A Stand For Justice
U.S. lawmakers to Obama: Press Israel to ease Gaza siege
Fifty-four members of the U.S. Congress have signed a letter asking President Barack Obama to put pressure on Israel to ease the siege of the Gaza Strip.
'Iran, Nazi Germany must be compared'
Comparisons between contemporary Iran and Nazi Germany are not only appropriate, but pertinent and true, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said while on a visit to Hungary on the morning of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Settler rabbi arrested over West Bank mosque arson
The suspect, Rabbi Itzik Shapira, is one of the heads of the "Od Yosef Chai" yeshiva in the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar. ....The yeshiva is behind the "price tag" policy whereby settlers have vowed to instigate actions against Palestinians in retaliation for the government's enforcement of a construction freeze in West Bank settlements. Terrorist.
Israeli commander: 'We rewrote the rules of war for Gaza'
His remarks reinforce testimonies from soldiers who served in the Gaza operation, made to the veterans' group Breaking the Silence and reported exclusively by this newspaper last July. They also appear to cut across the military doctrine – enunciated most recently in public by one of the authors of the IDF's own code of ethics – that it is the duty of soldiers to run risks to themselves in order to preserve civilian lives. The Israelis have a history of deliberately targeting civilians. Witness Lebanon 2006.
Israeli officer says rules of engagement ignored
Another soldier was blunter: "If you see any signs of movement at all, you shoot. This is essentially the rules of engagement."
Why the Mistrust Between U.S. and Israel?
This sensitivity became apparent after an hour-long interview that the administration’s Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, gave on January 6 to Charlie Rose on PBS. Pressed by the interviewer to list the sticks the United States could use in order to pressure Israel to move forward with the peace process, Mitchell answered, “Under American law, the United States can withhold support on loan guarantees to Israel.” He mentioned that Bush did so in the past.....The issue even reached American Senator Joe Lieberman, who was on a congressional delegation in Israel and stated that American lawmakers will never allow the administration to cut back on aid to Israel......A recent poll conducted by the New America Foundation found that a majority of Israelis do not believe that Obama is pro-Israel. While the survey showed a good approval rate for Obama in Israel, it indicated that he still has a problem in coming through as supportive of the Jewish state. For whom does Lieberman work, America, or Israel? Could it be any more obvious? As to the second part of the excerpt, who gives a damn what the Israelis think of Obama? He's the president of THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Italy's prime minister links Gaza war to Holocaust
In the West Bank's stony hills, Palestine is slowly dying by Robert Fisk
Palestinian requests to build houses are either delayed for years or refused; houses built without permission are ruthlessly torn down This goes on not in Israel but in Palestinian territory.
Senators Seek 'Crippling' Iran Sanctions
The letter is signed by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and David Vitter (R-La.). Say, I wonder if this has anything to do with Israel? Nahh..
Iran Sanctions, ‘Regime Change,’ Take Center Stage
With the Senate set to take up major sanctions legislation against Iran by mid-February, neo-conservative and other hawks are calling on the administration of President Barack Obama to pursue a more aggressive course of "regime change" in Tehran.....Under heavy pressure from the so-called "Israel Lobby", the House of Representatives last month approved one long-delayed bill that would, among other things, impose penalties on foreign energy companies that provide gasoline to Iran or invest more than 20 million dollars a year in Iran’s energy sector. The vote was 412-12.
Clinton: China risks diplomatic isolation over Iran
The United States is the most visible leader in the new push for UN Security Council sanctions, and Clinton spent much of her time in Europe this week lobbying major powers whose support she needs to pass and enforce new economic penalties Our government officials are once again doing the bidding of Israel.
The United States is expediting the deployment of missile defenses against Iranian missile attacks in the Persian Gulf, the New York Times reported on Saturday.
According to the New York Times report, the Obama administration is also trying to show Israel that there is no immediate need for military strikes against Iranian nuclear and missile facilities. Read the third to last paragraph where Peres is telling the new head of the IAEA that Iran isn't respecting the rules. Iran, unlike Israel, has actually signed on to the nuclear nonproliferation treaty and has its nuclear sites opened up for inspection. The Israelis are total hypocrites.
US raises stakes on Iran by sending in ships and missiles
American officials said the move is aimed at deterring an attack by Iran and reassuring Gulf states fearful that Tehran might react to sanctions by striking at US allies in the region. Washington is also seeking to discourage Israel from a strike against Iran by demonstrating that the US is prepared to contain any threat.....The director of the CIA, Leon Panetta, met the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, and other senior officials in Jerusalem last week to discuss Iran.....Pro-Israel lobby groups in the US have joined Republican party leaders in trying to build public pressure on the administration to take a tougher line with Iran. One group, the Israel Project, has been running a TV campaign warning that Iran might supply nuclear weapons to terrorists. Beware America, the Israel crowd is now gearing up for our next war for Israel. This time - target Iran.
Obama adviser: U.S. and Israel working very closely on Iran
Jones said the United States and Israel are in close coordination over how to handle Iran. "We have very good dialogue with Israel, continual dialogue," he told The Jerusalem Post. "We're working very closely with them." No kidding?
Assad: Israel leading the Middle East to war
Strengthening US 'Defense' In Gulf A Step To War
An article in the New York Times by David E. Sanger and Eric Schmitt states: "The Obama administration is accelerating the deployment of new defenses against possible Iranian missile attacks in the Persian Gulf." It continues that this move "appears to be part of a coordinated administration strategy to increase pressure on Iran." Since there is about a zero chance that Iran would dare to launch a first strike on the US or its Arab allies, the US would only need to strengthen its missile defenses in order to deal with an Iranian counterattack after the US had first bombed Iran. Oh, you noticed that too, hmm?
U.S. report: Iran's nuclear program gaining ground
"Iran's technical advancement, particularly in uranium enrichment, strengthens our 2007 NIE assessment that Iran has the scientific, technical and industrial capacity to eventually produce nuclear weapons, making the central issue its political will to do so," Blair said.
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"We continue to assess Iran is keeping open the option to develop nuclear weapons in part by developing various nuclear capabilities that bring it closer to being able to produce such weapons, should it choose to do so. We do not know, however, if Iran will eventually decide to build nuclear weapons," Last sentence. Iran has not built the bomb, folks, despite all of the BS Israel has been feeding us (for several years now).
Israel Says Iran Can Build Nuclear Bomb by 2011
Iran will possess the technology to build a nuclear bomb by early 2010 and be able to produce one the following year, Israeli media quoted Israel's defense minister as saying Monday.
U.S. Eases Pressure on Israel, Leans On Palestinians
“I think they received the message,” said Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, of the Obama administration. Foxman, who has been at the forefront of the effort to ease American pressure on Israel, said that “reality has come to Washington” and that Obama and his advisers now understand “that singling out Israel doesn’t work.” Another example of who is the driver of US foreign policy right here. The author of the related Forward piece in this news roundup is deluded if they think Israel is not the driver. It is. It's all here in print. Read the rest of the article for more proof of Israel's unprecedented influence of our high - level officials.
Bereft and Healing, a Father Returns Home to Gaza
Israel’s Airport Security, Object Of Envy, Is Hard To Emulate Here
“Americans find it hard to swallow a security policy that employs different standards to different groups.” While for most Jewish Israelis the policy of profiling in airport security is viewed as acceptable, Arab citizens of the country see it as outright discrimination. Oddly, Israel's history of Arab discrimination has long preceded the Arab terrorism.
Netanyahu Singles Out Iran, Venezuela for Anti-Semitism
Israel's history of state-sponsored assassination
Netanyahu at Auschwitz: World must unite to confront new threats
Video: Israeli Confessions
Government plans land giveaway to combat troops
Land will be allocated in the Galilee, the Negev desert, the Jordan valley and the Golan Heights - with the result that the move is likely to be seen as a continuation of the government's controversial policy of encouraging Israeli Jews to reside in rural regions with large Arab populations.
Author David Grossman: Settlers abuse Palestinians
Swedish mayor calls both Anti-Semitism and Zionism forms of 'unacceptable extremism'
Swedish Jews are upset about comments made this week by the mayor of Malmo, who said anti-Semitism and Zionism were both forms of "unacceptable extremism," and urged local Jews to disassociate themselves from Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip. Oh dear.
German firm cancels deal with Iran port due to Israeli pressure
Auschwitz survivor: ‘Israel acts like Nazis’
Speaking as his tour got under way, Dr Meyer said there were parallels between the treatment of Jews by Germans in the Second World War and the current treatment of Palestinians by Israeli
Q&A: ''Hamas Accepts Existence of Israel Within 1967 Borders''
We have already stated repeatedly that we accept the existence of Israel within the 1967 borders as a political reality even if we do not approve its moral legitimacy.
Barack Obama, Interventionist and Ultimate Jihadi Hero by Michael Scheuer
For Obama and most members of our governing elite, today’s Iran fairly screams for Western intervention to break the mullahs’ backs and install secularism; to destroy an Israeli foe and ensure AIPAC funds to continue to flow into their pockets; and to make them feel good about themselves, no matter the cost to Americans and their children. God love you, Mr. Scheuer. You dare speaketh the truth.
Blair warns that world faces decision to halt Iran’s nuclear programme
He warned that world leaders, including the British Prime Minister, now faced the same kinds of decision about the dangers posed by repressive regimes as he did seven years ago. Tony Blair - still a stoolie for Israel despite not holding office in the UK.
How to Save the Obama Presidency: Bomb Iran
Daniel Pipes is a noted Israel-firster. He and like 'Americans' should be deported to Israel where he can bring no (more) harm to America and her (America First) citizens herein.
Truth about Israeli influence over US foreign policy gets out on C-SPAN
Can Tax-Free Donations Fund Settlements?
An early January announcement that Israeli authorities had approved a new Jewish settlement on the campus of an American-funded yeshiva in East Jerusalem came just weeks after President Obama issued a statement condemning new Israeli construction in the area. The yeshiva, called Beit Orot, received nearly half a million tax-free dollars in donations from an American affiliate in 2007. And according to one expert, the group constructing the new housing is a subsidiary of Elad, a settlement organization that received $2.7 million in 2007 from its tax-exempt American affiliate.
Time for George Mitchell to resign
the main obstacle has been the Netanyahu government's all-too obvious rejection of anything that might look like a viable Palestinian state, combined with its relentless effort to gobble up more land.
The Terrorism Conundrum by Philip Giraldi
Terror is not a nation nor is it a group. It is a tactic. It has existed since men first picked up rocks to strike each other but in its modern form it was developed in Palestine in the 1940s when the Haganah and Stern Gangs struck against civilian targets like the King David Hotel to drive the British out. It was then used by the nascent state of Israel against Palestinian Arabs to force them to leave their homes. Terrorism consists of attacking civilian targets to demoralize the local population and weaken its ability to resist.
What a Dollar Gets You on Capitol Hill, and What It Doesn’t
Lawmakers often compete to introduce, sponsor or vote for pro-Israel measures — generally non-binding and mostly meaningless “sense of Congress” resolutions — to prove their pro-Israel bona fides without taking any political chances. It’s part of their search for bragging rights. One curmudgeonly old chairman blocked a senator’s amendment not because he opposed it but because, as he explained, “I ain’t gonna be out-Israel’d by anyone.” I don't agree with the author; not only does the Israeli lobby steer US foreign policy, it is in fact the driver.
Iran a threat to the world - Peres
Counterterrorism in Shambles; Why?
Take, for example, what Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the "mastermind" of 9/11, said was his main motive. Here's what the 9/11 Commission Report wrote on page 147. You will not find it reported in the Fawning Corporate Media (FCM): "By his own account, KSM's animus toward the United States stemmed...from his violent disagreement with U.S. foreign policy favoring Israel."
Israel accuses Turkish PM of inciting anti-Semitism
The seven-page report, which was submitted to the "septet" of key cabinet ministers a few days ago, also charged that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan "indirectly incites and encourages" anti-Semitism.
Israel calls UN Gaza report 'anti-Semitic'
YNet's report suggested the Israeli leadership is planning an all-out attack on the report to coincide with Wednesday's anniversary of the 1945 liberation of Auschwitz. Naturally
U.S. official: Hezbollah arms flow may signal plans for war with Israel
The U.S. is concerned that the continued flow of arms to the Hezbollah militant organization could prompt a war between Israel and Lebanon, State Department official Jeff Feltman said in remarks published Sunday by the London-based Al-Hayat daily. Why is this our problem?
If America Sneezes, Israel Gets Pneumonia. What Happens When America Gets Pneumonia?
As America’s role goes on the world stage, so goes Israel. A weak America can’t protect an embattled Israel. If Israel doesn’t find a way to normalize its relations with its neighbors by the end of the decade, it may have to adjust to life without the protection of the world’s sole superpower. Oh the horror.
Blair the British Neo-con
Though the Chilcot Inquiry is concerned only with Iraq - how Blair’s government made the decision to go to war and what lessons should be learned – Blair could not resist beating the drum for war on Iran. He did that four times. One might have been listening to John Bolton or any of America’s or Israel’s lunatics. When he was going on about terrorism being a threat to all, he threw in: “It’s a constant problem for Israel. They get attacked.”
Neocon junket: ‘live penetration raids in Arab territory’
Below is an ad that was in Haaretz lately for the Ultimate Mission to Israel. The trip is a red-meat propaganda trip of a retro-masculine character–"live exhibition of penetration raids in Arab territory"– pitched to American professionals, accountants, doctors, lawyers.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Headlines for January 2010
A Stand For Justice
Some links are from 2009
US congressmen fighting for Gaza
Palestinian official: Israel razed 150 Arab homes in West Bank
Atef Hanini, a local Palestinian official, disputed the Israeli justification and said the Palestinian farming community had lived in the area of Tana, east of Nablus, for decades.
Graham: U.S. may have to use military action against Iran
Israel, which Iran’s leaders have threatened to destroy, must weigh its options, Graham said, but it does not have the capabilities.
“Israel attacking Iran is a nightmare,” Graham said.
The U.S. may have to act militarily, he said, if other methods fail. What Graham is saying is that since Israel cannot attack Iran, the US must.
Palestinians fake cancer to flee blockaded Gaza
World Aid Agencies Appeal to Israel to Unlock Gaza
US Tells Israel Iran Has Eight Weeks
Amnesty - Israel's Gaza blockade continues to suffocate daily life Amnesty International
“The blockade constitutes collective punishment under international law and must be lifted immediately.”
Amnesty: Israel withholds water from Palestinians
Amnesty International is accusing Israel of pumping disproportionate amounts of drinking water from an aquifer it controls in the West Bank, depriving local Palestinians of their fair share.
Analysis Iran looms over Obama Mideast peace bid
Israel wants to see the Iranian threat dealt with before pursuing peace deals with the Arabs.
Israel harvested organs in '90s without permission
Wow.
50 Palestinians evicted from their Jerusalem homes
UN vote sends Gaza war report to Security Council
UN rights council endorses Gaza war crimes report
Gulf war jitters
Gulf Cooperation Council members -- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Oman -- are getting ready for what many now assume will be retaliation from Iran following Israeli bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities later this year. Up and down the Persian Gulf, Patriot missile batteries have been quietly deployed around key oil installations.
Scientist appears in court in secrets case
A scientist who allegedly tried to sell classified secrets to Israel had worked on the U.S. government's Star Wars missile shield program, and the Justice Department declared Tuesday that he had tried to share some of the nation's most guarded secrets.
World Has Betrayed Gaza Civilians Rights Groups
The world has "betrayed" civilians in the Gaza Strip by failing to end a blockade of the Hamas-run enclave, 16 rights groups, including Amnesty International and Oxfam, said Tuesday.
Palestinians say hopes in Obama 'evaporated'
The Palestinian president's political party says all hopes in the Obama administration have "evaporated," accusing the White House of caving in to pressure from the pro-Israel lobby and backing off a demand to freeze Jewish settlement
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/10/11/international/i062802D49.DTL#ixzz0eEoV6HI8
Gazans welcome UN war crimes report
The report echoed findings in a string of human rights reports released in recent months, but it could carry more weight, both because it was authored by a widely respected former war crimes prosecutor, Richard Goldstone, and because at least in theory it opens the way to charges against Israel before the International Criminal Court
Israel authorizes new settler homes in West Bank
Palestinians, allies reopen Gaza war crimes debate
Hamas crushes challenge by al-Qaida-inspired group
The leader of an al-Qaida-inspired group in the Gaza Strip blew himself up during a shootout Saturday with Hamas security forces, ending hours of violence sparked by a rebellious sermon at a mosque near the Egyptian border.
Palestinians to seek UN endorsement of statehood
Palestinian officials said Sunday they are preparing to ask the United Nations to endorse an independent state without Israel's consent because they are losing hope they can achieve their aspirations through peace talks.
U.S. Intelligence Found Iran Nuke Document Was Forged
Philip Giraldi, who was a CIA counterterrorism official from 1976 to 1992, told IPS that intelligence sources say that the United States had nothing to do with forging the document, and that Israel is the primary suspect. The sources do not rule out a British role in the fabrication, however.
Palestinians want urgent UN debate on Goldstone Gaza report
Palestinian diplomats in Geneva said Friday they are pushing to bring forward a United Nations Human Rights Council debate on alleged war crimes committed by Israeli forces and Palestinian militants in Gaza earlier this year
Iran's leader predicts Israel's destruction
The all-powerful Iranian leader also said that Israel's continued "pressure to erase Palestine from the world of Islamic nations" will fail
FBI Alleged spy wannabe asked for Israeli citizenship
An FBI agent posing as a Mossad agent contacted Nozette in September. In conversations transcribed in the complaint, Nozette says he is surprised that Israel did not approach him to spy sooner and asks for an Israeli passport, saying he is entitled to Israeli citizenship because his parents are Jewish. He allegedly told the FBI agent that he had top security clearance until 2006 and could remember details that would be of use to Israel.
Israel angers U.S. by approving new West Bank homes
Gibbs also said the United States objected to continued evictions and demolitions of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem.
Israel arrests Palestinian barrier protest leader
Since 2005, demonstrators led by Abu Rahmeh have marched every Friday from the West Bank village of Bilin to the nearby separation barrier that slices off 60 percent of the village land. Their acts of protest, which have also included chaining themselves to trees, have won praise from Jimmy Carter and Desmond Tutu and support among Israeli peace activists.
Gaza's Christians look to tunnels for scant holiday cheer
"Some of these gifts came from Egypt through the tunnels because the crossings were closed," Emad Barakat, a Gaza City gift shop owner said, pointing to rows of chocolate Santas. "They've been selling well."
Israel on edge as US presses to halt settlements
U.S. Rebukes Israel Over Settlement Plan
Israel says still has military option on Iran
A Kremlin transcript of an interview Medvedev gave to CNN last Tuesday quoted him as saying that an attack on Iran would lead to "a humanitarian disaster" and risk provoking retaliation against Israel that would also affect other nations.
Israel Says Iran Can Build Nuclear Bomb by 2011
Israel rejects US call to halt Jerusalem project
Israeli officials said the country's ambassador to Washington, Michael Oren, was summoned to the State Department over the weekend and told that a project made up of 20 apartments developed by an American millionaire should not go ahead.
Israeli study Civilians majority of Gaza war dead
Well over half of nearly 1,400 Palestinians killed in Israel's Gaza war were civilians, including 252 children younger than 16, a leading Israeli human rights groups said Wednesday, challenging Israel's claim that most of the dead were militants.
Israel rejects bill allocating equal land to Jews and Arabs
"Since the foundation of the state, the Israel Lands Administration is solely used as Jewish land administration. The director of the Israel Lands Administration has used all the tactics, with the help of the Jewish Agency, to allocate state land only to Jews. Despite the bitter attempt over the decades, not even one Arab town has been established since the state's foundation. Therefore a bill must be passed which stipulates that the Israel Lands Administration will serve all the state's citizens without discrimination on religion or nationality, and will promise an equal allocation of land to better the Arab population of Israel."
Jerusalem Poses New Crisis for Obama As Tensions Rise
Spurred by the Obama Administration's efforts to revive final-status negotiations and emboldened by its successful rebuff of Washington's demand for a settlement freeze, Israel has moved to consolidate its control of occupied East Jerusalem by demolishing Palestinian homes and expanding Israeli construction there.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1932781,00.html#ixzz0eEddTAus
Netanyahu To Obama Stop Iran, Or I Will
The American president, he said, must stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons--and quickly--or an imperiled Israel may be forced to attack Iran's nuclear facilities itself.
Israel on Iran Anything it takes to stop nukes
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates reassured Israel that the new Obama administration was not naive about Iran's intentions, and that Washington would press for new, tougher sanctions against the Iranians if they balk.
British court issued Gaza arrest warrant for former Israeli minister Tzipi Livni
Livni, head of the opposition Kadima party, played a key role in decisions made before and during the three-week offensive. Palestinian officials and an Israeli human rights organisation say about 1,400 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the Gaza offensive.
Accepting Various Truths
Michael Scheuer, a former CIA specialist on the al-Qaida terrorists, complained on C-SPAN recently that any debate about American support for Israel is "normally squelched." "For anyone to say our support for Israel doesn't hurt us is to just defy reality," he added. Another former CIA analyst, Ray McGovern, says the 9/11 Commission report noted that Khalid Sheikh -- the mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks -- cited his violent disagreement with U.S. support for Israel as the motivating dynamic behind the attacks.
U.S.-Israeli Arms Cooperation Quietly Growing
Eyeing Iran, Israel tests missile defenses with U.S.
Israel and the United States launched a major air defense drill Wednesday as part of what Israeli public radio called preparation for a faceoff with Iran. Whose war is this?
Netanyahu says all Jerusalem to remain Israeli
Israel cuts 1948 'catastrophe' from Arabic texts
Netanyahu Israel will never share Jerusalem with Palestinians
New Israeli demand complicates US peace mission
Washington's Middle East envoy faced a new obstacle Thursday as he launched his latest attempt to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks: Israel wants to keep troops on the West Bank's border with Jordan even if a deal is reached.
Obama approves aid to Israel, PA
US President Barack Obama this week signed the 2010 foreign aid budget law which includes $2.775 billion in security aid to Israel. This is the second year the budget is transferred to the Jewish state as part of understandings that the American assistance to Israel in the coming decade will total $30 billion.
Obama Urges Halt to 'Drift' in Mideast Peace Talks
Israel rejected blunt U.S. requests to freeze Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank
Bin Laden Attacks on U.S. to go on as long as it supports Israel
A purported audio tape of Osama bin Laden aired on Al Jazeera television claimed responsibility for a Dec. 25 attempted bombing of a U.S.-bound plane, and vowed to continue attacks on the United States, as long as it supports Israel. The irony here is that the US media failed to mention Israel in its headlines for this story - but the Israeli news source Haaretz here DID headline it. Americans are being deceived (by our own media, as one example) as to the true reasons for the bullseye on our country.
White House Israeli housing plans dismaying
War crimes fears force Israelis to cancel UK trip
More than 1,400 Palestinians, including hundreds of civilians, were killed in the three-week offensive, which was launched to quash years of rocket attacks on southern Israel. Thirteen Israelis were also killed. A U.N. investigation has accused both Israel and Hamas militants of committing war crimes during the fighting
U.S. Counters Israeli Claim Iran Nuclear Facility Bomb-proof
A top U.S. commander on Sunday countered Israeli claims that Iran had constructed its nuclear facilities to be resistant to attack.
Showdown looms over West Bank construction curb
Extremists have taken to attacking Palestinians each time the government acts against settlers in a strategy known as the "price tag." That phrase was scrawled on the wall of a Palestinian mosque not far from Elon Moreh that was attacked by vandals who burned prayer carpets and holy books on Friday, the Muslim day of rest.
US to give $37.5 million for Arrow-3 missile program
US Ships Arrive in Israel for Joint Drill
The arrival of the ships began a day before Defense Minister Ehud Barak was scheduled to fly to Washington for talks with his American counterpart, Robert Gates. Defense officials said that their talks would focus on the Iranian threat, Israeli-US defense cooperation as well as the role Israel will play in the new American missile defense shield announced last week.
Iran nuclear leaks 'linked to Israel'
That false and misleading charge from an intelligence official of a foreign country, who was not identified but was clearly Israeli, reinforces two of Israel's key themes on Iran - that the 2007 US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran is wrong, and that Tehran is poised to build nuclear weapons as soon as possible
U.S. To Store $800 Mil in Emergency Gear in Israel
The deal allows Israel access to a wider spectrum of military ordnance, and the U.S. official said his government was considering which forms of military supplies would be added to stores in Israel. Missiles, armored vehicles, aerial ammunition and artillery ordnance are already stockpiled in the country. The agreement is expected to aid Israel in its effort to bolster its weapons stockpiles for use in an emergency. While our men go without necessary equipment in Afghanistan and Iraq, we are instead giving the state of the art equipment to Israel 'in case of emergency'. Courtesy of the Israeli lobby.
Egypt starts building steel wall on Gaza Strip border
The Egyptians are being helped by American army engineers, who the BBC understands have designed the wall.
The plan has been shrouded in secrecy, with no comment or confirmation from the Egyptian government.
Senators McCain, Lieberman downplay Mitchell's threat
Mitchell can threaten Jerusalem, but there will be others ready to defend Israel in Washington: Four senior US senators visiting Israel said Sunday that they oppose attempts to apply pressure on Israel by freezing aid. The senators, including former Republican presidential candidate John McCain, emphasized that they would not allow the US government to authorize such a proposal.
Bin Laden reportedly calls Obama 'powerless'
The purpose of his address Sunday, bin Laden said in the SITE translation, is "to remind you of the causes" of Sept. 11, chiefly "your support to your Israeli allies who occupy our land of Palestine."
US raps Israel over limit on Palestinian-Americans
US harshly rebukes Israel on settlement plans
UN warns 250,000 Palestinians 'vulnerable' to settler violence
Carter says Israel must stop building settlements
Israel must stop building settlements in the Palestinian territories if peace is ever to be achieved in the Middle East, former President Jimmy Carter said Monday night as he received an award at a Virginia university for his humanitarian efforts
CIA Working with Palestinian Security Agents
US agency co-operating with Palestinian counterparts who allegedly torture Hamas supporters in West Bank
Clinton US wants Israel settlement halt 'forever'
Diplomats Palestinians drop Gaza resolution
The Palestinian Authority, under heavy pressure from the United States, has withdrawn its support for a U.N. Human Rights Council resolution on alleged war crimes in Gaza,
US sees Iran edging closer to nuclear arms knowhow
U.S. funds for Israeli settlements
But critics of Israeli settlements question why American taxpayers are supporting indirectly, through the exempt contributions, a process that the government condemns. A search of IRS records identified 28 U.S. charitable groups that made $33.4 million in tax-exempt contributions to settlements and related organizations between 2004 and 2007. Actually, to fund these settlements is to fund war crimes since the settlements themselves are a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention (article 49).
Pity for a Constitution Stomper
Congresswoman Jane Harman is indignant. A National Security Agency wiretap reportedly picked up her conversation seeking favors from a suspected Israeli agent in return for Harman lobbying the Justice Department to drop the lawsuit against AIPAC’s former top officials.
'U.S. furious over Israeli incitement against Obama'
The source, who met in Washington with administration officials and members of Congress, told Haaretz he was stunned by the level of anger there over attempts to portray Obama to the American public as an enemy of Israel because of his efforts to restart peace talks and freeze settlement construction.
Making Jane Go Away by Philip Giraldi
The Israeli on the phone was committing espionage against the United States by trying to influence the actions of a government official and Harman was committing a number of possible crimes by agreeing to cooperate in return for her own personal advancement.......why isn’t the MSM interested in aggressively pursuing this story?
