NOVANEWS***NOVANEWS***NOVANEWS***NOVANEWS

“Following her release from hospital, a 32 year old Palestinian woman from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah reported being assaulted by a settler on Wednesday afternoon.” (thanks Sarah)

Posted by As’ad at 5:33 AM

In their service to Israeli propaganda, Hariri and Saudi media have invented the notion that the Arab people are really only worried about Iranian nuclear ambitions and that they are not worried about anything else at all.

Posted by As’ad at 5:32 AM

“Since February workers from over a dozen workplaces have sat-in nearly continuously in front of Egypt’s parliament. Each group has its own demands related to wages and working conditions in their workplace. Collectively, they have established a permanent presence of working-class dissent in downtown Cairo targeting the neoliberal economic policies the government headed by Prime Minister Ahmad Nazif Egypt has implemented with renewed vigor since taking office in July 2004.

The success of the sit-in tactic was established in December 2007, when 3,000 municipal real estate tax collectors occupied the street in front of the Ministry of Finance for 11 days. They won a 325% salary increase; and their action led to creating the first independent trade union since the government-controlled Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF) was established in 1957.” (thanks Joel)

Posted by As’ad at 8:21 AM

“Asked about Netanyahu’s citations, Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said: “I find it very distasteful this use of religion to incite hatred and fear.””

Posted by As’ad at 7:53 AM

“The fact that the hundreds of thousands of refugees in Gaza were direct products of the Nakba of Israeli establishment over their ancestral homes is significant. The fact that Israel was unable to accomplish any of its political goals in Gaza, despite the wanton destruction, also has important repercussions.

Thus, the Nakba, directly or indirectly, continues to be a catalyst for a continuing re-evaluation of Israel’s position as a dominating power. Militarily, the last several wars that Israel has launched against Lebanon and Gaza have made obvious its weaknesses. Furthermore, it is amply demonstrable in the world today that military superiority is no solution to determined and organized resistance and insurgency.” (thanks Olivia)

Posted by As’ad at 7:44 AM

“”It’s time for Americans and Iraqis to learn from each other, says Jeffrey Feltman, the State Department’s assistant secretary for Near Eastern affairs”” (thanks Saja)

Posted by As’ad at 7:39 AM

“The local host, the An-Nahar newspaper, has just informed WAN-IFRA that it was unable to provide the agreed funds to meet their obligations, in the aftermath of the 2009 financial, economic and political crisis in the region. The cost of the venue, security and other local expenses was estimated to be 1.6 million Euros and could not be covered by registration fees alone.” (thanks Mohamed)

Posted by As’ad at 7:26 AM

“A child from the Hebron village of Beit Ummar reportedly died on Sunday evening after inhaling tear gas deployed by Israeli forces during a Friday rally, locals said.” (thanks Karen)

Posted by As’ad at 7:24 AM

Repressing Nahr Al-Barid. (thanks Rami)

Posted by As’ad at 7:17 AM

“In Gaza, a handful of Palestinian men have found a way to escape temporarily from the hardships of life in their conflict-wracked home. They go surfing. Dirt poor and mainly from refugee camps, they find joy riding waves, often on makeshift boards, in the green waters off Gaza’s beaches.“

Posted by As’ad at 7:15 AM

“Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch on Wednesday said that Israel will demolish Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem in the coming days despite the renewal of indirect peace talks.” (thanks Sarah)

Posted by As’ad at 7:07 AM

Comrade Fawwaz succinctly reviews the American process of indirect negotiations.

Posted by As’ad at 7:06 AM

“From Beirut to Amman, much of today’s cultural activities are conducted not in Arabic but in English, thus restricting the audience to either middle class English-speaking Arabs or Western ex-pats. “The dominance of the English language is a sign of the NGO era here in occupied Palestine,” Darwish said.” (thanks Sousan)

Posted by As’ad at 10:24 AM

“”Nous enquêtions sur l’agression de Said Bouarach depuis trois semaines. C’est ainsi que nous avons découvert le profil d’un des agresseurs juifs du vigile marocain sur Facebook, avant que ce dernier ne l’efface. Et ce profil, que nous publions dans notre hebdomadaire, Bakchich Info, en vente dans tous les kiosques, montre son appartenance à un groupe sioniste peu connu, “sioniste et fier de l’être”. Ceci constitue un élément très important sur la piste d’une agression raciste qui s’est terminée tragiquement par la mort violente du jeune marocain””. (thanks “Ibn Rushd”)

Posted by As’ad at 9:53 AM

“”I refuse to be a part of your campaign,” says Maikey. “Stop speaking in my name and using me for a cause you never supported in the first place. If you want to do me a favour, then stop bombing my friends, end your occupation, and leave me to rebuild my community. I’m aware that my society has a long way to go in terms of human rights and social issues, but it’s my responsibility, not yours.”” (thanks Ryan)

Posted by As’ad at 9:45 AM

“Ergun Caner’s rise to the top of conservative evangelical celebrity — and to the presidency of the Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell — was fueled by how aggressively he capitalized on the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, to portray himself as a personal example of the power of Jesus to save even someone raised as a jihadist, which he claimed to be. There’s only one problem with that part of Caner’s story: it appears not to be true.” (thanks Molly)

Posted by As’ad at 9:42 AM

Karzai in Washington, DC.

