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