Because it's about Israel
Why They Are At War With Us by Patrick J. Buchanan
First, the U.S. military presence on the sacred soil of Saudi Arabia. Second, U.S. sanctions causing terrible suffering among the Iraqi people. Third, U.S. support for Israel’s dispossession of the Palestinians.
U.N. commission accuses Israel, Hamas of Gaza war crimes
Telling Israel No by Patrick J. Buchanan
an Israeli strike on Iran, which Joe Biden foolishly said was Israel’s call, would drag this country into a third war in the Middle East and destroy a policy that is visibly succeeding.
Black Propaganda Manufacturing Consent For Attack On Iran
In sum, the conclusion among Israelis is that the Obama administration won't lift a finger to stop Iran, much less will the "international community." So Israel has pursued a different strategy, in effect seeking to goad the U.S. into stopping, or at least delaying, an Israeli attack by imposing stiff sanctions and perhaps even launching military strikes of its own.
War on the Internet by Philip Giraldi
An Israeli peace activist publication called “Occupation Magazine” has printed an article called “The Foreign Ministry presents: talkbackers in the service of the state.” It starts “After they became an inseparable part of the service provided by public-relations companies and advertising agencies, paid Internet talkbackers are being mobilized in the service in the service of the State. The Foreign Ministry is in the process of setting up a team of students and demobilized soldiers who will work around the clock writing pro-Israeli responses on Internet websites all over the world, and on services like Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. The Foreign Ministry’s department for the explanation of Israeli policy is running the project, and it will be an integral part of it.
Work begins on first planned Palestinian city
And It’s Not Only Sibel Edmonds Who Says So by Philip Giraldi
John M. Cole, a former FBI Counterintelligence and Counterespionage Manager, has publicly confirmed the FBI’s decade long investigation of the former State Department Official Marc Grossman. Cole worked for 18 years in the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. According to Cole, as in over one hundred cases involving Israeli espionage activities directed against the US government, the Grossman case was covered up and buried despite mountains of evidence that was collected.
U.S. Jew indicted as possible Israel spy
The FBI searched Nozette's home and computer and found additional proof of his connection to Israel. He visited here several times, but did not report this - as is required by his high security clearance
Israel: Turkey calls off joint air force drill
Turkey has canceled an annual multinational air force drill including the U.S. and NATO because it opposed Israeli participation, the Israeli military said Sunday, in a sign of further deterioration in relations between the two countries.
Israel to build 2 fences on porous Egyption border
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the structure would help preserve Israel's Jewish majority.....the massive influx of African migrants into Israel in recent years has given the project added momentum. U.N. officials and human rights workers estimate some 17,000 to 19,000 people have poured into Israel through the southern border since 2005, most of them from Eritrea, Sudan and other war-torn African countries, searching for a better life in Israel's relatively affluent Western-style society.
Israel rejects U.N. assembly vote on Gaza war
Goldstone's report blasted both sides in the conflict but was harsher toward Israel which refused to cooperate with the judge's investigation.
Glimmers in the Holy Land Time to Reset U.S. Mideast Policy
Israel to review its own Gaza war probe source
Israel has lobbied against any bid to bring the Goldstone report to the U.N. Security Council.
Israel trying to dodge overseas prosecution
Stung by a damning U.N. report alleging war crimes in Gaza, Israel is taking extraordinary steps to fend off potential international prosecution of its political and military leaders, hiring high-powered attorneys, lobbying Western governments and launching a public relations blitz.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” George Bernard Shaw
In his usual let-the-words-fall-where-they-may manner, Vice President Biden let it be known one early July weekend that the U.S. would not intervene if Israel decided to militarily attack Iran.
Israel recalls Boston envoy over critical memo
VFW Tribute to USS Liberty
Why Palin and Huckabee Dig Settlements
Israel offers, Palestinians reject temporary settlement ease
The international community considers all Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land seized in the 1967 Middle East war to be illegal and does not recognise Israel's annexation of east Jerusalem. How much of Europe did Nazi Germany get to keep after the war? How much of Iraq, Japan, Nazi Germany did the US keep for civilian 'settlements'? Why is Israel allowed to keep territory taken by military force?
YouTube - Is Israel spreading misinformation about Iran
Israel funnels millions of dollars to settlements
Mission Memorial: Remembering the USS Liberty
Irish slammed for Gaza ban
The Israeli government has been sharply criticised in the Irish parliament for refusing Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin permission to visit Gaza.
The Media: Israel and Nuclear Weapons
Congresswoman Jane Harman is indignant. A National Security Agency wiretap reportedly picked up her conversation seeking favors from a suspected Israeli agent in return for Harman lobbying the Justice Department to drop the lawsuit against AIPAC’s former top officials.
Israel accused of silencing political protest
Since the summer, dozens of Palestinian and Israeli activists have been picked up, including those organizing weekly protests against Israel's West Bank separation barrier as well as others advocating international boycotts of Israeli goods.
Why Israel and Hamas are meeting with Jimmy Carter
Israel pulls textbook over reference to 'ethnic cleansing'
Israel's Haaretz newspaper said the secondary school textbook was removed from shelves because it sought to present both Israeli and Arab perspectives on the departure of some 750,000 Palestinians during the fighting that erupted after the creation of the Jewish state.
For Israel, a Reckoning
Palestinian resistance to the theft of their country reached a critical moment in 2001 when Israel was identified as an apartheid state at a United Nations conference on racism in Durban, South Africa. To Nelson Mandela, justice for the Palestinians is "the greatest moral issue of our time."
Pope to meet Abbas, hold mass in Bethlehem
Netanyahu draws fire in Israel over secret trip
Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Netanyahu had, in fact, flown secretly to Moscow to voice concern over the possible sale of Russian anti-aircraft missiles to Iran
Spy Conference: The Strange Pollard Spy Case
At the Raleigh Spy Conference last week, Naval Criminal Investigative Service special agent Ron Olive spoke about how his team solved the strange spy case involving Jonathan Jay Pollard, who literally passed truckloads of U.S. secrets to Israel in the 1980's.
Sweden's foreign minister cancels Israel visit
Sweden's foreign minister abruptly called off a visit to Israel this week, an Israeli spokesman said Sunday, amid a feud over a Swedish newspaper article and a growing gulf between Israel and the international community over West Bank settlement construction
Bibi Wins, Barack Loses by Patrick J. Buchanan
Undaunted, the War Party has a new war planned for us.
Target: Tehran. And Obama may just have boxed himself in.
Bibi’s Dead End by Patrick J. Buchanan
In the long run, demography is destiny.
J Street Changing Course by Philip Giraldi
There is in fact little difference between J Street’s position and that of AIPAC.
The Dark Side of the ‘Special Relationship’ by Justin Raimondo
The search for Mega and his underlings continues to this day, as U.S. counterintelligence attempts to rip up what appears to be a vast Israeli spy operation by its very deep roots. That’s why they went after Ben Ami Kadish, who handed over U.S. secrets to Tel Aviv and shared a handler with Pollard, and why they indicted Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, two top officials of AIPAC, the powerful pro-Israel lobbying group. That’s why they were listening on the other end as Jane Harman promised an Israeli agent to intervene in the Rosen-Weissman case. And now a new front has been opened up in this subterranean war with the arrest of Stewart David Nozette, a top U.S. scientist who worked for the Pentagon, had access to the most closely guarded nuclear secrets, and was the lead scientist in the search for water on the moon.
U.N. rights body considers condemning Israel on Gaza
U.S. indicts four Israelis in international bribery case
The United States Justice Department indicted four Israeli businessmen Tuesday for allegedly attempting to bribe the defense minister of an African country in order to secure a multimillion-dollar contract to supply his country with military equipment. 18 other businessmen were indicted in the same case.
Israel withholding NGO employees' work permits
The Interior Ministry has stopped granting work permits to foreign nationals working in most international nongovernmental organizations operating in the Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, Haaretz has learned.
Helen Thomas Deviates From the Terrorism Script
Brennan's answer -- they do this because they're Evil and murderous -- is on the same condescending cartoon level as the "They-Hate-us-For-Our-Freedom" tripe we endured for the last eight years. Apparently, if Brennan is to be believed, Islamic radicals, in their motive-free quest to slaughter, write down the names of all the countries in the world and put them in a hat and then stick their hand in and select the one they will attack, and the U.S. just keeps getting unlucky and having its name randomly chosen.
Pope ends Holy Land trip with call for two-state solution
Answering Helen Thomas on Why They Want to Harm Us
why isn't there a frank discussion by America's leaders and media about the real motivation of Muslim anger toward the United States? Why was Helen Thomas the only journalist to raise the touchy but central question of motive? by yet another former CIA - Ray McGovern
Abbas says he won't seek re-election in January
Abbas' announcement follows months of failed attempts by the United States to restart direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
Activists in Gaza and Israel protest Gaza blockade
Hundreds of protesters gathered on opposite sides of the Gaza-Israeli border crossing on Thursday, to rally against the blockade surrounding the territory.
Aipac's hidden persuaders Richard Silverstein
Israel is in the midst of a massive diplomatic, political and intelligence campaign, both public and covert, that could lead – if those officials behind it have their way – towards a military strike on Iran. It is a war for the hearts and minds of Americans....Aipac's members carried a unified message to Capitol Hill during their lobbying of US senators and members of Congress. They demanded that Congress pass the most draconian sanctions ever proposed against Iran.
Awaiting Gaza March, Holocaust Survivor Stages Hunger Strike
An 85-year-old Holocaust survivor was among a group of grandmothers who began a hunger strike in Cairo on Monday to protest against Egypt's refusal to allow a Gaza solidarity march to proceed.
Boycott Israel
Americans can't - it's illegal for any American company/citizen to boycott Israel. And this is the case with ONLY the nation of Israel.
British lawmaker Gerald Kaufman calls Gaza blockade 'evil'
Can Obama stand up to Israel
President Obama urgently needs to distance Washington from the provocative – and illegal – actions the Israeli government has been undertaking in Jerusalem.
Citizens Group Urges Fair Trial for AIPAC Employees Indicted Under Espionage Act
The Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy, Inc. (IRmep) urges the Department of Justice to proceed with its long delayed prosecution of former AIPAC employees Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman. The case was dropped altogether shortly thereafter.
Differences with US on Mideast 'semantic' Israel
Katz, a member of Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party, said discussions with Washington will focus on security issues, particularly the "threats by Iran as well as Hamas," the Islamist group that rules the Gaza Strip.
U.S. suggestion of sanctions causes stir in Israel
"Under American law, the United States can withhold support on loan guarantees to Israel," George Mitchell said on U.S. television on Wednesday after being asked about the kind of pressure that could be brought to bear on Israel. George Bush the 1st tried this but later backed down due to the subsequent and overwhelming pressure brought upon him by the Israeli lobby.
Netanyahu vows never to let Israelis be tried for war crimes
Israeli vigilantes target young Arab-Jewish couples
For more than a decade, David has considered it his unofficial job to patrol the streets looking for mixed Arab-Jewish couples. “We are protecting the Jewish people, our traditions, our heritage. Some people just get mixed up. We talk to them, explain why it’s important for Jews to be with Jews,” he said.
Jewish Leaders Firm on Broad Iran Sanctions Despite Unrest
“For us, this was always the primary concern, because a nuclear Iran is an existential threat to Israel,” said Meagan Buren, director of research and training at The Israel Project, a pro-Israel group active on the Iranian issue. Another war for Israel is in the making. The target this time: Iran.
Israeli PM offers new benefits to settlers
Postwar Gaza Scars frozen, Mideast at an impasse
A man who lost two daughters and his home can't visit his surviving 4-year-old girl in a Belgian hospital because Gaza's borders remain sealed. A 15-year-old struggles to walk on her artificial limbs, while dozens of other war amputees still await prostheses.
Palestinians accuse U.S. of killing peace prospects
Pointing an accusing finger at the United States, the Palestinians on Sunday said Washington's backing for Israeli refusal to halt Jewish settlement expansion had killed any hope of reviving peace negotiations soon.
Israeli pleads guilty to leaking classified U.S. documents
Politico goes on to report that Leibowitz, the grandson of famous Israeli Torah scholar, philosopher and leftist, Yeshayahu Leibowitz, supports a one-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which most Israelis reject because it would eliminate a Jewish demographic majority.
He has also encouraged efforts to get U.S. institutions to divest in Israeli bonds.
Israeli officials routinely face UK legal threats
J Street, Obama, and Israel
The J Street philosophy is that there is a kind of "silent majority" of US Jews who aren't happy with Israel's expansionist polices and intransigence, and who don't believe they're represented properly by right-leaning groups such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
Israeli Detention of Palestinian Activists Must End
The Israeli authorities must immediately release, or bring before a fair trial, three Palestinian human rights activists detained in Israel following their protests against the construction of the West Bank fence/wall, Amnesty International said today.
Lieberman ‘Stay out of our politics’
Israel's foreign minister said other governments should stay out of Israeli politics....."We have never interfered in the affairs of others, and we expect from others that they not interfere in ours," he added. BS. It is ISRAEL that needs to stay out of the affairs of other nations, particularly my country - AMERICA. Hypocrisy.
Israeli chief rabbi visits mosque that was torched
Obama Fails in Middle East
Next, the Obama adminstration capitulated, refusing to insist on any penalty for Israel's defiant intransigence. Not even a hint of any retaliation by the United States to enforce what it had called the path to a peace deal. No talk of reducing US aid to Israel, or cutting back on US-Israeli military cooperation, or anything. Score: Netanyahu 2, Obama 0. ......Finally, the United States cravenly supported Israel over the Goldstone Report on Gaza, the report that accused Israel (and Hamas) of war crimes
Israel's New Visa Rule for Foreigners If You Want To Visit Palestine, Stay There
Obama prods Netanyahu, Iran in Mideast foray
Obama Settlement Demands Stir Rising Tensions in Israel
Obama's lost senate seat is a victory for Netanyahu
Over the past nine months, Netanyahu has managed to curb pressure from Obama, who enjoys a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress. Now, however, Obama will be more dependent on the support of his Republican rivals, the supporters and friends of Netanyahu.
Palestinian nun takes step toward sainthood
Palestinians accuse Clinton of hurting peace talks
"Calling for a resumption of negotiations despite continued settlement construction doesn't help because we have tried this way many times,"
Israel's Netanyahu vows long fight against U.N. report
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised a lengthy diplomatic battle to "delegitimise" United Nations charges that Israel committed war crimes in the Gaza Strip, an official said on Saturday.
Medvedev Israel not planning to strike Iran
Analysis Iran plant could defer Israel strike
It may seem counterintuitive, but the news that Iran has a second, clandestine uranium enrichment plant, and has just test-fired long-range missiles, could actually put off any plans for a quick Israeli strike.
Video Israel Is Spying In And On The U.S. Part 1
Jewish lobby wages war on Christmas trees
Letters We must not renege on war crime laws
We are shocked at suggestions by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office minister Ivan Lewis and foreign secretary David Miliband that Britain may consider changing its laws to avoid any future attempts to prosecute suspected war criminals, Israeli or otherwise.
Lobby Denial
Yes indeed, the US Congress, what a joke, “stands staunchly on the side of Israel in its struggle.” What a bunch of disgusting traitorous pigs. Your government, ladies and gentleman, has been hijacked whole-sale by a Lobby that does not exist.
What Role Did The U.S.-Israeli Relationship Play In 9-11
Netanyahu to have additional meeting with Mitchell on Sunday
Podhoretz asks Why are Jews liberals
"Why Are Jews Liberals?" also praises President Richard Nixon, whose determination to send military supplies during the 1973 Yom Kippur War "saved Israel from a defeat that could have spelled the extinction of the state," Podhoretz writes. But Nixon also complained that "most Jews are disloyal" and even commissioned aides to draw up a list of Jews at the Bureau of Labor Statistics because he suspected a "cabal" was trying to undermine the administration.
Just 6 More Months to Victory! by Philip Giraldi
So what might happen in President Obama’s next six months? A number of highly plausible scenarios come to mind.
U.S. Antisemitism Envoy Scored on Criticism of Oren
Two dovish organizations that are members of the Presidents Conference — Americans for Peace Now and Ameinu — have recently issued statements criticizing Oren’s attacks on J Street. This, too, is a first in the history of relations between Israeli diplomats and American Jewish groups.
Syria's Mufti Islam commands us to protect Judaism
"If the Prophet Mohammed had asked me to deem Christians or Jews heretics, I would have deemed Mohammed himself a heretic," Sheikh Ahmed Hassoun, the Mufti of Syria, was quoted as telling a delegation of American academics visiting Damascus.
Some links are from 2009
US congressmen fighting for Gaza
Palestinian official: Israel razed 150 Arab homes in West Bank
Atef Hanini, a local Palestinian official, disputed the Israeli justification and said the Palestinian farming community had lived in the area of Tana, east of Nablus, for decades.
Graham: U.S. may have to use military action against Iran
Israel, which Iran’s leaders have threatened to destroy, must weigh its options, Graham said, but it does not have the capabilities.
“Israel attacking Iran is a nightmare,” Graham said.
The U.S. may have to act militarily, he said, if other methods fail. What Graham is saying is that since Israel cannot attack Iran, the US must.
Palestinians fake cancer to flee blockaded Gaza
World Aid Agencies Appeal to Israel to Unlock Gaza
US Tells Israel Iran Has Eight Weeks
Amnesty - Israel's Gaza blockade continues to suffocate daily life Amnesty International
“The blockade constitutes collective punishment under international law and must be lifted immediately.”
Amnesty: Israel withholds water from Palestinians
Amnesty International is accusing Israel of pumping disproportionate amounts of drinking water from an aquifer it controls in the West Bank, depriving local Palestinians of their fair share.
Analysis Iran looms over Obama Mideast peace bid
Israel wants to see the Iranian threat dealt with before pursuing peace deals with the Arabs.
Israel harvested organs in '90s without permission
Wow.
50 Palestinians evicted from their Jerusalem homes
UN vote sends Gaza war report to Security Council
UN rights council endorses Gaza war crimes report
Gulf war jitters
Gulf Cooperation Council members -- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Oman -- are getting ready for what many now assume will be retaliation from Iran following Israeli bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities later this year. Up and down the Persian Gulf, Patriot missile batteries have been quietly deployed around key oil installations.
Scientist appears in court in secrets case
A scientist who allegedly tried to sell classified secrets to Israel had worked on the U.S. government's Star Wars missile shield program, and the Justice Department declared Tuesday that he had tried to share some of the nation's most guarded secrets.
World Has Betrayed Gaza Civilians Rights Groups
The world has "betrayed" civilians in the Gaza Strip by failing to end a blockade of the Hamas-run enclave, 16 rights groups, including Amnesty International and Oxfam, said Tuesday.
Palestinians say hopes in Obama 'evaporated'
The Palestinian president's political party says all hopes in the Obama administration have "evaporated," accusing the White House of caving in to pressure from the pro-Israel lobby and backing off a demand to freeze Jewish settlement
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/10/11/international/i062802D49.DTL#ixzz0eEoV6HI8
Gazans welcome UN war crimes report
The report echoed findings in a string of human rights reports released in recent months, but it could carry more weight, both because it was authored by a widely respected former war crimes prosecutor, Richard Goldstone, and because at least in theory it opens the way to charges against Israel before the International Criminal Court
Israel authorizes new settler homes in West Bank
Palestinians, allies reopen Gaza war crimes debate
Hamas crushes challenge by al-Qaida-inspired group
The leader of an al-Qaida-inspired group in the Gaza Strip blew himself up during a shootout Saturday with Hamas security forces, ending hours of violence sparked by a rebellious sermon at a mosque near the Egyptian border.
Palestinians to seek UN endorsement of statehood
Palestinian officials said Sunday they are preparing to ask the United Nations to endorse an independent state without Israel's consent because they are losing hope they can achieve their aspirations through peace talks.
U.S. Intelligence Found Iran Nuke Document Was Forged
Philip Giraldi, who was a CIA counterterrorism official from 1976 to 1992, told IPS that intelligence sources say that the United States had nothing to do with forging the document, and that Israel is the primary suspect. The sources do not rule out a British role in the fabrication, however.
Palestinians want urgent UN debate on Goldstone Gaza report
Palestinian diplomats in Geneva said Friday they are pushing to bring forward a United Nations Human Rights Council debate on alleged war crimes committed by Israeli forces and Palestinian militants in Gaza earlier this year
Iran's leader predicts Israel's destruction
The all-powerful Iranian leader also said that Israel's continued "pressure to erase Palestine from the world of Islamic nations" will fail
FBI Alleged spy wannabe asked for Israeli citizenship
An FBI agent posing as a Mossad agent contacted Nozette in September. In conversations transcribed in the complaint, Nozette says he is surprised that Israel did not approach him to spy sooner and asks for an Israeli passport, saying he is entitled to Israeli citizenship because his parents are Jewish. He allegedly told the FBI agent that he had top security clearance until 2006 and could remember details that would be of use to Israel.
Israel angers U.S. by approving new West Bank homes
Gibbs also said the United States objected to continued evictions and demolitions of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem.
Israel arrests Palestinian barrier protest leader
Since 2005, demonstrators led by Abu Rahmeh have marched every Friday from the West Bank village of Bilin to the nearby separation barrier that slices off 60 percent of the village land. Their acts of protest, which have also included chaining themselves to trees, have won praise from Jimmy Carter and Desmond Tutu and support among Israeli peace activists.
Gaza's Christians look to tunnels for scant holiday cheer
"Some of these gifts came from Egypt through the tunnels because the crossings were closed," Emad Barakat, a Gaza City gift shop owner said, pointing to rows of chocolate Santas. "They've been selling well."
Israel on edge as US presses to halt settlements
U.S. Rebukes Israel Over Settlement Plan
Israel says still has military option on Iran
A Kremlin transcript of an interview Medvedev gave to CNN last Tuesday quoted him as saying that an attack on Iran would lead to "a humanitarian disaster" and risk provoking retaliation against Israel that would also affect other nations.
Israel Says Iran Can Build Nuclear Bomb by 2011
Israel rejects US call to halt Jerusalem project
Israeli officials said the country's ambassador to Washington, Michael Oren, was summoned to the State Department over the weekend and told that a project made up of 20 apartments developed by an American millionaire should not go ahead.
Israeli study Civilians majority of Gaza war dead
Well over half of nearly 1,400 Palestinians killed in Israel's Gaza war were civilians, including 252 children younger than 16, a leading Israeli human rights groups said Wednesday, challenging Israel's claim that most of the dead were militants.
Israel rejects bill allocating equal land to Jews and Arabs
"Since the foundation of the state, the Israel Lands Administration is solely used as Jewish land administration. The director of the Israel Lands Administration has used all the tactics, with the help of the Jewish Agency, to allocate state land only to Jews. Despite the bitter attempt over the decades, not even one Arab town has been established since the state's foundation. Therefore a bill must be passed which stipulates that the Israel Lands Administration will serve all the state's citizens without discrimination on religion or nationality, and will promise an equal allocation of land to better the Arab population of Israel."
Jerusalem Poses New Crisis for Obama As Tensions Rise
Spurred by the Obama Administration's efforts to revive final-status negotiations and emboldened by its successful rebuff of Washington's demand for a settlement freeze, Israel has moved to consolidate its control of occupied East Jerusalem by demolishing Palestinian homes and expanding Israeli construction there.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1932781,00.html#ixzz0eEddTAus
Netanyahu To Obama Stop Iran, Or I Will
The American president, he said, must stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons--and quickly--or an imperiled Israel may be forced to attack Iran's nuclear facilities itself.
Israel on Iran Anything it takes to stop nukes
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates reassured Israel that the new Obama administration was not naive about Iran's intentions, and that Washington would press for new, tougher sanctions against the Iranians if they balk.
British court issued Gaza arrest warrant for former Israeli minister Tzipi Livni
Livni, head of the opposition Kadima party, played a key role in decisions made before and during the three-week offensive. Palestinian officials and an Israeli human rights organisation say about 1,400 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the Gaza offensive.
Accepting Various Truths
Michael Scheuer, a former CIA specialist on the al-Qaida terrorists, complained on C-SPAN recently that any debate about American support for Israel is "normally squelched." "For anyone to say our support for Israel doesn't hurt us is to just defy reality," he added. Another former CIA analyst, Ray McGovern, says the 9/11 Commission report noted that Khalid Sheikh -- the mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks -- cited his violent disagreement with U.S. support for Israel as the motivating dynamic behind the attacks.
U.S.-Israeli Arms Cooperation Quietly Growing
Eyeing Iran, Israel tests missile defenses with U.S.
Israel and the United States launched a major air defense drill Wednesday as part of what Israeli public radio called preparation for a faceoff with Iran. Whose war is this?
Netanyahu says all Jerusalem to remain Israeli
Israel cuts 1948 'catastrophe' from Arabic texts
Netanyahu Israel will never share Jerusalem with Palestinians
New Israeli demand complicates US peace mission
Washington's Middle East envoy faced a new obstacle Thursday as he launched his latest attempt to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks: Israel wants to keep troops on the West Bank's border with Jordan even if a deal is reached.
Obama approves aid to Israel, PA
US President Barack Obama this week signed the 2010 foreign aid budget law which includes $2.775 billion in security aid to Israel. This is the second year the budget is transferred to the Jewish state as part of understandings that the American assistance to Israel in the coming decade will total $30 billion.
Obama Urges Halt to 'Drift' in Mideast Peace Talks
Israel rejected blunt U.S. requests to freeze Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank
Bin Laden Attacks on U.S. to go on as long as it supports Israel
A purported audio tape of Osama bin Laden aired on Al Jazeera television claimed responsibility for a Dec. 25 attempted bombing of a U.S.-bound plane, and vowed to continue attacks on the United States, as long as it supports Israel. The irony here is that the US media failed to mention Israel in its headlines for this story - but the Israeli news source Haaretz here DID headline it. Americans are being deceived (by our own media, as one example) as to the true reasons for the bullseye on our country.
White House Israeli housing plans dismaying
War crimes fears force Israelis to cancel UK trip
More than 1,400 Palestinians, including hundreds of civilians, were killed in the three-week offensive, which was launched to quash years of rocket attacks on southern Israel. Thirteen Israelis were also killed. A U.N. investigation has accused both Israel and Hamas militants of committing war crimes during the fighting
U.S. Counters Israeli Claim Iran Nuclear Facility Bomb-proof
A top U.S. commander on Sunday countered Israeli claims that Iran had constructed its nuclear facilities to be resistant to attack.
Showdown looms over West Bank construction curb
Extremists have taken to attacking Palestinians each time the government acts against settlers in a strategy known as the "price tag." That phrase was scrawled on the wall of a Palestinian mosque not far from Elon Moreh that was attacked by vandals who burned prayer carpets and holy books on Friday, the Muslim day of rest.
US to give $37.5 million for Arrow-3 missile program
US Ships Arrive in Israel for Joint Drill
The arrival of the ships began a day before Defense Minister Ehud Barak was scheduled to fly to Washington for talks with his American counterpart, Robert Gates. Defense officials said that their talks would focus on the Iranian threat, Israeli-US defense cooperation as well as the role Israel will play in the new American missile defense shield announced last week.
