NOVANEWS
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Settlers have carried out over 100 attacks on Palestinians in 2011
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UK, France, Germany and Portugal condemn Israeli plan to build 1,000 new settlements homes
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Bed Bath & Beyond flash mob: Stop selling illegal Israeli settlement products
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We will not be silent releases new t-shirt designs
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The Colonial Frontier at Home: Extrajudicial executions, surveillance drones and indefinite military detention
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Republicans want Jerusalem? Herzl promised pope, kaiser and sultan to leave it outside Jewish state
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Howard Fineman seeks to redline Ron Paul’s populist Iran ideas as extremist
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Busted by Goldberg, Klein now says commas caused war in Iraq, not neocons
Settlers have carried out over 100 attacks on Palestinians in 2011
Dec 20, 2011
Seham
Jewish colonists carry out over 100 racist attacks on Palestinians in 2011
Jewish colonists have attacked 96 Holy Muslim and Christian sacred sites in the West Bank and 46 sacred sites in Occupied East Jerusalem since the beginning of the year. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Islamic Affairs, the colonists have left behind racist and threatening messages after vandalising Palestinian property
link to gulfnews.com
Land, Property Theft & Destruction / Ethnic Cleansing / Apartheid / Refugees
link to www.maannews.net
IOA bulldozers destroy Palestinian land in occupied Jerusalem
Bulldozers of the Israeli controlled municipality of Jerusalem started leveling Palestinian land near the Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem on Tuesday.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk
Occupation plan to demolish a hamlet in the Jordan valley
IOF troops accompanied by planning official Monday afternoon raided the Hamma hamlet in the northern Jordan valley and gave notice to the residents that the hamlet will be demolished.
“Despite killings, arrests and repression, we will continue” In the series of repression practiced by the occupation forces on the popular weekly demonstrations against the apartheid wall and settlements, occupation forces arrested and wounded dozens during the weekly demonstrations in the West Bank. In Bilin, the occupation forces faced the protesters with sound and tear gas bombs and shot metal bullets covered with rubber, which caused dozens of suffocation cases and injured 20-year-old photojournalist Iyas Abo Rahme.
Destruction of Waqf: The Grave Offences of the Israeli State
Silwan residents fear crackdown over Christmas
Residents of Silwan have spoken out against what they call “conspiracies” against the village in the lead up to the Christian holiday of Christmas and New Year celebrations. Many fear that the religious holiday will provide another pretext for Israeli authorities to implement measures limiting the freedom of movement of Silwan’s Palestinians. A charged atmosphere has pervaded the area, with Israeli police and military enforcing a draconian network of checkpoints, allowing them to monitor residents’ movements and issue vast numbers of traffic fines.
UNICEF: Israel killed 19 Palestinian children in 2011
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) killed 19 children and wounded 403 others in the year 2011 so far in a big escalation in targeting children, a report by UNICEF said.
Jewish colonists have attacked 96 Holy Muslim and Christian sacred sites in the West Bank and 46 sacred sites in Occupied East Jerusalem since the beginning of the year. Ramallah: Jewish colonists have attacked 96 Holy Muslim and Christian sacred sites in the West Bank and 46 sacred sites in Occupied East Jerusalem since the beginning of the year. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Islamic Affairs, the colonists have left behind racist and threatening messages after vandalising Palestinian property
IOF soldiers detain 8 Palestinians including a young man and his sister
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) rounded up eight Palestinian civilians on Tuesday including a young man and his sister in Duma village, south of Nablus, Tadamun foundation for human rights said.
Israeli soldiers kidnapped, on Tuesday at dawn, three Palestinians in the Jenin refugee camp, in Jenin city, in the northern part of the West Bank, and took them to an unknown destination. Soldiers also invaded a number of nearby towns.
Israeli forces arrested Mahmoud al-Ragabi, 21, from Baten al-Hawa neighborhood in Silwan in the early hours of Thursday, 15 December. The arrest is the latest in a Silwan-wide campaign of youth arrests and fearmongering. An Israeli military jeep was also seen terrorizing young children in Bir Ayyub district of Silwan as they played football at a playground. A Molotov cocktail was then thrown at Beit Yonatan settlement later that night.
Ad-Dameer Denounces Daily Arrests In Shu’fat Refugee Camp
The Ad-Dameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association denounced the Israeli Army for the daily kidnappings of children and youth at the Shu’fat refugee camp, in occupied East Jerusalem, adding that the army kidnapped more than 21 youths, including 11 children in the last 15 days.
Abu Obaida: “Resistance Liberated 20% Of The Detainees”
Abu Obaida, spokesperson of the Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, stated that the Palestinian resistance managed to liberate 20% of the detainees imprisoned by Israel, and will remain committed to securing the release of all detainees.
