A Stand For Justice
Mother of five killed by Israeli artillery fire close to Gaza buffer zone
A mother of five was killed by Israeli artillery fire when she went to fetch her two-year-old son from outside her village home close to the "buffer zone" created by Israel along its border with Gaza.
Three of her relatives were wounded in the shelling earlier this week, but Red Crescent ambulances were not permitted to reach the family for several hours.
Hebron settler on motorbike rams 11-year-old Palestinian boy and soldiers kill Gaza mom who goes into ‘buffer zone’ to fetch her two-year-old
Man killed and child injured by IDF strike on Gaza
An Israeli tank shot at a group of Palestinians approaching the fence that separates Gaza from Israel, an Israeli military spokesman said
2 Palestinians killed as IDF clashes with militants near Gaza border
Police suspect alleged Jewish terrorist killed four Palestinians
How much time will he serve if convicted, one month, one year?
Palestinians build solar car from scratch
Al Khalil/Hebron: Israeli Border Police Demolish Cistern in Al Beqa'a Valley
When international peace activists from Christian Peacemaker Teams arrived in the area at 9:30am, the large bagger that had been used to break up the concrete of the cistern was just leaving the site. The driver of a large tractor lifted scoops full of rocks and dumped them into the demolished cistern. Also, workers cut and disposed of irrigation pipes laid in two fields. The fields each measured 10 dunams (approximately 40 acres). One was a field of grape vines and the other field had tomatoes planted under grape vines. In addition to dismantling the irrigation pipes, the workers also cut the twines that were holding up tomato plants. At least seven families will be affected by this destruction, in total about 50 people.
Al/Khalil/ Hebron: Israeli Police Invade Palestinian Home, Arrest Father in Old City
IDF destroys West Bank village after declaring it military zone
Since 1967, Israel has prevented the growth of Palestinian communities in the Jordan Valley by cutting off their water supply or declaring large areas as live fire zones.
Al Khalil/Hebron: Israeli Border Police Demolish Water Infrastructure in Al Baqa'a Valley
For the third time in 12 days, Israeli Border Police carried out demolitions in Al Baqa'a valley, a fertile farming
area northeast of Hebron, along route 60. On July 19, the Israeli Border Police, with the assistance of hired
laborers using heavy machinery, destroyed a cistern and removed irrigation pipes from 1.5 acres (6 dunams) of
vegetable fields.
Ashton: Israel must allow Gaza to resume exports
Israel should ease its Gaza blockade further and allow Palestinians to resume exports from the territory, the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton said on Sunday during a visit to the Hamas-controlled enclave.
For first time in nine months, Israel razes Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem
I doubt it was the first time in 9 months. Israel= just like the Nazis.
IDF convicts commander, soldier in shooting of bound Palestinian
An Israel Defense Forces court on Thursday convicted a former commander and a soldier involved in shooting a bound Palestinian at close range in the West Bank city of Na'alin two years ago. And again.
Medics prevented from treating dying Palestinian mother
According to the woman’s husband, Nasser Abu Said (37) the attack began without warning at about 8.30pm on Tuesday with two shells being fired as the family of 17 sat outside their house in the village of Johar a-Deek. Apart from Nasser and his 65-year-old father, the entire group was women and children.
Some Gaza women smolder over Hamas' water-pipe ban
There are few pleasures left for Gaza's 1.5 million people, squeezed by both a blockade and Hamas efforts to impose its strict Muslim lifestyle. And women here just lost another one.
EU foreign policy chief tours Gaza, checks embargo
The international community must pressure Israel to go beyond easing its Gaza embargo and throw open the territory's long-blockaded borders, the EU foreign policy chief said after a tour of the Hamas-run coastal strip.
Abbas says Israel must accept foreign border force
Israel Chokes Gaza Despite Announced Easing
"Even if the blockade is eased it remains illegal under international law as it is a collective form of punishment on a civilian population," Chris Gunness from the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) told IPS.
Obama official assures on Israel defense aid
An Obama administration official committed to sustaining a 10-year defense assistance program to Israel, saying that advanced technology is endangering Israel. Did you see what's going on in America lately? More Americans face foreclosure the economy has not yet fully recovered from the recession, and yet OUR PRIORITY IS TO MAKE SURE THE CRIMINAL STATE can continue to plunder and pillage in the Middle East?
Iron Dome success excites, but army balks at the bill
The U.S. Congress passed last week the Obama administration's initiative to provide Israel with a $205 million grant to procure Iron Dome batteries As millions of Americans go hungry.
'Israel convinces US with credible military plan on Iran'
Have Israel’s efforts to convince the US to threaten Iran with a credible military option paid off? According to recent media reports, the answer might be yes.
Iranian Scientist Amiri Told CIA Iran Has No Nuclear Bomb Programme
Contrary to a news media narrative that Iranian scientist Shahram Amiri has provided intelligence on covert Iranian nuclear weapons work, CIA sources familiar with the Amiri case say he told his CIA handlers that there is no such Iranian nuclear weapons programme, according to a former CIA officer.
Philip Giraldi, a former CIA counterterrorism official, told IPS that his sources are CIA officials with direct knowledge of the entire Amiri operation. Really now? Pay particular attention to the last two paragraphs.
We will continue to shield Israel, militarily and diplomatically, U.S. official says
The United States will continue to maintain Israel's military advantage as well as protect it in the diplomatic arena, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said Wednesday, adding that the American commitment to Israel's security was "not negotiable." Disgusting. It's treason; our support of Israel gravely endangers our national security. It's why we were attacked on 911, according to the 911 Commission Report.
Poll: Most Americans would back Israel attack on Iran
This is what happens when my fellow Americans get their news from our mainstream media. They are lying to us. Iran is not a threat to the USA, nor has it threatened us in the absence of any threats we've made. This whole Iran scare, just like during the runup to the war with Iraq, has been put forth by Israel and its lobby here in America. THE LATTER are the REAL threat to America. They should be sent packing to teh country to which they are loyal: Israel.
Our troops are sitting ducks when Iran retaliates after any Israeli strike on their country. No American would ever support that. But you won't hear about the fallout in our mainstream media, who all cower in fear of the Israeli lobby.
Israel re-arms ready for war with Iran
While much of the concern in the Middle East and South West Asia is with the post-election problems in Iraq and the worsening conflict in Afghanistan, much more attention needs to be paid to Iran, and the thoroughly dangerous consequences of yet another war in the region.
Paul Rogers is Global Security Consultant to Oxford Research Group and Professor of Peace Studies at Bradford University.
Bibi Unmasked
IDF Recognizes Help From Israeli Human Rights Group
This is all part of the game.
Gaddafi Jr.: We Docked in Egypt After Israel OK'd Gaza Reconstruction Aid
Food co-op in Rachel Corrie's hometown boycotts Israeli goods
Sayanim - Israeli Operatives in the U.S.
When the “con” is clearly seen, “the mark” (that’s us) will see that all roads lead to the same duplicitous source: Israel and its operatives. The secret to Israel’s force-multiplier in the U.S. is its use of agents, assets and sayanim (Hebrew for volunteers). A great piece by Veterans Today.
Israelis see Obama as pro-Palestinian: poll
Forty–six percent of Israelis believe US President Barack Obama is more pro–Palestinian than pro–Israeli, according to an opinion poll published by the English–language Jerusalem Post on Friday.
Democracy Depends on Diverse Media, Senators Say
Today, a bipartisan group of senators sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski reminding him that the Senate continues to be concerned about the dangers of media consolidation. They did something right for a change, something that actually benefits Americans, not Israelis. Imagine. But yet it still won't prevent our mainstream media from being so totallly biased in favor of Israel as it is today.
Netanyahu says he will oppose conversion bill
Presbyterians Tone Down Report On Israel After Jewish Lobbying
some national Jewish groups have dedicated significant time and resources to building relationships with delegates like Bloss, who has been supportive of Israel within the denomination since 2004.
By the close of the assembly, the Jewish groups felt that their investment had paid off as the convocation approved a report on the Israel-Palestinian conflict that blunted or blocked some of the text’s original language which had most disturbed them........“The Simon Wiesenthal Center went into a high level of inflammatory rhetoric, which was really below the belt as far as it being certainly unkind, but also untrue,” Levy said. “The church has been looking time and time again at these issues, and then you have Jewish groups that blackmail the church on interfaith relations. They say, ‘Don’t move forward, because you’re going to upset us.’” The truth about Israel must be whitewashed at all costs.
Israel Jails Arab for Bedding Jew Under False Pretenses
An Israel court has sentenced an Arab man named Sabbar Kashur to 18 months in prison for having consensual sex with an Israeli Jewish woman under the pretense that he was also Jewish. The case, brought by the Israeli woman, ended with Kashur being convicted of "rape by deception." It has drawn new attention to the culture of mistrust that persists between many Jews and Muslims in Israel, where race and religion often take the blame for years of complicated international conflict
Iran urges US to drop 'cowboy logic' over nuclear issue
Mr Ahmadinejad added that the US's real concern was not that Iran may make a bomb, but its rise as a regional power. Israel is behind that concern.
Family of Briton killed by Israeli soldier demand meeting with ministers
The family of British activist Tom Hurndall have demanded a meeting with the British government after the Israeli authorities announced the early release of the soldier who killed him.
Robert Fisk: They're all grovelling and you can guess the reason
What they said might have made Israel's supporters angry. And that will never do. The reality is that CNN should have told Israel's lobbyists to get lost, and the Foreign Office – which was indeed upbraided by the Israeli foreign ministry – should have asked the Israeli government when it is going to stop thieving Arab land
Demands for Release of Nuclear Whistleblower as Israel Holds Vanunu in Solitary Confinement
Israeli minister to lay West Bank foundation stone
Israel's interior minister and deputy prime minister, Elie Yishai, is to lay the foundation stone of a new administrative centre for Jewish settlements in the West Bank, his office announced on Sunday.
A hidden world, growing beyond control
* An estimated 854,000 people, nearly 1.5 times as many people as live in Washington, D.C., hold top-secret security clearances. How many Israeli spies are in that group?
4 Reasons Israel Hasn't Bombed Iran
Study: Attack on Iran would be ‘start of long war’
An Israeli attack on Iran would fail to stop Tehran's alleged nuclear weapons program and would lead to a "long war" that would be marked by economic instability and mass civilian casualties, says a study from British think tank
Iran FM: Nuclear fuel talks to commence in September
Talks between Iran and western powers over a plan to supply fuel for a Tehran nuclear reactor should start late September, the Bloomberg news network quoted Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki as saying on Thursday.
Israel set to force all citizens to swear oath to Jewish state
We should do that to the Israel-supporters HERE IN AMERICA. It would be poetic justice, and would give us the chance to rid ourselves of the traitors among us.
Alleged Mossad agent fights extradition to Germany
Brodsky is wanted in Germany for allegedly spying and helping to falsely obtain a German passport allegedly used in connection with the assassination of the Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Manhouh in a Dubai hotel in January.
Bad translation makes fundamentalists of us all
I was recently watching the Spanish documentary To Shoot an Elephant, about the Israeli attacks on Gaza in January 2009. The documentary is good, but the subtitles in English struck me as strange: "For the sake of Allah", "May Allah protect [your sons] for you", "May Allah reward you" and other references to God are recurrent throughout the film.
In sign of warming ties, Turkey FM reportedly meets Hamas chief
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met with Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Meshal in Damascus on Monday, signaling a tightening of relations between Israel's once-close ally and its arch enemy.