Iran nuclear leaks 'linked to Israel'
That false and misleading charge from an intelligence official of a foreign country, who was not identified but was clearly Israeli, reinforces two of Israel's key themes on Iran - that the 2007 US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran is wrong, and that Tehran is poised to build nuclear weapons as soon as possible
U.S. To Store $800 Mil in Emergency Gear in Israel
The deal allows Israel access to a wider spectrum of military ordnance, and the U.S. official said his government was considering which forms of military supplies would be added to stores in Israel. Missiles, armored vehicles, aerial ammunition and artillery ordnance are already stockpiled in the country. The agreement is expected to aid Israel in its effort to bolster its weapons stockpiles for use in an emergency. While our men go without necessary equipment in Afghanistan and Iraq, we are instead giving the state of the art equipment to Israel 'in case of emergency'. Courtesy of the Israeli lobby.
Egypt starts building steel wall on Gaza Strip border
The Egyptians are being helped by American army engineers, who the BBC understands have designed the wall.
The plan has been shrouded in secrecy, with no comment or confirmation from the Egyptian government.
Senators McCain, Lieberman downplay Mitchell's threat
Mitchell can threaten Jerusalem, but there will be others ready to defend Israel in Washington: Four senior US senators visiting Israel said Sunday that they oppose attempts to apply pressure on Israel by freezing aid. The senators, including former Republican presidential candidate John McCain, emphasized that they would not allow the US government to authorize such a proposal.
Bin Laden reportedly calls Obama 'powerless'
The purpose of his address Sunday, bin Laden said in the SITE translation, is "to remind you of the causes" of Sept. 11, chiefly "your support to your Israeli allies who occupy our land of Palestine."
US raps Israel over limit on Palestinian-Americans
US harshly rebukes Israel on settlement plans
UN warns 250,000 Palestinians 'vulnerable' to settler violence
Carter says Israel must stop building settlements
Israel must stop building settlements in the Palestinian territories if peace is ever to be achieved in the Middle East, former President Jimmy Carter said Monday night as he received an award at a Virginia university for his humanitarian efforts
CIA Working with Palestinian Security Agents
US agency co-operating with Palestinian counterparts who allegedly torture Hamas supporters in West Bank
Clinton US wants Israel settlement halt 'forever'
Diplomats Palestinians drop Gaza resolution
The Palestinian Authority, under heavy pressure from the United States, has withdrawn its support for a U.N. Human Rights Council resolution on alleged war crimes in Gaza,
US sees Iran edging closer to nuclear arms knowhow
U.S. funds for Israeli settlements
But critics of Israeli settlements question why American taxpayers are supporting indirectly, through the exempt contributions, a process that the government condemns. A search of IRS records identified 28 U.S. charitable groups that made $33.4 million in tax-exempt contributions to settlements and related organizations between 2004 and 2007. Actually, to fund these settlements is to fund war crimes since the settlements themselves are a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention (article 49).
Pity for a Constitution Stomper
Congresswoman Jane Harman is indignant. A National Security Agency wiretap reportedly picked up her conversation seeking favors from a suspected Israeli agent in return for Harman lobbying the Justice Department to drop the lawsuit against AIPAC’s former top officials.
'U.S. furious over Israeli incitement against Obama'
The source, who met in Washington with administration officials and members of Congress, told Haaretz he was stunned by the level of anger there over attempts to portray Obama to the American public as an enemy of Israel because of his efforts to restart peace talks and freeze settlement construction.
Making Jane Go Away by Philip Giraldi
The Israeli on the phone was committing espionage against the United States by trying to influence the actions of a government official and Harman was committing a number of possible crimes by agreeing to cooperate in return for her own personal advancement.......why isn’t the MSM interested in aggressively pursuing this story?
Because it's about Israel
Why They Are At War With Us by Patrick J. Buchanan
First, the U.S. military presence on the sacred soil of Saudi Arabia. Second, U.S. sanctions causing terrible suffering among the Iraqi people. Third, U.S. support for Israel’s dispossession of the Palestinians.
U.N. commission accuses Israel, Hamas of Gaza war crimes
Telling Israel No by Patrick J. Buchanan
an Israeli strike on Iran, which Joe Biden foolishly said was Israel’s call, would drag this country into a third war in the Middle East and destroy a policy that is visibly succeeding.
Black Propaganda Manufacturing Consent For Attack On Iran
In sum, the conclusion among Israelis is that the Obama administration won't lift a finger to stop Iran, much less will the "international community." So Israel has pursued a different strategy, in effect seeking to goad the U.S. into stopping, or at least delaying, an Israeli attack by imposing stiff sanctions and perhaps even launching military strikes of its own.
War on the Internet by Philip Giraldi
An Israeli peace activist publication called “Occupation Magazine” has printed an article called “The Foreign Ministry presents: talkbackers in the service of the state.” It starts “After they became an inseparable part of the service provided by public-relations companies and advertising agencies, paid Internet talkbackers are being mobilized in the service in the service of the State. The Foreign Ministry is in the process of setting up a team of students and demobilized soldiers who will work around the clock writing pro-Israeli responses on Internet websites all over the world, and on services like Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. The Foreign Ministry’s department for the explanation of Israeli policy is running the project, and it will be an integral part of it.
Work begins on first planned Palestinian city
And It’s Not Only Sibel Edmonds Who Says So by Philip Giraldi
John M. Cole, a former FBI Counterintelligence and Counterespionage Manager, has publicly confirmed the FBI’s decade long investigation of the former State Department Official Marc Grossman. Cole worked for 18 years in the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. According to Cole, as in over one hundred cases involving Israeli espionage activities directed against the US government, the Grossman case was covered up and buried despite mountains of evidence that was collected.
U.S. Jew indicted as possible Israel spy
The FBI searched Nozette's home and computer and found additional proof of his connection to Israel. He visited here several times, but did not report this - as is required by his high security clearance
Israel: Turkey calls off joint air force drill
Turkey has canceled an annual multinational air force drill including the U.S. and NATO because it opposed Israeli participation, the Israeli military said Sunday, in a sign of further deterioration in relations between the two countries.
Israel to build 2 fences on porous Egyption border
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the structure would help preserve Israel's Jewish majority.....the massive influx of African migrants into Israel in recent years has given the project added momentum. U.N. officials and human rights workers estimate some 17,000 to 19,000 people have poured into Israel through the southern border since 2005, most of them from Eritrea, Sudan and other war-torn African countries, searching for a better life in Israel's relatively affluent Western-style society.
Israel rejects U.N. assembly vote on Gaza war
Goldstone's report blasted both sides in the conflict but was harsher toward Israel which refused to cooperate with the judge's investigation.
Glimmers in the Holy Land Time to Reset U.S. Mideast Policy
Israel to review its own Gaza war probe source
Israel has lobbied against any bid to bring the Goldstone report to the U.N. Security Council.
Israel trying to dodge overseas prosecution
Stung by a damning U.N. report alleging war crimes in Gaza, Israel is taking extraordinary steps to fend off potential international prosecution of its political and military leaders, hiring high-powered attorneys, lobbying Western governments and launching a public relations blitz.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” George Bernard Shaw
In his usual let-the-words-fall-where-they-may manner, Vice President Biden let it be known one early July weekend that the U.S. would not intervene if Israel decided to militarily attack Iran.
Israel recalls Boston envoy over critical memo
VFW Tribute to USS Liberty
Why Palin and Huckabee Dig Settlements
Israel offers, Palestinians reject temporary settlement ease
The international community considers all Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land seized in the 1967 Middle East war to be illegal and does not recognise Israel's annexation of east Jerusalem. How much of Europe did Nazi Germany get to keep after the war? How much of Iraq, Japan, Nazi Germany did the US keep for civilian 'settlements'? Why is Israel allowed to keep territory taken by military force?
YouTube - Is Israel spreading misinformation about Iran
Israel funnels millions of dollars to settlements
Mission Memorial: Remembering the USS Liberty
Irish slammed for Gaza ban
The Israeli government has been sharply criticised in the Irish parliament for refusing Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin permission to visit Gaza.
The Media: Israel and Nuclear Weapons
Congresswoman Jane Harman is indignant. A National Security Agency wiretap reportedly picked up her conversation seeking favors from a suspected Israeli agent in return for Harman lobbying the Justice Department to drop the lawsuit against AIPAC’s former top officials.
Israel accused of silencing political protest
Since the summer, dozens of Palestinian and Israeli activists have been picked up, including those organizing weekly protests against Israel's West Bank separation barrier as well as others advocating international boycotts of Israeli goods.
Why Israel and Hamas are meeting with Jimmy Carter
Israel pulls textbook over reference to 'ethnic cleansing'
Israel's Haaretz newspaper said the secondary school textbook was removed from shelves because it sought to present both Israeli and Arab perspectives on the departure of some 750,000 Palestinians during the fighting that erupted after the creation of the Jewish state.
For Israel, a Reckoning
Palestinian resistance to the theft of their country reached a critical moment in 2001 when Israel was identified as an apartheid state at a United Nations conference on racism in Durban, South Africa. To Nelson Mandela, justice for the Palestinians is "the greatest moral issue of our time."
Pope to meet Abbas, hold mass in Bethlehem
Netanyahu draws fire in Israel over secret trip
Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Netanyahu had, in fact, flown secretly to Moscow to voice concern over the possible sale of Russian anti-aircraft missiles to Iran
Spy Conference: The Strange Pollard Spy Case
At the Raleigh Spy Conference last week, Naval Criminal Investigative Service special agent Ron Olive spoke about how his team solved the strange spy case involving Jonathan Jay Pollard, who literally passed truckloads of U.S. secrets to Israel in the 1980's.
Sweden's foreign minister cancels Israel visit
Sweden's foreign minister abruptly called off a visit to Israel this week, an Israeli spokesman said Sunday, amid a feud over a Swedish newspaper article and a growing gulf between Israel and the international community over West Bank settlement construction
Bibi Wins, Barack Loses by Patrick J. Buchanan
Undaunted, the War Party has a new war planned for us.
Target: Tehran. And Obama may just have boxed himself in.
Bibi’s Dead End by Patrick J. Buchanan
In the long run, demography is destiny.
J Street Changing Course by Philip Giraldi
There is in fact little difference between J Street’s position and that of AIPAC.
The Dark Side of the ‘Special Relationship’ by Justin Raimondo
The search for Mega and his underlings continues to this day, as U.S. counterintelligence attempts to rip up what appears to be a vast Israeli spy operation by its very deep roots. That’s why they went after Ben Ami Kadish, who handed over U.S. secrets to Tel Aviv and shared a handler with Pollard, and why they indicted Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, two top officials of AIPAC, the powerful pro-Israel lobbying group. That’s why they were listening on the other end as Jane Harman promised an Israeli agent to intervene in the Rosen-Weissman case. And now a new front has been opened up in this subterranean war with the arrest of Stewart David Nozette, a top U.S. scientist who worked for the Pentagon, had access to the most closely guarded nuclear secrets, and was the lead scientist in the search for water on the moon.
U.N. rights body considers condemning Israel on Gaza
U.S. indicts four Israelis in international bribery case
The United States Justice Department indicted four Israeli businessmen Tuesday for allegedly attempting to bribe the defense minister of an African country in order to secure a multimillion-dollar contract to supply his country with military equipment. 18 other businessmen were indicted in the same case.
Israel withholding NGO employees' work permits
The Interior Ministry has stopped granting work permits to foreign nationals working in most international nongovernmental organizations operating in the Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, Haaretz has learned.
Helen Thomas Deviates From the Terrorism Script
Brennan's answer -- they do this because they're Evil and murderous -- is on the same condescending cartoon level as the "They-Hate-us-For-Our-Freedom" tripe we endured for the last eight years. Apparently, if Brennan is to be believed, Islamic radicals, in their motive-free quest to slaughter, write down the names of all the countries in the world and put them in a hat and then stick their hand in and select the one they will attack, and the U.S. just keeps getting unlucky and having its name randomly chosen.
Pope ends Holy Land trip with call for two-state solution
Answering Helen Thomas on Why They Want to Harm Us
why isn't there a frank discussion by America's leaders and media about the real motivation of Muslim anger toward the United States? Why was Helen Thomas the only journalist to raise the touchy but central question of motive? by yet another former CIA - Ray McGovern
Abbas says he won't seek re-election in January
Abbas' announcement follows months of failed attempts by the United States to restart direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
Activists in Gaza and Israel protest Gaza blockade
Hundreds of protesters gathered on opposite sides of the Gaza-Israeli border crossing on Thursday, to rally against the blockade surrounding the territory.
Aipac's hidden persuaders Richard Silverstein
Israel is in the midst of a massive diplomatic, political and intelligence campaign, both public and covert, that could lead – if those officials behind it have their way – towards a military strike on Iran. It is a war for the hearts and minds of Americans....Aipac's members carried a unified message to Capitol Hill during their lobbying of US senators and members of Congress. They demanded that Congress pass the most draconian sanctions ever proposed against Iran.
Awaiting Gaza March, Holocaust Survivor Stages Hunger Strike
An 85-year-old Holocaust survivor was among a group of grandmothers who began a hunger strike in Cairo on Monday to protest against Egypt's refusal to allow a Gaza solidarity march to proceed.
Boycott Israel
Americans can't - it's illegal for any American company/citizen to boycott Israel. And this is the case with ONLY the nation of Israel.
British lawmaker Gerald Kaufman calls Gaza blockade 'evil'
Can Obama stand up to Israel
President Obama urgently needs to distance Washington from the provocative – and illegal – actions the Israeli government has been undertaking in Jerusalem.
Citizens Group Urges Fair Trial for AIPAC Employees Indicted Under Espionage Act
The Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy, Inc. (IRmep) urges the Department of Justice to proceed with its long delayed prosecution of former AIPAC employees Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman. The case was dropped altogether shortly thereafter.
Differences with US on Mideast 'semantic' Israel
Katz, a member of Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party, said discussions with Washington will focus on security issues, particularly the "threats by Iran as well as Hamas," the Islamist group that rules the Gaza Strip.
U.S. suggestion of sanctions causes stir in Israel
"Under American law, the United States can withhold support on loan guarantees to Israel," George Mitchell said on U.S. television on Wednesday after being asked about the kind of pressure that could be brought to bear on Israel. George Bush the 1st tried this but later backed down due to the subsequent and overwhelming pressure brought upon him by the Israeli lobby.
Netanyahu vows never to let Israelis be tried for war crimes
Israeli vigilantes target young Arab-Jewish couples
For more than a decade, David has considered it his unofficial job to patrol the streets looking for mixed Arab-Jewish couples. “We are protecting the Jewish people, our traditions, our heritage. Some people just get mixed up. We talk to them, explain why it’s important for Jews to be with Jews,” he said.
Jewish Leaders Firm on Broad Iran Sanctions Despite Unrest
“For us, this was always the primary concern, because a nuclear Iran is an existential threat to Israel,” said Meagan Buren, director of research and training at The Israel Project, a pro-Israel group active on the Iranian issue. Another war for Israel is in the making. The target this time: Iran.
Israeli PM offers new benefits to settlers
Postwar Gaza Scars frozen, Mideast at an impasse
A man who lost two daughters and his home can't visit his surviving 4-year-old girl in a Belgian hospital because Gaza's borders remain sealed. A 15-year-old struggles to walk on her artificial limbs, while dozens of other war amputees still await prostheses.
Palestinians accuse U.S. of killing peace prospects
Pointing an accusing finger at the United States, the Palestinians on Sunday said Washington's backing for Israeli refusal to halt Jewish settlement expansion had killed any hope of reviving peace negotiations soon.
Israeli pleads guilty to leaking classified U.S. documents
Politico goes on to report that Leibowitz, the grandson of famous Israeli Torah scholar, philosopher and leftist, Yeshayahu Leibowitz, supports a one-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which most Israelis reject because it would eliminate a Jewish demographic majority.
He has also encouraged efforts to get U.S. institutions to divest in Israeli bonds.
Israeli officials routinely face UK legal threats
J Street, Obama, and Israel
The J Street philosophy is that there is a kind of "silent majority" of US Jews who aren't happy with Israel's expansionist polices and intransigence, and who don't believe they're represented properly by right-leaning groups such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
Israeli Detention of Palestinian Activists Must End
The Israeli authorities must immediately release, or bring before a fair trial, three Palestinian human rights activists detained in Israel following their protests against the construction of the West Bank fence/wall, Amnesty International said today.
Lieberman ‘Stay out of our politics’
Israel's foreign minister said other governments should stay out of Israeli politics....."We have never interfered in the affairs of others, and we expect from others that they not interfere in ours," he added. BS. It is ISRAEL that needs to stay out of the affairs of other nations, particularly my country - AMERICA. Hypocrisy.
Israeli chief rabbi visits mosque that was torched
Obama Fails in Middle East
Next, the Obama adminstration capitulated, refusing to insist on any penalty for Israel's defiant intransigence. Not even a hint of any retaliation by the United States to enforce what it had called the path to a peace deal. No talk of reducing US aid to Israel, or cutting back on US-Israeli military cooperation, or anything. Score: Netanyahu 2, Obama 0. ......Finally, the United States cravenly supported Israel over the Goldstone Report on Gaza, the report that accused Israel (and Hamas) of war crimes
Israel's New Visa Rule for Foreigners If You Want To Visit Palestine, Stay There
Obama prods Netanyahu, Iran in Mideast foray
Obama Settlement Demands Stir Rising Tensions in Israel
Obama's lost senate seat is a victory for Netanyahu
Over the past nine months, Netanyahu has managed to curb pressure from Obama, who enjoys a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress. Now, however, Obama will be more dependent on the support of his Republican rivals, the supporters and friends of Netanyahu.
Palestinian nun takes step toward sainthood
Palestinians accuse Clinton of hurting peace talks
"Calling for a resumption of negotiations despite continued settlement construction doesn't help because we have tried this way many times,"
Israel's Netanyahu vows long fight against U.N. report
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised a lengthy diplomatic battle to "delegitimise" United Nations charges that Israel committed war crimes in the Gaza Strip, an official said on Saturday.
Medvedev Israel not planning to strike Iran
Analysis Iran plant could defer Israel strike
It may seem counterintuitive, but the news that Iran has a second, clandestine uranium enrichment plant, and has just test-fired long-range missiles, could actually put off any plans for a quick Israeli strike.
Video Israel Is Spying In And On The U.S. Part 1
Jewish lobby wages war on Christmas trees
Letters We must not renege on war crime laws
We are shocked at suggestions by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office minister Ivan Lewis and foreign secretary David Miliband that Britain may consider changing its laws to avoid any future attempts to prosecute suspected war criminals, Israeli or otherwise.
Lobby Denial
Yes indeed, the US Congress, what a joke, “stands staunchly on the side of Israel in its struggle.” What a bunch of disgusting traitorous pigs. Your government, ladies and gentleman, has been hijacked whole-sale by a Lobby that does not exist.
What Role Did The U.S.-Israeli Relationship Play In 9-11
Netanyahu to have additional meeting with Mitchell on Sunday
Podhoretz asks Why are Jews liberals
"Why Are Jews Liberals?" also praises President Richard Nixon, whose determination to send military supplies during the 1973 Yom Kippur War "saved Israel from a defeat that could have spelled the extinction of the state," Podhoretz writes. But Nixon also complained that "most Jews are disloyal" and even commissioned aides to draw up a list of Jews at the Bureau of Labor Statistics because he suspected a "cabal" was trying to undermine the administration.
Just 6 More Months to Victory! by Philip Giraldi
So what might happen in President Obama’s next six months? A number of highly plausible scenarios come to mind.
U.S. Antisemitism Envoy Scored on Criticism of Oren
Two dovish organizations that are members of the Presidents Conference — Americans for Peace Now and Ameinu — have recently issued statements criticizing Oren’s attacks on J Street. This, too, is a first in the history of relations between Israeli diplomats and American Jewish groups.
Syria's Mufti Islam commands us to protect Judaism
"If the Prophet Mohammed had asked me to deem Christians or Jews heretics, I would have deemed Mohammed himself a heretic," Sheikh Ahmed Hassoun, the Mufti of Syria, was quoted as telling a delegation of American academics visiting Damascus.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Headlines for 01-04-09 - 01-09-09
A Stand For Justice
Israeli Tank Fire Kills 40 at UN School Medics In a separate incident earlier in the day, three Palestinians were killed in an air strike on another school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
Six children among 12 killed in mosque blast Yesterday's afternoon prayers in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya were unusually busy because worshippers had abandoned their evening prayers in the belief that if the Israelis planned to strike, they would do so at night. But as the townspeople left the mosque at dusk, the explosions began, killing at least 12 people, six of whom were children. They came only hours before the Israeli ground offensive was launched into Gaza.
Palestinians Mother, 4 children killed in IDF Gaza offensive Among those killed in Gaza since Saturday night were another five people who Palestinian medics said died when shells fired by IDF troops exploded in the center of Gaza City's main shopping area. Dozens of others were wounded, the medics said.
Paramedic killed as shell hits ambulance in Gaza A paramedic working for an Oxfam-funded organisation was killed today after an ambulance was hit by an Israeli-fired shell, the charity said.
Israel shells near UN school, killing at least 30
Dozens of Gazans killed in Israeli ground assault At least 23 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, have been killed in Gaza on the first day of Israel's ground offensive in the Hamas-run enclave, medics said on Sunday.
West Bank protester shot dead by Israeli troops Mufid al-Walwil, 21, was killed when Israeli troops opened fire on a group of Palestinians who were throwing stones at them near the separation barrier in Qalqilya.
Child killed by Israli tank fire in Gaza Eleven other children were wounded in the strike, when a tank shell hit a house in eastern Gaza City, Gaza medics said.
Gaza medics describe horror of strike which killed 70 Growing evidence emerged today of the bloodiest single incident of the Gaza conflict when around 70 corpses were found by a Palestinian paramedic near a bombed-out house.
Civilian death toll rises in Gaza ground offensive At least 23 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, have been killed in Gaza on the first day of Israel's ground offensive in the Hamas-run enclave, medics said.
Israel strike kills up to 60 members of one family Israeli mortar shells exploded Tuesday near a U.N. school in Gaza that was sheltering hundreds of people displaced by Israel's onslaught against Hamas militants, killing at least 30 Palestinians, tearing bodies apart and staining streets with blood.
Soldier Killed In Gaza Fighting The army says the soldier was killed by mortar fire earlier today in northern Gaza.
ICRC Says Israel Broke International Law in Gaza Relief workers found four starving children sitting next to their dead mothers and other corpses in a house in a part of Gaza City bombed by Israeli forces, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Thursday.
Red Cross finds starving children with 12 corpses in Gaza 'house of horrors' The International Committee of the Red Cross has accused the Israeli military of "unacceptable" conduct and breaching international humanitarian law after discovering four emaciated children living next to the corpses of their mothers and other adults in bomb-shattered houses in Gaza City.
Red Cross: Israel delayed access to Gaza wounded The international Red Cross accused Israel on Thursday of "unacceptable" delays in letting rescue workers reach three Gaza City homes hit by shelling where they eventually found 15 dead and 18 wounded, including young children too weak to stand.
Gaza wounded dying as cut off from help ICRC People wounded in fighting in the Gaza Strip are dying because ambulances cannot reach them, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Monday.
Thousands of children forced to flee Gaza airstrikes At least 13,000 Palestinians have been forced to flee their homes in Gaza as the bombardment continues into its seventh day, Save the Children said today. More than half of those displaced people are children.
Two strikes, and another family lay buried in rubble The attack on the Palestinian refugee family became the third since the aerial bombardment of Gaza started 10 days ago to prompt a specific call for an independent investigation by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
U.N. official says no militants inside Gaza school
Gaza civilians bearing brunt of violence: aid agencies The United Nations noted that many of the recent fatalities have been women and children, adding that "the population of Gaza (is) bearing the brunt of the violence.
UN: One-third of Gaza dead, injured are children The U.N.'s top humanitarian official, John Holmes, described the numbers as "credible" and deeply disturbing. U.N officials say about half of the casualties were civilians.
EU tells Israel to respect humanitarian law in Gaza, offers more aid The European Commission on Sunday called on Israel to respect international law and allow access to people "suffering and dying" in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip.
UN Security Council Must Not Fail Civilians Caught in Gaza Conflict ?Civilian casualties and destruction in Gaza are on an unprecedented scale. The UN Security Council must not remain silent. The Council can and must act and it should do so without further delay,? said Malcolm Smart, Director of Amnesty International?s Middle East and North Africa Programme.
Death toll in Gaza passes 700, including 220 children
Gaza civilians suffer as Israel troops tighten grip At least 42 Palestinians, most of them civilians, were killed on Sunday as Israeli shells slammed into houses and Gaza's main shopping district, medical sources said.
Israel May Face Charges for War Crime "The repeated bombing of clearly marked civilian buildings, where civilians were sheltering, crosses several red lines in regard to international law,"
Israel: Allow Media and Rights Monitors Access to Gaza Israel should immediately allow journalists and human rights monitors access to Gaza, Human Rights Watch said today. Their presence can discourage abuse by warring parties and help save lives.
Iran's security chief meets Hamas, Jihad leaders in Damascus over Gaza
Invasion a Monstrosity, Says UN Leader "I think it's a monstrosity; there's no other way to name it," Mr Brockmann said. "Once again, the world is watching in dismay the dysfunctionality of the Security Council." His remarks were seen as putting a slight upon the United States, which again prevented the council from issuing an agreed statement on the crisis.
IDF strike levels US-style Gaza school
Israel Rains Fire on Gaza With Phosphorus Shells Charles Heyman, a military expert and former major in the British Army, said: "If white phosphorus was deliberately fired at a crowd of people someone would end up in The Hague. White phosphorus is also a terror weapon. The descending blobs of phosphorus will burn when in contact with skin."
Children hit hard as Gaza toll rises The latest figures from Palestinian health officials say 205 children are among some 600 people who have died in the Gaza war. In the chaos, there are no statistics for how many are among the at least 2,900 injured.
Channel 4 UK Report From Gaza Meet the children left to die among the bodies of their parents and families
Hamas Israel has legitimised the killing of its children "They have legitimised the murder of their own children by killing the children of Palestine," Mahmoud Zahar said in a televised broadcast recorded at a secret location. "They have legitimised the killing of their people all over the world by killing our people."
Israel trying to delay UN Security Council meeting Jerusalem making diplomatic efforts to postpone meeting and prevent further international pressure on Israel to stop fighting in Gaza. Meanwhile Olmert, Livni continue to promote US-led initiative for truce
Arab League slams Livni remark 'there's no humanitarian crisis in Gaza' Livni rejected on Thursday a French proposal for a 48-hour truce to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, saying there was no humanitarian crisis in Strip.
AP Gaza reporter finds hometown in rubble
'People Are Being Killed in Their Homes' There have been so many casualties. Last Tuesday, on the 30th of December, two of my colleagues in Beit Hanoun, in northeast Gaza, witnessed a missile strike that killed three children. These kids went to take out the rubbish. They were afraid to go out alone, so they went out together. The 4-year-old girl died instantly, her 12-year-old sister died upon arrival at the hospital and their 11-year-old brother, who was injured, died a few days later.
Gaza Strip is a concentration camp, says Vatican THE Gaza Strip has been turned into a "concentration camp" by two weeks of Israeli bombardments, said a senior Vatican official.
Europe at odds over Israel's ground incursion
Egypt floats truce plan after 42 killed in Gaza school
Egypt bars doctors from entering Gaza Strip Frustration is mounting at Egypt's border with the Gaza
Strip, where many local and foreign doctors are stuck after Egyptian
authorities denied them entry into the coastal area now under an Israeli
ground invasion.