Posted by As’ad at 9:41 AM

” The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a 31-country group often seen as an exclusive club of rich countries, voted unanimously on Monday to admit Israel.”

Posted by As’ad at 9:40 AM

Is Iran going to claim that all victims of the regime are Zionist spies?

Posted by As’ad at 9:38 AM

“GAO solicited all available information developed by the CIA, FBI, Department of Energy, and AEC, but was “continually denied necessary reports and documentation … by the CIA and FBI.” GAO attempted to fill in gaps or outright refusals to cooperate by directly interviewing FBI special agents.

The GAO also intended to make the report public, in order to respond to growing public concerns. Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power, who requested the inquiry, was assured six months before it was issued that only the most sensitive areas in the report would be classified. The CIA and FBI insisted that the entire report be classified at the “secret” level over the objections of Dingell, who said, ”I think it is time that the public be informed about the facts surrounding the … affair and the possible diversion of bomb-grade uranium to Israel.”” (thanks May)

Posted by As’ad at 9:32 AM

“Yet the most recent maps published by the governemt unilaterally annex Palestine to Israel while ignoring the existence of many Palestinian communities.”

Posted by As’ad at 9:29 AM

“His greatest concern, [Saban] says, is to protect Israel, by strengthening the United States-Israel relationship. At a conference last fall in Israel, Saban described his formula. His ‘three ways to be influential in American politics,’ he said, were: make donations to political parties, establish think tanks, and control media outlets.””” (thanks Laleh)

Posted by As’ad at 9:29 AM

“Not all Muslims speak Arabic, live in caves, beat their wives 24-7, etc. It’s a point that As’ad Abu Khalil made painfully obvious to Maher and his guests ten years ago when Maher hosted Politically Incorrect (video at bottom).” (thanks Ricky)

Posted by As’ad at 9:20 AM

“Only 21% of Jerusalem’s Jewish residents define themselves as “non-religious, seculars,” the Central Bureau of Statistics said Monday.” (thanks Farah)

Posted by As’ad at 9:17 AM

“Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has said he may start a regional news channel to compete with the Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera satellite channels.” (thanks FT)

Posted by As’ad at 9:16 AM

It is very simple. Just say that you are a democrat and are receiving Muslim death threats.

Posted by As’ad at 9:11 AM

“More importantly, Ayalon’s and Rivlin’s moralism conveniently ignores Israel’s history of arming the apartheid regime from the mid-1970s until the early 1990s. By serving as South Africa’s primary and most reliable arms supplier during a period of violent internal repression and external aggression, Israel’s government did far more to aid the apartheid regime than Goldstone ever did.” (thanks Sameer)

Posted by As’ad at 9:05 AM

“But the swirling controversy surrounding the American deal in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province demonstrates that efforts to alter the existing power structure can have unintended and unsettling effects. The plan involving the 400,000-strong Shinwari tribe developed earlier this year when elders told Col. Randy George, a senior commander in eastern Afghanistan, that they wanted to unite to oppose the Taliban and stamp out opium cultivation. As a reward, George offered the Shinwari elders the power to decide how to spend $1 million in U.S.-funded development projects.”

Posted by As’ad at 9:01 AM

“”There is no doubt that [Israel’s] technological capabilities, which improved in recent years, have improved range and aerial refueling capabilities, and have brought about a massive improvement in the accuracy of ordnance and intelligence,” he said. “This capability can be used for a war on terror in Gaza, for a war in the face of rockets from Lebanon, for war on the conventional Syrian army, and also for war on a peripheral state like Iran.”” (thanks Olivia)

Posted by As’ad at 8:58 AM

The Jordanian royal family officially releases the newly acquired (fake) British accent of Queen Shallow Youtube. (thanks Dana)

Posted by As’ad at 8:56 AM

I find it hilarious when Christopher Hitchens speak on women’s issues (and notice he only speak about Muslim women’s issues, and never about Jewish or Christian or atheist women). For Hitchens to speak on women’s rights is like Bush speaking on quantum physics.

Posted by As’ad at 8:55 AM

“”Last Thursday, in the early hours of the morning, a Palestinian community leader’s home was raided by Israeli security forces. In front of his family, the wanted man was hauled off to detention without access to a lawyer, while his home and offices were ransacked and property confiscated. While this sounds like an all-too typical occurrence in West Bank villages such as Bil’in and Beit Omar, in fact, the target in question this time was Ameer Makhoul, a Palestinian citizen of Israel and head of internationally renowned NGO network Ittijah…”” (thanks Ben)

Posted by As’ad at 8:53 AM

“”Lebanon does not want peace with Israel, even if it if offers to withdraw from its occupied lands,” Lebanon’s Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said in an interview to BBC Arabic.”