Gaza
Head of the popular committee against Gaza siege MP Jamal Al-Khudari has called on Israel to lift its siege on Gaza Strip imposed over the past six years.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk
Al-Haq’s Rejoinder to Gisha’s ‘Scale of Control’ Report: Israel’s Continued Responsibility as the Occupying Power in the Gaza Strip
In November 2011, the Israeli human rights organisation Gisha published the position paper ‘Scale of Control: Israel’s Continued Responsibility in the Gaza Strip.’ Readjusting its own previous assessment of the situation in the Gaza Strip after the 2005 unilateral ‘disengagement’, Gisha maintains that the international law of occupation currently applies in the Gaza Strip only insofar as Israel persists in directly exercising governmental powers over the territory and population of the Gaza Strip. Gisha’s report asserts that where governmental powers are exercised by the Palestinian authorities, Israel’s obligations would instead stem from a different legal framework identified as “post-occupation obligations”, which provides protection to the civilian population during transition from occupation to the “fulfilment of lawful sovereignty.”
Egyptian TV presenter fired after refusing interview with Israeli Embassy
Cairo – Yasmine Geoushi, an Egyptian TV presenter and journalist for Al-Tahrir newspaper, was shocked when she was informed by the owner of the Egyptian January 25 TV, Mohammad Jawhar, that she had lost her job. Geoushi believes her “position on the subject of establishing natural relations with the Zionist state” is the main reason behind her firing. Last August, Geoushi refused to host the Israeli foreign affairs spokesperson during the channel’s coverage of the events at the Israeli Embassy in Cairo.
In blow to Israel, French BDS activists acquitted of crime in calling for boycott, Ali Abunimah
Twelve French activists from a group called Boycott 68 have been acquitted on charges of “inciting discrimination and racial hatred” for calling on French shoppers to boycott Israeli goods.
PNN – Michael Dean was the most optimistic, arguing that BDS is a huge success in Europe and that “by keeping up the momentum, we are close to closing the European market to Israel.” Adam Horowitz gave a bleaker picture from the United States, stating that the US BDS campaign has little financial support compared to the pro-Israel organizations and that anyway the United States, unlike Europe, does not have many consumer products from Israel.
link to english.pnn.ps
French clothing firm Lacoste censors, expels Palestinian artist Larissa Sansour from prestigious contest, Ali Abunimah
The high-end French clothing chain Lacoste has demanded the removal of work by Palestinian artist Larissa Sansour from the shortlist for the €25,000 Lacoste Elysee Prize that is awarded by the Swiss Musee de l’Elysee with sponsorship from the firm.
Hamas calls for forming Arab army to liberate O. Jerusalem
The Hamas department of refugee affairs urged Palestinian premier Ismail Haneyya to work on forming an Arab army to liberate the occupied Islamic city of Jerusalem.
Ramallah: The Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) is currently reviewing whether to halt security coordination with Israel and downgrade the PLO’s ties with Israel taking into account stalled peace negotiations and the undermining of the political atmosphere, said a top PLO official. Speaking to Gulf News, Wasel Abu Yousuf, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, said that walking away from the security agreement with Israel remained an option that was being seriously discussed. “This is the current Palestinian move as the Israeli government stalled the peace process and completely locked the political horizon,” he said.
UN envoy demands ‘Palestinian steak’
Israeli Ambassador Prosor, Palestinian Observer Mansour put on one-time stand-up show during UN gala dinner.
Egyptian Islamists: We’ll negotiate with Israel
Spokesman for Salafi movement’s Al-Nour party says nothing preventing talks with Israel, but senior party members claim no final decision reached: ‘Peace treaty must be respected after reexamination’.
Dawn raid in Tahrir Square amid clashes
Witnesses report sound of heavy gunfire as police and soldiers charge hundreds of people gathered in Cairo protest hub.
Egyptians protest against beatings of women
Thousands rally in Cairo to denounce military’s attacks, as Hillary Clinton denounces “systematic degradation of women”.
A new wave of violence in Cairo’s Tahrir Square began Friday when one of several hundred peaceful protesters staging a sit-in outside the parliament building was reportedly detained and beaten by troops. Up to 14 people have now been killed and hundreds injured over the last three days of clashes. A video uploaded Sunday on YouTube has circulated widely and provoked outrage at the extent of police brutality. It shows a young woman being dragged and beaten by military police. The top half of her body is bare, her blue bra exposed. Her abaya, or robe, has been ripped off and surrounds her upper body, showing that she was wearing a hijab. “When this [woman was beaten and disrobed] happened, there was probably much more video evidence of people being brutally beaten down, but they’re not available, because the army, right after that raid, entered the offices of most media outlets surrounding the square and confiscated equipment,” says Democracy Now! correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous, reporting from Cairo. Kouddous says the military confiscated two of his cameras, and he also saw them take cameras from Al Jazeera reporters. “This was a clampdown on information, on trying to prevent these kinds of pictures from emerging.” The police attacks have overshadowed the first parliamentary elections since former president Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February. [includes rush transcript]
link to www.democracynow.org
A retired general who now serves as an adviser to Egypt’s military government said that protesters who came under attack by soldiers in recent days were delinquents “who deserve to be thrown into Hitler’s ovens.”