Gaza civilian toll rises; diplomats seek truce Despite Israeli claims that casualties have been heavy among militants, no injured Hamas fighters were seen Monday by an Associated Press reporter at Shifa Hospital, the Gaza Strip's largest. Instead, the hospital was overwhelmed with civilians
Ban: Israeli attacks on schools totally unacceptable Israeli attacks on three schools run by the United Nations in the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours, including one that killed more than 46 civilians on Tuesday, were 'totally unacceptable and must not be repeated,' UN Secretary General Ban Ki- moon said.
Wounded Gaza family lay bleeding for 20 hours
Stench in the Air Scant Resources Stretched to Exhaustion Most of those arriving at Shifa appeared to be civilians. The exact reason was not clear. Many ambulance drivers refused to go near the fighting. It also seemed possible that Hamas and Israeli fighters were still battling at some less lethal distance. And it was difficult to know whether fighters were spread out at other hospitals.
UN rights chief wants investigation of Gaza abuses The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights called Friday for an independent war crimes investigation in Gaza after reports that Israeli forces shelled a house full of Palestinian civilians, killing 30 people.
UN Israel Admits Claims About Attacked School Baseless Much was made of the claim, including reports that Israel was mulling filing a formal complaint to the United Nations about Hamas? use of the facility. But as the United Nations poked holes in the official story, Israel is now backing off those claims.
Obama breaks silence on Gaza, voices concern Speaking after Israeli tank shells killed at least 40 Palestinians at a U.N. school where civilians had taken shelter, Obama said "the loss of civilian life in Gaza and in Israel is a source of deep concern for me."
World fears grow over Gaza 'humanitarian crisis' World leaders hardened their rhetoric and expressed mounting concern about the impact on civilians of the fighting in Gaza Monday, as Israel rejected diplomatic efforts to bring it to an end.
Egypt Pulls Down the Shutters on Aid
Egyptian authorities have almost fully sealed the border with Gaza, preventing delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid.
Small aid delivery does little to stop suffering John Ging, director of operations in Gaza for the United Nations Refugee and Works Agency, spoke by phone from the UN base inside Gaza City. He said: "Gaza was already bad enough but what I saw today was utter devastation. It's just horrible to see this, horrible to see civilians caught up in this. "Gaza went through 'crisis' a long time ago and what I saw today was a catastrophe in the making.'' He said three of his UNRWA staff had been killed in the Israeli assault on Gaza. One was volunteering as a paramedic when the ambulance he was driving in with four other medics was hit by Israeli fire. All five died.
CNN: US weapons 'killing innocent civilians' in Gaza "Precision guided bombs are only precision in that they hit the target they are aimed at," Starr explained. "We're getting these civilian casualties. These weapons are supposed to be used for a country's self-defense. Israel, obviously, believes this is its self-defense against Hamas, but you see these civilian casualties. That's not why the US sells weapons abroad -- for the killing of innocent civilians."
Robert Fisk: Why do they hate the West so much, we will ask Have we forgotten the 17,500 dead ? almost all civilians, most of them children and women ? in Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon; the 1,700 Palestinian civilian dead in the Sabra-Chatila massacre; the 1996 Qana massacre of 106 Lebanese civilian refugees, more than half of them children, at a UN base; the massacre of the Marwahin refugees who were ordered from their homes by the Israelis in 2006 then slaughtered by an Israeli helicopter crew; the 1,000 dead of that same 2006 bombardment and Lebanese invasion, almost all of them civilians?
This article is a beaut - a must read. It details some of Israel's history of lying when it deliberately targets civilian areas.
Keeping Out The Cameras and Reporters Simply Doesn't Work by Robert Fisk On the other hand, the Israelis are so ruthless that the reasons for the ban on journalism may be quite easily explained: that so many Israeli soldiers are going to kill so many innocents - more than three score by last night, and that's only the ones we know about - that images of the slaughter would be too much to tolerate.
UN curbs Gaza aid after trucks hit by Israeli fire The driver of the U.N. truck died immediately; another worker in the truck died later of his wounds. The truck, which came under fire in northern Gaza, was marked with the U.N. flag and insignia.
Jimmy Carter - An Unnecessary War rocket firing was soon stopped and there was an increase in supplies of food, water, medicine and fuel. Yet the increase was to an average of about 20 percent of normal levels. And this fragile truce was partially broken on Nov. 4, when Israel launched an attack in Gaza to destroy a defensive tunnel being dug by Hamas inside the wall that encloses Gaza. Israel, not Hamas, broke the ceasefire.
Norwegian doctor: Israel intentionally targeting civilians "Just a little bit more than an hour ago, the Israelis bombed the central food market in Gaza City and we had a mass influx of about 50 injured and between 10 and 15 killed," said Gilbert, on the phone with Sky News. "At the same time they bombed an apartment house with children playing on the roof and we had a lot of children also. This is really like from Dante's Inferno. It's like hell here now and it's been bombing all night. Up till now, close to 500 people have been killed and the number of casualties is getting to 2, 2 and a half thousand, which 50 percent are children and women."
Israeli army moves into Gaza capital as war toll passes 510 At least 63 Palestinians have been killed by tank shells or missiles fired from warplanes since the ground offensive began on Saturday night, Gaza medics said.
Frustrated reporters locked out of Gaza war zone "Israel has never restricted media access like this before, and it should be ashamed," said Ethan Bronner, The New York Times bureau chief in Jerusalem. "It's betraying the principles by which it claims to live."
Florida House shows support for Israel Led by South Florida Jewish legislators, the Florida House passed a resolution Monday expressing "solidarity" with Israel and its campaign against the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
UPDATED Media Commentary Muted as Israel Invades - 'NYT' Fails to Editorialize Amazingly, the paper has kept that silence going in Sunday's and even Monday's paper, with no editorial or columnist comment on the Israeli invasion -- beyond a hawkish pro-invasion contribution by William Kristol. It's as if the Times is waiting for the invasion to be over and adapt its position to the outocme.
US Senate supports Israel's Gaza incursion The U.S. Senate voiced strong support on Thursday for Israel's battle against Hamas militants in Gaza, while urging a ceasefire that would prevent Hamas from launching any more rockets into Israel. The chamber agreed on a voice vote to the non-binding resolution co-sponsored by Democratic and Republican party leaders in the chamber. Capitol Hill - ANOTHER Israeli-occupied territory.
Turmoil could spark air strike against Iran Iran's open support for Hamas, coupled with US and Israeli accusations that Tehran has supplied it with weapons, could harden Israeli public opinion in favour of military strikes against Iran whose nuclear programme is seen as an "existential" threat to the Jewish state.
Visiting Lutheran bishops call for halt to violence The bishops were invited by the local branch "to come walk with them in this difficult time," Rev. Robert Smith, continental desk director for Europe and the Middle East in the ELCA's department of global mission, told the Chicago Tribune on Monday. "With the decline of Palestinian Christian communities in the land where Jesus was born, died and resurrected, that call is not something we can ignore," Smith said.
Why Not Kill All Gazans?
Pity the Poor Neocons As bloody and grotesque as Israel?s pounding of Gaza has been, it marks a bitterly disappointing end for seven-plus years of neoconservative dominion over U.S. foreign policy, a period that was supposed to conclude with the dismantling of Israel?s Muslim enemies in the region.
YouTube - Ron Paul on Gaza 1-3-09 Ron Paul sticks to the ideals upon which this country was founded - one being not allowing ourselves to get involved in entangling alliances.
Celebrities condemn Israeli attacks on Gaza Singer Annie Lennox led a press conference stating that the television footage of the attacks in Gaza had left her shaken to the core.
Bush's Last War Crime The Israeli invasion of Gaza, launched Saturday, might very well be George W. Bush's last and final war crime. For eight years, Bush has coupled unparalled ignorance of the Middle East with supreme arrogance. It is precisely that deadly combination of ignorance and arrogance that is on display now, as a politically motivated Israeli invasion of Gaza unfolds with the full support of the Bush administration.
Bringing the Arab-Israeli War Home - by Michael Scheuer At some point down the road, every U.S.-taxpayer-funded bomb, artillery shell, and bullet aimed at the Palestinians will yield Americans killed at the hands of al-Qaeda, its allies, or those it inspires in attacks launched in response to U.S. support for Israel. Those Americans will be killed because their political and media leaders ? corrupted to the bone by AIPAC ? have involved them in a religious war that threatens nothing vital to their country's principles or national security, their personal economic well-being, or their children's lives. Michael Scheuer was head of the CIA's Bin Laden unit.
Venezuela Expels Israeli Ambassador Over Gaza "How far will this barbarism go?" Chavez asked on state television before the ambassador's expulsion was announced. "The president of Israel should be taken before an international court together with the president of the United States, if the world had any conscience." Notice how we get lumped in there too. In the eyes of the international community, Israel and America are one and the same (thanks to the efforts of the Israeli lobby - who have made sure Israeli policy becomes US policy).
Herzog calls on US Jews to voice support for Gaza op "Don't be shy," he instructed more than 500 American and Canadian Jewish leaders on a conference call organized the United Jewish Communities and the Jewish Council on Public Affairs Monday. He told them to post blog entries, call radio shows, participate in Internet chat rooms and otherwise make Israel's case to the media. "It's important that people see the Israeli viewpoint."
Israeli army trained in Gaza mock-up The Israeli army spent 18 months training for its ground attack against Gaza on a model of the main city built at a desert army base, a military spokesman said.
Johann Hari The true story behind this war is not the one Israel is telling The Israeli government wants peace, but only one imposed on its own terms, based on the acceptance of defeat by the Palestinians. It means the Israelis can keep the slabs of the West Bank on "their" side of the wall. It means they keep the largest settlements and control the water supply. And it means a divided Palestine, with responsibility for Gaza hived off to Egypt, and the broken-up West Bank standing alone.
Israel in Gaza Irrationality
UPDATE Washington Institute Reports Bigger Role for Ross if the memo is genuine (and I have no doubt that it is) and accurate, Ross? appointment marks a major setback for those who had hoped that Obama might bring some fresh thinking to Middle East policy, particularly vis-a-vis Iran and Israel-Palestine.
Iranian commander says to cut oil sales to Israel's backers An Iranian military commander called on Islamic countries to cut oil exports to Israel's supporters in response to the Jewish state's offensive in Gaza, the official IRNA news agency reported on Sunday.
Media rights group slams Israel's treatment of press in conflict Israel deliberately targeted Hamas-run media installations in its bombing campaign on Gaza and is practising media censorship, a journalist rights group said Monday.
The death and life of my father For Fares Akram, The Independent's reporter in Gaza, the Israeli invasion became a personal tragedy when he discovered his father was one of the first casualties of the ground war
Hezbollah warns Israel not to venture into Lebanon The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah Wednesday warned Israel from venturing into a new attack against Lebanon, saying it would be 'nothing compared to the July 2006 war.'
Jewish women freed after protest at Israeli consulate She said the point of the protest was to draw attention to the fact that not all members of Toronto's Jewish community support the agenda of the Israeli government. "There are Jews that do not follow the Israeli line and are sickened by what is happening in Gaza."
Hamas posters posted at U.S. synagogues Police in California are investigating as hate crimes the posting of anti-Israel and pro-Hamas placards at two synagogues.
Sderot rocket hits near U.S. Jewish leaders The group from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations had arrived just three hours before on a three-day mission to show support for the government and people of the beleaguered south No comment.
Syrian president meets Iran's security chief over Gaza Syrian President Bashar al-Assad held a meeting on Saturday with visiting Secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili over the "dangerous situation" in Gaza Strip, the official SANA news agency reported.
Henry Regnery, Conservative for Mideast Peace people like Debbie Schlussel, who unburdened herself recently of this bit of bloodlust: ?While I want Israel to beat HAMAS, there is only one way to do so?total annihilation of the Palestinians, who are all HAMAS.? Most of the neoconized Right doesn?t put matters quite so bluntly, of course. But follow the logic: they claim that vast civilian casualties are allowed, as long as the IDF only deliberately targets Hamas.
They Lob Chutzpah Bombs Too this is just a press release created by the American Jewish Committee and being passed off by its members as their heartfelt and original opinions.
Israel wounded in propaganda war Governments worldwide have slammed the Israeli military onslaught on the Gaza Strip, with the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, condemning attacks near UN schools that killed dozens and foreign media angry at being kept out of the Palestinian territory.
Gaza will be 'graveyard' for Israeli troops, warns Iran
NYC mayor heads to Israel to 'show his support' Spokesman Andrew Brent said the mayor "is going in order to show his support for Israel." Bloomberg should stay there.
Israeli Tank Fire Kills 40 at UN School Medics In a separate incident earlier in the day, three Palestinians were killed in an air strike on another school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
Six children among 12 killed in mosque blast Yesterday's afternoon prayers in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya were unusually busy because worshippers had abandoned their evening prayers in the belief that if the Israelis planned to strike, they would do so at night. But as the townspeople left the mosque at dusk, the explosions began, killing at least 12 people, six of whom were children. They came only hours before the Israeli ground offensive was launched into Gaza.
Palestinians Mother, 4 children killed in IDF Gaza offensive Among those killed in Gaza since Saturday night were another five people who Palestinian medics said died when shells fired by IDF troops exploded in the center of Gaza City's main shopping area. Dozens of others were wounded, the medics said.
Paramedic killed as shell hits ambulance in Gaza A paramedic working for an Oxfam-funded organisation was killed today after an ambulance was hit by an Israeli-fired shell, the charity said.
Israel shells near UN school, killing at least 30
Dozens of Gazans killed in Israeli ground assault At least 23 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, have been killed in Gaza on the first day of Israel's ground offensive in the Hamas-run enclave, medics said on Sunday.
West Bank protester shot dead by Israeli troops Mufid al-Walwil, 21, was killed when Israeli troops opened fire on a group of Palestinians who were throwing stones at them near the separation barrier in Qalqilya.
Child killed by Israli tank fire in Gaza Eleven other children were wounded in the strike, when a tank shell hit a house in eastern Gaza City, Gaza medics said.
Gaza medics describe horror of strike which killed 70 Growing evidence emerged today of the bloodiest single incident of the Gaza conflict when around 70 corpses were found by a Palestinian paramedic near a bombed-out house.
Civilian death toll rises in Gaza ground offensive At least 23 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, have been killed in Gaza on the first day of Israel's ground offensive in the Hamas-run enclave, medics said.
Israel strike kills up to 60 members of one family Israeli mortar shells exploded Tuesday near a U.N. school in Gaza that was sheltering hundreds of people displaced by Israel's onslaught against Hamas militants, killing at least 30 Palestinians, tearing bodies apart and staining streets with blood.
Soldier Killed In Gaza Fighting The army says the soldier was killed by mortar fire earlier today in northern Gaza.
ICRC Says Israel Broke International Law in Gaza Relief workers found four starving children sitting next to their dead mothers and other corpses in a house in a part of Gaza City bombed by Israeli forces, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Thursday.
Red Cross finds starving children with 12 corpses in Gaza 'house of horrors' The International Committee of the Red Cross has accused the Israeli military of "unacceptable" conduct and breaching international humanitarian law after discovering four emaciated children living next to the corpses of their mothers and other adults in bomb-shattered houses in Gaza City.
Red Cross: Israel delayed access to Gaza wounded The international Red Cross accused Israel on Thursday of "unacceptable" delays in letting rescue workers reach three Gaza City homes hit by shelling where they eventually found 15 dead and 18 wounded, including young children too weak to stand.
Gaza wounded dying as cut off from help ICRC People wounded in fighting in the Gaza Strip are dying because ambulances cannot reach them, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Monday.
Thousands of children forced to flee Gaza airstrikes At least 13,000 Palestinians have been forced to flee their homes in Gaza as the bombardment continues into its seventh day, Save the Children said today. More than half of those displaced people are children.
Two strikes, and another family lay buried in rubble The attack on the Palestinian refugee family became the third since the aerial bombardment of Gaza started 10 days ago to prompt a specific call for an independent investigation by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
U.N. official says no militants inside Gaza school
Gaza civilians bearing brunt of violence: aid agencies The United Nations noted that many of the recent fatalities have been women and children, adding that "the population of Gaza (is) bearing the brunt of the violence.
UN: One-third of Gaza dead, injured are children The U.N.'s top humanitarian official, John Holmes, described the numbers as "credible" and deeply disturbing. U.N officials say about half of the casualties were civilians.
EU tells Israel to respect humanitarian law in Gaza, offers more aid The European Commission on Sunday called on Israel to respect international law and allow access to people "suffering and dying" in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip.
UN Security Council Must Not Fail Civilians Caught in Gaza Conflict ?Civilian casualties and destruction in Gaza are on an unprecedented scale. The UN Security Council must not remain silent. The Council can and must act and it should do so without further delay,? said Malcolm Smart, Director of Amnesty International?s Middle East and North Africa Programme.
Death toll in Gaza passes 700, including 220 children
Gaza civilians suffer as Israel troops tighten grip At least 42 Palestinians, most of them civilians, were killed on Sunday as Israeli shells slammed into houses and Gaza's main shopping district, medical sources said.
Israel May Face Charges for War Crime "The repeated bombing of clearly marked civilian buildings, where civilians were sheltering, crosses several red lines in regard to international law,"
Israel: Allow Media and Rights Monitors Access to Gaza Israel should immediately allow journalists and human rights monitors access to Gaza, Human Rights Watch said today. Their presence can discourage abuse by warring parties and help save lives.
Iran's security chief meets Hamas, Jihad leaders in Damascus over Gaza
Invasion a Monstrosity, Says UN Leader "I think it's a monstrosity; there's no other way to name it," Mr Brockmann said. "Once again, the world is watching in dismay the dysfunctionality of the Security Council." His remarks were seen as putting a slight upon the United States, which again prevented the council from issuing an agreed statement on the crisis.
IDF strike levels US-style Gaza school
Israel Rains Fire on Gaza With Phosphorus Shells Charles Heyman, a military expert and former major in the British Army, said: "If white phosphorus was deliberately fired at a crowd of people someone would end up in The Hague. White phosphorus is also a terror weapon. The descending blobs of phosphorus will burn when in contact with skin."
Children hit hard as Gaza toll rises The latest figures from Palestinian health officials say 205 children are among some 600 people who have died in the Gaza war. In the chaos, there are no statistics for how many are among the at least 2,900 injured.
Channel 4 UK Report From Gaza Meet the children left to die among the bodies of their parents and families
Hamas Israel has legitimised the killing of its children "They have legitimised the murder of their own children by killing the children of Palestine," Mahmoud Zahar said in a televised broadcast recorded at a secret location. "They have legitimised the killing of their people all over the world by killing our people."
Israel trying to delay UN Security Council meeting Jerusalem making diplomatic efforts to postpone meeting and prevent further international pressure on Israel to stop fighting in Gaza. Meanwhile Olmert, Livni continue to promote US-led initiative for truce
Arab League slams Livni remark 'there's no humanitarian crisis in Gaza' Livni rejected on Thursday a French proposal for a 48-hour truce to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, saying there was no humanitarian crisis in Strip.
AP Gaza reporter finds hometown in rubble
'People Are Being Killed in Their Homes' There have been so many casualties. Last Tuesday, on the 30th of December, two of my colleagues in Beit Hanoun, in northeast Gaza, witnessed a missile strike that killed three children. These kids went to take out the rubbish. They were afraid to go out alone, so they went out together. The 4-year-old girl died instantly, her 12-year-old sister died upon arrival at the hospital and their 11-year-old brother, who was injured, died a few days later.
Gaza Strip is a concentration camp, says Vatican THE Gaza Strip has been turned into a "concentration camp" by two weeks of Israeli bombardments, said a senior Vatican official.
Europe at odds over Israel's ground incursion
Egypt floats truce plan after 42 killed in Gaza school
Egypt bars doctors from entering Gaza Strip Frustration is mounting at Egypt's border with the Gaza
Strip, where many local and foreign doctors are stuck after Egyptian
authorities denied them entry into the coastal area now under an Israeli
ground invasion.
Gaza civilian toll rises; diplomats seek truce Despite Israeli claims that casualties have been heavy among militants, no injured Hamas fighters were seen Monday by an Associated Press reporter at Shifa Hospital, the Gaza Strip's largest. Instead, the hospital was overwhelmed with civilians
Ban: Israeli attacks on schools totally unacceptable Israeli attacks on three schools run by the United Nations in the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours, including one that killed more than 46 civilians on Tuesday, were 'totally unacceptable and must not be repeated,' UN Secretary General Ban Ki- moon said.
Wounded Gaza family lay bleeding for 20 hours
Stench in the Air Scant Resources Stretched to Exhaustion Most of those arriving at Shifa appeared to be civilians. The exact reason was not clear. Many ambulance drivers refused to go near the fighting. It also seemed possible that Hamas and Israeli fighters were still battling at some less lethal distance. And it was difficult to know whether fighters were spread out at other hospitals.
UN rights chief wants investigation of Gaza abuses The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights called Friday for an independent war crimes investigation in Gaza after reports that Israeli forces shelled a house full of Palestinian civilians, killing 30 people.
UN Israel Admits Claims About Attacked School Baseless Much was made of the claim, including reports that Israel was mulling filing a formal complaint to the United Nations about Hamas? use of the facility. But as the United Nations poked holes in the official story, Israel is now backing off those claims.
Obama breaks silence on Gaza, voices concern Speaking after Israeli tank shells killed at least 40 Palestinians at a U.N. school where civilians had taken shelter, Obama said "the loss of civilian life in Gaza and in Israel is a source of deep concern for me."
World fears grow over Gaza 'humanitarian crisis' World leaders hardened their rhetoric and expressed mounting concern about the impact on civilians of the fighting in Gaza Monday, as Israel rejected diplomatic efforts to bring it to an end.
Egypt Pulls Down the Shutters on Aid
Egyptian authorities have almost fully sealed the border with Gaza, preventing delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid.
Small aid delivery does little to stop suffering John Ging, director of operations in Gaza for the United Nations Refugee and Works Agency, spoke by phone from the UN base inside Gaza City. He said: "Gaza was already bad enough but what I saw today was utter devastation. It's just horrible to see this, horrible to see civilians caught up in this. "Gaza went through 'crisis' a long time ago and what I saw today was a catastrophe in the making.'' He said three of his UNRWA staff had been killed in the Israeli assault on Gaza. One was volunteering as a paramedic when the ambulance he was driving in with four other medics was hit by Israeli fire. All five died.
CNN: US weapons 'killing innocent civilians' in Gaza "Precision guided bombs are only precision in that they hit the target they are aimed at," Starr explained. "We're getting these civilian casualties. These weapons are supposed to be used for a country's self-defense. Israel, obviously, believes this is its self-defense against Hamas, but you see these civilian casualties. That's not why the US sells weapons abroad -- for the killing of innocent civilians."
Robert Fisk: Why do they hate the West so much, we will ask Have we forgotten the 17,500 dead ? almost all civilians, most of them children and women ? in Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon; the 1,700 Palestinian civilian dead in the Sabra-Chatila massacre; the 1996 Qana massacre of 106 Lebanese civilian refugees, more than half of them children, at a UN base; the massacre of the Marwahin refugees who were ordered from their homes by the Israelis in 2006 then slaughtered by an Israeli helicopter crew; the 1,000 dead of that same 2006 bombardment and Lebanese invasion, almost all of them civilians?
This article is a beaut - a must read. It details some of Israel's history of lying when it deliberately targets civilian areas.
Keeping Out The Cameras and Reporters Simply Doesn't Work by Robert Fisk On the other hand, the Israelis are so ruthless that the reasons for the ban on journalism may be quite easily explained: that so many Israeli soldiers are going to kill so many innocents - more than three score by last night, and that's only the ones we know about - that images of the slaughter would be too much to tolerate.
UN curbs Gaza aid after trucks hit by Israeli fire The driver of the U.N. truck died immediately; another worker in the truck died later of his wounds. The truck, which came under fire in northern Gaza, was marked with the U.N. flag and insignia.
Jimmy Carter - An Unnecessary War rocket firing was soon stopped and there was an increase in supplies of food, water, medicine and fuel. Yet the increase was to an average of about 20 percent of normal levels. And this fragile truce was partially broken on Nov. 4, when Israel launched an attack in Gaza to destroy a defensive tunnel being dug by Hamas inside the wall that encloses Gaza. Israel, not Hamas, broke the ceasefire.
Norwegian doctor: Israel intentionally targeting civilians "Just a little bit more than an hour ago, the Israelis bombed the central food market in Gaza City and we had a mass influx of about 50 injured and between 10 and 15 killed," said Gilbert, on the phone with Sky News. "At the same time they bombed an apartment house with children playing on the roof and we had a lot of children also. This is really like from Dante's Inferno. It's like hell here now and it's been bombing all night. Up till now, close to 500 people have been killed and the number of casualties is getting to 2, 2 and a half thousand, which 50 percent are children and women."
Israeli army moves into Gaza capital as war toll passes 510 At least 63 Palestinians have been killed by tank shells or missiles fired from warplanes since the ground offensive began on Saturday night, Gaza medics said.
Frustrated reporters locked out of Gaza war zone "Israel has never restricted media access like this before, and it should be ashamed," said Ethan Bronner, The New York Times bureau chief in Jerusalem. "It's betraying the principles by which it claims to live."
Florida House shows support for Israel Led by South Florida Jewish legislators, the Florida House passed a resolution Monday expressing "solidarity" with Israel and its campaign against the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
UPDATED Media Commentary Muted as Israel Invades - 'NYT' Fails to Editorialize Amazingly, the paper has kept that silence going in Sunday's and even Monday's paper, with no editorial or columnist comment on the Israeli invasion -- beyond a hawkish pro-invasion contribution by William Kristol. It's as if the Times is waiting for the invasion to be over and adapt its position to the outocme.
US Senate supports Israel's Gaza incursion The U.S. Senate voiced strong support on Thursday for Israel's battle against Hamas militants in Gaza, while urging a ceasefire that would prevent Hamas from launching any more rockets into Israel. The chamber agreed on a voice vote to the non-binding resolution co-sponsored by Democratic and Republican party leaders in the chamber. Capitol Hill - ANOTHER Israeli-occupied territory.
Turmoil could spark air strike against Iran Iran's open support for Hamas, coupled with US and Israeli accusations that Tehran has supplied it with weapons, could harden Israeli public opinion in favour of military strikes against Iran whose nuclear programme is seen as an "existential" threat to the Jewish state.
Visiting Lutheran bishops call for halt to violence The bishops were invited by the local branch "to come walk with them in this difficult time," Rev. Robert Smith, continental desk director for Europe and the Middle East in the ELCA's department of global mission, told the Chicago Tribune on Monday. "With the decline of Palestinian Christian communities in the land where Jesus was born, died and resurrected, that call is not something we can ignore," Smith said.
Why Not Kill All Gazans?
Pity the Poor Neocons As bloody and grotesque as Israel?s pounding of Gaza has been, it marks a bitterly disappointing end for seven-plus years of neoconservative dominion over U.S. foreign policy, a period that was supposed to conclude with the dismantling of Israel?s Muslim enemies in the region.
YouTube - Ron Paul on Gaza 1-3-09 Ron Paul sticks to the ideals upon which this country was founded - one being not allowing ourselves to get involved in entangling alliances.
Celebrities condemn Israeli attacks on Gaza Singer Annie Lennox led a press conference stating that the television footage of the attacks in Gaza had left her shaken to the core.
Bush's Last War Crime The Israeli invasion of Gaza, launched Saturday, might very well be George W. Bush's last and final war crime. For eight years, Bush has coupled unparalled ignorance of the Middle East with supreme arrogance. It is precisely that deadly combination of ignorance and arrogance that is on display now, as a politically motivated Israeli invasion of Gaza unfolds with the full support of the Bush administration.