Israel's nuclear program implicated in U.S. investigation
It is worth mentioning that in the 1980s, regardless of Jonathan Pollards' espionage activities for Israel, Israeli companies and individuals were involved many cases of technological espionage, steeling U.S. secrets, technology and equipment.
The most outstanding case involved Milco, a U.S. based company owned by Israeli tycoon Arnon Milchan, which bought and shipped equipment with which could have also been used as triggers for nuclear weapons. These people are not our allies, not even close.
The U.S. Middle Class Is Being Wiped Out
Hey, I know, let's give Israel a few more billion dollars in US taxpayer aid, and how about we fight another of their wars too?
Iranian Scientist Would Not Play Curveball
The facts beneath the competing narratives permit a key conclusion; namely, that U.S. intelligence has learned nothing to change its assessment that Iran halted work on the nuclear-weapons related part of its nuclear development program in the fall of 2003 and has not restarted that work......hold onto your hats. I’m waiting for arch-neoconservative Ken Adelman, erstwhile clone of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, to arise from – and dust off – the ashes of Iraq to reassure us that attacking Iran, too, will be a “cake walk.” Ray McGovern is former CIA.
'Mossad agents' expelled from Mauritius
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Headlines for July 8 - July 14
A Stand For Justice
U.S. Congress United in its Support of Israel, says Republican Minority Whip
U.S. Republicans and Democrats differ on nearly every issue in the U.S. Congress but are united in their support of Israel, Congressman Eric Cantor (R-VA) told a congregation of U.S. Jews on Saturday. Behold the treason.
Palestinian village to be encircled by barrier
The barrier, running much of the length of the West Bank, has already disrupted lives in many Palestinian towns and villages in its path. But it threatens to outright smother Walajeh: The community of about 2,000 on the southwest edge of Jerusalem is to be completely encircled by a fence cutting it off from most of its open land, according to an Israeli Defense Ministry map.
This wall, built on Palestinian territory, is illegal under international law. The US prevents justice from being upheld in this case, and most others dealing with Israel's violations of international law.
Woman killed, five injured near Gaza City
In a separate incident, two Palestinians were injured by Israeli artillery fire near a Gaza refugee camp.
Israeli bulldozers raze 6 east Jerusalem buildings
Israeli bulldozers destroyed six buildings, including at least three homes, in contested east Jerusalem on Tuesday, resuming the demolition of Palestinian property after a halt aimed at encouraging peace talks.
Palestinian homes bulldozed as Israeli freeze on demolitions appears to end
Approval was given on Monday for 32 new homes in the Jewish neighbourhood of Pisgat Ze'ev, East Jerusalem, which is exempt from the freeze. A further 48 housing units should be approved next week.
It's official: Israel has gotten away with it -- again
Over a month after the deadly raid, and after an overwhelming bipartisan majority in Congress signed onto an American-Israel Public Affairs Committee letter that expressed "strong support for Israel's right to defend itself," the Obama administration is letting Israel get away scot-free. Israel will continue with the status quo of occupation and blockade while the prospects for a Palestinian state continue to whither away.
Obama says Israel unlikely to surprise US with Iran attack
"I think the relationship between the US and Israel is sufficiently strong that neither of us try to surprise each other," he said, when asked if he was concerned Israel could catch the US off guard with an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.
Israel didn't give us any warning when they attacked USS Liberty.
Strong Russian remarks on Iran please Washington
A major goal of U.S. President Barack Obama's "reset" of relations with Moscow has been winning Russian backing for a tougher international line toward Iran. Did it have anything to do with the recent spy exchange between US and Russia, mewonders? I think so.
Settler released hours after arrested over killing of Palestinian youth
Israel Police on Sunday arrested a resident of the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar, for his alleged involvement in the shooting death of a Palestinian teenager whose body was found near Ramallah two months ago.
The 37-year-old suspect was released without restrictions a few hours after he was detained
Palestinian villagers battle plans to wall them in
"It is the only village in the West Bank that will be completely surrounded by the wall," says Willow Heske, of the Oxfam humanitarian group, which is helping villagers make their voices heard.
Obama tells Abbas he is committed to Palestinian state
Netanyahu doubts Mideast peace deal possible by 2012
"There's only been one time that Iran actually stopped the program and that was when it feared U.S. military action," Netanyahu said.
"So when the president [Obama] says that he's determined to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and that all options are on the table, I think that's the right statement of policy."
Netanyahu: Only US military threats can stop Iran from making nukes
Netanyahu signals no extension of settlement freeze
Israel says won't let Libyan aid ship reach Gaza
Israel: Gaza aid ship diverts to Egypt
U.S. conservatives form new pro-Israel lobby group
The Emergency Committee for Israel presents a potent combination of Republican Party neoconservatives and Evangelical Christians. The new group’s board includes Weekly Standard Editor William Kristol and Gary Bauer, a former Republican presidential candidate who leads the group American Values, as well as Rachel Abrams, a conservative writer and activist. The neocons are back in full force.
Petraeus, Palin, Boot and the Power of Israel
Case against soldier who fired shots in Silwan closed
After 13 witnesses subpoenaed, State Prosecutor's Office decides not to try haredi Nahal soldier who wounded two Palestinians in east Jerusalem. Left-wing organizations petition ruling, say 'it was point-blank shooting at unarmed civilians'
US Treasury Grants Tax Exemptions to Funders of Illegal Israeli Settlements
A New York Times investigation revealed Tuesday that the U.S. Treasury is helping to promote illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank by granting tax exemptions to U.S. groups that funnel money into them. These specific settlements aren't only illegal under international law, but also under Israeli law. Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory are a violation of article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention; war crimes. The US government has been aiding and abetting Israeli war crimes for decades, even war crimes against US citizens.
Abbas: No point in direct talks with Israel now
Mahmoud Abbas sounded determined not to return to the table unless Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commits to an internationally mandated settlement freeze and agrees to pick up talks where they left off under the Israeli leader's predecessor in December 2008. ....Netanyahu hasn't agreed to either demand, and has so far curbed but not frozen settlement activity. He insists negotiations should be held without any preconditions.
Exposed: The Truth About Israel's Land Grab In The West Bank
Jewish settlers, who claim a divine right to the whole of Israel, now control more than 42 per cent of the occupied West Bank, representing a powerful obstacle to the creation of a Palestinian state, a new report has revealed.
'US will attack Iran if it must'
There is wide support in Congress for using all means to keep Iran from becoming a nuclear power, “through diplomatic and economic sanctions if we possibly can, through military actions if we must,” visiting US Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) said Wednesday in Jerusalem.
These traitors must be stopped.
Presbyterians: End Israel aid over settlements
Church delegates approved the report by an 82 percent vote during the church's general assembly in Minneapolis. It's meant as a comprehensive guide to the denomination's more than 2 million members on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
Netanyahu In 2001: 'America Is A Thing You Can Move Very Easily'
Israel bans Gaza woman from studying human rights in West Bank
Israel's New 'Video Game' Executions
MK Ben-Ari: Sink Libyan Ship
The ship, he said, was “a threat to Israel's independence. In order to prevent a flood of hundreds of ships and thousands of refugees gathering on our borders, the ship must be sunk.
Israeli Military Finds Flotilla Killings Justified
Israel exonerates itself. No kidding?
Ireland seeks to block Israel access to data on EU citizens
Ireland is seeking to stop a European Union initiative that would enable Israel to receive sensitive information about European citizens, due to concerns about the use that Israel would make of this information, the Irish minister for justice said over the weekend.
Israeli academics hit back over bid to pass law that would criminalise them
the petition as hysterical and an attempt to silence contrary opinions. While the vast majority of the signatories do not support an academic boycott of Israel, they have joined forces over what they regard as the latest assault on freedom of expression in Israel. The petition states: "We have different and varied opinions about solving the difficult problems facing Israel, but there is one thing we are agreed on – freedom of expression and academic freedom are the very lifeblood of the academic system." Israel is not a democracy. It's a sham.
Woods Hole movie screen goes dark CapeCodOnline.com
"Films about Palestine are no more troubling than anything else, but it hit a nerve with some members on the board," Panish said. "I'm surprised because this is a small community of people in Woods Hole with the same ideals and it's been going on for a year and a half. This is an infringement on free speech." More fascism on display by Israel-supporters.
Children's group boycotts Israel
The emergency motion was proposed by international secretary Paul Bemrose, who said it had been prompted by the deaths of nine Turkish activists on the Gaza flotilla.
Vodka Ad Too Sexy For Brooklyn Hasidic Community
Imagine the national outrcy if it were Muslims that had or wanted to have those ads banned?
The Hypocrisy of Preaching Nonviolence to Palestinians
critics US too low-key on Islamic radicalism talk
President Barack Obama has argued that words matter, and administration officials have said that the use of inflammatory descriptions linking Islam to the terror threat feed the enemy's propaganda and may alienate moderate Muslims in the U.S.
By the way, the WINEP, mentioned in this article, is part of AIPAC, the Israeli lobby. Notice the Associated Press laps up this puff piece largely drawing from WINEP. THe AP is often a mouthpiece for the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
Obama Should Keep Bush's Word, But Bibi Needn't Keep Olmert's?
In effect, the Israeli right doesn’t want Israel to have negotiate its relations with its neighbors on its own. It wants America to impose a solution. Of course JINSA wouldn’t put it that way. JINSA is a neocon (pro-Israel) 'thinktank'.
Israel’s Nukes Harm US National Interests by John Mearsheimer
there’s no accountability for Israel on any issue. You don’t need opacity. If I went to the Middle East, and visited Israel, and I was killed, somebody shot me, do you think there would be any accountability? Seriously. If any of you went to the Middle East and were killed, do you think there would be accountability? There wouldn’t be. This is how outrageous this situation is. Just think about the [USS] Liberty, think about Rachel Corrie, think about this Turkish-American who was just killed on the flotilla.
The Israel-Turkey Imbroglio
Castro: War on Iran 'Imminent'
Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro warned on Monday that a US-Israeli attack on Iran is "imminent" and predicted that this could trigger a global nuclear war
Scott Horton Interviews Lawrence Wilkerson
"I think there’s a very clear-cut case that Wurmser was not only working for Rumsfeld and Feith and the Pentagon, but he was also working for Israel. I think Feith was working for Israel too." Several more neocons who deliberately deceived Americans into going to war with Iraq.
The Unchallenged Power of the Israel Lobby
I quote Mr. Tenet here:
“All this weighed heavy on my mind as I walked beneath the awning that leads to the West Wing and saw Richard Perle exiting the building just as I was about to enter. Perle is one of the godfathers of the neoconservative movement and, at the time, was head of the Defense Policy Board, an independent advisory group attached to the Secretary of Defense. Ours was little more than a passing acquaintance. As the doors closed behind him, we made eye contact and nodded. I had just reached the door myself when Perle turned to me and said, 'Iraq has to pay a price for what happened yesterday. 'They bear responsibility.' (Italics added).
Perle is one of the neocons responsible for deliberately deceiving Americans into going to war with Iraq.
Obama: 'I Have Met Israel and It Is "Us"'
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu set up another illegal Jewish settlement, this time on the White House lawn. And, it appears, President Obama has agreed to serve as its armed guard. And again.