Posted by As’ad at 8:51 AM

“Solidere has often been criticised for destroying historic buildings that could have been saved, and for turning the colourful historic centre, which used to be a meeting point of cultures and religions, into a glitzy but soulless area for the rich. “The neighbourhood has lost all its character, no-one can afford to live there,” says architect Assem Salam.” (thanks Mohammad)

Posted by As’ad at 7:11 AM

“Israel is, or should be, morally ”different” from other nations. So say the critics of its pre-emptive war against the P.L.O. in Lebanon, in which uncounted civilians have died. Because Israel was born of the world’s revulsion over Hitler’s genocide, the critics note, they hold it to a higher code, even in war.

Some of these critics are Israelis, struggling to show how morally different they are from their Arab enemies. Are the critics right? Their case is initially compelling because of the way the war unfolded. The Begin Government, having reneged on its promises of ”full autonomy” for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, lied at the start when it said it wanted only a 25-mile cordon sanitaire. Subsequently, it has probably lied about, or at least suppressed, the civilian casualties it has caused. Throughout, it has been less than honest – certainly unwise – in confusing the P.L.O. with all Palestinian aspirations.

And it has seemed obvious almost from the start that the slaughter in Lebanon was clearly disproportionate to any immediate P.L.O. threat. But even after granting all that, there is another side. Critics of the civilian bloodshed in Lebanon now fail to remember the much greater slaughter of civilians by which the P.L.O. and Syria took over the country. By remaining indifferent until the Israeli intervention, the world has erected a cynical double standard.

That does not excuse Israel from the obligation to relate ends to means, but it surely explains why most Israelis now scorn the opinion of mankind. If the world wishes to counsel the Israelis, let alone give them moral lectures on why they must adhere to a higher standard, then let the judging be fair: Why is it wrong for Israel to threaten tens of thousands in west Beirut to get at a few thousand remaining P.L.O. fighters – but not wrong for those fighters to hide in civilian neighborhoods, using innocent people as hostages?

As The Economist reported while criticizing Israel’s assault on Sidon: ”Civilians trying to escape from the camp were shot, apparently by the guerrillas… Palestinian prisoners the Israelis sent in to plead for the civilians to be freed are also said to have been shot.” Why is it wrong for Israel to fight to restore a once-friendly Christian power in Lebanon – but not wrong for the P.L.O. and Syria, with Arab League sanction, brutally to have destroyed that power?

Why was it wrong of Israel to let the P.L.O. grow strong enough to make all of Lebanon its base – but not wrong for Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia to support that buildup on someone else’s territory and at Israel’s expense? Why is it wrong, woefully wrong, for Israel to ignore the aspirations of Palestinians who lost their roots to Zionism – but not wrong for other Arab nations to exploit the dispersed refugees while refusing for decades to partition the old Palestine? Why, in short, should Israel be held to higher standards of moral conduct when most Arab states still deny it even the lowest attributes of nationhood: safe borders and legitimacy?

Why should Israelis believe that what the P.L.O. was allowed to do to Lebanon was not also its program for Israel? Such brutal warfare requires more justification than Israel has so far provided. It needs to answer some hard questions. Even a less embattled nation would feel obliged to follow so costly a triumph with a plausible, generous program for coexistence. Nonetheless, by fair standards, if it will finally accept the responsibility of its might, Israel deserves understanding for its plight.” (thanks Sarah)

Posted by As’ad at 7:10 AM

“Shootings of Afghan civilians by American and NATO convoys and at military checkpoints have spiked sharply this year, becoming the leading cause of combined civilian deaths and injuries at the hands of Western forces, American officials say.”

Posted by As’ad at 7:25 AM

“Palestinian tunnel-diggers are using welding torches to cut through a steel wall Egypt is building to block the smuggling of goods and weapons into the Gaza Strip, a tunnel operator said on Monday.” (thanks Olivia)

Posted by As’ad at 7:25 AM

“A huge cloud of ash from an Icelandic volcano that has caused travel chaos across Europe looks set to reach Israel on Monday night, the Israel Meteorological Office has warned.”

Posted by As’ad at 7:19 AM

“In a recent report, Israel state comptroller judge Micha Lindenstrauss prodded the government to take action to stop the “intolerable foot-dragging” and address the need for better Arabic-language “hasbara” (a term used in Israel to denote public diplomacy), a vital component in achieving the country’s strategic, diplomatic-security objectives. Israel’s failure in this department, he wrote, was especially evident during the Second Lebanon War.” (thanks Dina)

Posted by As’ad at 5:05 AM

Yahya Dbuq, an Israeli affairs expert at Al-Akhbar, points to blatant mistakes in the Israeli media about Lebanon.

Posted by As’ad at 5:04 AM