Bringing the Arab-Israeli War Home - by Michael Scheuer At some point down the road, every U.S.-taxpayer-funded bomb, artillery shell, and bullet aimed at the Palestinians will yield Americans killed at the hands of al-Qaeda, its allies, or those it inspires in attacks launched in response to U.S. support for Israel. Those Americans will be killed because their political and media leaders ? corrupted to the bone by AIPAC ? have involved them in a religious war that threatens nothing vital to their country's principles or national security, their personal economic well-being, or their children's lives. Michael Scheuer was head of the CIA's Bin Laden unit.
Venezuela Expels Israeli Ambassador Over Gaza "How far will this barbarism go?" Chavez asked on state television before the ambassador's expulsion was announced. "The president of Israel should be taken before an international court together with the president of the United States, if the world had any conscience." Notice how we get lumped in there too. In the eyes of the international community, Israel and America are one and the same (thanks to the efforts of the Israeli lobby - who have made sure Israeli policy becomes US policy).
Herzog calls on US Jews to voice support for Gaza op "Don't be shy," he instructed more than 500 American and Canadian Jewish leaders on a conference call organized the United Jewish Communities and the Jewish Council on Public Affairs Monday. He told them to post blog entries, call radio shows, participate in Internet chat rooms and otherwise make Israel's case to the media. "It's important that people see the Israeli viewpoint."
Israeli army trained in Gaza mock-up The Israeli army spent 18 months training for its ground attack against Gaza on a model of the main city built at a desert army base, a military spokesman said.
Johann Hari The true story behind this war is not the one Israel is telling The Israeli government wants peace, but only one imposed on its own terms, based on the acceptance of defeat by the Palestinians. It means the Israelis can keep the slabs of the West Bank on "their" side of the wall. It means they keep the largest settlements and control the water supply. And it means a divided Palestine, with responsibility for Gaza hived off to Egypt, and the broken-up West Bank standing alone.
Israel in Gaza Irrationality
UPDATE Washington Institute Reports Bigger Role for Ross if the memo is genuine (and I have no doubt that it is) and accurate, Ross? appointment marks a major setback for those who had hoped that Obama might bring some fresh thinking to Middle East policy, particularly vis-a-vis Iran and Israel-Palestine.
Iranian commander says to cut oil sales to Israel's backers An Iranian military commander called on Islamic countries to cut oil exports to Israel's supporters in response to the Jewish state's offensive in Gaza, the official IRNA news agency reported on Sunday.
Media rights group slams Israel's treatment of press in conflict Israel deliberately targeted Hamas-run media installations in its bombing campaign on Gaza and is practising media censorship, a journalist rights group said Monday.
The death and life of my father For Fares Akram, The Independent's reporter in Gaza, the Israeli invasion became a personal tragedy when he discovered his father was one of the first casualties of the ground war
Hezbollah warns Israel not to venture into Lebanon The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah Wednesday warned Israel from venturing into a new attack against Lebanon, saying it would be 'nothing compared to the July 2006 war.'
Jewish women freed after protest at Israeli consulate She said the point of the protest was to draw attention to the fact that not all members of Toronto's Jewish community support the agenda of the Israeli government. "There are Jews that do not follow the Israeli line and are sickened by what is happening in Gaza."
Hamas posters posted at U.S. synagogues Police in California are investigating as hate crimes the posting of anti-Israel and pro-Hamas placards at two synagogues.
Sderot rocket hits near U.S. Jewish leaders The group from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations had arrived just three hours before on a three-day mission to show support for the government and people of the beleaguered south No comment.
Syrian president meets Iran's security chief over Gaza Syrian President Bashar al-Assad held a meeting on Saturday with visiting Secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili over the "dangerous situation" in Gaza Strip, the official SANA news agency reported.
Henry Regnery, Conservative for Mideast Peace people like Debbie Schlussel, who unburdened herself recently of this bit of bloodlust: ?While I want Israel to beat HAMAS, there is only one way to do so?total annihilation of the Palestinians, who are all HAMAS.? Most of the neoconized Right doesn?t put matters quite so bluntly, of course. But follow the logic: they claim that vast civilian casualties are allowed, as long as the IDF only deliberately targets Hamas.
They Lob Chutzpah Bombs Too this is just a press release created by the American Jewish Committee and being passed off by its members as their heartfelt and original opinions.
Israel wounded in propaganda war Governments worldwide have slammed the Israeli military onslaught on the Gaza Strip, with the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, condemning attacks near UN schools that killed dozens and foreign media angry at being kept out of the Palestinian territory.
Gaza will be 'graveyard' for Israeli troops, warns Iran
NYC mayor heads to Israel to 'show his support' Spokesman Andrew Brent said the mayor "is going in order to show his support for Israel." Bloomberg should stay there.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Headlines for 01-03-09
A Stand For Justice
Israeli airstrike kills a top Hamas leader Eighteen other people, including all four of Rayan's wives and nine of his 12 children, also were killed, Palestinian health officials said. A man cradled the burned, limp body of a child he pulled from the rubble
Children among the casualties in Gaza - Israel-Palestinians The United Nations has said the death toll includes 34 children
'Critical emergency' in Gaza after air strike every 20 minutes Much of Gaza's public infrastructure has been destroyed and the territory is in a "critical emergency" after seven days of devastating bombing with air strikes averaging one every 20 minutes, the UN said yesterday.
In Urgent Letter, Amnesty International USA Appeals to Secretary Rice to End 'Lopsided US Response' to Gaza Crisis "Amnesty International USA is particularly dismayed at the lopsided response by the U.S. government to the recent violence and its lackadaisical efforts to ameliorate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza," the human rights organization states in its letter to Secretary Rice.
UN: 25% of those killed in Gaza civilians At least 42 of those killed have been children
Israel imposes general closure on West Bank Israel's defense establishment on Thursday night decided to seal off the West Bank for two days, as the ongoing deadly assaults in Gaza Strip has strained relations between Jews and Arabs.
Israel keeps ban on foreign journalists in Gaza Israel is barring foreign journalists from entering the Gaza Strip despite a Supreme Court decision this week to allow a limited number to enter the territory. There'll be no witnesses to the slaughter.
Shortages Put Gaza's Hospitals on the Brink of Collapse for several months Israel has allowed only limited supplies of humanitarian goods into Gaza and no other imports or exports. That has left Gaza's health system in a state of crisis, according to Physicians for Human Rights, an Israeli group
Israel Rejects Truce Calls, Presses on With Gaza Offensive At least 25 percent of those killed have been civilians, the United Nations said.
Gazans fight cold and hunger as supplies run dry
US blocks UN Security Council action on Gaza The United States late Saturday blocked approval of a U.N. Security Council statement calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel and expressing concern at the escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas.
World must intervene in Gaza, Christian leaders say Christian leaders in Jerusalem called on Tuesday for global intervention to stop the Gaza conflict and urged Israelis and Palestinians to "return to their senses".
Israeli Violates International Humanitarian Law By Prof. Richard Falk
United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
Attacks Condemned as Supplies Dwindle and Deaths Rise While women and children comprise 25 per cent of the fatalities, they make up 40 per cent of the wounded. "Civilians are the targets, they are the victims," said Dr Gilbert.
Israel ordered to allow international media into Gaza
A United States flag defaced with a star of David and a swastika is held during a protest in Rome January 3, 2009
US gets lumped in with Israel thanks to the work of Israel's lobby - which has made us a party in their war against the Arabs, whether or not us taxpayers like it.
Jewish Organisations Call for End to Gaza Bombings rather than unquestioning support of Israel's latest military venture in the decades-long conflict, four major Jewish organizations here are calling for an immediate end to the bombings, and for humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas accuses senior Palestinian aides of spying for Israelis
MSNBC Video: Zbigniew Brzezinski schools Joe Scarborough on the Israeli-Palestinian situation Watch to the very end. Classic!
Gaza secondary war being fought on the internet It is part of an attempt by Israel's political leaders to use the internet to spread their message and has seen the country's Army, the IDF, becoming the first ever national force to set up their own YouTube channel
European protesters urge end to offensive on Gaza Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in European cities on Saturday against Israel's bombardment of Gaza, including protesters who hurled shoes at the tall iron gates outside the British prime minister's residence in London.
Dubai calls off New Year's Eve extravaganza Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of the Gulf state, called off festivities late last night. He said "all public New Year's celebrations" should be stopped "in solidarity with the Palestinian people, who are currently enduring death, suffering and destruction in Gaza".
Bolton's Still Bonkers Having returned to his civilian perch at the American Enterprise Institute, Bolton is now reduced to attempting, unofficially, to precipitate an illegal (under international law) attack by someone ? anyone ? on those Iranian IAEA-Safeguarded facilities. .....Bonkers Bolton goes on to urge Obama to do absolutely the last thing he should do: assist Israel, "should it decide to strike Iran's nuclear facilities"!
Israel Drafts YouTube, Netanyahu to Woo World Opinion on Gaza Israel's public-relations campaign stands in marked contrast to 2006, when spokesmen scrambled to explain the bombardment of Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon and Beirut. The goal this time is to keep international pressure at bay for as long as possible, allowing Israel's military to operate without outside interference. That's why it is up to us ordinary folks - every chance we get - to dispel the BS that is blasting out of the Israeli propaganda machine.
How Hypocrisy on 'Terrorism' Kills
Hezbollah-like tactic used by Hamas against Israel Since taking control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, Hamas has adopted the rocket tactics used by Lebanese Hezbollah, shifting away from its reliance on suicide bombers in attacks on Israel.
Letter to Bush on Gaza Crisis By Ralph Nader
U.S. should stay removed from the Gaza conflict Raimondo believes the Israelis are sending this message to the incoming administration: "The whole point of this exercise in futility - which will not create a single iota of security for Israel, will not topple Hamas, and will not prove any more successful than the second Lebanese war - is to set the terms by which the Israelis will deal with the incoming U.S. president." The Bush administration immediately backed the Israeli action, which only reinforced the political aspects of this incursion
Party to Murder
What will the blowback be The idea that America isn?t implicated, and won?t pay a price, for Tel Aviv?s slaughter of innocents is terribly naive
Recognizing the Recognition Lag In a recent piece I tried to lower the expectations of some of my friends in the reality-based community of foreign policy realists that a President Obama would place the Israel/Palestine issue on the top of his policy agenda.
Present at the Destruction This is just to remind you (in case you?ve forgotten) that we have to thank the Bush Administration for mess in Gaza, and in particular for its decision to push for the election that brought Hamas to power and which then was followed by the decision to punish the Gazans for the outcome of their vote. The major reason why Palestinians elected Hamas in Gaza was because of the corruption of the Fatah party.
If I were Israel's PM. . .
Middle East nations condemn Israel's Gaza invasion
From the ashes of Gaza
Israel, U.S., Arab nations discuss international force for Gaza After a week of Israeli bombardment of the Gaza strip, Israel, Arab countries and the United States are discussing how to create an international force that would safeguard an eventual cease-fire, diplomats said Friday.
Spokesman's Unit hails 'fair' coverage Israel Meanwhile, the IDF has been in regular contact with over 50 major American blogs covering the fighting. 'Fair' = pro-Israel.
Roseanne Barr Israel is a 'Nazi state' Former television star Roseanne Barr has denounced Israel's military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, labeling Israel a "Nazi state." In a post on her personal blog, which appears at her Web site, Roseanne World, the comedienne, who is Jewish, wrote on December 30 that she had planned to travel with pro-Palestinian activists on a protest boat sailing from Cyprus to Gaza.
Roseanne is a very ballsy woman. Tell it like it is.
Robert Fisk: The self delusion that plagues both sides in this bloody conflict the Israelis have usually shown a dangerous propensity to believe their own propaganda. Calling up more than 6,000 reservists and sitting them round the Gaza fence is one thing; sending them into the hovels of Gaza will be quite another. In 2006, Israel claimed it was sending 30,000 troops into Lebanon. In reality, it sent about 3,000 ? and the moment they crossed the border, they were faced down by the Hizbollah. In some cases, Israeli soldiers actually ran back to their own frontier.
Americans Closely Divided Over Israel?s Gaza Attacks Forty-four percent (44%) say Israel should have taken military action against the Palestinians, but 41% say it should have tried to find a diplomatic solution to the problems there, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Protests against Gaza attack sweep across the world
Presidents Conference Silent on Hebron The incidents in Hebron included settlers setting fire to Palestinian-owned olive trees, stoning vehicles and pedestrians, and defacing Muslim graves with the Star of David. A Palestinian father and son were shot (reports on their condition are unavailable).
More Oddities in the U.S. Debate over Israel-Gaza
Minority Arabs seethe as bombing intensifies
Different Strokes by Philip Giraldi Readers of my columns in TAC and at antiwar might recall that I have been inquiring about the status of Israeli spy Ben-Ami Kadish, who was arrested in April and has since fallen into a black hole, with no record of any continuing judicial process and no mention in the MSM
The Huffington Post Israeli-Occupied Territory- by Justin Raimondo When Arianna nabbed $25 million from Oak Investment Partners, of Palo Alto, California, she was acquired by a financial network that also has significant investments in the Israeli arms industry ? an industry, I might add, directly subsidized and controlled by the Israeli government.
Israeli airstrike kills a top Hamas leader Eighteen other people, including all four of Rayan's wives and nine of his 12 children, also were killed, Palestinian health officials said. A man cradled the burned, limp body of a child he pulled from the rubble
Children among the casualties in Gaza - Israel-Palestinians The United Nations has said the death toll includes 34 children
'Critical emergency' in Gaza after air strike every 20 minutes Much of Gaza's public infrastructure has been destroyed and the territory is in a "critical emergency" after seven days of devastating bombing with air strikes averaging one every 20 minutes, the UN said yesterday.
In Urgent Letter, Amnesty International USA Appeals to Secretary Rice to End 'Lopsided US Response' to Gaza Crisis "Amnesty International USA is particularly dismayed at the lopsided response by the U.S. government to the recent violence and its lackadaisical efforts to ameliorate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza," the human rights organization states in its letter to Secretary Rice.
UN: 25% of those killed in Gaza civilians At least 42 of those killed have been children
Israel imposes general closure on West Bank Israel's defense establishment on Thursday night decided to seal off the West Bank for two days, as the ongoing deadly assaults in Gaza Strip has strained relations between Jews and Arabs.
Israel keeps ban on foreign journalists in Gaza Israel is barring foreign journalists from entering the Gaza Strip despite a Supreme Court decision this week to allow a limited number to enter the territory. There'll be no witnesses to the slaughter.
Shortages Put Gaza's Hospitals on the Brink of Collapse for several months Israel has allowed only limited supplies of humanitarian goods into Gaza and no other imports or exports. That has left Gaza's health system in a state of crisis, according to Physicians for Human Rights, an Israeli group
Israel Rejects Truce Calls, Presses on With Gaza Offensive At least 25 percent of those killed have been civilians, the United Nations said.
Gazans fight cold and hunger as supplies run dry
US blocks UN Security Council action on Gaza The United States late Saturday blocked approval of a U.N. Security Council statement calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel and expressing concern at the escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas.
World must intervene in Gaza, Christian leaders say Christian leaders in Jerusalem called on Tuesday for global intervention to stop the Gaza conflict and urged Israelis and Palestinians to "return to their senses".
Israeli Violates International Humanitarian Law By Prof. Richard Falk
United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
Attacks Condemned as Supplies Dwindle and Deaths Rise While women and children comprise 25 per cent of the fatalities, they make up 40 per cent of the wounded. "Civilians are the targets, they are the victims," said Dr Gilbert.
Israel ordered to allow international media into Gaza
A United States flag defaced with a star of David and a swastika is held during a protest in Rome January 3, 2009
US gets lumped in with Israel thanks to the work of Israel's lobby - which has made us a party in their war against the Arabs, whether or not us taxpayers like it.
Jewish Organisations Call for End to Gaza Bombings rather than unquestioning support of Israel's latest military venture in the decades-long conflict, four major Jewish organizations here are calling for an immediate end to the bombings, and for humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas accuses senior Palestinian aides of spying for Israelis
MSNBC Video: Zbigniew Brzezinski schools Joe Scarborough on the Israeli-Palestinian situation Watch to the very end. Classic!
Gaza secondary war being fought on the internet It is part of an attempt by Israel's political leaders to use the internet to spread their message and has seen the country's Army, the IDF, becoming the first ever national force to set up their own YouTube channel
European protesters urge end to offensive on Gaza Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in European cities on Saturday against Israel's bombardment of Gaza, including protesters who hurled shoes at the tall iron gates outside the British prime minister's residence in London.
Dubai calls off New Year's Eve extravaganza Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of the Gulf state, called off festivities late last night. He said "all public New Year's celebrations" should be stopped "in solidarity with the Palestinian people, who are currently enduring death, suffering and destruction in Gaza".
Bolton's Still Bonkers Having returned to his civilian perch at the American Enterprise Institute, Bolton is now reduced to attempting, unofficially, to precipitate an illegal (under international law) attack by someone ? anyone ? on those Iranian IAEA-Safeguarded facilities. .....Bonkers Bolton goes on to urge Obama to do absolutely the last thing he should do: assist Israel, "should it decide to strike Iran's nuclear facilities"!
Israel Drafts YouTube, Netanyahu to Woo World Opinion on Gaza Israel's public-relations campaign stands in marked contrast to 2006, when spokesmen scrambled to explain the bombardment of Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon and Beirut. The goal this time is to keep international pressure at bay for as long as possible, allowing Israel's military to operate without outside interference. That's why it is up to us ordinary folks - every chance we get - to dispel the BS that is blasting out of the Israeli propaganda machine.
How Hypocrisy on 'Terrorism' Kills
Hezbollah-like tactic used by Hamas against Israel Since taking control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, Hamas has adopted the rocket tactics used by Lebanese Hezbollah, shifting away from its reliance on suicide bombers in attacks on Israel.
Letter to Bush on Gaza Crisis By Ralph Nader
U.S. should stay removed from the Gaza conflict Raimondo believes the Israelis are sending this message to the incoming administration: "The whole point of this exercise in futility - which will not create a single iota of security for Israel, will not topple Hamas, and will not prove any more successful than the second Lebanese war - is to set the terms by which the Israelis will deal with the incoming U.S. president." The Bush administration immediately backed the Israeli action, which only reinforced the political aspects of this incursion
Party to Murder
What will the blowback be The idea that America isn?t implicated, and won?t pay a price, for Tel Aviv?s slaughter of innocents is terribly naive
Recognizing the Recognition Lag In a recent piece I tried to lower the expectations of some of my friends in the reality-based community of foreign policy realists that a President Obama would place the Israel/Palestine issue on the top of his policy agenda.
Present at the Destruction This is just to remind you (in case you?ve forgotten) that we have to thank the Bush Administration for mess in Gaza, and in particular for its decision to push for the election that brought Hamas to power and which then was followed by the decision to punish the Gazans for the outcome of their vote. The major reason why Palestinians elected Hamas in Gaza was because of the corruption of the Fatah party.
If I were Israel's PM. . .
Middle East nations condemn Israel's Gaza invasion
From the ashes of Gaza
Israel, U.S., Arab nations discuss international force for Gaza After a week of Israeli bombardment of the Gaza strip, Israel, Arab countries and the United States are discussing how to create an international force that would safeguard an eventual cease-fire, diplomats said Friday.
Spokesman's Unit hails 'fair' coverage Israel Meanwhile, the IDF has been in regular contact with over 50 major American blogs covering the fighting. 'Fair' = pro-Israel.
Roseanne Barr Israel is a 'Nazi state' Former television star Roseanne Barr has denounced Israel's military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, labeling Israel a "Nazi state." In a post on her personal blog, which appears at her Web site, Roseanne World, the comedienne, who is Jewish, wrote on December 30 that she had planned to travel with pro-Palestinian activists on a protest boat sailing from Cyprus to Gaza.
Roseanne is a very ballsy woman. Tell it like it is.
Robert Fisk: The self delusion that plagues both sides in this bloody conflict the Israelis have usually shown a dangerous propensity to believe their own propaganda. Calling up more than 6,000 reservists and sitting them round the Gaza fence is one thing; sending them into the hovels of Gaza will be quite another. In 2006, Israel claimed it was sending 30,000 troops into Lebanon. In reality, it sent about 3,000 ? and the moment they crossed the border, they were faced down by the Hizbollah. In some cases, Israeli soldiers actually ran back to their own frontier.
Americans Closely Divided Over Israel?s Gaza Attacks Forty-four percent (44%) say Israel should have taken military action against the Palestinians, but 41% say it should have tried to find a diplomatic solution to the problems there, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Protests against Gaza attack sweep across the world
Presidents Conference Silent on Hebron The incidents in Hebron included settlers setting fire to Palestinian-owned olive trees, stoning vehicles and pedestrians, and defacing Muslim graves with the Star of David. A Palestinian father and son were shot (reports on their condition are unavailable).
More Oddities in the U.S. Debate over Israel-Gaza
Minority Arabs seethe as bombing intensifies
Different Strokes by Philip Giraldi Readers of my columns in TAC and at antiwar might recall that I have been inquiring about the status of Israeli spy Ben-Ami Kadish, who was arrested in April and has since fallen into a black hole, with no record of any continuing judicial process and no mention in the MSM
The Huffington Post Israeli-Occupied Territory- by Justin Raimondo When Arianna nabbed $25 million from Oak Investment Partners, of Palo Alto, California, she was acquired by a financial network that also has significant investments in the Israeli arms industry ? an industry, I might add, directly subsidized and controlled by the Israeli government.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Headlines for 12-31-08
A Stand For Justice
Israeli airstrikes kill dozens of Gaza civilians The United Nations reported that at least 62 of the dead were women and children, and medics said eight children under the age of 17 were killed in overnight strikes.
Three Palestinian brothers Sidki, 8, Ahmad, 12, and Mohammed Absi, 14, (no left-right available) who were killed in an Israeli missile strike, during their funeral in Rafah refugee camp
Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories: End Unlawful Attack and Meet Gaza's Emergency Needs Palestinian civilians remain at risk of being killed or injured in the Israeli air strikes and are increasingly lacking adequate medical care food, medicines, electricity, water and other necessities, Amnesty International said today after three days of the Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip in which more than 300 Palestinians have been killed.
Kucinich Calls For Independent UN Inquiry on Gaza Israeli government attacks civilians in violation of international law
China calls for immediate halt to Gaza attacks China said it is shocked by Israel's attack on Gaza and has called for an immediate halt to the military campaign that has killed nearly 300 people.
Civilian Death Toll Rises After Second Day of Air Strikes Chris Gunness, a spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency, which supports Palestinian refugees and feeds 750,000 Gazans, called for an inquiry into the attack. "Grave question marks hang over this killing ... There must be an investigation and the facts must get out. There must be accountability."
Cynthia McKinney Relief Boat Hit by Israeli Ship CommonDreams.org.url The boat was in international waters at the time (as was the case of the USS Liberty when Israel attacked).
Britain and US refuse to demand end to Israeli airstrikes on Gaza Britain and the United States were on a collision course with their European allies last night after refusing to call for an end to Israeli airstrikes on Hamas targets in Gaza.
UN official says Israel attacked during lull "What we understood here (was) that there was a 48-hour lull to be called, and this was called by the Israelis," Abu Zayd said. "They said they would wait 48 hours. That was on Friday morning, I believe, until Sunday morning, and that they were going to evaluate."
Arab outrage over Gaza carnage targets Egypt Embarrassing for Egyptian officials, Mubarak met with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni only a day before Israel launched its assault, and the foreign minister ? though he urged Israel to show restraint ? was photographed smiling and shaking hands with her at a news conference.
Protesters worldwide keep up pressure over Gaza In Washington, between 2,500 and 5,000 people protested outside the US State Department chanting slogans like "Stop the Killing, Stop the War, Stop the Genocide of Palestinians" and with some carrying banners saying "Stop US Aid to Israel"....At a separate demonstration attended by around 100 protesters in Westwood, actor Mike Farrell, a star of the hit 1970s television series "MASH", said he was "one of those people horrified by Israel's over-response."
Foreign journalists demand Gaza access Israel's supreme court will hear a petition tomorrow brought by the Foreign Press Association, which represents around 400 foreign journalists, demanding that Israel allow reporters into Gaza to cover the latest conflict.
'Israeli air strikes represent massive violations of international law' Written by Professor Richard Falk, United Nations Special Investigator for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
Clueless in Gaza by Philip Giraldi Is this a deliberate attempt to create a widening conflict that will draw in Iran among other players?
The Gaza Blitz by Patrick J. Buchanan For us to remain silent in the face of this comports neither with our interests or our values. Israel's policy of withholding from the weak and innocent of Gaza, women and children, the necessities of life, to punish the guilty who rule at the point of a gun, is a policy that Obama should declare the United States will no longer support with tax dollars.
Britain slams 'unacceptable' loss of life in Gaza Britain renewed its call on Monday for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants, while lamenting the "unacceptable" loss of innocent lives as Israeli strikes in Gaza continued for a third day.
UN chief urges end to 'unacceptable' Gaza violence "The suffering caused to civilian populations as a result of the large-scale violence and destruction that have taken place over the past few days has saddened me profoundly."
Egypt accused of 'deceiving' Hamas London-based newspaper quotes sources who say Egyptian intelligence minister deliberately misled Palestinian organization about IDF intentions; Hamas sources say this is why movement's compounds were not evacuated
World Powers Call for End to Gaza Fighting
Gaza: Where Civilians Become Targets Israel's spokespersons may constantly repeat that these attacks are "targeted", but targeted attacks don't kill this many civilians. They don't destroy and cause chaos and panic in entirely residential areas. If we accept - by silence or without questioning - that anything and everyone can be defined as "terrorist infrastructure", then we are designating all civilians in Gaza as being targets. And the targeting continues.
UN official says Israel responsible for breaking truce with Gaza
IAF uses new US-supplied smart bomb The Israel Air Force used a new bunker-buster missile that it received recently from the United States in strikes against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, The Jerusalem Post learned on Sunday.
Pelosi US must stand strongly with Israel Pelosi should speak for herself.
An Israeli War Crimes Tribunal (ICTI) May be the Only Deterrent to a Global War The establishment of ICTI would provide some small degree of justice to the victims of Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against the Peoples of Lebanon and Palestine--just as the ICTY has done in the Balkans
Obama Adviser Aligns with White House in Criticism of Rocket Attacks on Israel Before running for president, he provoked suspicion among Israelis and some US Jewish groups when he expressed sympathy for the plight of the Palestinians. But after winning the Democratic nomination earlier this year he veered in the other direction, voicing strong support for Israel in a speech in Washington to the Israeli lobby group Aipac.
Next EU president supports Israeli op The Czech Republic, which takes over the European Union's presidency on January 1, defended Israel's strikes against Hamas on Tuesday.
Neocons, NYT Demand More War, Torture - by Philip Giraldi It is astonishing that the New York Times would even print a piece advocating torture, but the article is just one more indication of the access that the neocons have to the nation's editorial pages.
Lights Out in Gaza, News Blackout in US Despite international outcry over escalating violence, the U.S. mainstream media continues to privilege a prepackaged narrative in which Israel's actions are never disproportionate, never counterproductive and certainly never gratuitous
Leaders Lie, Civilians Die, and Lessons of History are Ignored by Robert Fisk Ever since 1948, we've been hearing this balderdash from the Israelis - just as Arab nationalists and then Arab Islamists have been peddling their own lies: that the Zionist "death wagon" will be overthrown, that all Jerusalem will be "liberated". And always Mr Bush Snr or Mr Clinton or Mr Bush Jnr or Mr Blair or Mr Brown have called upon both sides to exercise "restraint" - as if the Palestinians and the Israelis both have F-18s and Merkava tanks and field artillery.
