the Holocaust
AICafe 15.11.11: Palestinian independence from 1988-2011, a discussion with Dr. Mohammed Naem Ferhat
Please join us at the AICafe on Tuesday, 15 November 2011 at 8:00 p.m. as Dr Mohammad Na‘em Ferhat, Professor of Sociology at the Bethlehem University and Al Quds Open University, discusses Palestinian attempts to secure independence between 1988-2011.
link to www.alternativenews.org
Include Silwan settlements in visiting dignitaries’ tours, says minister
Silwan’s settlements should be included in the official tours conducted for visiting diplomats, said Israeli deputy foreign minister Dani Ayaloun on Tuesday, 15 November. The statement was made despite evidence that all settlements in Silwan, such as the best-known City of David settlement, is constructed on confiscated Palestinian land. The City of David was visited recently by Dani Ayaloun, accompanied by Elad settlement group head David Beiry. Ayaloun visited one of the tunnels in the archaeological site, which Elad claims to be the remains of King David’s biblical palace. The visit was made with the agenda of promoting Silwan as a site of Jewish heritage – a claim that excludes a long Palestinian history in the area. Excavations at the City of David site have yet to produce any evidence that the site is in fact what Elad claims. Residents of Silwan have pursued court cases against Elad in an attempt to halt the dangerous tunnel-digging. While partially successful, the digging has now recommenced after a 14 month pause. Elad conducts the excavations in cooperation with the Israeli Antiquities Authority.
link to silwanic.net
West Bank: Jewish teens hurl stones at cars
Yeshiva students aim to pelt Palestinian cars with stones but accidentally hit Israeli vehicle.
Summary of the Judgment Concerning the Legality of the GSS’ Interrogation Methods
The Court has held this day that the General Security Service (“GSS”) is not authorized, according to the present state of the law, to employ certain investigation methods that involve the use of physical pressure against a suspect. Several applications were brought before the Supreme Court (sitting as the High Court of Justice), in which it was argued that certain methods used by the GSS (for instance, the shaking of a suspect, holding him in particular positions for a lengthy period and sleep deprivation) are not legal. This, among other reasons, is due to the lack of authority permitting the use of these interrogation methods.
Saed Bannoura – IMEMC – army invaded Azzoun town, east of the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia, and arrested four children identified as Qusai Shaher Salim, Rashad Raed Shbeita, Ehab Taleb Mashal, and Ibrahim Ahmad Enaya, all 17 years old.
link to www.imemc.org
Army Kidnaps Palestinian Journalist In Jerusalem
Israeli soldiers kidnapped on Wednesday evening a Palestinian journalist in Jerusalem after she was ordered to head to a security center for questioning.
The Minister of Palestinian Detainees and Ex-detainees Affairs, Issa Qaraq’e, has urged Egypt to exert pressure on Israel to free long-term prisoners, the Palestinian news agency, Ma’an reported on Thursday.
link to www.imemc.org
The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) on Tuesday refused to allow travel of liberated prisoner Amal Juma to Jordan for medical treatment, her brother Jamil told the PIC reporter.
Israel forces ‘ransack home’ of freed prisoner
TULKAREM (Ma’an) — A recently-released prisoner said Israeli forces ransacked her home and threatened her on Thursday. Duaa al-Jayousi told Ma’an Israeli troops raided her home in Tulkarem in the northern West Bank, searched her and told her she was “being watched.” The soldiers warned her that she could return to prison, she added. Al-Jayousi’s mother witnessed the raid. “It was brutal,” she said, adding that she couldn’t cope if her daughter was imprisoned again. A prisoner affairs’ center described the raid as “barbaric.” Al-Jayousi was released in October in a prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas. She had spent 10 years in an Israeli jail. She was sentenced to three life terms and 32 years.
link to www.maannews.net
Interview: Hunger strikes created “new sense of solidarity”, Maureen Clare Murphy
In an interview with The Electronic Intifada, activist Janan Abdu describes how Israeli prison authorities tried to break the spirits of political prisoner who recently went on hunger strike, including her husband Ameer Makhoul.
link to electronicintifada.net
Palestinians protest ‘racist’ bus policy
Israeli authorities accused of operating a policy of racial segregation similar to that in the American south in the 1960s. Six Palestinian activists calling themselves “freedom riders” after the campaigners of the American civil rights movement have been arrested while attempting to enter Jerusalem on an Israeli bus carrying settlers through the occupied West Bank. The activists said they aimed to demonstrate that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank had resulted in a community segregated on racial lines, comparable to those of the American south in the 1960s, where African Americans defied segregation by using buses reserved for “whites only”.