Egypt Politicians and New MP’s to Begin Sit-In Against State Repression
Image of unknown woman beaten by Egypt’s military echoes around world, Ahdaf Soueif
The arrest and brutal treatment of this young woman reminds us that the revolution is far from over. The woman is young, and slim, and fair. She lies on her back surrounded by four soldiers, two of whom are dragging her by the arms raised above her head. She’s unresisting – maybe she’s fainted; we can’t tell because we can’t see her face. She’s wearing blue jeans and trainers. But her top half is bare: we can see her torso, her tummy, her blue bra, her bare delicate arms. Surrounding this top half, forming a kind of black halo around it, is the abaya, the robe she was wearing that has been ripped off and that tells us that she was wearing a hijab.
Bahrain police fire tear gas after funeral
AP – Police in Bahrain on Sunday fired tear gas at thousands of demonstrators chanting anti-government slogans after the funeral of an elderly man who witnesses say died from tear gas inhalation.
Damascus agrees to an initiative to end crackdown on protests, as activists report the deaths of more than 100 people.
Sharmine Narwani, “Stratfor Challenges Narratives on Syria”
According to the Texas-based geopolitical risk analysis group Stratfor which released an eyebrow-raising piece on Syrian opposition propaganda efforts last week, “most of the opposition’s more serious claims have turned out to be grossly exaggerated or simply untrue, thereby revealing more about the opposition’s weaknesses than the level of instability inside the Syrian regime.”
Saudi King Abdullah urges GCC ‘to move from phase of cooperation to phase of union’
Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz called for the formation of a Gulf union in response to growing threats, as rulers of the wealthy Arab GCC met on Monday against a backdrop of regional turmoil and fears over Iran.
Hezbollah denies US money laundering charges (AP)
AP – Hezbollah’s deputy leader has rejected as “unjust” U.S. accusations of the militant group’s involvement in a money laundering scheme and drugs trafficking.
Arrest warrant issued for Iraqi deputy
An arrest warrant has been issued for Iraq’s Sunni vice president. Tareq Al-Hashimi is suspected of being part of a bomb plot to kill the country’s Shia PM. The US has expressed concern about the situation, as Omar al-Saleh reports.
Maliki acting “like Saddam”: Sunni bloc leader (Reuters)
Reuters – Iraq’s Nuri al-Maliki is acting like Saddam Hussein in trying to silence opposition and he risks provoking a new fightback against dictatorship, one of Maliki’s predecessors as prime minister said on Tuesday.
Iraq’s Sunni VP denies charges he ran hit squad (AP)
AP – Iraq’s Sunni vice president denied charges he ran a hit squad that killed government officials during the nation’s wave of sectarian bloodletting, accusing the Shiite-led government Tuesday of waging a campaign of persecution.
Panetta: Iran can assemble bomb in year or less
Defense secretary tells ’60 Minutes’ US will take ‘whatever steps necessary’ to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear arms.
Bradley Manning Faces Life Sentence, While Criminals WikiLeaks Exposed Have Suffered No Consequences – Glenn Greenwald
We speak with constitutional lawyer and Salon.com blogger Glenn Greenwald about the military pretrial hearing now underway for alleged U.S. Army whistleblower Bradley Manning, who has been accused of releasing classified U.S. documents to WikiLeaks. Greenwald comments on the possible strategy being put forth by Manning’s defense. “All the Manning [tribunal] hearings have been shrouded in secrecy,” Greenwald says, noting there may be more transparency in Guantánamo detainee hearings than there has been for the Manning tribunal. “Presumably, his lawyer believes that one of the best ways that they have to keep him out of prison for the next six decades is to argue that he had diminished capacity by virtue of emotional distress over the gender struggles that he had over his sexual orientation being in a military that had a policy of banning those who were openly gay. And so, part of this emotional distress that they’re raising is designed to say that he should be excused from his actions because they were not the byproduct of full choice,” says Greenwald, who is openly gay and has been writing extensively about this aspect of Manning’s case. “He is—and I don’t blame him at all—trying to do whatever he can to avoid having his life destroyed, either being killed by the state or locked up in a cage for the rest of his life.”