Israeli intensifies PR campaign to gain int'l sympathy for Gaza operation On Sunday, Livni and other officials gave interviews in English and Arabic to various international news stations.
Ex-U.S. Army engineer Kadish pleads guilty to spying for Israel An 85-year-old former U.S. Army engineer on Tuesday admitted he passed classified documents to the Israelis in the 1970s and 1980s. Kadish said he believes he was promised that the government will not seek imprisonment at his February sentencing. Assistant U.S. Attorney Iris Lan said prosecutors promised only that they would not oppose or challenge a sentence that included no prison time.
Turkey ends Israel-Syria peace effort over Gaza Turkey said on Monday it was ending efforts to organise peace talks between Israel and Syria because of the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Gaza Day Two The Israeli analyst Daniel Levy reminds us why we shouldn?t be indifferent to Israel?s air attacks (with American weapons) on defenseless Palestinians in Gaza.
Hezbollah watches for now as Israel hits Hamas
Schooling Scarborough Guest Zbigniew Brzezinski skewers Joe Scarborough's "stunningly superficial knowledge" of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in this remarkable clip
George Washington's warnings and U.S. policy towards Israel Americans shouldn't be in the position of endlessly debating Israel's security situation and its endless religious and territorial conflicts with its neighbors. That should be for Israeli citizens to do, not for Americans. But that distinction -- between the U.S. and Israel -- barely exists because our political leaders have all but eliminated it, and have thus imposed on U.S. citizens responsibility for the acts of Israel. In doing so, they have systematically ignored the unbelievably prescient warnings issued by George Washington in his 1796 Farewell Address, and have thereby provoked exactly the dangers he decried Against the insidious wiles... I conjure you to believe me fellow citizens..
When Make Believe Makes Us Believe That rhetorical bet of last July is now being called, before the president-elect has even sat at the table in earnest, as sanction for a gruesomely disproportionate military response leveled upon an all but powerless adversary.
White House Presser Live From Crawford ?Let?s be careful about how we are assessing the numbers coming out of Gaza? ? White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe in response to press question regarding Palestinian civilian casualties in the Israeli bombardment.
A spy goes to work for a thinktank the Middle East Forum has hired Steve Rosen, once the head of policy development for the America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Rosen is accused of stealing highly classified information from the U.S. government and passing it on to Israeli government officials.
World Rallies Around Palestinians Amid Gaza Offensive
Iranian official Israeli offensive in Gaza similar to Hitler's actions A senior Iranian Parliament member compared the Israel Air Force strikes in the Gaza Strip to Adolf Hitler's actions during World War II.
Israeli airstrikes kill dozens of Gaza civilians The United Nations reported that at least 62 of the dead were women and children, and medics said eight children under the age of 17 were killed in overnight strikes.
Three Palestinian brothers Sidki, 8, Ahmad, 12, and Mohammed Absi, 14, (no left-right available) who were killed in an Israeli missile strike, during their funeral in Rafah refugee camp
Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories: End Unlawful Attack and Meet Gaza's Emergency Needs Palestinian civilians remain at risk of being killed or injured in the Israeli air strikes and are increasingly lacking adequate medical care food, medicines, electricity, water and other necessities, Amnesty International said today after three days of the Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip in which more than 300 Palestinians have been killed.
Kucinich Calls For Independent UN Inquiry on Gaza Israeli government attacks civilians in violation of international law
China calls for immediate halt to Gaza attacks China said it is shocked by Israel's attack on Gaza and has called for an immediate halt to the military campaign that has killed nearly 300 people.
Civilian Death Toll Rises After Second Day of Air Strikes Chris Gunness, a spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency, which supports Palestinian refugees and feeds 750,000 Gazans, called for an inquiry into the attack. "Grave question marks hang over this killing ... There must be an investigation and the facts must get out. There must be accountability."
Cynthia McKinney Relief Boat Hit by Israeli Ship CommonDreams.org.url The boat was in international waters at the time (as was the case of the USS Liberty when Israel attacked).
Britain and US refuse to demand end to Israeli airstrikes on Gaza Britain and the United States were on a collision course with their European allies last night after refusing to call for an end to Israeli airstrikes on Hamas targets in Gaza.
UN official says Israel attacked during lull "What we understood here (was) that there was a 48-hour lull to be called, and this was called by the Israelis," Abu Zayd said. "They said they would wait 48 hours. That was on Friday morning, I believe, until Sunday morning, and that they were going to evaluate."
Arab outrage over Gaza carnage targets Egypt Embarrassing for Egyptian officials, Mubarak met with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni only a day before Israel launched its assault, and the foreign minister ? though he urged Israel to show restraint ? was photographed smiling and shaking hands with her at a news conference.
Protesters worldwide keep up pressure over Gaza In Washington, between 2,500 and 5,000 people protested outside the US State Department chanting slogans like "Stop the Killing, Stop the War, Stop the Genocide of Palestinians" and with some carrying banners saying "Stop US Aid to Israel"....At a separate demonstration attended by around 100 protesters in Westwood, actor Mike Farrell, a star of the hit 1970s television series "MASH", said he was "one of those people horrified by Israel's over-response."
Foreign journalists demand Gaza access Israel's supreme court will hear a petition tomorrow brought by the Foreign Press Association, which represents around 400 foreign journalists, demanding that Israel allow reporters into Gaza to cover the latest conflict.
'Israeli air strikes represent massive violations of international law' Written by Professor Richard Falk, United Nations Special Investigator for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
Clueless in Gaza by Philip Giraldi Is this a deliberate attempt to create a widening conflict that will draw in Iran among other players?
The Gaza Blitz by Patrick J. Buchanan For us to remain silent in the face of this comports neither with our interests or our values. Israel's policy of withholding from the weak and innocent of Gaza, women and children, the necessities of life, to punish the guilty who rule at the point of a gun, is a policy that Obama should declare the United States will no longer support with tax dollars.
Britain slams 'unacceptable' loss of life in Gaza Britain renewed its call on Monday for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants, while lamenting the "unacceptable" loss of innocent lives as Israeli strikes in Gaza continued for a third day.
UN chief urges end to 'unacceptable' Gaza violence "The suffering caused to civilian populations as a result of the large-scale violence and destruction that have taken place over the past few days has saddened me profoundly."
Egypt accused of 'deceiving' Hamas London-based newspaper quotes sources who say Egyptian intelligence minister deliberately misled Palestinian organization about IDF intentions; Hamas sources say this is why movement's compounds were not evacuated
World Powers Call for End to Gaza Fighting
Gaza: Where Civilians Become Targets Israel's spokespersons may constantly repeat that these attacks are "targeted", but targeted attacks don't kill this many civilians. They don't destroy and cause chaos and panic in entirely residential areas. If we accept - by silence or without questioning - that anything and everyone can be defined as "terrorist infrastructure", then we are designating all civilians in Gaza as being targets. And the targeting continues.
UN official says Israel responsible for breaking truce with Gaza
IAF uses new US-supplied smart bomb The Israel Air Force used a new bunker-buster missile that it received recently from the United States in strikes against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, The Jerusalem Post learned on Sunday.
Pelosi US must stand strongly with Israel Pelosi should speak for herself.
An Israeli War Crimes Tribunal (ICTI) May be the Only Deterrent to a Global War The establishment of ICTI would provide some small degree of justice to the victims of Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against the Peoples of Lebanon and Palestine--just as the ICTY has done in the Balkans
Obama Adviser Aligns with White House in Criticism of Rocket Attacks on Israel Before running for president, he provoked suspicion among Israelis and some US Jewish groups when he expressed sympathy for the plight of the Palestinians. But after winning the Democratic nomination earlier this year he veered in the other direction, voicing strong support for Israel in a speech in Washington to the Israeli lobby group Aipac.
Next EU president supports Israeli op The Czech Republic, which takes over the European Union's presidency on January 1, defended Israel's strikes against Hamas on Tuesday.
Neocons, NYT Demand More War, Torture - by Philip Giraldi It is astonishing that the New York Times would even print a piece advocating torture, but the article is just one more indication of the access that the neocons have to the nation's editorial pages.
Lights Out in Gaza, News Blackout in US Despite international outcry over escalating violence, the U.S. mainstream media continues to privilege a prepackaged narrative in which Israel's actions are never disproportionate, never counterproductive and certainly never gratuitous
Leaders Lie, Civilians Die, and Lessons of History are Ignored by Robert Fisk Ever since 1948, we've been hearing this balderdash from the Israelis - just as Arab nationalists and then Arab Islamists have been peddling their own lies: that the Zionist "death wagon" will be overthrown, that all Jerusalem will be "liberated". And always Mr Bush Snr or Mr Clinton or Mr Bush Jnr or Mr Blair or Mr Brown have called upon both sides to exercise "restraint" - as if the Palestinians and the Israelis both have F-18s and Merkava tanks and field artillery.
Israeli intensifies PR campaign to gain int'l sympathy for Gaza operation On Sunday, Livni and other officials gave interviews in English and Arabic to various international news stations.
Ex-U.S. Army engineer Kadish pleads guilty to spying for Israel An 85-year-old former U.S. Army engineer on Tuesday admitted he passed classified documents to the Israelis in the 1970s and 1980s. Kadish said he believes he was promised that the government will not seek imprisonment at his February sentencing. Assistant U.S. Attorney Iris Lan said prosecutors promised only that they would not oppose or challenge a sentence that included no prison time.
Turkey ends Israel-Syria peace effort over Gaza Turkey said on Monday it was ending efforts to organise peace talks between Israel and Syria because of the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Gaza Day Two The Israeli analyst Daniel Levy reminds us why we shouldn?t be indifferent to Israel?s air attacks (with American weapons) on defenseless Palestinians in Gaza.
Hezbollah watches for now as Israel hits Hamas
Schooling Scarborough Guest Zbigniew Brzezinski skewers Joe Scarborough's "stunningly superficial knowledge" of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in this remarkable clip
George Washington's warnings and U.S. policy towards Israel Americans shouldn't be in the position of endlessly debating Israel's security situation and its endless religious and territorial conflicts with its neighbors. That should be for Israeli citizens to do, not for Americans. But that distinction -- between the U.S. and Israel -- barely exists because our political leaders have all but eliminated it, and have thus imposed on U.S. citizens responsibility for the acts of Israel. In doing so, they have systematically ignored the unbelievably prescient warnings issued by George Washington in his 1796 Farewell Address, and have thereby provoked exactly the dangers he decried Against the insidious wiles... I conjure you to believe me fellow citizens..
When Make Believe Makes Us Believe That rhetorical bet of last July is now being called, before the president-elect has even sat at the table in earnest, as sanction for a gruesomely disproportionate military response leveled upon an all but powerless adversary.
White House Presser Live From Crawford ?Let?s be careful about how we are assessing the numbers coming out of Gaza? ? White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe in response to press question regarding Palestinian civilian casualties in the Israeli bombardment.
A spy goes to work for a thinktank the Middle East Forum has hired Steve Rosen, once the head of policy development for the America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Rosen is accused of stealing highly classified information from the U.S. government and passing it on to Israeli government officials.
World Rallies Around Palestinians Amid Gaza Offensive
Iranian official Israeli offensive in Gaza similar to Hitler's actions A senior Iranian Parliament member compared the Israel Air Force strikes in the Gaza Strip to Adolf Hitler's actions during World War II.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Headlines for 10-01-08 - 12-28-08
I'm back in the ring to take another swing. A Stand For Justice
Israel troops kill 14yo near settlement
Israel 'using food and medicines as weapons' Israel is collectively punishing innocent civilians by withholding and controlling food and medicine to Gaza, says Christian Aid.
Palestinian Group says Israelis Killed 68 Children in Gaza In Year Many of the deaths resulted from an Israeli military incursion into Jabaliya, in eastern Gaza, in late February and early March, in which more than 100 Palestinians, at least half of them civilians, died in what Israel said was an operation to stop rockets being fired into southern Israeli towns.
Gaza power plant shuts down Gaza's sole power plant has shut down because Israel will not allow the importation of replacement parts needed for urgent repairs, an official in the impoverished Palestinian territory's energy authority said on Tuesday
Israel continues starvation of Gazans despite UN pleas Notwithstanding 56% of the 1.5 million Gazan population consists of children, Israel has shut down access to the region refusing to allow desperately needed food trucks to reach their destination.
UN: Gaza on Brink of Humanitarian Disaster Gaza faces a humanitarian "catastrophe" if Israel continues to prevent aid reaching the territory by blocking crossing points, the head of the main U.N. aid agency for the Palestinians said on Friday.
UN: Israel Violating Law in Gaza The United Nations' top human rights official says the Israeli blockade of Gaza is depriving Palestinians of their most basic human rights.
Chronic malnutrition in Gaza blamed on Israel The Israeli blockade of Gaza has led to a steady rise in chronic malnutrition among the 1.5 million people living in the strip, according to a leaked report from the Red Cross. Nazis, what comes to mind after reading this article.
Israeli Blockade Worsens Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza, Charges Amnesty International "Israel's latest tightening of its blockade has made an already dire humanitarian situation markedly worse. This is nothing short of collective punishment on Gaza's civilian population and it must stop immediately," said Philip Luther, deputy director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Program
UN suspends food distribution in Gaza The United Nations announced it was suspending food distribution to half of Gaza's 1.5 million people on Thursday after Israel failed to allow emergency supplies into the Palestinian territory.
Gaza residents 'terribly trapped' A former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, has told the BBC she was taken aback by the "terrible" conditions in Gaza on a recent visit.
Gaza Militants Pound Southern Israel With Rockets After Raid Kills Six
Iran Resolution Shelved in Rare Defeat for 'Israel Lobby' In a significant and highly unusual defeat for the so-called 'Israel Lobby', the Democratic leadership of the House of Representatives has decided to shelve a long-pending, albeit non-binding, resolution that called for President George W. Bush to launch what critics called a blockade against Iran.
Israel Asked US for Green Light to Bomb Nuclear Sites in Iran Bush's decision to refuse to offer any support for a strike on Iran appeared to be based on two factors, the sources said. One was US concern over Iran's likely retaliation, which would probably include a wave of attacks on US military and other personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as on shipping in the Persian Gulf. Wow. Did our interests actually prevail? Course, it isn't over yet. Bush is still in office.
Top UN official: Israel's policies are like apartheid of bygone era United Nations General Assembly President Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann on Monday likened Israel's policies toward the Palestinians to South Africa's treatment of blacks under apartheid. Tell it like it is.
Desmond Tutu Israeli Shelling in Gaza May Be War Crime Desmond Tutu, the South African Nobel laureate, said yesterday there was a "possibility" Israel had committed a war crime when 18 Palestinians from a single family were killed by Israeli artillery shells in Gaza two years ago.
EuCom deploys radar, troops to Israel U.S. European Command has deployed to Israel a high-powered X-band radar and the supporting people and equipment needed for coordinated defense against Iranian missile attack, marking the first permanent U.S. military presence on Israeli soil.
Former US admiral says to Israel Don't fear Iran "They are not nearly as strong as their rhetoric indicates," Fallon said of Iran....He also dismissed Iran's calls to destroy Israel as nothing more than rhetoric.
Gaza families eat grass as Israel locks border
Hamas throws in the towel on Gaza cease-fire Although violence and casualties dropped sharply during the cease-fire, neither side was satisfied. Hamas complained that Israel allowed far less than the promised restoration of cross-border deliveries to mid-2007 levels. The United Nations and other outside observers supported this assertion and accused Israel of inflicting collective punishment on Gaza's civilian population.
International experts slam Israel over Gaza blockade "We strongly protest the decision by the Israeli authorities to deny entry permits to 120 international academics and concerned professionals" who had been invited to attend the "Siege and Mental Health, Walls vs. Bridges" conference originally scheduled in Gaza City, said Professor Alice Rothschild from U.S. Harvard University at a press conference.
Britain urges Israel to halt settlements "Continued settlement construction threatens the goal of a two-state solution to which the Israeli government itself is committed," British Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Bill Rammell told reporters in Amman.
Israel angered by UK settlements move Britain has been accused of anti-Semitism by a hardline Israeli MP because Britons are to be warned against buying property in settlements in Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. An advisory, to be posted on the Foreign Office website, is to refer to settlements in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Golan Heights, all areas occupied by Israel during the 1967 Middle East war.
Israel eases Gaza blockade temporarily Monday, Israel let in more than 30 trucks laden with basic food and medical supplies as well as a limited amount of industrial diesel to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. It allowed delivery of diesel for Gaza's only power plant through a pipeline.
Israel demolishes four houses in Arab east Jerusalem
Israeli shooting wounds Palestinian schoolgirl in Gaza A Palestinian schoolgirl was injured on Monday when Israeli forces opened fire at her school and the surrounding farms in southeast Gaza Strip, witnesses and medical sources said.
Attack on Iran Off the Table It is a curious twist, but to their great credit our senior military officers, Admiral William Fallon, who quit rather than let himself be on the receiving end of an order to attack Iran, and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, fought and continue to fight a rear-guard action against the dreams and plans of "the crazies" in the White House to attack Iran......From the Israeli press we know that Mullen went so far as to warn his Israeli counterparts not to even think about another incident like the one on June 8, 1967, when Israeli jets and torpedo boats deliberately did their utmost to sink the intelligence collector, USS Liberty, off the Sinai coast. For Mullen a gutsy move. The Israelis know that Mullen knows that that attack was deliberate-not some sort of unfortunate mistake.
Jewish settlers in Hebron shoot Palestinian men The film, recorded by a Palestinian resident in Hebron, shows settlers attacking his house, which was in a valley close to the three-storey building where dozens of settlers were evicted by Israeli riot police. In the hours after the eviction, Jewish settlers rioted in Hebron, throwing stones at police and Palestinians and setting fire to Palestinian trees and attacking Palestinian homes
Iran - an attack is still possible What happened between Passover and Rosh Hashanah? The U.S. administration made it clear to Israel that it objects to an attack on Iran. The possibility that the United States itself will attack Iran appears to be negligible, in light of the severe economic crisis and American military entanglement in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Israelis won't ease Gaza blockade Israel yesterday stood by its decision to shut cargo crossings into the Gaza Strip, brushing off pleas to ease the blockade from United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon.
Palestinian couple evicted from home of 50 years as Jerusalem settlers move in Israeli police have evicted a disabled Palestinian man and his wife from their home of 52 years in a Palestinian district surrounded by settlers.
Israel warns Obama against dialogue with Iran Asked if she supported any US dialogue with Iran, Ms Livni replied: "The answer is no."
Israel blocks foreign media from Gaza
The Real Goal of Israel's Blockade There are likely to be few witnesses to Gaza?s descent into a dark and hungry winter. In the past week, all journalists were refused access to Gaza, as were a group of senior European diplomats. Days earlier, dozens of academics and doctors due to attend a conference to assess the damage done to Gazans? mental health were also turned back.
Official: Israel prevents 15 medicine-laden trucks into Gaza The ceasefire was declared effective in the Gaza Strip on June 19, which calls on Israel to loosen the leash of the coastal enclave in exchange for an end of Palestinians rocket attacks against the Jewish state.
As this went on (Israel's denial of aid to the Gaza strip) and the resulting breakdown of the ceasefire of the past week- at least now you know why. That ceasefire was contingent on Israel's loosening of the Gaza blockade. Evidently, Israel did not uphold its part of the bargain. Not surprising.
Israeli tanks rumble into Gaza, raze farmlands Israeli tanks pushed into the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, drawing mortar fire from Palestinian militants and intensifying violence that has chipped away at a tenuous cease-fire.
US Puts Pressure on Israel to Refrain from Attacks Washington's concerns are not limited to the possibility of Israel attacking Iran, the sources say; U.S. officials have also cautioned Israelis against launching a ground assault inside the besieged Palestinian territory of Gaza in a bid to stop militants there from firing rockets into southern Israel. I guess that didn't work, huh?
Egypt court says aid must be allowed into Gaza Despite an Israeli economic blockade in place to limit traffic to and from the Gaza Strip, an Egyptian court has ruled that Cairo must allow humanitarian aid and supplies to enter Gaza via the Rafah Border Crossing.
Top media executives protest Israel's ban on journalists' entry to Gaza Those signing the letter included Associated Press Chief Executive and President Tom Curley, Reuters Editor-in-Chief David Schlesinger, New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller, ABC News President David Westin, BBC News Director Helen Boaden and other top executives from CNN, the Canadian TV network CTV, the German broadcaster ZDF, and the French news service Agence France Presse.
"We are gravely concerned about the prolonged and unprecedented denial of access to the Gaza Strip for the international media," they wrote in the letter to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Palestinian Photojournalist Attacked in West Bank Jewish settlers attacked a Palestinian photographer who was taking pictures of Palestinian farmers picking olives in the West Bank on Saturday.
Candidate Biden U.S., Israel Joined at the Hip America's security is directly tied to Israel's, said U.S. Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) last Friday during a stop in Philadelphia. ....."Israel is our ally. If Israel did not exist, we'd have to invent it for our own national security." Abject bullshit.
Obama to offer Israel nuclear umbrella report the Haaretz daily said Washington would pledge under the proposed "nuclear umbrella" to respond to any Iranian nuclear strike against Israel with a U.S. retaliation in kind.
Bush America will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon Transportation Minister and Kadima MK Shaul Mofaz also gave a speech at the Saban Center Friday, where he said a nuclear Iran is not an option and Israel won't allow a second Holocaust
Iran says Israeli partners in war to be punished Chairman of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Seyyed Mohammad Hejazi said that Iran would punish Israel's assistants in the war against the country
IDF troops film themselves humiliating bound Palestinian Channel 10 on Thursday released footage taken by Israel Defense Forces soldiers of themselves humiliating a bound and blindfolded Palestinian man at a West Bank checkpoint.
IDF Killed Wanted Palestinians Despite Court Guidelines, Documents Show The documents reveal that the IDF approved assassinations in the West Bank even when it could have been possible to arrest the targets instead, and that top-ranking army officers authorized the killings in advance, in writing, even if innocent bystanders would be killed as well.
'Israeli extremists using the Sabbath to terrorise Arabs'
US officer warns Israel not to hit Iran "But it would not be the right thing to do, it will open up another front and this is not going to help the situation in the region, Iraq or Afghanistan," said the officer. "A diplomatic solution is the only logical answer."
The global triumph of Obamamania As Americans flocked to the polls, Israeli soldiers punched into the Gaza Strip where they fought Hamas militants in the first deadly battle since the two sides agreed to a six-month cease-fire in June.
A Nuclear Umbrella by Philip Giraldi The Israeli left-of-center newspaper Haaretz is reporting that the Obama administration will offer Israel a ?nuclear umbrella? which will consist of a strategic agreement whereby Washington will carry out a devastating nuclear attack on Iran if the Mullahs use a nuclear weapon to attack Israel.
Scottish Activist Films Israeli Navy Shooting At Gaza Fishermen A SCOTTISH human rights activist has filmed the Israeli navy firing machine guns at unarmed Palestinian fishing boats in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of the Gaza Strip.
UN envoy slams Israel's Palestinian house demolition The UN special envoy to the Middle East on Saturday expressed alarm at Israel's resumption of Palestinian house demolition in the occupied West Bank, warning it undermined peace efforts.
Robert Serry "is alarmed by the recent resumption of house demolitions in the West Bank after a freeze dating back to April this year," his office said.
UN panel demands Israel lift Gaza blockade, free Palestinian prisoners The 47-member-state Council adopted its list of 99 recommendations by consensus at the end of a two-day review of Israel's human rights record
UN agency warns of food shortage in Gaza due to Israeli blockade A UN agency in Gaza warned on Sunday that food aid would run out within the coming couple of days due to the ongoing Israeli tight blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip for a month
Israel Bars Credible Observers from Gaza The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay last week lambasted the Israeli government for detaining and expelling a human rights expert, Richard Falk, who was on a U.N.-mandated assignment to probe the human rights situation in the occupied territories.
Olmert slams 'pogrom', Palestinians still fearful His latest remarks were among his strongest yet. They follow the broadcasting of video apparently showing a settler shooting and wounding Palestinians, as well as stone-throwing and other violence across the West Bank, including the torching of olive groves, which Palestinians leaders described as "waging war".
UN Rights Investigator Expelled by Israel Mr. Falk, a professor of international law at Princeton, has the title of United Nations Human Rights Council special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories. He has long been criticized in Israel for what many Israelis say are unfair and unpalatable views.
Ahmadinejad accepts Israel's right to exist the story wasn't picked up by the world's media.
Video Jewish settlers shoot Palestinian men following Hebron evictions
Warning signs of an Israeli strike on Iran Some key decision makers in Israel fear that unless they attack Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities in the next few months, while George W Bush is still president, there will not be another period when they can rely on the United States as being anywhere near as supportive in the aftermath of a unilateral attack.
Zbigniew Brzezinski: Israel's push for Iran strike may hurt U.S. ties Zbigniew Brzezinski, the former national security adviser to Jimmy Carter, said in an interview with Haaretz over the weekend that Israel will do harm to its relations with the United States if it insists on lobbying Washington for an American military strike on Iran.
'Iran will have nukes within two years' "It's a matter of a couple [of] years, one to two years, not more than that, until Iran is capable of coming out with nuclear capability," Ya'alon told a gathering of North American Jewish leaders in Jerusalem.
The Making of Recent U.S. Middle East Policies The right wing of Israeli politics, the neoconservatives in the U.S. who strongly support Israel, and the aging Israel lobby in the United States all have worked together, and are still doing so, to bring about more wars, regime changes, and instability, specifically the fragmentation of any Middle Eastern states that might ever conceivably threaten Israel. Bill and Kathleen Christison are both former CIA.
Bibi I'll resume settlement activity
U.S. to sell IAF smart bombs for heavily fortified target Despite reservations in Washington regarding a possible Israeli strike on Iran, the American administration will supply Israel with sophisticated weapons for heavily fortified targets, the U.S. administration announced.
Olmert warns of 'end of Israel' He warned of a "South African-style struggle" which Israel would lose if a Palestinian state was not established.
In 2006 letter to Bush, Haniyeh offered compromise with Israel Haniyeh laid out the political platform he maintains to this day. "We are so concerned about stability and security in the area that we don't mind having a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders and offering a truce for many years," he wrote
Rahm Emanuel apologizes for father's disparaging remarks about Arabs U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emanuel apologized to an Arab-American group on Thursday for comments disparaging Arabs made by his father.
U.S. spies on Israel nukes, govt official history The United States routinely spies on Israel to try to gather information on its assumed atomic arsenal and secret government deliberations, a new official history of Israel's intelligence services says.
Conned Again In "Hail to the Chief of Staff," Alexander Cockburn describes Emanuel as "a super-Likudnik hawk," who as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2006 "made great efforts to knock out antiwar Democratic candidates."
Barack Obama links Israel peace plan to 1967 borders deal The proposal gives Israel an effective veto on the return of Arab refugees expelled in 1948 while requiring it to restore the Golan Heights to Syria and allow the Palestinians to establish a state capital in east Jerusalem
Report: Obama views 'have serious implications for Israel' The Begin-Sadat Center cited Obama's plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq and reconcile with Iran and Syria in concluding that the forthcoming Obama administration was likely to clash with the next Israeli government.