Wealthy Reap Rewards While Those Who Work Lose
Apart from the newly unemployed, about 39 million people in the U.S. are chronically poor and do not have enough food to eat, according to the U.S. Census and U.S. Department of Agriculture. And yet, we continue to pour billions of dollars to Israel to fund its state based on religious supremacism - a state which by the way has not suffered the same economic fate from which America is suffering.
Hebron ‘dance protest’ against Israeli soldiers and settlers
Over 100 Palestinians together with international solidarity activists gathered in Hebron this Saturday to protest against the closure of Shuhada street. As a response to the infamous YouTube video of soldiers dancing near the illegal settlement of Tel-Rumeida, some protesters staged a dance protest: three dancers took the role of soldiers and searched and “arrested” three Palestinians.
Hezbollah says it has list of targets in Israel
A senior official with the militant Hezbollah group said Sunday they have a list of military targets inside Israel to strike in any future war.
CNN fires veteran editor for Mideast over Tweet
CNN has fired a senior editor for Middle East news after she published a Twitter message that said she respected a Lebanese Shi'ite cleric branded a terrorist by the United States, U.S. and British media said on Thursday.
Have sympathy for Israeli Jewish terrorists (such as Begin, Sharon, and more), and you'll get accolades and opportunities.
"Christian-Zionism" Is Trouble for Israel and the USA
These people are not real Christians. They are impostors.
'Unprecedented police brutality' at East Jerusalem protest
Every weekend, Israeli protesters demonstrate alongside the Arab locals against settler activity in the Arab neighborhood. The demonstrators decry the settlers' takeover of several homes in the area.
'Obama warns Erdogan international Gaza flotilla probe bad for Turkey'
United States President Barak Obama warned Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that an international probe into Israel's deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla could have negative consequences for Turkey, British Arabic-language daily al-Hayat reported Saturday. What? Now who would give Obama that idea?
Obama Yields to Bibi, Plus Me vs. Petraeus
David Makovsky, who works for the AIPAC cutout, the Washington Institute for Near East Peace, explained what's going on in today's Washington Post. "As we get closer to the midterm elections, if there was a gap, it's narrowing.... I think the blowup in March between Obama and Netanyahu has led each side to realize that they've gone too far, and they've got to dial it down."
'Many Jewish Neighborhoods in J’lem Will Remain in Israel'
Israel is waiting for Palin
Look at what’s happening: The prime minister of Israel is holding the president of the United States at bay, bending him to his will, because he’s got the Republicans behind him.
Bringing Judaism Out of the Home, and Into the Public Square
American Jews, of course, have long been champions of the strict separation of church and state. Individuals and communal institutions have successfully fought against school prayer, displays of religious symbols on public property and state funding for religious programs. This work is crucial in protecting against the privileging of certain religious groups over others, as well as in protecting religious organizations from state control. I just can't get over the irony and hypocrisy of the above excerpt. Jewish groups have fought to keep religion, mostly Christianity, out of government, but yet the state of Israel is a state based on religious supremacy,and a state that many of these same Jews make sure receives billions in American taxpayer aid. Unbelievable.
Passing of Shiite cleric Fadlallah spells trouble for Lebanon
Notwithstanding his fiery Friday sermons targeting Israel and the United States, the Iraqi-trained Fadlallah opposed the concept of velayat-e-faqih, which puts an Iranian mullah at the pinnacle of Shiite theology and politics. He also condemned Al Qaeda and so-called honor killings of Muslim women, stances that led many Westerners to see Fadlallah, a man Washington labelled a terrorist, as a kind of moderate.
Lieberman's settlement bars Russian-Israeli families from buying homes
"The biggest problem is that if you accept 10 families in which the mother isn't Jewish, then soon there will be 30 children, and tomorrow your son could fall in love with the good-looking girl next door. It's a real problem," Heiman said
Slandering the Good Guys: Some Basic Facts About IHH
Before speakers from the Mavi Marmara were scheduled to speak in New York about what happened on May 31st, local politicians began to put forth the rhetoric of their Israeli handlers, using slanderous language to demonize the victims of Israel's illegal act of war. And most recently, 87 US senators have urged President Obama to launch an investigation of whether or not IHH should be added to the US list of foreign terrorist organizations.
The Israel Project to N.Y. Times: Expose Anti-Israel NGOs, Too — Like the New Israel Fund
A little before midnight on Monday, July 5, the New York Times posted on its website its lengthy, deeply reported investigative piece on U.S. tax-exempt donations that go to fund settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the right-wing American charities that channel those donations, including some that seemed in the Times piece to flirt with or outright violate IRS rules.
U.S. Congress United in its Support of Israel, says Republican Minority Whip
U.S. Republicans and Democrats differ on nearly every issue in the U.S. Congress but are united in their support of Israel, Congressman Eric Cantor (R-VA) told a congregation of U.S. Jews on Saturday. Behold the treason.
Palestinian village to be encircled by barrier
The barrier, running much of the length of the West Bank, has already disrupted lives in many Palestinian towns and villages in its path. But it threatens to outright smother Walajeh: The community of about 2,000 on the southwest edge of Jerusalem is to be completely encircled by a fence cutting it off from most of its open land, according to an Israeli Defense Ministry map.
This wall, built on Palestinian territory, is illegal under international law. The US prevents justice from being upheld in this case, and most others dealing with Israel's violations of international law.
Woman killed, five injured near Gaza City
In a separate incident, two Palestinians were injured by Israeli artillery fire near a Gaza refugee camp.
Israeli bulldozers raze 6 east Jerusalem buildings
Israeli bulldozers destroyed six buildings, including at least three homes, in contested east Jerusalem on Tuesday, resuming the demolition of Palestinian property after a halt aimed at encouraging peace talks.
Palestinian homes bulldozed as Israeli freeze on demolitions appears to end
Approval was given on Monday for 32 new homes in the Jewish neighbourhood of Pisgat Ze'ev, East Jerusalem, which is exempt from the freeze. A further 48 housing units should be approved next week.
It's official: Israel has gotten away with it -- again
Over a month after the deadly raid, and after an overwhelming bipartisan majority in Congress signed onto an American-Israel Public Affairs Committee letter that expressed "strong support for Israel's right to defend itself," the Obama administration is letting Israel get away scot-free. Israel will continue with the status quo of occupation and blockade while the prospects for a Palestinian state continue to whither away.
Obama says Israel unlikely to surprise US with Iran attack
"I think the relationship between the US and Israel is sufficiently strong that neither of us try to surprise each other," he said, when asked if he was concerned Israel could catch the US off guard with an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.
Israel didn't give us any warning when they attacked USS Liberty.
Strong Russian remarks on Iran please Washington
A major goal of U.S. President Barack Obama's "reset" of relations with Moscow has been winning Russian backing for a tougher international line toward Iran. Did it have anything to do with the recent spy exchange between US and Russia, mewonders? I think so.
Settler released hours after arrested over killing of Palestinian youth
Israel Police on Sunday arrested a resident of the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar, for his alleged involvement in the shooting death of a Palestinian teenager whose body was found near Ramallah two months ago.
The 37-year-old suspect was released without restrictions a few hours after he was detained
Palestinian villagers battle plans to wall them in
"It is the only village in the West Bank that will be completely surrounded by the wall," says Willow Heske, of the Oxfam humanitarian group, which is helping villagers make their voices heard.
Obama tells Abbas he is committed to Palestinian state
Netanyahu doubts Mideast peace deal possible by 2012
"There's only been one time that Iran actually stopped the program and that was when it feared U.S. military action," Netanyahu said.
"So when the president [Obama] says that he's determined to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and that all options are on the table, I think that's the right statement of policy."
Netanyahu: Only US military threats can stop Iran from making nukes
Netanyahu signals no extension of settlement freeze
Israel says won't let Libyan aid ship reach Gaza
Israel: Gaza aid ship diverts to Egypt
U.S. conservatives form new pro-Israel lobby group
The Emergency Committee for Israel presents a potent combination of Republican Party neoconservatives and Evangelical Christians. The new group’s board includes Weekly Standard Editor William Kristol and Gary Bauer, a former Republican presidential candidate who leads the group American Values, as well as Rachel Abrams, a conservative writer and activist. The neocons are back in full force.
Petraeus, Palin, Boot and the Power of Israel
Case against soldier who fired shots in Silwan closed
After 13 witnesses subpoenaed, State Prosecutor's Office decides not to try haredi Nahal soldier who wounded two Palestinians in east Jerusalem. Left-wing organizations petition ruling, say 'it was point-blank shooting at unarmed civilians'
US Treasury Grants Tax Exemptions to Funders of Illegal Israeli Settlements
A New York Times investigation revealed Tuesday that the U.S. Treasury is helping to promote illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank by granting tax exemptions to U.S. groups that funnel money into them. These specific settlements aren't only illegal under international law, but also under Israeli law. Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory are a violation of article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention; war crimes. The US government has been aiding and abetting Israeli war crimes for decades, even war crimes against US citizens.
Abbas: No point in direct talks with Israel now
Mahmoud Abbas sounded determined not to return to the table unless Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commits to an internationally mandated settlement freeze and agrees to pick up talks where they left off under the Israeli leader's predecessor in December 2008. ....Netanyahu hasn't agreed to either demand, and has so far curbed but not frozen settlement activity. He insists negotiations should be held without any preconditions.
Exposed: The Truth About Israel's Land Grab In The West Bank
Jewish settlers, who claim a divine right to the whole of Israel, now control more than 42 per cent of the occupied West Bank, representing a powerful obstacle to the creation of a Palestinian state, a new report has revealed.
'US will attack Iran if it must'
There is wide support in Congress for using all means to keep Iran from becoming a nuclear power, “through diplomatic and economic sanctions if we possibly can, through military actions if we must,” visiting US Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) said Wednesday in Jerusalem.
These traitors must be stopped.
Presbyterians: End Israel aid over settlements
Church delegates approved the report by an 82 percent vote during the church's general assembly in Minneapolis. It's meant as a comprehensive guide to the denomination's more than 2 million members on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
Netanyahu In 2001: 'America Is A Thing You Can Move Very Easily'
Israel bans Gaza woman from studying human rights in West Bank
Israel's New 'Video Game' Executions
MK Ben-Ari: Sink Libyan Ship
The ship, he said, was “a threat to Israel's independence. In order to prevent a flood of hundreds of ships and thousands of refugees gathering on our borders, the ship must be sunk.
Israeli Military Finds Flotilla Killings Justified
Israel exonerates itself. No kidding?
Ireland seeks to block Israel access to data on EU citizens
Ireland is seeking to stop a European Union initiative that would enable Israel to receive sensitive information about European citizens, due to concerns about the use that Israel would make of this information, the Irish minister for justice said over the weekend.
Israeli academics hit back over bid to pass law that would criminalise them
the petition as hysterical and an attempt to silence contrary opinions. While the vast majority of the signatories do not support an academic boycott of Israel, they have joined forces over what they regard as the latest assault on freedom of expression in Israel. The petition states: "We have different and varied opinions about solving the difficult problems facing Israel, but there is one thing we are agreed on – freedom of expression and academic freedom are the very lifeblood of the academic system." Israel is not a democracy. It's a sham.
Woods Hole movie screen goes dark CapeCodOnline.com
"Films about Palestine are no more troubling than anything else, but it hit a nerve with some members on the board," Panish said. "I'm surprised because this is a small community of people in Woods Hole with the same ideals and it's been going on for a year and a half. This is an infringement on free speech." More fascism on display by Israel-supporters.