Obama Prepares to Authorize Indefinite Detention of U.S. Citizens for First Time Since McCarthy Era – Glenn Greenwald on NDAA
The $662 billion National Defense Authorization Act passed by Congress last week includes controversial provisions that could usher in a radical expansion of indefinite detention under the U.S. government by authorizing the military to jail anyone it considers a terrorism suspect anywhere in the world without charge or trial. “Congress, with the Democrats in control of the Senate and a Democratic president, is about to enact into law the first bill that will say that the military and the United States government do have this power,” says Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com blogger and constitutional law attorney. “It’s muddled whether it applies to U.S. citizens on U.S. soil, but it’s clearly indefinite detention, and there’s a very strong case to make that it includes U.S. citizens, as well, which, as we know, the Obama administration already claims anyway, and that’s what makes it so dangerous.” [includes rush transcript]
The Warped Morality of a Warmonger:Why Alan Dershowitz is Wrong on Israel’s ‘Rights’, Nima Shirazi
link to www.wideasleepinamerica.com
Israeli vs Palestinian Right to Protest
Lia Tarachansky reports for The Real News from Tel Aviv on the Israeli right to protest–which according to Benjamin Netanyahu is one of the reasons Israel is an example for “the entire democratic world”–versus the Palestinian lack thereof. RIP Mustafa Tamimi.
Pioneer Bloggers in the Gulf Arab States, Sultan Al-Qassemi
UK, France, Germany and Portugal condemn Israeli plan to build 1,000 new settlements homes
Dec 20, 2011
Paul Mutter
The UK, France, Germany and Portugal – the EU members of the 15-seat UN Security Council (Germany and Portugal are rotating members, the UK and France are permanent members) issued a joint statement today requesting that Israel cease all settlement construction in both East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
The statement reiterates the EU position that the settlements are illegal under international law and calls upon the Israeli government to halt “all settlement activity.” Israel has, since this summer, been ramping up settlement construction throughout the West Bank and especially, in East Jerusalem. Recent housing disputes over Palestinian-owned East Jerusalem have prompted much debate within Israel and the U.S.
The report coincides with a statement by Catherine Ashton, a British MP who serves as the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, calling on Israel to “suspend publication” of a tender seeking construction bids for 1,000 new Israeli housing units in East Jerusalem, Beitar Ilit and Givat Ze’ev.
The English-language version of the statement is reproduced below. It was posted on the website of the UK’s UN Mission:
“We have just heard a briefing from Mr Fernandez-Taranco about the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian territories. One of the themes that emerged was the severely damaging effect that increased settlement construction and settler violence is having on the ground and on the prospects of a return to negotiations. The UK, France, Germany and Portugal are dismayed by these wholly negative developments.
Israel’s continuing announcements to accelerate the construction of settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including East Jerusalem, send a devastating message. We call on the Israeli government to reverse these steps. The viability of the Palestinian state that we want to see and the two-state solution that is essential for Israel’s long-term security are threatened by the systematic and deliberate expansion of settlements. Settlements are illegal under international law and represent a serious blow to the Quartet’s efforts to restart peace negotiations. All settlement activity, including in East Jerusalem, must cease immediately.
We condemn the disturbing escalation of violence by settlers including the burning of the Nebi Akasha mosque in West Jerusalem and the Burqa mosque in the West Bank. It is clear that these deliberately provocative attacks on places of worship were designed to aggravate tensions. We welcome the condemnation of these attacks by Israeli leaders, and call on the Israeli government to fulfil its commitment to bring the perpetrators to justice and to put an end to impunity. The package of measures announced by Prime Minister Netanyahu in response to settler violence goes in the right direction. We look forward to seeing the results of these measures, and to seeing those behind the violence punished to the full extent of the law.
A bold demonstration of political will and leadership is needed from both sides to break the current impasse. We call the parties to present as soon as possible to the Quartet comprehensive proposals on territory and security, following its statement of September 23rd. We look to both parties to return to negotiations as soon as possible. We remain ready to contribute to achieving the goal of successful negotiations.
We continue to be seriously concerned about the current stalemate in the Middle East Peace Process. Our primary goal remains a just and lasting resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We are committed to working to turn this ambition into reality: the creation of a sovereign, independent, democratic, contiguous and viable Palestinian State living in peace and security side by side with Israel.
For those negotiations to be successful, they will need to achieve four things:
An agreement on the borders of the two states, based on June 4 1967 lines with equivalent land swaps agreed between the parties.
Second, security arrangements that respect Palestinian sovereignty and show that the occupation is over, and that protect Israeli security, preventing the resurgence of terrorism and dealing effectively with new and emerging threats.
Third, a just, fair and agreed solution to the refugee question.
And fourth, fulfilment of the aspirations of both parties for Jerusalem. Through negotiations, the status of Jerusalem as the future capital of both states must be resolved.
We believe that Israel’s security and the realisation of the Palestinians’ right to statehood are not opposing goals. On the contrary they are mutually reinforcing objectives. But they will not be achieved while settlement building and settler violence continues.”