U.S. approves sale to Israel of 25 F-35 fighter jets The Israeli embassy in Washington bent over backwards to have the deal approved by the current Congress, and a critical development in the legislation was achieved this weekend.
Another voyage set for Gaza peace ship A dozen European politicians, most of them British, plan to travel aboard the next ship sailing from Cyprus to breach the Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip, organisers told AFP Wednesday.
Three Jewish rioters hurt, Arab home set ablaze as Acre violence resumes The riots initially erupted around midnight on Wednesday on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, when an Arab resident drove his car through a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, allegedly playing loud music in what Jewish residents called a deliberate provocation....A group of Jewish residents then proceeded to assault the driver, sparking large-scale riots that lasted well into Saturday
Under section entitled 'Howard Kohr' the public debate over the role of the pro-Israel lobby in shaping American policy has had virtually no visible adverse effect on Aipac. Membership continues to grow, as do revenues, and its access to Capitol Hill seems unimpeded. This year the group succeeded in pushing tough anti-Iran legislation through Congress, winning final confirmation just last month.
They shot our son but they can't kill his spirit Tom Hurndall, 21, was a young, compassionate man when he went to Gaza in 2003. Months later, while he was rescuing Palestinian children from gunfire, he was shot by an Israeli army sniper. On the eve of a Channel 4 film, his parents tell of their anger, loss, intense grief and political awakening as they sought to bring his killer to justice
AIPAC's Man in the Obama Camp - by Philip Giraldi This link may have moved.
The Usual Suspects by Philip Giraldi The report itself was written by Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute. Task force members included Dennis Ross of the Washington Institute on Near East Policy and Kenneth Weinstein, who heads the Hudson Institute, both regarded as strongly pro-Israeli
Israeli Air Force 'Ready for Iran's Nuclear Sites' Speculation of a U.S.-approved Israeli strike on Iran, fueled by an Israeli attack in Syria last year and by reports of long-range bombing exercises this summer, has faded as the Bush administration prepares to hand over power to President-elect Barack Obama.
Surging for Hillary by Philip Giraldi Brooks understandably regards Hillary?s support of Kyl-Lieberman as well as every other piece of anti-Iran legislation as ?pragmatic.? He also shared her enthusiastic support of war against Iraq. Nor is he disturbed that Ross was so pro-Israel in his lean during Israeli-Palestinian negotiations at Camp David that he was even criticized by a colleague Aaron Miller. Rahm?s tilt on the Middle East is also well documented, close to AIPAC, and presumably a comfortable fit for Brooks
U.S. report Hezbollah fought Israel better than any Arab army The authors give a high grade to Hezbollah's performance in the 2006 war, describing it as more effective than that of any Arab army that confronted Israel in the Jewish state's history, and that Hezbollah militants wounded more Israelis per fighter than any previous Arab effort.
Rahm Emanuel's father: An Israeli terrorist? It was described as "terrorist" at the time by Britain. Mr Emanuel's appointment could reassure Israel that Mr Obama will continue America's close alliance.
Jewish 'Refugee' Lobby Seeks to Eclipse Palestinian Losses After heavy lobbying, the US House of Representatives passed a resolution in April declaring that no Middle East peace could be achieved "without addressing the uprooting of centuries-old Jewish communities in the Middle East, North Africa and the Persian Gulf"
Olmert: Clinton as Secretary of State will strengthen Israel-U.S. ties "Sen. Clinton is a friend of the State of Israel and the Jewish People and I am sure that in her new position she will continue to advance the special Israel-U.S. relationship,"
Israel turns back Libyan ship bound for Gaza with aid The Israel Navy on Monday turned away a Libyan ship heading to Gaza with 3,000 tons of humanitarian aid, ending the most high-profile effort yet to break a blockade of the Hamas-ruled territory.
Hamas's Mashaal 'Sent Obama a Letter Offering 30 Year Truce'
Report: Mossad behind Ergenekon plot A report alleges that Israel's national intelligence agency, Mossad has been behind the Ergenekon plot to topple the Turkish government.
Arabs Have To Rely On Britain And Israel For Their History
Members of Israeli spy ring 'related to 9/11 hijacker' Two men arrested for running an Israeli spy ring in the Bekaa Valley are relatives of a suicide hijacker who piloted a plane in the September 11, 2001, attacks, a security source told The Daily Star on Sunday Now that's interesting.
Of Import: How Israel helps eavesdrop on US citizens Virtually all US voice and data communications and much from the rest of the world can be remotely accessed by these companies in Israel, which Bamford describes as "the eavesdropping capital of the world." America, sit up and take notice. I've got this latest book by Bamford, and I've yet to read it. Bamford is usually pretty thorough.
Olmert: Arabs Suffer 'Intolerable' Discrimination
Condoleezza Rice Urges U.N. To Address Iran Threat To Israel Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday she would ask the U.N. Security Council to take up the matter of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's threats against Israel. For which nation does Condi work?
Abu Nidal, notorious Palestinian mercenary, 'was a US spy' By Robert Fisk
U.S. Jews laud Obama pick of Rahm Emanuel for chief of staff "Emanuel has deep Jewish roots and strong ties to the Jewish community. Emanuel, the son of an Israeli immigrant, has a proven commitment to Israel's security and served as civilian volunteer on an Israeli military base during the Persian Gulf War of 1991,"
CIA chief says strike on Syria was collaboration with 'foreign partner' Israel has never given an account of the strike or formally confirmed that it took place and some Israeli officials have quietly voiced dismay at U.S. disclosures about the strike.
More 'Conservative' Praise for Obama by Philip Giraldi If it is the latter, it would also mean that war with Iran is a virtual certainty. I think it is the latter, that Obama will continue Washington?s unquestioning support for Israel, but I hope I will be proven wrong
Carter meets with political leader of Hamas in Syria The five-hour meeting ended late Sunday and covered several issues, including Cpl. Gilad Shalit -- an Israeli soldier held captive by Hamas since June 2006, the official said.
Boat Breaks Gaza Strip Blockade, Sails Into Port A group of European lawmakers sailed from Cyprus into Gaza Saturday, defying an internationally backed blockade of the Hamas-run territory with activists promising to send more visitors and goods to end the coastal strip's isolation.
IAEA irked at "premature" Syria nuclear disclosures The U.N. nuclear watchdog criticized on Tuesday diplomatic disclosures that it had found uranium traces at a Syrian site under investigation, saying this was an effort to prejudge the agency's conclusions.
Neo-cons still preparing for Iran attack A familiar coalition of hawks, hardliners and neo-cons expects Obama's proposed talks with Iran to fail - and they're already proposing an escalating set of measures instead. Some are meant to occur alongside any future talks. These include steps to enhance coordination with Israel, tougher sanctions against Iran, and a region-wide military buildup of US strike forces, including the prepositioning of military supplies within striking distance of that country.
Syria suggests Israeli bombs may be source of uranium traces Syria's foreign minister suggested Wednesday that Israeli bombs may be the source of uranium traces that diplomats at the U.N. nuclear agency said were found at a suspected nuclear site
Why Israel will hit Iran soon There are essentially only three time periods to consider: (1) after the new president takes office, (2) after the U.S. election but before the new president is inaugurated, and (3) before the election.
Debate Flares Over Israel's Access to American Secrets In his latest book, published in October by DoubleDay, Bamford writes that the largest American telecommunications companies cooperated with the NSA in the ?warrantless eavesdropping program by allowing the agency to tap its phone lines and fiber-optic cables.? To do so, he writes, the telecom giants resorted to the assistance of at least two high-tech firms, Narus and Verint, founded in Israel and with alleged ties to its intelligence services.
Israelis Wary of a US Radar Base in the Negev The radar will allow the U.S. to keep a close watch on anything moving in Israeli skies, "even a bee", says one top Israeli official who asked not to be identified
Human rights report: West Bank situation 'reminiscent of apartheid regime in South Africa' In its annual report, the Association of Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) pointed to "extremely worrisome trends at the center of which are violations of the most elementary human rights."
Hebron settlers desecrate mosque They sprayed "Death to Arabs" and an insult to the Prophet Muhammad on a mosque wall and vandalised a cemetery
Iranian leader says he opposes Israel, not Israelis "We are opposed to the idea that the people who live there should be thrown into the sea or be burnt," he said. "We believe that all the people who live there, the Jews, Muslims and Christians, should take part in a free referendum and choose their government,"
Nobel laureate Maguire: UN should suspend Israel membership Maguire said Israel should be punished for ignoring a series of United Nations resolutions over the years.
Israel expects U.S.-Iran talks under Obama
Israel slams fresh Arab move to isolate it at IAEA Israel on Monday condemned the renewed Iranian-backed Arab effort to isolate it at a UN atomic watchdog assembly. Arab League states prepared to table a resolution called "Israel's nuclear capabilities" urging all Middle East states not to test or develop atom bombs and not to stand in the way of a regional nuclear-free zone.
Israel spy chief fears Jewish extremist plot The head of Israel's internal security service said Sunday he is "very concerned" that Jewish extremists could assassinate an Israeli leader in an attempt to foil peace moves with the Palestinians.
Palin promises to work with Israel's ambassador
Israel's 'Get Out of Jail Free' Card - by Philip Giraldi The case of Ben-Ami Kadish is in some ways even more intriguing than that of the two AIPAC staffers. Kadish was arrested in New Jersey on April 22, 2008. A Department of Justice press release described how he was charged with "conspiracy to disclose to the government of Israel documents related to the national defense of the United States and ? that he participated in a conspiracy to act as an agent of the government of Israel."
Israeli officials US sends radar to Israel The officials say the new radar was flown into Israel last week along with some 120 American crewmen and has been set up at the Nevatim air base in the Negev desert.
How I became a target for Israel's 'Jewish terrorists' Zeev Sternhell is careful about his choice of words when he unhesitatingly calls the pipe bomb which exploded outside his front door last week "an act of Jewish terrorism."
Israeli soldier allegedly assaults Haaretz photographer in Hebron Scheflan took their picture. The soldiers then tried to take away the camera of the second photographer. Scheflan then took a picture of the soldier trying to snatch her associate's camera. The soldier then allegedly punched her in the face and hit her with the butt of his rifle while she was on the ground.
Iran is a threat, but the West can't afford to have Israel bomb it - yet As the Israeli media reported yesterday, the plans for an attack against Iran's nuclear facilities have reached the stage where Jerusalem has presented the Bush administration with an inventory of the military equipment it needs to ensure the mission is a success.
Only military action can stop Iran, experts tell European Jews In attendance at the seminar - which the EJC organized with the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya - were experts such as Ian Anthony from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Uzi Arad from the IDC, and Alfred Pijpers from the Netherlands Institute of International Relations.
Joel Brinkley: Evidence grows that Israel is preparing to attack Iran Would Washington support an Israeli attack? Recently, the administration has given clear signals that it would not. But then, why did the Pentagon announce last month that it planned to sell Israel 1,000 new GBU-39 bunker-busting bombs? They are small weapons that can be dropped from the wings of the fighter jets in Israel's air force.
Lebanese President to Bush: Palestinian refugees' future is in their homeland, not Lebanon
Military intelligence Iran halfway to first nuclear bomb Iran is halfway to a nuclear bomb, and Hizbullah, Hamas and Syria are using this period of relative calm to significantly rearm, Brig.-Gen. Yossi Baidatz, the Military Intelligence's head of research, told the cabinet Sunday during a particularly gloomy briefing on the threats facing the country.
Obama Camp Rejects Jackson's Claim That He Would Diminish 'Zionist' Influence Barack Obama's campaign stepped in quickly Tuesday to distance itself from a claim by the Rev. Jesse Jackson that "Zionists" would lose clout under an Obama administration.
Obama spells end of blank cheques for Israel Israel can no longer expect "blank cheques" from Washington once president-elect Barack Obama's administration takes over in January, a former US ambassador to the Jewish state said on Sunday. I wouldn't bet on it.
Obama threatens dire consequences if Iran doesn't change its ways
Olmert to head to Russia for talks on missiles sale to Iran The Israeli military establishment is becoming increasingly concerned over talks between Russia and Iran about the sale of S-300 antiaircraft missiles to Tehran. The deployment of these missiles would pose a major obstacle to any Israel Air Force operation against Iranian nuclear
facilities.
Obama's Neocon in Residence - by Philip Giraldi Ross is a commentator for Fox News and the Ziegler distinguished fellow at WINEP, which he helped found in the 1980s. He is also chairman of the Jerusalem- based Jewish People Policy Planning Institute. He would only be a spear-carrier in the latest neocon absurdity if it weren't for the fact that he is a major player in the Obama campaign as Obama's top adviser on the Middle East and a key link to AIPAC. Ross reportedly has been helping the Obama campaign formulate positions that AIPAC would be comfortable with.
Olmert Israel must quit East Jerusalem and Golan
Palin 'Only Flag in My Office' Is Israeli
Israel's Settlement on Capitol Hill According to a recent Amnesty International report, "In the first six months of 2008 Israel has expanded settlements in the West Bank/East Jerusalem at a faster rate than in the previous seven years."
Olmert-Bush Talks on PA May be Window Dressing for Striking Iran The announced agenda is negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, but a possible attack on Iran's nuclear site may be the main topic of the summit.
Defense establishment paper: Golan for Syria peace, plan for Iran strike A defense establishment paper recommends making contingency plans to attack Iran, reaching an agreement with Syria that includes leaving the Golan Heights and preventing new elections in the Palestinian Authority, even if this means a confrontation with the United States.
Is Obama Clinton deja vu? by Philip Giraldi The FBI will find it very hard to learn what Emanuel?s ties to Israel were then and are now. Harman was investigated by the FBI in 2006 when she reportedly offered to intercede on behalf of the two AIPAC officials whose trial is still dragging on in Alexandria and there have been some suggestions that the investigation is still open
Policeman filmed head-butting East Jerusalem residents The Justice Ministry's Police Investigation Department (PID) recently launched an investigation in efforts to locate a patrol police officer who was documented head-butting two Arab residents of East Jerusalem, a man and a woman, while evacuating homes slated for demolition.
Some Israelis feel an urgency to attack Iran U.S. officials fear that an attack would trigger violent repercussions, most notably a wider regional conflict that would inevitably force the entry of American troops. Navy Adm. Michael G. Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said he does not intend to get involved in another war when he has his hands full with Iraq and Afghanistan.
Five Convicted in Terrorism Financing Trial The group was accused of funneling millions of dollars to the Palestinian militant group Hamas, an Islamist organization the government declared to be a terrorist group in 1995.
Peres U.S. has no choice but to save world from Ahmadinejad The United States has no choice but to save the world by stopping Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President Shimon Peres told Israel Radio on Thursday. Really now.
IAEA chief baffled over lack of Syria nuclear info The chief U.N. nuclear inspector said his agency's Syria probe has been hampered because key satellite images of an alleged nuclear reactor bombed by Israel are inexplicably unavailable on the market.
Retired American Generals Enter Israeli Politics Against Livni The two generals have been in close contact with hawkish policymakers and opinion leaders in Israel, and have visited the country several times. Their last trip was in the fall of 2006, after the Lebanon war, on a group visit by TV military analysts sponsored by the American Israel Education Foundation, an affiliate of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Diplomats: No evidence Syria site bombed by IAF was nuclear reactor Diplomats say partial results of samples from a Syrian site bombed by Israel last September show nothing to back up U.S. assertions that the target was a secret nuclear reactor.
Diplomats Syria passes 1st test of nuclear probe Diplomats say partial results of samples from a Syrian site bombed by Israel show nothing to back up U.S. assertions that the target was a secret nuclear reactor.
Who Originated the 'Nuclear Umbrella for Israel' Proposal That would be Charles Krauthammer
Gazan Students Trapped As Israel Withholds Visas More than 400 would-be university students remain trapped in the Gaza Strip, unable to leave for studies abroad - including one accepted at Ryerson University - and now the Israel Broadcasting Authority is refusing to accept paid advertisements calling attention to their plight.
Report: Iranian Officials Recommend Preemptive Strike Against Israel Top officials in Iran are proposing a preemptive strike against Israel to avoid an assault on its nuclear reactors, Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported Wednesday.
Former Aipac Lobbyists Are Said To Be Hopeful of a New Review of Their Case Sources on the defense team have speculated that a possible Obama nominee to head the justice system could be more receptive to pleas to dismiss the case. Really now.
After years of Bush, Arabs see hope in Obama heaviest on most Arabs' minds is the question of how strongly Obama will push the peace process with Israel.
Richard Falk, Israel and the New York Times It is Dr. Falk's responsibility to report to the UN on conditions in the occupied territories. Israel is blocking him from carrying out this job. In an article that reads as if it rolled off the computers in Israel's Government Press Office (no quotes by anyone friendly to Falk's point of view, for instance), The New York Times, tells us Dr. Falk "has long been criticized in Israel for what many Israelis say [emphasis mine] are unfair and unpalatable views." The blind attribution is typical.
Allies of Palestinians see a friend in Barack Obama
Tractatus Logico Palestinicus
Avraham Burg Israel's new prophet Avraham Burg was a pillar of the Israeli establishment but his new book is causing a sensation. It argues that his country is an "abused child" which has become a "violent parent". And his solutions are radical, as he explains to Donald Macintyre
Ben White Israel seems wedded to brute force in the Middle East
Cleaning Floors and Other Parables for Our Time by Philip Giraldi
The World Sees Obama's Victory As a New Beginning for America ordinary Palestinians are heartened by Obama's win. "We see Obama's victory as a victory for oppressed people, and since we're living under Israeli occupation, we feel he's with us," said a professor from Jerusalem's al-Qods University.
U.S. Radar in Israel What's it For, Really (Updated) Danger Room from Wired.com the system in Israel is quite similar to the radar that the U.S. wanted so badly to install in the Czech Republic earlier this year, as part of its larger missile defense shield
'Attack Iran!' crowd new internet ad campaign The individual who runs the site out of Rockefeller Center in NYC, Henley MacIntyre, is also mentioned in this blog post. You may want to note the neocon/pro-Israel ties that are naturally involved when it comes to groups such as this that want to 'stop Iran'.
Room With a Jew Settlers Lure Israeli Tourists Israel?s settlers have launched a well-funded public relations campaign to change their image by luring vacationing Israelis to the disputed West Bank.
Palin Warns Of 'Second Holocaust' Republican U.S. vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin said Friday that if Iran develops nuclear weapons it could lead to a second Holocaust.
When It Comes to Palestine and Israel, the US Simply Doesn't Get It by Robert Fisk Israelis deserve security. But where were the promises of security for Palestinians? Or the sympathy which Americans would immediately grant any other occupied people?
Pro-Palestinian Boat Lands in Gaza Strip The yacht Dignity arrived from Cyprus carrying medical supplies and 27 passengers, including a Nobel Peace Prize winner. Their journey continued a campaign launched in August, when a pair of ships first made the Cyprus-Gaza run.
Defeating McCain Ending Not Only Neocon Policies, but Also Tactics I guess we all spoke too soon on this one, seeing as how Obama has filled up his administration with neocons/Israel-firsters.
Palin Questions Obama's Support Of Israel - From The Road
Report: Israel believes Syria renewing its nuclear activity
Urgent International Push for Pollard In the knowledge that outgoing U.S. President George W. Bush is currently preparing a list of possibly hundreds of American prisoners to pardon, the goal of the international campaign is to have Jonathan Pollard included.
Police ban Paris rally by anti-Israel groups
Israel troops kill 14yo near settlement
Israel 'using food and medicines as weapons' Israel is collectively punishing innocent civilians by withholding and controlling food and medicine to Gaza, says Christian Aid.
Palestinian Group says Israelis Killed 68 Children in Gaza In Year Many of the deaths resulted from an Israeli military incursion into Jabaliya, in eastern Gaza, in late February and early March, in which more than 100 Palestinians, at least half of them civilians, died in what Israel said was an operation to stop rockets being fired into southern Israeli towns.
Gaza power plant shuts down Gaza's sole power plant has shut down because Israel will not allow the importation of replacement parts needed for urgent repairs, an official in the impoverished Palestinian territory's energy authority said on Tuesday
Israel continues starvation of Gazans despite UN pleas Notwithstanding 56% of the 1.5 million Gazan population consists of children, Israel has shut down access to the region refusing to allow desperately needed food trucks to reach their destination.
UN: Gaza on Brink of Humanitarian Disaster Gaza faces a humanitarian "catastrophe" if Israel continues to prevent aid reaching the territory by blocking crossing points, the head of the main U.N. aid agency for the Palestinians said on Friday.
UN: Israel Violating Law in Gaza The United Nations' top human rights official says the Israeli blockade of Gaza is depriving Palestinians of their most basic human rights.
Chronic malnutrition in Gaza blamed on Israel The Israeli blockade of Gaza has led to a steady rise in chronic malnutrition among the 1.5 million people living in the strip, according to a leaked report from the Red Cross. Nazis, what comes to mind after reading this article.
Israeli Blockade Worsens Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza, Charges Amnesty International "Israel's latest tightening of its blockade has made an already dire humanitarian situation markedly worse. This is nothing short of collective punishment on Gaza's civilian population and it must stop immediately," said Philip Luther, deputy director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Program
UN suspends food distribution in Gaza The United Nations announced it was suspending food distribution to half of Gaza's 1.5 million people on Thursday after Israel failed to allow emergency supplies into the Palestinian territory.
Gaza residents 'terribly trapped' A former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, has told the BBC she was taken aback by the "terrible" conditions in Gaza on a recent visit.
Gaza Militants Pound Southern Israel With Rockets After Raid Kills Six
Iran Resolution Shelved in Rare Defeat for 'Israel Lobby' In a significant and highly unusual defeat for the so-called 'Israel Lobby', the Democratic leadership of the House of Representatives has decided to shelve a long-pending, albeit non-binding, resolution that called for President George W. Bush to launch what critics called a blockade against Iran.
Israel Asked US for Green Light to Bomb Nuclear Sites in Iran Bush's decision to refuse to offer any support for a strike on Iran appeared to be based on two factors, the sources said. One was US concern over Iran's likely retaliation, which would probably include a wave of attacks on US military and other personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as on shipping in the Persian Gulf. Wow. Did our interests actually prevail? Course, it isn't over yet. Bush is still in office.
Top UN official: Israel's policies are like apartheid of bygone era United Nations General Assembly President Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann on Monday likened Israel's policies toward the Palestinians to South Africa's treatment of blacks under apartheid. Tell it like it is.
Desmond Tutu Israeli Shelling in Gaza May Be War Crime Desmond Tutu, the South African Nobel laureate, said yesterday there was a "possibility" Israel had committed a war crime when 18 Palestinians from a single family were killed by Israeli artillery shells in Gaza two years ago.
EuCom deploys radar, troops to Israel U.S. European Command has deployed to Israel a high-powered X-band radar and the supporting people and equipment needed for coordinated defense against Iranian missile attack, marking the first permanent U.S. military presence on Israeli soil.
Former US admiral says to Israel Don't fear Iran "They are not nearly as strong as their rhetoric indicates," Fallon said of Iran....He also dismissed Iran's calls to destroy Israel as nothing more than rhetoric.
Gaza families eat grass as Israel locks border
Hamas throws in the towel on Gaza cease-fire Although violence and casualties dropped sharply during the cease-fire, neither side was satisfied. Hamas complained that Israel allowed far less than the promised restoration of cross-border deliveries to mid-2007 levels. The United Nations and other outside observers supported this assertion and accused Israel of inflicting collective punishment on Gaza's civilian population.
International experts slam Israel over Gaza blockade "We strongly protest the decision by the Israeli authorities to deny entry permits to 120 international academics and concerned professionals" who had been invited to attend the "Siege and Mental Health, Walls vs. Bridges" conference originally scheduled in Gaza City, said Professor Alice Rothschild from U.S. Harvard University at a press conference.
Britain urges Israel to halt settlements "Continued settlement construction threatens the goal of a two-state solution to which the Israeli government itself is committed," British Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Bill Rammell told reporters in Amman.
Israel angered by UK settlements move Britain has been accused of anti-Semitism by a hardline Israeli MP because Britons are to be warned against buying property in settlements in Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. An advisory, to be posted on the Foreign Office website, is to refer to settlements in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Golan Heights, all areas occupied by Israel during the 1967 Middle East war.
Israel eases Gaza blockade temporarily Monday, Israel let in more than 30 trucks laden with basic food and medical supplies as well as a limited amount of industrial diesel to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. It allowed delivery of diesel for Gaza's only power plant through a pipeline.
Israel demolishes four houses in Arab east Jerusalem
Israeli shooting wounds Palestinian schoolgirl in Gaza A Palestinian schoolgirl was injured on Monday when Israeli forces opened fire at her school and the surrounding farms in southeast Gaza Strip, witnesses and medical sources said.
Attack on Iran Off the Table It is a curious twist, but to their great credit our senior military officers, Admiral William Fallon, who quit rather than let himself be on the receiving end of an order to attack Iran, and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, fought and continue to fight a rear-guard action against the dreams and plans of "the crazies" in the White House to attack Iran......From the Israeli press we know that Mullen went so far as to warn his Israeli counterparts not to even think about another incident like the one on June 8, 1967, when Israeli jets and torpedo boats deliberately did their utmost to sink the intelligence collector, USS Liberty, off the Sinai coast. For Mullen a gutsy move. The Israelis know that Mullen knows that that attack was deliberate-not some sort of unfortunate mistake.
Jewish settlers in Hebron shoot Palestinian men The film, recorded by a Palestinian resident in Hebron, shows settlers attacking his house, which was in a valley close to the three-storey building where dozens of settlers were evicted by Israeli riot police. In the hours after the eviction, Jewish settlers rioted in Hebron, throwing stones at police and Palestinians and setting fire to Palestinian trees and attacking Palestinian homes
Iran - an attack is still possible What happened between Passover and Rosh Hashanah? The U.S. administration made it clear to Israel that it objects to an attack on Iran. The possibility that the United States itself will attack Iran appears to be negligible, in light of the severe economic crisis and American military entanglement in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Israelis won't ease Gaza blockade Israel yesterday stood by its decision to shut cargo crossings into the Gaza Strip, brushing off pleas to ease the blockade from United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon.
Palestinian couple evicted from home of 50 years as Jerusalem settlers move in Israeli police have evicted a disabled Palestinian man and his wife from their home of 52 years in a Palestinian district surrounded by settlers.
Israel warns Obama against dialogue with Iran Asked if she supported any US dialogue with Iran, Ms Livni replied: "The answer is no."
Israel blocks foreign media from Gaza
The Real Goal of Israel's Blockade There are likely to be few witnesses to Gaza?s descent into a dark and hungry winter. In the past week, all journalists were refused access to Gaza, as were a group of senior European diplomats. Days earlier, dozens of academics and doctors due to attend a conference to assess the damage done to Gazans? mental health were also turned back.
Official: Israel prevents 15 medicine-laden trucks into Gaza The ceasefire was declared effective in the Gaza Strip on June 19, which calls on Israel to loosen the leash of the coastal enclave in exchange for an end of Palestinians rocket attacks against the Jewish state.
As this went on (Israel's denial of aid to the Gaza strip) and the resulting breakdown of the ceasefire of the past week- at least now you know why. That ceasefire was contingent on Israel's loosening of the Gaza blockade. Evidently, Israel did not uphold its part of the bargain. Not surprising.
Israeli tanks rumble into Gaza, raze farmlands Israeli tanks pushed into the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, drawing mortar fire from Palestinian militants and intensifying violence that has chipped away at a tenuous cease-fire.