Children's group boycotts Israel
The emergency motion was proposed by international secretary Paul Bemrose, who said it had been prompted by the deaths of nine Turkish activists on the Gaza flotilla.
Vodka Ad Too Sexy For Brooklyn Hasidic Community
Imagine the national outrcy if it were Muslims that had or wanted to have those ads banned?
The Hypocrisy of Preaching Nonviolence to Palestinians
critics US too low-key on Islamic radicalism talk
President Barack Obama has argued that words matter, and administration officials have said that the use of inflammatory descriptions linking Islam to the terror threat feed the enemy's propaganda and may alienate moderate Muslims in the U.S.
By the way, the WINEP, mentioned in this article, is part of AIPAC, the Israeli lobby. Notice the Associated Press laps up this puff piece largely drawing from WINEP. THe AP is often a mouthpiece for the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
Obama Should Keep Bush's Word, But Bibi Needn't Keep Olmert's?
In effect, the Israeli right doesn’t want Israel to have negotiate its relations with its neighbors on its own. It wants America to impose a solution. Of course JINSA wouldn’t put it that way. JINSA is a neocon (pro-Israel) 'thinktank'.
Israel’s Nukes Harm US National Interests by John Mearsheimer
there’s no accountability for Israel on any issue. You don’t need opacity. If I went to the Middle East, and visited Israel, and I was killed, somebody shot me, do you think there would be any accountability? Seriously. If any of you went to the Middle East and were killed, do you think there would be accountability? There wouldn’t be. This is how outrageous this situation is. Just think about the [USS] Liberty, think about Rachel Corrie, think about this Turkish-American who was just killed on the flotilla.
The Israel-Turkey Imbroglio
Castro: War on Iran 'Imminent'
Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro warned on Monday that a US-Israeli attack on Iran is "imminent" and predicted that this could trigger a global nuclear war
Scott Horton Interviews Lawrence Wilkerson
"I think there’s a very clear-cut case that Wurmser was not only working for Rumsfeld and Feith and the Pentagon, but he was also working for Israel. I think Feith was working for Israel too." Several more neocons who deliberately deceived Americans into going to war with Iraq.
The Unchallenged Power of the Israel Lobby
I quote Mr. Tenet here:
“All this weighed heavy on my mind as I walked beneath the awning that leads to the West Wing and saw Richard Perle exiting the building just as I was about to enter. Perle is one of the godfathers of the neoconservative movement and, at the time, was head of the Defense Policy Board, an independent advisory group attached to the Secretary of Defense. Ours was little more than a passing acquaintance. As the doors closed behind him, we made eye contact and nodded. I had just reached the door myself when Perle turned to me and said, 'Iraq has to pay a price for what happened yesterday. 'They bear responsibility.' (Italics added).
Perle is one of the neocons responsible for deliberately deceiving Americans into going to war with Iraq.
Obama: 'I Have Met Israel and It Is "Us"'
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu set up another illegal Jewish settlement, this time on the White House lawn. And, it appears, President Obama has agreed to serve as its armed guard. And again.
Wealthy Reap Rewards While Those Who Work Lose
Apart from the newly unemployed, about 39 million people in the U.S. are chronically poor and do not have enough food to eat, according to the U.S. Census and U.S. Department of Agriculture. And yet, we continue to pour billions of dollars to Israel to fund its state based on religious supremacism - a state which by the way has not suffered the same economic fate from which America is suffering.
Hebron ‘dance protest’ against Israeli soldiers and settlers
Over 100 Palestinians together with international solidarity activists gathered in Hebron this Saturday to protest against the closure of Shuhada street. As a response to the infamous YouTube video of soldiers dancing near the illegal settlement of Tel-Rumeida, some protesters staged a dance protest: three dancers took the role of soldiers and searched and “arrested” three Palestinians.
Hezbollah says it has list of targets in Israel
A senior official with the militant Hezbollah group said Sunday they have a list of military targets inside Israel to strike in any future war.
CNN fires veteran editor for Mideast over Tweet
CNN has fired a senior editor for Middle East news after she published a Twitter message that said she respected a Lebanese Shi'ite cleric branded a terrorist by the United States, U.S. and British media said on Thursday.
Have sympathy for Israeli Jewish terrorists (such as Begin, Sharon, and more), and you'll get accolades and opportunities.
"Christian-Zionism" Is Trouble for Israel and the USA
These people are not real Christians. They are impostors.
'Unprecedented police brutality' at East Jerusalem protest
Every weekend, Israeli protesters demonstrate alongside the Arab locals against settler activity in the Arab neighborhood. The demonstrators decry the settlers' takeover of several homes in the area.
'Obama warns Erdogan international Gaza flotilla probe bad for Turkey'
United States President Barak Obama warned Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that an international probe into Israel's deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla could have negative consequences for Turkey, British Arabic-language daily al-Hayat reported Saturday. What? Now who would give Obama that idea?
Obama Yields to Bibi, Plus Me vs. Petraeus
David Makovsky, who works for the AIPAC cutout, the Washington Institute for Near East Peace, explained what's going on in today's Washington Post. "As we get closer to the midterm elections, if there was a gap, it's narrowing.... I think the blowup in March between Obama and Netanyahu has led each side to realize that they've gone too far, and they've got to dial it down."
'Many Jewish Neighborhoods in J’lem Will Remain in Israel'
Israel is waiting for Palin
Look at what’s happening: The prime minister of Israel is holding the president of the United States at bay, bending him to his will, because he’s got the Republicans behind him.
Bringing Judaism Out of the Home, and Into the Public Square
American Jews, of course, have long been champions of the strict separation of church and state. Individuals and communal institutions have successfully fought against school prayer, displays of religious symbols on public property and state funding for religious programs. This work is crucial in protecting against the privileging of certain religious groups over others, as well as in protecting religious organizations from state control. I just can't get over the irony and hypocrisy of the above excerpt. Jewish groups have fought to keep religion, mostly Christianity, out of government, but yet the state of Israel is a state based on religious supremacy,and a state that many of these same Jews make sure receives billions in American taxpayer aid. Unbelievable.
Passing of Shiite cleric Fadlallah spells trouble for Lebanon
Notwithstanding his fiery Friday sermons targeting Israel and the United States, the Iraqi-trained Fadlallah opposed the concept of velayat-e-faqih, which puts an Iranian mullah at the pinnacle of Shiite theology and politics. He also condemned Al Qaeda and so-called honor killings of Muslim women, stances that led many Westerners to see Fadlallah, a man Washington labelled a terrorist, as a kind of moderate.
Lieberman's settlement bars Russian-Israeli families from buying homes
"The biggest problem is that if you accept 10 families in which the mother isn't Jewish, then soon there will be 30 children, and tomorrow your son could fall in love with the good-looking girl next door. It's a real problem," Heiman said
Slandering the Good Guys: Some Basic Facts About IHH
Before speakers from the Mavi Marmara were scheduled to speak in New York about what happened on May 31st, local politicians began to put forth the rhetoric of their Israeli handlers, using slanderous language to demonize the victims of Israel's illegal act of war. And most recently, 87 US senators have urged President Obama to launch an investigation of whether or not IHH should be added to the US list of foreign terrorist organizations.
The Israel Project to N.Y. Times: Expose Anti-Israel NGOs, Too — Like the New Israel Fund
A little before midnight on Monday, July 5, the New York Times posted on its website its lengthy, deeply reported investigative piece on U.S. tax-exempt donations that go to fund settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the right-wing American charities that channel those donations, including some that seemed in the Times piece to flirt with or outright violate IRS rules.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Headlines for July 1 - July 7
A Stand For Justice
Al Khalil/Hebron: Israeli Border Police Destroy Vegetable Fields in Al Baqa'a Valley
Israeli border police destroyed several Palestinian fields in Al Baqa'a Valley just east of Hebron on July 6, 2010, directly impacting the livelihood of more than one hundred Palestinians.
.Israel steps up forced evictions of West Bank Palestinians
Amnesty International has urged the Israeli authorities to halt forced evictions of Palestinians in the West Bank after a recent spate of military eviction orders were served on Palestinians in the northern Jordan Valley
Growing Consensus: Israel Abusing Its Status as ‘Indispensable’ US Ally
Sen. Lieberman: US ready to strike Iran if it must
Although US officials often say no option should be taken off the table in relation to Iran's nuclear program, this is one of the few times an official of Lieberman's standing has explicitly used the term "military action" while in Israel.
Lieberman is one of Israel's top agents on Capitol Hill.
UN General Assembly cancels session on Gaza flotilla
Sen. Lieberman says force may be needed in Iran
U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman says there is a broad consensus in Congress that military force can be used if necessary to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Lieberman = agent of Israel.
Obama set to sign Iran sanctions bill: W.House
Israeli FM Stokes Tensions With Turkey
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman angrily responded to comments made by his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu in a Turkish newspaper. Davutoglu called for Israel to either apologize for the killing of Turkish civilians on the Mavi Marmara aid ship or, failing that, to permit an international investigation.
Lieberman insisted that neither of these options was acceptable, and once again chastised Turkey for what he called major policy changes.
Palestinian PM meets Israeli minister
The Palestinian prime minister said he pressed demands including a halt to Israeli army incursions in Palestinian West Bank towns in a rare high–level meeting with the Israeli defense minister on Monday.
Obama denies any Israel, US rift
The leaders sat close together in the Oval Office Tuesday and staged a prolonged handshake for the cameras, seeking to put to rest a tense, closed–door encounter at the White House in March.
The lobby put the screws to Obama,no doubt, resulting in his total turnaround in behavior.
Rights Group Files FOIA Requests Regarding Israel Attack on Flotilla Delivering Aid to Gaza Center for Constitutional Rights
Yesterday, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed eight Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests regarding the United States government’s knowledge of, and actions in relation to, the May 31, 2010 attack by Israel on a flotilla of six vessels in international waters seeking to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, and U.S. policy towards the blockade of Gaza, which has entered its fourth year
Turkey and Israel try fence-mending after ship raid
Turkey wants Israel apology
Turkey's foreign minister was quoted on Monday as saying that Ankara would cut ties with Israel unless it apologized or accepted an international inquiry into its deadly raid on a Turkish aid ship bound for Gaza.
Abbas: No direct talks without progress on borders and security
'Obama warns Erdogan international Gaza flotilla probe bad for Turkey'
Obama backs Israel on nuclear conference
Obama also agreed to work with Israel to oppose any efforts to single out the Jewish state at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference in September.
German parliament expected to pass motion urging Israel to end Gaza blockade
"The living conditions of the civilian population of Gaza must be urgently improved," said the German motion, adding that the blockade - which the government has already said should be ended - was counterproductive and did not help to make Israel safer.
Israel ministers reject bill to foil settlement freeze
Peace or piece? Israel chooses to take another piece of Palestine.
Israeli settlements cover 42 percent of West Bank
Jewish settlements control more than 42 percent of the West Bank, and much of that land was seized from Palestinian landowners in defiance of an Israeli Supreme Court ban, an Israeli human rights group said Tuesday.
Report: Secret document affirms U.S.-Israel nuclear partnership
According to Army Radio, the U.S. has reportedly pledged to sell Israel materials used to produce electricity, as well as nuclear technology and other supplies, despite the fact that Israel is not a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Gaza gets chocolate but no cement as embargo eases
If you have cash to spare in Gaza, you can treat your children to new varieties of chocolate Israel has just let in for the first time in a few years, or splash out on new tableware it allowed into the territory this week.