‘If Rosa Parks could have called a press conference it would have looked like this’
Today I appreciate the Jerusalem Post’s Benjamin Spier for his video coverage (above) that begins with his saying, “If Rosa Parks could have called a press conference, it would have looked something like this,” as well as referencing the Freedom Riders as “Freedom Riders” and interviewing stellar and brave Huwaida Arraf and Badee’ Dwaik. It thrills me to no end to hear their voices. I love hearing Palestinian voices, the universal voice of sumud against the oppressor, a voice they own like none other in our time.
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/11/if-rosa-parks-could-have-called-a-press-conference-it-would-have-looked-like-this.html
CCH Pounder (“Avatar” ) was the only member of the group who said she encountered opposition to her visit here – in her case, from South African friends. Schiff, for his part, was upset upon leaving the hotel to encounter a small group of demonstrators holding signs telling the actors they should be ashamed of themselves and denouncing Israel’s “apartheid” policies.
link to www.haaretz.com
Anti
link to electronicintifada.net
ADL promotes conspiracy theories to undermine support for Palestine at Occupy Wall Street, Ali Abunimah
In an move reminiscent of anti-Semitic attacks on Jews in America’s past, the ADL is seeking to isolate and cast suspicion on supporters of Palestinian rights at Occupy Wall Street.
link to electronicintifada.net
Israel seeks minorities, gays for propaganda effortsby communications
The Israeli government hopes to draw attention away from its illegal occupation of Palestinian lands and ongoing human rights abuses by recruiting minorities and members of the lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual (LGBT) community to conduct “public diplomacy” and to “sell Israel as a democracy”
link to www.alternativenews.org
Heritage / Culture
A local Palestinian businessman has brought fair trade to the West Bank, buying olive oil and other produce from more than 1,500 West Bank farmers and guaranteeing them a higher price.
Hani Almadhoun: From Resistance to Pop: Liberating Palestine with an Auto Tune
Thanks to social media and talent competition shows like Super Star, Star Academy and now, Arabs’ Got Talent, many young Palestinians are getting prime time exposure and introducing the Arab world to their voices and their art.
Why is this not made famous?
Khelil sent me this: “I’m reading a book on surfing by Michael Scott Moore, Sweetness and Blood, and came across this passage in the chapter on surfing in Gaza and “Israel”: “Tel Aviv has a ‘separate beach,’ were a high concrete wall runs from the sand into the water. Orthodox Jews avail themselves of the beach to swim without breaking mitzvahs against mixing without the opposite sex. On certain days only women can swim there; on certain other days, only men.”pg. 184. ”
Israeli reactions to Freedom Riders
Mya Guarnieri – +972 “The reaction of Israeli onlookers was overwhelmingly negative, with bystanders making racist remarks; after Israeli forces arrested the six activists, a Palestinian journalist was also detained.”
Israel’s Supreme Court rejects Anat Kamm’s request to delay prison sentence
Kamm, who as an IDF soldier gathered, held and passed on classified information without authorization, will begin serving a prison sentence of four and a half years on Sunday.
link to www.richardsilverstein.com
PLO says Palestinian reconciliation will hit those opposed to UN membership
The Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has said that national reconciliation will remove one of the excuses used by opponents of Palestine’s membership of the UN. “Some parties questioned Palestine’s eligibility for membership as long as the division remained,” said a statement from the Committee. At a meeting on Tuesday in Ramallah, in the presence of PA President Mahmoud Abbas, the Executive Committee called for “real progress towards national reconciliation and comprehensive elections”. With presidential, legislative and National Council elections, the PLO believes that Palestinians will be able to develop a unified political vision, vital in the face of regional political events.
Foreign Ministry accuses Irish government of inciting against Israel. Dublin City Council sponsors display presenting IDF soldiers as ‘Nazi troops’ abusing Palestinians.
Suha Arafat: I never took money from Palestine
Yasser Arafat’s widow denies corruption allegations, says she refused many offers by Leah Rabin to visit Israel.