US Puts Pressure on Israel to Refrain from Attacks Washington's concerns are not limited to the possibility of Israel attacking Iran, the sources say; U.S. officials have also cautioned Israelis against launching a ground assault inside the besieged Palestinian territory of Gaza in a bid to stop militants there from firing rockets into southern Israel. I guess that didn't work, huh?
Egypt court says aid must be allowed into Gaza Despite an Israeli economic blockade in place to limit traffic to and from the Gaza Strip, an Egyptian court has ruled that Cairo must allow humanitarian aid and supplies to enter Gaza via the Rafah Border Crossing.
Top media executives protest Israel's ban on journalists' entry to Gaza Those signing the letter included Associated Press Chief Executive and President Tom Curley, Reuters Editor-in-Chief David Schlesinger, New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller, ABC News President David Westin, BBC News Director Helen Boaden and other top executives from CNN, the Canadian TV network CTV, the German broadcaster ZDF, and the French news service Agence France Presse.
"We are gravely concerned about the prolonged and unprecedented denial of access to the Gaza Strip for the international media," they wrote in the letter to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Palestinian Photojournalist Attacked in West Bank Jewish settlers attacked a Palestinian photographer who was taking pictures of Palestinian farmers picking olives in the West Bank on Saturday.
Candidate Biden U.S., Israel Joined at the Hip America's security is directly tied to Israel's, said U.S. Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) last Friday during a stop in Philadelphia. ....."Israel is our ally. If Israel did not exist, we'd have to invent it for our own national security." Abject bullshit.
Obama to offer Israel nuclear umbrella report the Haaretz daily said Washington would pledge under the proposed "nuclear umbrella" to respond to any Iranian nuclear strike against Israel with a U.S. retaliation in kind.
Bush America will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon Transportation Minister and Kadima MK Shaul Mofaz also gave a speech at the Saban Center Friday, where he said a nuclear Iran is not an option and Israel won't allow a second Holocaust
Iran says Israeli partners in war to be punished Chairman of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Seyyed Mohammad Hejazi said that Iran would punish Israel's assistants in the war against the country
IDF troops film themselves humiliating bound Palestinian Channel 10 on Thursday released footage taken by Israel Defense Forces soldiers of themselves humiliating a bound and blindfolded Palestinian man at a West Bank checkpoint.
IDF Killed Wanted Palestinians Despite Court Guidelines, Documents Show The documents reveal that the IDF approved assassinations in the West Bank even when it could have been possible to arrest the targets instead, and that top-ranking army officers authorized the killings in advance, in writing, even if innocent bystanders would be killed as well.
'Israeli extremists using the Sabbath to terrorise Arabs'
US officer warns Israel not to hit Iran "But it would not be the right thing to do, it will open up another front and this is not going to help the situation in the region, Iraq or Afghanistan," said the officer. "A diplomatic solution is the only logical answer."
The global triumph of Obamamania As Americans flocked to the polls, Israeli soldiers punched into the Gaza Strip where they fought Hamas militants in the first deadly battle since the two sides agreed to a six-month cease-fire in June.
A Nuclear Umbrella by Philip Giraldi The Israeli left-of-center newspaper Haaretz is reporting that the Obama administration will offer Israel a ?nuclear umbrella? which will consist of a strategic agreement whereby Washington will carry out a devastating nuclear attack on Iran if the Mullahs use a nuclear weapon to attack Israel.
Scottish Activist Films Israeli Navy Shooting At Gaza Fishermen A SCOTTISH human rights activist has filmed the Israeli navy firing machine guns at unarmed Palestinian fishing boats in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of the Gaza Strip.
UN envoy slams Israel's Palestinian house demolition The UN special envoy to the Middle East on Saturday expressed alarm at Israel's resumption of Palestinian house demolition in the occupied West Bank, warning it undermined peace efforts.
Robert Serry "is alarmed by the recent resumption of house demolitions in the West Bank after a freeze dating back to April this year," his office said.
UN panel demands Israel lift Gaza blockade, free Palestinian prisoners The 47-member-state Council adopted its list of 99 recommendations by consensus at the end of a two-day review of Israel's human rights record
UN agency warns of food shortage in Gaza due to Israeli blockade A UN agency in Gaza warned on Sunday that food aid would run out within the coming couple of days due to the ongoing Israeli tight blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip for a month
Israel Bars Credible Observers from Gaza The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay last week lambasted the Israeli government for detaining and expelling a human rights expert, Richard Falk, who was on a U.N.-mandated assignment to probe the human rights situation in the occupied territories.
Olmert slams 'pogrom', Palestinians still fearful His latest remarks were among his strongest yet. They follow the broadcasting of video apparently showing a settler shooting and wounding Palestinians, as well as stone-throwing and other violence across the West Bank, including the torching of olive groves, which Palestinians leaders described as "waging war".
UN Rights Investigator Expelled by Israel Mr. Falk, a professor of international law at Princeton, has the title of United Nations Human Rights Council special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories. He has long been criticized in Israel for what many Israelis say are unfair and unpalatable views.
Ahmadinejad accepts Israel's right to exist the story wasn't picked up by the world's media.
Video Jewish settlers shoot Palestinian men following Hebron evictions
Warning signs of an Israeli strike on Iran Some key decision makers in Israel fear that unless they attack Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities in the next few months, while George W Bush is still president, there will not be another period when they can rely on the United States as being anywhere near as supportive in the aftermath of a unilateral attack.
Zbigniew Brzezinski: Israel's push for Iran strike may hurt U.S. ties Zbigniew Brzezinski, the former national security adviser to Jimmy Carter, said in an interview with Haaretz over the weekend that Israel will do harm to its relations with the United States if it insists on lobbying Washington for an American military strike on Iran.
'Iran will have nukes within two years' "It's a matter of a couple [of] years, one to two years, not more than that, until Iran is capable of coming out with nuclear capability," Ya'alon told a gathering of North American Jewish leaders in Jerusalem.
The Making of Recent U.S. Middle East Policies The right wing of Israeli politics, the neoconservatives in the U.S. who strongly support Israel, and the aging Israel lobby in the United States all have worked together, and are still doing so, to bring about more wars, regime changes, and instability, specifically the fragmentation of any Middle Eastern states that might ever conceivably threaten Israel. Bill and Kathleen Christison are both former CIA.
Bibi I'll resume settlement activity
U.S. to sell IAF smart bombs for heavily fortified target Despite reservations in Washington regarding a possible Israeli strike on Iran, the American administration will supply Israel with sophisticated weapons for heavily fortified targets, the U.S. administration announced.
Olmert warns of 'end of Israel' He warned of a "South African-style struggle" which Israel would lose if a Palestinian state was not established.
In 2006 letter to Bush, Haniyeh offered compromise with Israel Haniyeh laid out the political platform he maintains to this day. "We are so concerned about stability and security in the area that we don't mind having a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders and offering a truce for many years," he wrote
Rahm Emanuel apologizes for father's disparaging remarks about Arabs U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emanuel apologized to an Arab-American group on Thursday for comments disparaging Arabs made by his father.
U.S. spies on Israel nukes, govt official history The United States routinely spies on Israel to try to gather information on its assumed atomic arsenal and secret government deliberations, a new official history of Israel's intelligence services says.
Conned Again In "Hail to the Chief of Staff," Alexander Cockburn describes Emanuel as "a super-Likudnik hawk," who as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2006 "made great efforts to knock out antiwar Democratic candidates."
Barack Obama links Israel peace plan to 1967 borders deal The proposal gives Israel an effective veto on the return of Arab refugees expelled in 1948 while requiring it to restore the Golan Heights to Syria and allow the Palestinians to establish a state capital in east Jerusalem
Report: Obama views 'have serious implications for Israel' The Begin-Sadat Center cited Obama's plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq and reconcile with Iran and Syria in concluding that the forthcoming Obama administration was likely to clash with the next Israeli government.
U.S. approves sale to Israel of 25 F-35 fighter jets The Israeli embassy in Washington bent over backwards to have the deal approved by the current Congress, and a critical development in the legislation was achieved this weekend.
Another voyage set for Gaza peace ship A dozen European politicians, most of them British, plan to travel aboard the next ship sailing from Cyprus to breach the Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip, organisers told AFP Wednesday.
Three Jewish rioters hurt, Arab home set ablaze as Acre violence resumes The riots initially erupted around midnight on Wednesday on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, when an Arab resident drove his car through a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, allegedly playing loud music in what Jewish residents called a deliberate provocation....A group of Jewish residents then proceeded to assault the driver, sparking large-scale riots that lasted well into Saturday
Under section entitled 'Howard Kohr' the public debate over the role of the pro-Israel lobby in shaping American policy has had virtually no visible adverse effect on Aipac. Membership continues to grow, as do revenues, and its access to Capitol Hill seems unimpeded. This year the group succeeded in pushing tough anti-Iran legislation through Congress, winning final confirmation just last month.
They shot our son but they can't kill his spirit Tom Hurndall, 21, was a young, compassionate man when he went to Gaza in 2003. Months later, while he was rescuing Palestinian children from gunfire, he was shot by an Israeli army sniper. On the eve of a Channel 4 film, his parents tell of their anger, loss, intense grief and political awakening as they sought to bring his killer to justice
AIPAC's Man in the Obama Camp - by Philip Giraldi This link may have moved.
The Usual Suspects by Philip Giraldi The report itself was written by Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute. Task force members included Dennis Ross of the Washington Institute on Near East Policy and Kenneth Weinstein, who heads the Hudson Institute, both regarded as strongly pro-Israeli
Israeli Air Force 'Ready for Iran's Nuclear Sites' Speculation of a U.S.-approved Israeli strike on Iran, fueled by an Israeli attack in Syria last year and by reports of long-range bombing exercises this summer, has faded as the Bush administration prepares to hand over power to President-elect Barack Obama.
Surging for Hillary by Philip Giraldi Brooks understandably regards Hillary?s support of Kyl-Lieberman as well as every other piece of anti-Iran legislation as ?pragmatic.? He also shared her enthusiastic support of war against Iraq. Nor is he disturbed that Ross was so pro-Israel in his lean during Israeli-Palestinian negotiations at Camp David that he was even criticized by a colleague Aaron Miller. Rahm?s tilt on the Middle East is also well documented, close to AIPAC, and presumably a comfortable fit for Brooks
U.S. report Hezbollah fought Israel better than any Arab army The authors give a high grade to Hezbollah's performance in the 2006 war, describing it as more effective than that of any Arab army that confronted Israel in the Jewish state's history, and that Hezbollah militants wounded more Israelis per fighter than any previous Arab effort.
Rahm Emanuel's father: An Israeli terrorist? It was described as "terrorist" at the time by Britain. Mr Emanuel's appointment could reassure Israel that Mr Obama will continue America's close alliance.
Jewish 'Refugee' Lobby Seeks to Eclipse Palestinian Losses After heavy lobbying, the US House of Representatives passed a resolution in April declaring that no Middle East peace could be achieved "without addressing the uprooting of centuries-old Jewish communities in the Middle East, North Africa and the Persian Gulf"
Olmert: Clinton as Secretary of State will strengthen Israel-U.S. ties "Sen. Clinton is a friend of the State of Israel and the Jewish People and I am sure that in her new position she will continue to advance the special Israel-U.S. relationship,"
Israel turns back Libyan ship bound for Gaza with aid The Israel Navy on Monday turned away a Libyan ship heading to Gaza with 3,000 tons of humanitarian aid, ending the most high-profile effort yet to break a blockade of the Hamas-ruled territory.
Hamas's Mashaal 'Sent Obama a Letter Offering 30 Year Truce'
Report: Mossad behind Ergenekon plot A report alleges that Israel's national intelligence agency, Mossad has been behind the Ergenekon plot to topple the Turkish government.
Arabs Have To Rely On Britain And Israel For Their History
Members of Israeli spy ring 'related to 9/11 hijacker' Two men arrested for running an Israeli spy ring in the Bekaa Valley are relatives of a suicide hijacker who piloted a plane in the September 11, 2001, attacks, a security source told The Daily Star on Sunday Now that's interesting.
Of Import: How Israel helps eavesdrop on US citizens Virtually all US voice and data communications and much from the rest of the world can be remotely accessed by these companies in Israel, which Bamford describes as "the eavesdropping capital of the world." America, sit up and take notice. I've got this latest book by Bamford, and I've yet to read it. Bamford is usually pretty thorough.
Olmert: Arabs Suffer 'Intolerable' Discrimination
Condoleezza Rice Urges U.N. To Address Iran Threat To Israel Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday she would ask the U.N. Security Council to take up the matter of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's threats against Israel. For which nation does Condi work?
Abu Nidal, notorious Palestinian mercenary, 'was a US spy' By Robert Fisk
U.S. Jews laud Obama pick of Rahm Emanuel for chief of staff "Emanuel has deep Jewish roots and strong ties to the Jewish community. Emanuel, the son of an Israeli immigrant, has a proven commitment to Israel's security and served as civilian volunteer on an Israeli military base during the Persian Gulf War of 1991,"
CIA chief says strike on Syria was collaboration with 'foreign partner' Israel has never given an account of the strike or formally confirmed that it took place and some Israeli officials have quietly voiced dismay at U.S. disclosures about the strike.
More 'Conservative' Praise for Obama by Philip Giraldi If it is the latter, it would also mean that war with Iran is a virtual certainty. I think it is the latter, that Obama will continue Washington?s unquestioning support for Israel, but I hope I will be proven wrong
Carter meets with political leader of Hamas in Syria The five-hour meeting ended late Sunday and covered several issues, including Cpl. Gilad Shalit -- an Israeli soldier held captive by Hamas since June 2006, the official said.
Boat Breaks Gaza Strip Blockade, Sails Into Port A group of European lawmakers sailed from Cyprus into Gaza Saturday, defying an internationally backed blockade of the Hamas-run territory with activists promising to send more visitors and goods to end the coastal strip's isolation.
IAEA irked at "premature" Syria nuclear disclosures The U.N. nuclear watchdog criticized on Tuesday diplomatic disclosures that it had found uranium traces at a Syrian site under investigation, saying this was an effort to prejudge the agency's conclusions.
Neo-cons still preparing for Iran attack A familiar coalition of hawks, hardliners and neo-cons expects Obama's proposed talks with Iran to fail - and they're already proposing an escalating set of measures instead. Some are meant to occur alongside any future talks. These include steps to enhance coordination with Israel, tougher sanctions against Iran, and a region-wide military buildup of US strike forces, including the prepositioning of military supplies within striking distance of that country.
Syria suggests Israeli bombs may be source of uranium traces Syria's foreign minister suggested Wednesday that Israeli bombs may be the source of uranium traces that diplomats at the U.N. nuclear agency said were found at a suspected nuclear site
Why Israel will hit Iran soon There are essentially only three time periods to consider: (1) after the new president takes office, (2) after the U.S. election but before the new president is inaugurated, and (3) before the election.
Debate Flares Over Israel's Access to American Secrets In his latest book, published in October by DoubleDay, Bamford writes that the largest American telecommunications companies cooperated with the NSA in the ?warrantless eavesdropping program by allowing the agency to tap its phone lines and fiber-optic cables.? To do so, he writes, the telecom giants resorted to the assistance of at least two high-tech firms, Narus and Verint, founded in Israel and with alleged ties to its intelligence services.
Israelis Wary of a US Radar Base in the Negev The radar will allow the U.S. to keep a close watch on anything moving in Israeli skies, "even a bee", says one top Israeli official who asked not to be identified
Human rights report: West Bank situation 'reminiscent of apartheid regime in South Africa' In its annual report, the Association of Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) pointed to "extremely worrisome trends at the center of which are violations of the most elementary human rights."
Hebron settlers desecrate mosque They sprayed "Death to Arabs" and an insult to the Prophet Muhammad on a mosque wall and vandalised a cemetery
Iranian leader says he opposes Israel, not Israelis "We are opposed to the idea that the people who live there should be thrown into the sea or be burnt," he said. "We believe that all the people who live there, the Jews, Muslims and Christians, should take part in a free referendum and choose their government,"
Nobel laureate Maguire: UN should suspend Israel membership Maguire said Israel should be punished for ignoring a series of United Nations resolutions over the years.
Israel expects U.S.-Iran talks under Obama
Israel slams fresh Arab move to isolate it at IAEA Israel on Monday condemned the renewed Iranian-backed Arab effort to isolate it at a UN atomic watchdog assembly. Arab League states prepared to table a resolution called "Israel's nuclear capabilities" urging all Middle East states not to test or develop atom bombs and not to stand in the way of a regional nuclear-free zone.
Israel spy chief fears Jewish extremist plot The head of Israel's internal security service said Sunday he is "very concerned" that Jewish extremists could assassinate an Israeli leader in an attempt to foil peace moves with the Palestinians.
Palin promises to work with Israel's ambassador
Israel's 'Get Out of Jail Free' Card - by Philip Giraldi The case of Ben-Ami Kadish is in some ways even more intriguing than that of the two AIPAC staffers. Kadish was arrested in New Jersey on April 22, 2008. A Department of Justice press release described how he was charged with "conspiracy to disclose to the government of Israel documents related to the national defense of the United States and ? that he participated in a conspiracy to act as an agent of the government of Israel."
Israeli officials US sends radar to Israel The officials say the new radar was flown into Israel last week along with some 120 American crewmen and has been set up at the Nevatim air base in the Negev desert.
How I became a target for Israel's 'Jewish terrorists' Zeev Sternhell is careful about his choice of words when he unhesitatingly calls the pipe bomb which exploded outside his front door last week "an act of Jewish terrorism."
Israeli soldier allegedly assaults Haaretz photographer in Hebron Scheflan took their picture. The soldiers then tried to take away the camera of the second photographer. Scheflan then took a picture of the soldier trying to snatch her associate's camera. The soldier then allegedly punched her in the face and hit her with the butt of his rifle while she was on the ground.
Iran is a threat, but the West can't afford to have Israel bomb it - yet As the Israeli media reported yesterday, the plans for an attack against Iran's nuclear facilities have reached the stage where Jerusalem has presented the Bush administration with an inventory of the military equipment it needs to ensure the mission is a success.
Only military action can stop Iran, experts tell European Jews In attendance at the seminar - which the EJC organized with the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya - were experts such as Ian Anthony from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Uzi Arad from the IDC, and Alfred Pijpers from the Netherlands Institute of International Relations.
Joel Brinkley: Evidence grows that Israel is preparing to attack Iran Would Washington support an Israeli attack? Recently, the administration has given clear signals that it would not. But then, why did the Pentagon announce last month that it planned to sell Israel 1,000 new GBU-39 bunker-busting bombs? They are small weapons that can be dropped from the wings of the fighter jets in Israel's air force.
Lebanese President to Bush: Palestinian refugees' future is in their homeland, not Lebanon
Military intelligence Iran halfway to first nuclear bomb Iran is halfway to a nuclear bomb, and Hizbullah, Hamas and Syria are using this period of relative calm to significantly rearm, Brig.-Gen. Yossi Baidatz, the Military Intelligence's head of research, told the cabinet Sunday during a particularly gloomy briefing on the threats facing the country.
Obama Camp Rejects Jackson's Claim That He Would Diminish 'Zionist' Influence Barack Obama's campaign stepped in quickly Tuesday to distance itself from a claim by the Rev. Jesse Jackson that "Zionists" would lose clout under an Obama administration.
Obama spells end of blank cheques for Israel Israel can no longer expect "blank cheques" from Washington once president-elect Barack Obama's administration takes over in January, a former US ambassador to the Jewish state said on Sunday. I wouldn't bet on it.
Obama threatens dire consequences if Iran doesn't change its ways
Olmert to head to Russia for talks on missiles sale to Iran The Israeli military establishment is becoming increasingly concerned over talks between Russia and Iran about the sale of S-300 antiaircraft missiles to Tehran. The deployment of these missiles would pose a major obstacle to any Israel Air Force operation against Iranian nuclear
facilities.
Obama's Neocon in Residence - by Philip Giraldi Ross is a commentator for Fox News and the Ziegler distinguished fellow at WINEP, which he helped found in the 1980s. He is also chairman of the Jerusalem- based Jewish People Policy Planning Institute. He would only be a spear-carrier in the latest neocon absurdity if it weren't for the fact that he is a major player in the Obama campaign as Obama's top adviser on the Middle East and a key link to AIPAC. Ross reportedly has been helping the Obama campaign formulate positions that AIPAC would be comfortable with.
Olmert Israel must quit East Jerusalem and Golan
Palin 'Only Flag in My Office' Is Israeli
Israel's Settlement on Capitol Hill According to a recent Amnesty International report, "In the first six months of 2008 Israel has expanded settlements in the West Bank/East Jerusalem at a faster rate than in the previous seven years."
Olmert-Bush Talks on PA May be Window Dressing for Striking Iran The announced agenda is negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, but a possible attack on Iran's nuclear site may be the main topic of the summit.
Defense establishment paper: Golan for Syria peace, plan for Iran strike A defense establishment paper recommends making contingency plans to attack Iran, reaching an agreement with Syria that includes leaving the Golan Heights and preventing new elections in the Palestinian Authority, even if this means a confrontation with the United States.
Is Obama Clinton deja vu? by Philip Giraldi The FBI will find it very hard to learn what Emanuel?s ties to Israel were then and are now. Harman was investigated by the FBI in 2006 when she reportedly offered to intercede on behalf of the two AIPAC officials whose trial is still dragging on in Alexandria and there have been some suggestions that the investigation is still open
Policeman filmed head-butting East Jerusalem residents The Justice Ministry's Police Investigation Department (PID) recently launched an investigation in efforts to locate a patrol police officer who was documented head-butting two Arab residents of East Jerusalem, a man and a woman, while evacuating homes slated for demolition.
Some Israelis feel an urgency to attack Iran U.S. officials fear that an attack would trigger violent repercussions, most notably a wider regional conflict that would inevitably force the entry of American troops. Navy Adm. Michael G. Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said he does not intend to get involved in another war when he has his hands full with Iraq and Afghanistan.
Five Convicted in Terrorism Financing Trial The group was accused of funneling millions of dollars to the Palestinian militant group Hamas, an Islamist organization the government declared to be a terrorist group in 1995.
Peres U.S. has no choice but to save world from Ahmadinejad The United States has no choice but to save the world by stopping Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President Shimon Peres told Israel Radio on Thursday. Really now.
IAEA chief baffled over lack of Syria nuclear info The chief U.N. nuclear inspector said his agency's Syria probe has been hampered because key satellite images of an alleged nuclear reactor bombed by Israel are inexplicably unavailable on the market.
Retired American Generals Enter Israeli Politics Against Livni The two generals have been in close contact with hawkish policymakers and opinion leaders in Israel, and have visited the country several times. Their last trip was in the fall of 2006, after the Lebanon war, on a group visit by TV military analysts sponsored by the American Israel Education Foundation, an affiliate of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Diplomats: No evidence Syria site bombed by IAF was nuclear reactor Diplomats say partial results of samples from a Syrian site bombed by Israel last September show nothing to back up U.S. assertions that the target was a secret nuclear reactor.
Diplomats Syria passes 1st test of nuclear probe Diplomats say partial results of samples from a Syrian site bombed by Israel show nothing to back up U.S. assertions that the target was a secret nuclear reactor.
Who Originated the 'Nuclear Umbrella for Israel' Proposal That would be Charles Krauthammer
Gazan Students Trapped As Israel Withholds Visas More than 400 would-be university students remain trapped in the Gaza Strip, unable to leave for studies abroad - including one accepted at Ryerson University - and now the Israel Broadcasting Authority is refusing to accept paid advertisements calling attention to their plight.
Report: Iranian Officials Recommend Preemptive Strike Against Israel Top officials in Iran are proposing a preemptive strike against Israel to avoid an assault on its nuclear reactors, Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported Wednesday.
Former Aipac Lobbyists Are Said To Be Hopeful of a New Review of Their Case Sources on the defense team have speculated that a possible Obama nominee to head the justice system could be more receptive to pleas to dismiss the case. Really now.
After years of Bush, Arabs see hope in Obama heaviest on most Arabs' minds is the question of how strongly Obama will push the peace process with Israel.
Richard Falk, Israel and the New York Times It is Dr. Falk's responsibility to report to the UN on conditions in the occupied territories. Israel is blocking him from carrying out this job. In an article that reads as if it rolled off the computers in Israel's Government Press Office (no quotes by anyone friendly to Falk's point of view, for instance), The New York Times, tells us Dr. Falk "has long been criticized in Israel for what many Israelis say [emphasis mine] are unfair and unpalatable views." The blind attribution is typical.
Allies of Palestinians see a friend in Barack Obama
Tractatus Logico Palestinicus
Avraham Burg Israel's new prophet Avraham Burg was a pillar of the Israeli establishment but his new book is causing a sensation. It argues that his country is an "abused child" which has become a "violent parent". And his solutions are radical, as he explains to Donald Macintyre
Ben White Israel seems wedded to brute force in the Middle East
Cleaning Floors and Other Parables for Our Time by Philip Giraldi
The World Sees Obama's Victory As a New Beginning for America ordinary Palestinians are heartened by Obama's win. "We see Obama's victory as a victory for oppressed people, and since we're living under Israeli occupation, we feel he's with us," said a professor from Jerusalem's al-Qods University.
U.S. Radar in Israel What's it For, Really (Updated) Danger Room from Wired.com the system in Israel is quite similar to the radar that the U.S. wanted so badly to install in the Czech Republic earlier this year, as part of its larger missile defense shield
'Attack Iran!' crowd new internet ad campaign The individual who runs the site out of Rockefeller Center in NYC, Henley MacIntyre, is also mentioned in this blog post. You may want to note the neocon/pro-Israel ties that are naturally involved when it comes to groups such as this that want to 'stop Iran'.
Room With a Jew Settlers Lure Israeli Tourists Israel?s settlers have launched a well-funded public relations campaign to change their image by luring vacationing Israelis to the disputed West Bank.
Palin Warns Of 'Second Holocaust' Republican U.S. vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin said Friday that if Iran develops nuclear weapons it could lead to a second Holocaust.
When It Comes to Palestine and Israel, the US Simply Doesn't Get It by Robert Fisk Israelis deserve security. But where were the promises of security for Palestinians? Or the sympathy which Americans would immediately grant any other occupied people?
Pro-Palestinian Boat Lands in Gaza Strip The yacht Dignity arrived from Cyprus carrying medical supplies and 27 passengers, including a Nobel Peace Prize winner. Their journey continued a campaign launched in August, when a pair of ships first made the Cyprus-Gaza run.
Defeating McCain Ending Not Only Neocon Policies, but Also Tactics I guess we all spoke too soon on this one, seeing as how Obama has filled up his administration with neocons/Israel-firsters.
Palin Questions Obama's Support Of Israel - From The Road
Report: Israel believes Syria renewing its nuclear activity
Urgent International Push for Pollard In the knowledge that outgoing U.S. President George W. Bush is currently preparing a list of possibly hundreds of American prisoners to pardon, the goal of the international campaign is to have Jonathan Pollard included.
Police ban Paris rally by anti-Israel groups
Sunday, November 2, 2008
11-02-08
Short post:
11-02-08 - James Bamford has a new book out that has Israel's amen corner all in a tizzy. Hmmm. Very interesting.
11-01-08 - Vote Palin/McCain if you want more of the same Bush administration (neocon) policy.
11-02-08 - James Bamford has a new book out that has Israel's amen corner all in a tizzy. Hmmm. Very interesting.
11-01-08 - Vote Palin/McCain if you want more of the same Bush administration (neocon) policy.
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