If you need cement and steel to rebuild a home destroyed by war, you'll have to wait a bit longer.
Tax-Exempt Funds Aid Settlements in West Bank
HaYovel is one of many groups in the United States using tax-exempt donations to help Jews establish permanence in the Israeli-occupied territories — effectively obstructing the creation of a Palestinian state, widely seen as a necessary condition for Middle East peace. The result is a surprising juxtaposition: As the American government seeks to end the four-decade Jewish settlement enterprise and foster a Palestinian state in the West Bank, the American Treasury helps sustain the settlements through tax breaks on donations to support them......The Internal Revenue Service declined to discuss donations for West Bank settlements. State Department officials would comment only generally, and on condition of anonymity Settlements in occupied territory are a violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Conventions. In short, this is the financing of war crimes. This is a lengthy and unusually frank look at American money funneling into settlements.
Gazans: We were used as 'human shields'
Another Palestinian testified that "IDF soldiers cuffed me and three of my brothers and for three days had us walk ahead of them, and made sure we did so at gunpoint. They used us as human shields by ordering us to go into houses ahead of them.
"After we'd go out, they would send in the (bomb-sniffing) dogs and only then would they go inside."
2,700 houses to be built as soon as West Bank settlement freeze ends
And again.
Israel eases Gaza closure, but restrictions remain
because Israel will continue to ban most travel and exports and restrict the import of desperately needed construction materials, the new rules are unlikely to restore the territory's devastated economy or allow rebuilding of all that was destroyed in last year's war.
Israeli army: Gaza war troops to be disciplined
Around 1,400 Gazans, many of them civilians, were killed in three weeks of fierce urban fighting and aerial bombardments. Thirteen Israelis were killed. A report commissioned by the U.N. Human Rights Council accused Israel of deliberately targeting civilians, a charge Israel rejects.
The Associated Press has truly become an arm of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. This is merely a(nother) dog and pony show put on by Israel.
US to press Binyamin Netanyahu to extend freeze on settlements
Despite the moratorium, building in settlements has continued in the past seven months thanks to loopholes and violations. Preparations are under way for a construction boom this autumn.
Despite Rift, Israel Gets More U.S. Aid Than Iraq
More than any other nation, including war-torn Iraq, Israel gets the most U.S. aid, according to the Feds.
Judge grants ex-Israeli spy US asylum
'Oh ok, as long as he was good for Israel, he can stay.'
Blair to receive US peace medal
"Freedom, liberty and justice are the values which I try to apply to my work on governance in Africa and on preparing the Palestinians for statehood.
Report: Abbas agrees to Israeli control over Jewish holy sites in Jerusalem
Clinton: U.S. to contribute $150 million to Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation
The State Department on Saturday said Clinton's announcement of the anticipated contribution helps commemorate the 1.1 million victims who perished at the Nazi death camp, and demonstrates the U.S. administration's commitment to Holocaust remembrance and education. We're looking at unemployment here that rivals that of the Great Depression, is this really necessary? Did American perpetrate the Holocaust?
Ben-Eliezer meets with Turkish FM in effort to resolve bilateral crisis
Why are so many Israelis arrested over illegal arms deals worldwide?
With Obama meeting scheduled, Israel eases Gaza import limits
Israel on Monday announced a major change in the way it will manage the country's controversial blockade of the Gaza Strip , a move Israeli officials hope will ease tensions with the Obama administration on the eve of a visit to Washington by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu .
So the easing of the blockade will be reversed once the dog and pony show is over?
No Israel visit for Dustin Hoffman
Jewish actor Dustin Hoffman halted arrangements to attend the Jerusalem Film Festival in the wake of the Gaza flotilla clash, one of the organisers has claimed.
Report: Turkey may expand Israeli flights ban
Polish court orders Mossad spy suspect extradited
A Polish court on Wednesday ordered the extradition to Germany of an Israeli man suspected of being a Mossad agent involved in the slaying of a Hamas operative.
IDF objector sprays 'Free Gaza' graffiti on Warsaw Ghetto wall
One of the activists was conscientious objector Yonatan Shapira, an Israel Air Force pilot who authored the Pilot’s Letter – a 2003 statement signed by 27 Israeli pilots who publicly refused to fly missions over the Palestinian territories. Shapira was subsequently ousted from reserve duty and also lost his job as a commercial pilot
Israel's Foes Embrace New Resistance Tactics
Lieberman no-show at US Embassy's 4th of July party
Lieberman's absence from the event marking the 234th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence may stem from his strained relations with the Obama Administration.
JA adopts plan aimed at securing Jewish future
“The main danger facing the Jewish world today is a weakening of the connection of young Jews to their People and to the State of Israel,” said Sharansky, who led the new strategic planning process along with Board of Governors Chairman Richard Pearlstone. “Our new plan deals directly with this issue.” How ironic.
Israeli judge Learn from Nazis
Israel has learned from the Nazis alright.
EU foreign ministers accept Israeli invitation to visit Gaza
Israel's recent offer to let foreign dignitaries into the Palestinian territory followed an earlier pledge to relax its economic embargo on Gaza.
Both moves came in the wake of international outrage sparked by Israel's late-May attack on a flotilla bringing in aid to the enclave, which resulted in nine dead.
The General, the Journalist, and the Power of Israel
It indicates that Gen. David Petraeus, who just replaced Gen. McChrystal as commander of foreign forces in Afghanistan, has frankly assessed that the intimate U.S. relationship with Israel is costing U.S. lives in the Middle East. But he’s concerned that his views may cost him politically and so uses buddies in the media to conceal them.
Seven European Ships Will Join 2nd Gaza Aid Flotilla
The European Campaign to Lift Gaza Siege announced recently that seven European vessels will join the second Gaza aid Freedom Flotilla to break the Israeli blockade, Algerian Press Service (APS) reported.
What to read this Fourth of July weekend by Stephen M. Walt
This year, I recommend you spend a few minutes reading George Washington's Farewell Address, originally published in September 1796. Read the whole thing. Our first president has many wise things to tell us today, but none is more telling than his trenchant advice on the conduct of foreign policy Beware of the evils of the passionate attachment (in present times, this would be the attachment to Israel).
Petraeus emails show general scheming with journalist to get out pro-Israel storyline
Very interesting.
US questions its unwavering support for Israel
"This is starting to get dangerous for us. What you're doing here undermines the security of our troops who are fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. That endangers us and it endangers regional peace," Biden told Netanyahu. Americans need to get Congress back from chokehold of the Israeli lobby.
'Israel trying to block U.S.-Saudi Arabia defense contract'
Israel, however, hopes that if the deal goes forward, Saudi Arabia will receive fewer advanced versions of the F-15 than those possessed by Israel, which seeks to maintain its air force's superiority. "Today these planes are against Iran, tomorrow they might turn against us," the source said.
Palestinian who planned Munich attack dies in Syria
A former leader of the Black September Palestinian guerrilla group, Abu Daoud said he planned the Munich hostage–taking in which 11 Israelis died. But Abu Daoud, who did not take part in the attack, said he was not directly responsible for the deaths. "I didn't kill anybody and I didn't order anybody's killing," Abu Daoud told Reuters 1999 after publishing memoirs in which he boasted of planning the abduction.
Executive Privilege by Philip Giraldi
the right of Americans to associate freely, guaranteed by the first amendment, can be limited by Congress and the White House if they disapprove of or criminalize the group you are associating with. The Supreme Court is curiously siding with the executive and legislature and denying that it has any right to uphold the constitution, which becomes, by that standard, truly just a piece of paper. The government can call anything a security threat and can proceed without restraint. Libertarians were dismayed by the ruling, but the Israel Lobby’s Anti Defamation League called the ruling "right on target.".....Lieberman, of course, has a particular passion for Israel and it is reasonable to assume that his ultimate intention might be to use the cyberwarfare justification combined with anti-terror legislation to shut down internet sites that provide news and commentary critical of the Benjamin Netanyahu government. Note Giraldi's comments on the bill to 'shut down the internet' in the face of 'danger' proposed by one of Israel's top agents, Lieberman.
Israel: Hezbollah storing weapons inside villages
The rare publication of what seemed to be detailed intelligence material appeared aimed at demonstrating Israel's reach and preparing public opinion for possible strikes inside villages and the attendant civilian casualties if a future round of fighting erupts.
Me, General Petraeus & The Lobby
Why the panic? Why the rush to consult neocon Max Boot? Why the nervousness?
General Petraeus’s leaked emails about Israel
In a gaffe that hasn't yet attracted the same amount of press as Stanley McChrystal's bizarre interview with Rolling Stone, Petraeus accidentally leaked an email exchange of his -- with the belligerent, neoconservative, pro-Israeli columnist Max Boot -- to an activist named James Morris, who then passed it on to the blogger Philip Weiss:
Neocons, Likud Conquer DC, Again
The clout of Washington’s neoconservatives and the political fear induced by Israel’s Likud hardliners were on display again with recently released e-mails in which Gen. David Petraeus grovels before a key neocon and in White House meetings at which President Obama pandered to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Bibi's Trifecta: Reach Out to Turkey, Boost Fuad, Diss Lieberman
some influential American Jewish organizations are following Yvet’s lead on Turkey. They’re giving its envoys a cold shoulder and flooding the internets with bad stuff about Turkey, including sophomoric nastiness as well as criticism of behavior that they used to be the first to defend. This could be a case of American Jewish freelancing, using a sledge hammer while Israel approaches it with a scalpel. Or it could be that Bibi is using them as his own sledge hammer, getting them all worked up against those mean Turks as a little show of force while he quietly negotiates.
Israel and the Infinite Limits of US Patience : No Woodshed for Netanyahu
It may be in the interests of the US to restrain Israel but this is almost certainty not going to happen. The reason why is shown by the strange story of the attempt by General David Petraeus, now commander in Afghanistan, previously head of Central Command and America's most prestigious general, to put on the record the fact that US support for Israeli actions in the Middle East was endangering the safety of US troops. He reiterated this in written testimony before Congress in March.
But no sooner had General Petraeus done so than he was swiftly rowing back. The explanation for General Petraeus's swift turnaround suggests that he wants to keep open the option of running for the presidency as Republican candidate in 2012 and does not intend to alienate Jewish voters or militant neocons
Analysis: A critical US-Israel issue is left open
the hard–liners in Netanyahu's coalition government will probably not be won over. They have no interest in answering Palestinian demands for a freeze on settlement building in return for direct peace talks.
And that's still the critical issue between the U.S. and Israel, one neither Netanyahu nor Obama addressed after their fifth meeting since Obama took office 17 months ago.
Military official: Iran did not send radar to Syria
Israel’s Stealth Foreign Minister
While Lieberman on June 29 again completely rejected the goal of a negotiated agreement on a Palestinian state by 2012, as urged by the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, Barak has begun speaking out in recent months about the clock ticking against Israel.
American Opinion On Israel - And The Congress's
Interesting.
Islamo-fascism, Judaeo-fascism, Bapto-fascism, and Why We Need More Bars
The wheels are squeaking on the tumbrel methinks. At a recent conclave held by AIPAC, unease arose, reasonably enough, over eroding American support for Israel. What apparently did not arise was any indication of understanding of why support is eroding.