Weighing in at 30,000 pounds, U.S. unveils new bombWASHINGTON — The US Air Force has a new 30,000-pound bomb in its arsenal designed to penetrate targets buried deep underground, a spokesman said Tuesday. The Air Force started taking delivery of the giant bomb, the “Massive Ordnance Penetrator,” in September, said Lieutenant Colonel Jack Miller. Under an August 2 contract worth $32 million, the aerospace firm Boeing is due to produce eight of the giant MOP bombs to fulfil the Air Force’s “operational needs,” according to Miller.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/11/15/weighing-in-at-30000-pounds-u-s-unveils-new-bomb/
An examination of records in one Texas county shows that 92 percent of the men recently condemned to die have been African Americans. A report published Monday by The Houston Chronicle found that of the last 13 men sentenced to death in Harris County, 12 have been black.
Arab League gives Syria 3 days to end ‘bloody repression’
If the Assad government fails to stop the violence, the league says it will impose economic sanctions. Arab foreign ministers Wednesday gave Syria three days to cease what one league official called its “bloody repression” against its people or face economic sanctions, the latest sign of President Bashar Assad’s growing isolation.
Scores of people reported killed over the past 24 hours in one of the country’s bloodiest days of violence.
Eric Bruneau, “Kurdish Leader: We Oppose Foreign Intervention in Syria”
It is surprising to see that, while the rest of Syria is torn by violence, the Kurdish populated provinces remain quiet. “It’s a tactical choice,” say politicians from the Syrian Democratic Union Party, a Kurdish opposition party. “There is a de facto truce between the Kurds and the government. The security forces are overstretched over Syria’s Arab provinces to face demonstrators, and cannot afford the opening of a second front in Syrian Kurdistan. On our side, we need the army to stay away. Our party is busy establishing organizations, committees, able to take over from the Baath administration the moment the regime collapses,” said one PYD leader. To enforce this truce, their cells in Afrin and Kobane stopped some Kurdish activists from organizing demonstrations. They claim that all their efforts are about maintaining calm to avoid a bloodbath. . . . Syrian Kurdish leaders are skeptical about the Syrian opposition that met several times since the unrest started in Syria in March. The Kurds say the Arab parties do not recognize the rights of the Kurdish population of Syria. . . . Meanwhile, the Syrian Kurdish opposition is skeptical of Turkey’s intimate involvement with the Syrian Arab opposition. A high-ranking PYD leader said, “We want change. But it must come from the Syrians, and be for the Syrians. It must not come from any external power willing to make Syria a satellite state. The PYD so opposes any foreign intervention in Syria.”
Protesters storm Kuwaiti parliament
Dozens of Kuwaitis demanding the prime minister’s resignation have briefly stormed parliamentary buildings as hundreds demonstrated outside. The protesters had earlier on Wednesday marched to Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad Al-Sabah’s home to demand his resignation, an opposition MP said, but police used batons to prevent them. Al Jazeera’s Will Jordan reports.
Analysis: U.S. arms deal for Bahrain hinges on rights report (Reuters)
Reuters – The future of U.S. military support for Bahrain, starting with a $53 million arms deal now on the line, hinges on the findings of a human rights investigation into the Gulf kingdom’s handling of popular protests earlier this year.
Iraqi women ‘afraid for country’
Three women tell how their lives have changed in the new Iraq.
Did U.S. troops bring democracy? Iraqis have doubts (Reuters)
Reuters – Sitting in a barber shop in Baghdad’s Shi’ite Sadr City slum, three friends agreed after a long and hard argument that U.S. forces brought democracy to Iraq.
Sami Moubayed: Preparing for a Sunni Arab Spring in Baghdad
The uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya and now Syria have undoubtedly awakened a Sunni appetite for change in Iraq.
Saudi moral committee threatens to cover “tempting” women’s eyes
Women with sexy eyes in Saudi Arabia may be forced to cover them up, according to the spokesperson of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV) in the conservative Gulf kingdom. Spokesman of the Ha’eal district, Sheikh Motlab al-Nabet said the committee has the right to stop a women whose eyes seem “tempting” and order her to cover them immediately.
link to bikyamasr.com
Iran
Iran and Israel are still issuing incendiary comments in response to the release of the Iran nuclear report. European leaders are pushing for harsher sanctions instead of a military strike.
Powers close to deal on IAEA Iran resolution (Reuters)
Reuters – World powers look set to overcome their differences and agree on a U.N. atomic agency resolution aimed at putting diplomatic pressure on Iran to address mounting fears about its nuclear program, Western diplomats said on Wednesday.