Analysis: President now working with the PM, not against him
the difference in Obama's tone on Tuesday, compared to the last time they met the press in the Oval Office in May 2009, was striking.....Rather than bash Netanyahu for various plans in the works to build in Jerusalem, as he directed his secretary of state to do in March following Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Israel, this time Obama praised the Israeli government for "working through layers of various governmental entities and jurisdiction" and showing "restraint over the last several months." Translation: the Israeli lobby put the screws to Obama and it worked.
Epstein hopes Gazans will be ‘free to pursue their lives in dignity’
In 2003 I went to the Israeli-occupied West Bank for the first time and have been back there five times since, most recently with the Gaza flotilla. I have tried unsuccessfully four times to enter Gaza, but permission has repeatedly been denied. They say that I am a “security risk”! An 86-year-old woman! Hedy Epstein is a very brave individual.
Hebron - Freedom Flotilla release
Tear gas and rubber
bullets are a common response from the Israeli army; the CPT teams in
Palestine witness their brutality on a weekly basis. The only difference
now is that Israel is turning it's "security measures" against the
international community.
Senators Raise Prospect of US Attack on Iran
Sen. Graham was even more blunt in his support for launching the war on Israel’s behalf, saying that “the Congress has Israel’s back.” Passionate attachment, right there.
In Israel, Subsidies Not to Learn
I would note that such “schools” are in the same tradition as the Muslim madrassas so often criticized in the Western media. But about Israel most of our media is silent.
Does Israel Make Us Safer?
The history of Israel and its relationship with the U.S. is infinitely complex, but there’s one damning fact that’s ignored as often as The Question: There was not a single act of Arab terrorism against Americans before 1968, when the U.S. became the chief supplier of military equipment and economic aid to Israel.
Histories Again Collide On the Hills of Jerusalem
Siyam also criticizes Elad’s role in bringing Jewish residents to Wadi Hilwah, claiming that Elad has a “transfer agenda” in that it wishes to see Palestinians leave Wadi Hilwah. “Elad is using all methods in order to make a Jewish majority in Wadi Hilwah,” he claimed, questioning the morality of some of the methods used to acquire properties, including the Absentee Property Law, according to which Israel can seize the property of Arabs who fled to enemy countries after the 1948 and 1967 wars.
Labor Minister, Ex-Gen. 'Fuad' Ben-Eliezer: Time's Up. World Is Tired of Us. Bibi Must Decide
The next morning, when I went down to breakfast, there was a very senior representative of one of the Western delegations standing a few meters from me, between the tomatoes and the cucumber. “A gang of animals,” he said about us. The world has changed disks and we haven’t caught on yet.
Fury as Methodists vote to boycott Israel
The Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council said the Methodists’ annual conference should “hang its head in shame” for passing a policy which calls for a boycott of goods from “illegal” Israeli West Bank settlements and blames Israeli occupation as the “key hindrance” to Middle East peace. Oh dear.
Iran moves radar to Syria: US official
Iran has moved radar to Syria that could provide early–warning against a possible surprise Israeli air attack against Tehran's nuclear sites, a US defense official said on Friday.
Sean Hannity Displays His True Colors - Blue and White (Israeli Flag) When Caller Mentions USS Liberty
Sean Hannity evidently went full throttle into 'defend Israel' mode and proceeded to repeat the Israeli propaganda regarding that incident, rather than stick up for the AMERICAN (sailors) that were viciously attacked.
Peoplehood Vs Israel
If that is true, then the “for us or against us” crowd is harming Israel’s interests in the long run, too. Because while the Jewish community may be tighter, more unified and more supportive of Israel as a result of excluding those whose views are too treyf, one thing is for sure: It will definitely be smaller.
Guns belonging to Israel PM's security detail 'missing'
Four guns went missing and were believed to have been stolen from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security detail after American Airlines lost luggage containing the weapons, NBC reported.
Bikini Models Protest Vodka Ad Ban in Brooklyn Hasidic Jewish Communities
Dozens of bikini-clad women and upset New York residents congregated outside New York City's public transit headquarters on Tuesday to protest the transport authority’s recent decision to ban a popular Georgi Vodka ad campaign, which features models donning sexy swimsuits, from appearing on buses that travel through certain neighborhoods in Brooklyn that are primarily populated by Hasidic Jewish communities I thought only the Islamists were the ones offended by women's unclothed bodies?
Al Khalil/Hebron: Israeli Border Police Destroy Vegetable Fields in Al Baqa'a Valley
Israeli border police destroyed several Palestinian fields in Al Baqa'a Valley just east of Hebron on July 6, 2010, directly impacting the livelihood of more than one hundred Palestinians.
.Israel steps up forced evictions of West Bank Palestinians
Amnesty International has urged the Israeli authorities to halt forced evictions of Palestinians in the West Bank after a recent spate of military eviction orders were served on Palestinians in the northern Jordan Valley
Growing Consensus: Israel Abusing Its Status as ‘Indispensable’ US Ally
Sen. Lieberman: US ready to strike Iran if it must
Although US officials often say no option should be taken off the table in relation to Iran's nuclear program, this is one of the few times an official of Lieberman's standing has explicitly used the term "military action" while in Israel.
Lieberman is one of Israel's top agents on Capitol Hill.
UN General Assembly cancels session on Gaza flotilla
Sen. Lieberman says force may be needed in Iran
U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman says there is a broad consensus in Congress that military force can be used if necessary to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Lieberman = agent of Israel.
Obama set to sign Iran sanctions bill: W.House
Israeli FM Stokes Tensions With Turkey
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman angrily responded to comments made by his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu in a Turkish newspaper. Davutoglu called for Israel to either apologize for the killing of Turkish civilians on the Mavi Marmara aid ship or, failing that, to permit an international investigation.
Lieberman insisted that neither of these options was acceptable, and once again chastised Turkey for what he called major policy changes.
Palestinian PM meets Israeli minister
The Palestinian prime minister said he pressed demands including a halt to Israeli army incursions in Palestinian West Bank towns in a rare high–level meeting with the Israeli defense minister on Monday.
Obama denies any Israel, US rift
The leaders sat close together in the Oval Office Tuesday and staged a prolonged handshake for the cameras, seeking to put to rest a tense, closed–door encounter at the White House in March.
The lobby put the screws to Obama,no doubt, resulting in his total turnaround in behavior.
Rights Group Files FOIA Requests Regarding Israel Attack on Flotilla Delivering Aid to Gaza Center for Constitutional Rights
Yesterday, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed eight Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests regarding the United States government’s knowledge of, and actions in relation to, the May 31, 2010 attack by Israel on a flotilla of six vessels in international waters seeking to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, and U.S. policy towards the blockade of Gaza, which has entered its fourth year
Turkey and Israel try fence-mending after ship raid
Turkey wants Israel apology
Turkey's foreign minister was quoted on Monday as saying that Ankara would cut ties with Israel unless it apologized or accepted an international inquiry into its deadly raid on a Turkish aid ship bound for Gaza.
Abbas: No direct talks without progress on borders and security
'Obama warns Erdogan international Gaza flotilla probe bad for Turkey'
Obama backs Israel on nuclear conference
Obama also agreed to work with Israel to oppose any efforts to single out the Jewish state at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference in September.
German parliament expected to pass motion urging Israel to end Gaza blockade
"The living conditions of the civilian population of Gaza must be urgently improved," said the German motion, adding that the blockade - which the government has already said should be ended - was counterproductive and did not help to make Israel safer.
Israel ministers reject bill to foil settlement freeze
Peace or piece? Israel chooses to take another piece of Palestine.
Israeli settlements cover 42 percent of West Bank
Jewish settlements control more than 42 percent of the West Bank, and much of that land was seized from Palestinian landowners in defiance of an Israeli Supreme Court ban, an Israeli human rights group said Tuesday.
Report: Secret document affirms U.S.-Israel nuclear partnership
According to Army Radio, the U.S. has reportedly pledged to sell Israel materials used to produce electricity, as well as nuclear technology and other supplies, despite the fact that Israel is not a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Gaza gets chocolate but no cement as embargo eases
If you have cash to spare in Gaza, you can treat your children to new varieties of chocolate Israel has just let in for the first time in a few years, or splash out on new tableware it allowed into the territory this week.
If you need cement and steel to rebuild a home destroyed by war, you'll have to wait a bit longer.
Tax-Exempt Funds Aid Settlements in West Bank
HaYovel is one of many groups in the United States using tax-exempt donations to help Jews establish permanence in the Israeli-occupied territories — effectively obstructing the creation of a Palestinian state, widely seen as a necessary condition for Middle East peace. The result is a surprising juxtaposition: As the American government seeks to end the four-decade Jewish settlement enterprise and foster a Palestinian state in the West Bank, the American Treasury helps sustain the settlements through tax breaks on donations to support them......The Internal Revenue Service declined to discuss donations for West Bank settlements. State Department officials would comment only generally, and on condition of anonymity Settlements in occupied territory are a violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Conventions. In short, this is the financing of war crimes. This is a lengthy and unusually frank look at American money funneling into settlements.
Gazans: We were used as 'human shields'
Another Palestinian testified that "IDF soldiers cuffed me and three of my brothers and for three days had us walk ahead of them, and made sure we did so at gunpoint. They used us as human shields by ordering us to go into houses ahead of them.
"After we'd go out, they would send in the (bomb-sniffing) dogs and only then would they go inside."
2,700 houses to be built as soon as West Bank settlement freeze ends
And again.
Israel eases Gaza closure, but restrictions remain
because Israel will continue to ban most travel and exports and restrict the import of desperately needed construction materials, the new rules are unlikely to restore the territory's devastated economy or allow rebuilding of all that was destroyed in last year's war.
Israeli army: Gaza war troops to be disciplined
Around 1,400 Gazans, many of them civilians, were killed in three weeks of fierce urban fighting and aerial bombardments. Thirteen Israelis were killed. A report commissioned by the U.N. Human Rights Council accused Israel of deliberately targeting civilians, a charge Israel rejects.
The Associated Press has truly become an arm of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. This is merely a(nother) dog and pony show put on by Israel.
US to press Binyamin Netanyahu to extend freeze on settlements
Despite the moratorium, building in settlements has continued in the past seven months thanks to loopholes and violations. Preparations are under way for a construction boom this autumn.
Despite Rift, Israel Gets More U.S. Aid Than Iraq
More than any other nation, including war-torn Iraq, Israel gets the most U.S. aid, according to the Feds.
Judge grants ex-Israeli spy US asylum
'Oh ok, as long as he was good for Israel, he can stay.'
Blair to receive US peace medal
"Freedom, liberty and justice are the values which I try to apply to my work on governance in Africa and on preparing the Palestinians for statehood.
Report: Abbas agrees to Israeli control over Jewish holy sites in Jerusalem
Clinton: U.S. to contribute $150 million to Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation
The State Department on Saturday said Clinton's announcement of the anticipated contribution helps commemorate the 1.1 million victims who perished at the Nazi death camp, and demonstrates the U.S. administration's commitment to Holocaust remembrance and education. We're looking at unemployment here that rivals that of the Great Depression, is this really necessary? Did American perpetrate the Holocaust?
Ben-Eliezer meets with Turkish FM in effort to resolve bilateral crisis
Why are so many Israelis arrested over illegal arms deals worldwide?
With Obama meeting scheduled, Israel eases Gaza import limits
Israel on Monday announced a major change in the way it will manage the country's controversial blockade of the Gaza Strip , a move Israeli officials hope will ease tensions with the Obama administration on the eve of a visit to Washington by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu .
So the easing of the blockade will be reversed once the dog and pony show is over?
No Israel visit for Dustin Hoffman
Jewish actor Dustin Hoffman halted arrangements to attend the Jerusalem Film Festival in the wake of the Gaza flotilla clash, one of the organisers has claimed.
Report: Turkey may expand Israeli flights ban
Polish court orders Mossad spy suspect extradited
A Polish court on Wednesday ordered the extradition to Germany of an Israeli man suspected of being a Mossad agent involved in the slaying of a Hamas operative.
IDF objector sprays 'Free Gaza' graffiti on Warsaw Ghetto wall
One of the activists was conscientious objector Yonatan Shapira, an Israel Air Force pilot who authored the Pilot’s Letter – a 2003 statement signed by 27 Israeli pilots who publicly refused to fly missions over the Palestinian territories. Shapira was subsequently ousted from reserve duty and also lost his job as a commercial pilot
Israel's Foes Embrace New Resistance Tactics
Lieberman no-show at US Embassy's 4th of July party
Lieberman's absence from the event marking the 234th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence may stem from his strained relations with the Obama Administration.
JA adopts plan aimed at securing Jewish future
“The main danger facing the Jewish world today is a weakening of the connection of young Jews to their People and to the State of Israel,” said Sharansky, who led the new strategic planning process along with Board of Governors Chairman Richard Pearlstone. “Our new plan deals directly with this issue.” How ironic.
Israeli judge Learn from Nazis
Israel has learned from the Nazis alright.
EU foreign ministers accept Israeli invitation to visit Gaza
Israel's recent offer to let foreign dignitaries into the Palestinian territory followed an earlier pledge to relax its economic embargo on Gaza.
Both moves came in the wake of international outrage sparked by Israel's late-May attack on a flotilla bringing in aid to the enclave, which resulted in nine dead.
The General, the Journalist, and the Power of Israel
It indicates that Gen. David Petraeus, who just replaced Gen. McChrystal as commander of foreign forces in Afghanistan, has frankly assessed that the intimate U.S. relationship with Israel is costing U.S. lives in the Middle East. But he’s concerned that his views may cost him politically and so uses buddies in the media to conceal them.
Seven European Ships Will Join 2nd Gaza Aid Flotilla
The European Campaign to Lift Gaza Siege announced recently that seven European vessels will join the second Gaza aid Freedom Flotilla to break the Israeli blockade, Algerian Press Service (APS) reported.
What to read this Fourth of July weekend by Stephen M. Walt
This year, I recommend you spend a few minutes reading George Washington's Farewell Address, originally published in September 1796. Read the whole thing. Our first president has many wise things to tell us today, but none is more telling than his trenchant advice on the conduct of foreign policy Beware of the evils of the passionate attachment (in present times, this would be the attachment to Israel).
Petraeus emails show general scheming with journalist to get out pro-Israel storyline
Very interesting.
US questions its unwavering support for Israel
"This is starting to get dangerous for us. What you're doing here undermines the security of our troops who are fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. That endangers us and it endangers regional peace," Biden told Netanyahu. Americans need to get Congress back from chokehold of the Israeli lobby.
'Israel trying to block U.S.-Saudi Arabia defense contract'
Israel, however, hopes that if the deal goes forward, Saudi Arabia will receive fewer advanced versions of the F-15 than those possessed by Israel, which seeks to maintain its air force's superiority. "Today these planes are against Iran, tomorrow they might turn against us," the source said.
Palestinian who planned Munich attack dies in Syria
A former leader of the Black September Palestinian guerrilla group, Abu Daoud said he planned the Munich hostage–taking in which 11 Israelis died. But Abu Daoud, who did not take part in the attack, said he was not directly responsible for the deaths. "I didn't kill anybody and I didn't order anybody's killing," Abu Daoud told Reuters 1999 after publishing memoirs in which he boasted of planning the abduction.
Executive Privilege by Philip Giraldi
the right of Americans to associate freely, guaranteed by the first amendment, can be limited by Congress and the White House if they disapprove of or criminalize the group you are associating with. The Supreme Court is curiously siding with the executive and legislature and denying that it has any right to uphold the constitution, which becomes, by that standard, truly just a piece of paper. The government can call anything a security threat and can proceed without restraint. Libertarians were dismayed by the ruling, but the Israel Lobby’s Anti Defamation League called the ruling "right on target.".....Lieberman, of course, has a particular passion for Israel and it is reasonable to assume that his ultimate intention might be to use the cyberwarfare justification combined with anti-terror legislation to shut down internet sites that provide news and commentary critical of the Benjamin Netanyahu government. Note Giraldi's comments on the bill to 'shut down the internet' in the face of 'danger' proposed by one of Israel's top agents, Lieberman.
Israel: Hezbollah storing weapons inside villages
The rare publication of what seemed to be detailed intelligence material appeared aimed at demonstrating Israel's reach and preparing public opinion for possible strikes inside villages and the attendant civilian casualties if a future round of fighting erupts.
Me, General Petraeus & The Lobby
Why the panic? Why the rush to consult neocon Max Boot? Why the nervousness?
General Petraeus’s leaked emails about Israel
In a gaffe that hasn't yet attracted the same amount of press as Stanley McChrystal's bizarre interview with Rolling Stone, Petraeus accidentally leaked an email exchange of his -- with the belligerent, neoconservative, pro-Israeli columnist Max Boot -- to an activist named James Morris, who then passed it on to the blogger Philip Weiss:
Neocons, Likud Conquer DC, Again
The clout of Washington’s neoconservatives and the political fear induced by Israel’s Likud hardliners were on display again with recently released e-mails in which Gen. David Petraeus grovels before a key neocon and in White House meetings at which President Obama pandered to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Bibi's Trifecta: Reach Out to Turkey, Boost Fuad, Diss Lieberman
some influential American Jewish organizations are following Yvet’s lead on Turkey. They’re giving its envoys a cold shoulder and flooding the internets with bad stuff about Turkey, including sophomoric nastiness as well as criticism of behavior that they used to be the first to defend. This could be a case of American Jewish freelancing, using a sledge hammer while Israel approaches it with a scalpel. Or it could be that Bibi is using them as his own sledge hammer, getting them all worked up against those mean Turks as a little show of force while he quietly negotiates.
Israel and the Infinite Limits of US Patience : No Woodshed for Netanyahu
It may be in the interests of the US to restrain Israel but this is almost certainty not going to happen. The reason why is shown by the strange story of the attempt by General David Petraeus, now commander in Afghanistan, previously head of Central Command and America's most prestigious general, to put on the record the fact that US support for Israeli actions in the Middle East was endangering the safety of US troops. He reiterated this in written testimony before Congress in March.
But no sooner had General Petraeus done so than he was swiftly rowing back. The explanation for General Petraeus's swift turnaround suggests that he wants to keep open the option of running for the presidency as Republican candidate in 2012 and does not intend to alienate Jewish voters or militant neocons
Analysis: A critical US-Israel issue is left open
the hard–liners in Netanyahu's coalition government will probably not be won over. They have no interest in answering Palestinian demands for a freeze on settlement building in return for direct peace talks.
And that's still the critical issue between the U.S. and Israel, one neither Netanyahu nor Obama addressed after their fifth meeting since Obama took office 17 months ago.
Military official: Iran did not send radar to Syria
Israel’s Stealth Foreign Minister
While Lieberman on June 29 again completely rejected the goal of a negotiated agreement on a Palestinian state by 2012, as urged by the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, Barak has begun speaking out in recent months about the clock ticking against Israel.
American Opinion On Israel - And The Congress's
Interesting.
Islamo-fascism, Judaeo-fascism, Bapto-fascism, and Why We Need More Bars
The wheels are squeaking on the tumbrel methinks. At a recent conclave held by AIPAC, unease arose, reasonably enough, over eroding American support for Israel. What apparently did not arise was any indication of understanding of why support is eroding.
Analysis: President now working with the PM, not against him
the difference in Obama's tone on Tuesday, compared to the last time they met the press in the Oval Office in May 2009, was striking.....Rather than bash Netanyahu for various plans in the works to build in Jerusalem, as he directed his secretary of state to do in March following Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Israel, this time Obama praised the Israeli government for "working through layers of various governmental entities and jurisdiction" and showing "restraint over the last several months." Translation: the Israeli lobby put the screws to Obama and it worked.
Epstein hopes Gazans will be ‘free to pursue their lives in dignity’
In 2003 I went to the Israeli-occupied West Bank for the first time and have been back there five times since, most recently with the Gaza flotilla. I have tried unsuccessfully four times to enter Gaza, but permission has repeatedly been denied. They say that I am a “security risk”! An 86-year-old woman! Hedy Epstein is a very brave individual.
Hebron - Freedom Flotilla release
Tear gas and rubber
bullets are a common response from the Israeli army; the CPT teams in
Palestine witness their brutality on a weekly basis. The only difference
now is that Israel is turning it's "security measures" against the
international community.
Senators Raise Prospect of US Attack on Iran
Sen. Graham was even more blunt in his support for launching the war on Israel’s behalf, saying that “the Congress has Israel’s back.” Passionate attachment, right there.
In Israel, Subsidies Not to Learn
I would note that such “schools” are in the same tradition as the Muslim madrassas so often criticized in the Western media. But about Israel most of our media is silent.
Does Israel Make Us Safer?
The history of Israel and its relationship with the U.S. is infinitely complex, but there’s one damning fact that’s ignored as often as The Question: There was not a single act of Arab terrorism against Americans before 1968, when the U.S. became the chief supplier of military equipment and economic aid to Israel.
Histories Again Collide On the Hills of Jerusalem
Siyam also criticizes Elad’s role in bringing Jewish residents to Wadi Hilwah, claiming that Elad has a “transfer agenda” in that it wishes to see Palestinians leave Wadi Hilwah. “Elad is using all methods in order to make a Jewish majority in Wadi Hilwah,” he claimed, questioning the morality of some of the methods used to acquire properties, including the Absentee Property Law, according to which Israel can seize the property of Arabs who fled to enemy countries after the 1948 and 1967 wars.
Labor Minister, Ex-Gen. 'Fuad' Ben-Eliezer: Time's Up. World Is Tired of Us. Bibi Must Decide
The next morning, when I went down to breakfast, there was a very senior representative of one of the Western delegations standing a few meters from me, between the tomatoes and the cucumber. “A gang of animals,” he said about us. The world has changed disks and we haven’t caught on yet.
Fury as Methodists vote to boycott Israel
The Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council said the Methodists’ annual conference should “hang its head in shame” for passing a policy which calls for a boycott of goods from “illegal” Israeli West Bank settlements and blames Israeli occupation as the “key hindrance” to Middle East peace. Oh dear.
Iran moves radar to Syria: US official
Iran has moved radar to Syria that could provide early–warning against a possible surprise Israeli air attack against Tehran's nuclear sites, a US defense official said on Friday.
Sean Hannity Displays His True Colors - Blue and White (Israeli Flag) When Caller Mentions USS Liberty
Sean Hannity evidently went full throttle into 'defend Israel' mode and proceeded to repeat the Israeli propaganda regarding that incident, rather than stick up for the AMERICAN (sailors) that were viciously attacked.
Peoplehood Vs Israel
If that is true, then the “for us or against us” crowd is harming Israel’s interests in the long run, too. Because while the Jewish community may be tighter, more unified and more supportive of Israel as a result of excluding those whose views are too treyf, one thing is for sure: It will definitely be smaller.
Guns belonging to Israel PM's security detail 'missing'
Four guns went missing and were believed to have been stolen from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security detail after American Airlines lost luggage containing the weapons, NBC reported.
Bikini Models Protest Vodka Ad Ban in Brooklyn Hasidic Jewish Communities
Dozens of bikini-clad women and upset New York residents congregated outside New York City's public transit headquarters on Tuesday to protest the transport authority’s recent decision to ban a popular Georgi Vodka ad campaign, which features models donning sexy swimsuits, from appearing on buses that travel through certain neighborhoods in Brooklyn that are primarily populated by Hasidic Jewish communities I thought only the Islamists were the ones offended by women's unclothed bodies?
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Headlines for June 24 - June 30
A Stand For Justice
Children in West Bank facing worse conditions than in Gaza
Israel's restrictions on Palestinian access to and development of agricultural land – in an area where almost all families are herders - mean that thousands of children are going hungry and are vulnerable to killer illnesses like diarrhoea and pneumonia.
Sinking Ship - The attack on the Gaza relief flotilla jeopardizes Israel itself. By John J. Mearsheimer
It is easy to see why. Because the United States gives Israel so much support and U.S. politicians routinely laud the “special relationship” in the most lavish terms, people around the globe naturally associate the United States with Israel’s actions. Unfortunately, this makes huge numbers of people in the Arab and Islamic world furious with the United States for supporting Israel’s cruel treatment of the Palestinians. That anger in turn helps fuel terrorism against America. Remember that the 9/11 Commission Report, which describes Khalid Sheik Muhammad as the “principal architect of the 9/11 attacks,” concludes that his “animus toward the United States stemmed not from his experiences there as a student, but rather from his violent disagreement with U.S. foreign policy favoring Israel.” Osama bin Laden’s hostility toward the United States was fuelled in part by this same concern.
An absolutely superb piece by Mearsheimer. If you're American (like me), please read it.
Gaza aid victims shot more than once - report
Forensic reports have found that all but two of the nine Turks killed in an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship last month were shot more than once.
Israel police arrest Hamas man set for expulsion
Policemen arrested Mohammed Abu Teir in east Jerusalem for ignoring a court order to vacate his home, according to police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. Abu Teir was taken to a police compound in downtown Jerusalem and will appear in court Thursday, he said, and any further decision on if and when the Palestinian lawmaker will be expelled will be made by the court.
Palestinian family fears Gaza expulsion
The Helou family is so worried about getting expelled to Gaza by Israeli authorities that they’re all but trapped in Jenin.
They couldn’t even leave to get their disabled son the best possible surgery to let him walk.
Some 20,000 Palestinians in the West Bank live under the same fear, because they hold residency papers from the Gaza Strip and Israeli authorities refuse to allow their papers to be updated – though they have lived in the West Bank for years.
US Approves New Iran Sanctions
The pro-Israel lobby American Israel Public Affairs committee (AIPAC) praised the sanctions, saying they “provide the best hope that political and economic measures can peaceably persuade Iran to end its illicit nuclear program before it is too late.”
AIPAC is pulling the strings.
Palestinians seek new partner: American Jews
"I think it's a mistake to ignore these institutions and communities by saying that they are against us, and that we should not talk to them," Abbas told The Associated Press. "No, we should sit with them, and we should try to convince them by talking to them."
And there's nobody better for the job than Mahmoud Abbas. It's too bad that those extremists in the pro-Israeli camp will never accept a word he says.
Rival Hamas, UN summer camps compete over children
The U.N. says it hopes to help shield Gaza's children against the lure of militancy, a task that's getting harder in the impoverished territory. Educators say today's children are more vulnerable than the previous generation, having witnessed war with Israel last year, internal Palestinian fighting and the violent Hamas takeover in 2007, followed by an Israeli–Egyptian blockade that has virtually cut Gaza off from the outside world
Razing of Palestinian homes in E. Jerusalem approved despite 250 shortfalls in plan
Fearing expulsion, Palestinians stay home
Racing Palestinian girls speed into record books
It's another step for Palestinian women who have been claiming more positions of influence in a still very much male–dominated society. This year, the first female Palestinian governor was appointed to oversee the West Bank district of Ramallah. The mayor of the district's main city is a woman, as are four ministers in the Palestinian Cabinet.
G-8 'fully believes' Israel will attack Iran, says Italy PM
Abbas: Israel must not expel Hamas politicians from Jerusalem
Abbas warned that expelling the politicians to the West Bank would set a dangerous precedent and would create new obstacles for peace.
U.S. frustrated with Netanyahu over stalled proximity talks
Indictment: Settlers attacked Arabs in Tel Aviv
Two youths from West Bank settlements charged with attacking Arab brothers with knifes; spitting, cursing their Russian friend for 'hanging out with Arabs'
Planning committee to release blueprint outlining takeover of East Jerusalem
The Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee at the Interior Ministry will publish in the coming weeks a new blueprint program for development in Jerusalem that will include plans to expand Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem. Most of the land earmarked for this expansion is privately owned by Arabs. If the plan is approved, after objections to it are heard, it will grant official approval to an urban plan for the Israeli takeover of East Jerusalem. Wow.
Methodist Church to boycott goods from illegal Israeli settlements
The Methodist Church has today voted to boycott all products from Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories, and to encourage Methodists across Britain to do the same.
Israel Foreign Minister: 'No Chance' For Palestinian State By 2012
The comments by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman drew swift Palestinian condemnations and could put Israel at odds with the international community, which has set a 2012 target for brokering a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.
UN urges Israel to rethink East Jerusalem construction plans
The United Nations late Wednesday called Israel's plan to demolish Arab homes in East Jerusalem for the purpose of settlement construction "unhelpful" and "contrary to international law."
HEBRON/AL-KHALIL: Settlers destroy Palestinian crops and slash water piles in the
The family lives between the settlement of Kiryat Arba and a set of
prefabricated housing, installed about five years ago, called Havat Gal.
The father of one of the children in the family said that he is often afraid
to go to work because settlers in the area have threatened to kidnap his
children.
Israel: We will not apologize to Turkey over Gaza flotilla deaths
Foreign Ministry officials said Saturday that Israel would not apologize to Turkey for the deaths of nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists who were killed during the Israel Navy's raid on the Turkish-flagged 'Freedom Flotilla' ship earlier this week.
Israel's Likud backs West Bank settlement growth
Israel's right–wing Likud party backed on Thursday the expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, with an eye to a building spurt when a building moratorium expires in September.
Double crossers.
Iran cancels aid ship to Gaza: report
"In order to deprive the Zionist regime of any excuse, the aid collected for the oppressed people of Gaza will be delivered to them by other means without mentioning the name of Iran."
US Military Chief: Doesn’t Trust Iran but Israel, US “in Synch”
Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of U.S. Joint Chief of Staffs, returned home from Israel and said that although he has “no reason to trust” Iran, Israel knows that attacking the Islamic Republic's nuclear sites would be "incredibly destabilizing.”.....Mullen’s visit to Israel Sunday was the 15th time he has met with IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi since taking office in 2007. He said that he considers Chief of Staff Ashkenazi a “personal friend” and that he always tries to share Israel’s view of threats against the country.
Is Benjamin Netanyahu Rational? by Philip Giraldi
Israel appears to have little concern about doing whatever is necessary to drag the United States down with it if that is what is required. It is we Americans who should be fearful. Each American should be very concerned about what Bibi is actually thinking, particularly as our Congress and media have already been bought and occupied and we have a president who is so unsure of the support of his own party that he is afraid to face down an Israeli prime minister. I encourage my fellow Americans to heed (former CIA) Philip Giraldi's words.
War crimes suit filed against Barak, Livni in Belgium
After similar circumstances last week prompted the last-minute cancellation of Defense Minister Ehud Barak's trip to Paris, another court case was filed against the Barak and a series of other senior Israeli officials for alleged war crimes committed in the Gaza Strip during Operation Cast Lead.
IDF draws up new Gaza war doctrine
Ahead of a potential new conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the IDF has drawn up plans to evacuate entire Palestinian villages and refugee camps from areas of conflict in the event of an Israeli incursion, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
Is this the same type of 'evacuation' (expulsion) that the Israelis employed in the 40s?
Gaza: Allow Access to Gilad Shalit
Hamas authorities in Gaza should immediately end the cruel and inhuman treatment of Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit of Israel and allow him to communicate with his family and receive visits from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Human Rights Watch said today.
British trade union calls for boycott
One of Britain’s largest trade unions passed a motion at its annual conference in Bournemouth last week accusing Israel of lying over the Gaza flotilla incident and has called for a complete boycott of Israel and for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador, it was confirmed on Thursday.
Peres to Austrian chancellor: Terror groups overtook Gaza flotillas
President Shimon Peres on Thursday told visiting Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann that the aid flotillas to the Gaza Strip have been taken over by terrorist groups "seeking provocation and conflict." Note to Peres: I don't think anyone (besides the US) is buying it.
Report: Lieberman changes policy, invites European diplomats to Gaza
Earlier Thursday, the Council of Europe parliamentarians called on Israel to completely end its siege of the Gaza Strip, days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered an ease of the land blockade, which it imposed in 2007.
Something tells me that a whitewash is in the making, in order to ease the international pressure with respect to Gaza.
Jon Voight to Obama: You are Harming Israel and Promoting anti-Semitism
Maybe Jon Voight could better serve ISRAEL'S interests by MOVING THERE. This here is AMERICA.
YouTube - Israelis Enjoy Massacre (Shocking)
Palestinian boycott of Israeli settlement goods starts to bite
Israeli factories based in settlements on the West Bank have been forced to cut back production as a growing Palestinian boycott movement begins to take effect.
Palestinian Children Beaten by Israeli Soldier
Barak: Clear mines from Israel-US ties
The defense minister told reporters that "the Americans expect to see an Israel which takes its security seriously, but also takes risks to stop the lack of progress and isolation. A real advancement of a political move will give Israel the freedom of action to carry out the military actions required for its security.
US says Gaza flotillas 'irresponsible'
Turkey closes airspace to some Israeli flights
Turkey has closed its airspace to some Israeli military flights following a deadly raid on a Gaza–bound aid ship, the Turkish prime minister and officials said Monday. An official said civilian commercial flights were not affected.
Hamas says asked by US to keep silent on talks
The Hamas figure told the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper that the Americans fear discussing the talks publicly would "rouse the Jewish lobby and other pressure groups in the US and cause them to pressure the administration to suspend all talks with Hamas."
New Australian PM supportive of Israel
Julia Gillard was elected unopposed in a Labor Party caucus meeting Thursday after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd agreed to a leadership ballot triggered by a slump in the polls.......Rudd, a staunch supporter of Israel, recently had come under fire from Jewish leaders for expelling an official from the Israeli Embassy in Canberra over the Dubai passports affair. Gillard stayed largely silent on the controversial affair. Australia has its own version of AIPAC, the powerful Israeli lobby.
US: Turkey must show commitment
Turkey's crime? It dared stand up to Israel.
Sidelining Conflict
Welcome to “The Team,” a 30-part television drama that began broadcasting on the Palestinian Ma’an Network on June 11, the first day of the World Cup.
American Jews Who Reject Zionism Say Events Aid Cause
Until Theodore Herzl created the modern Zionist movement early in the 20th century, the biblical injunction to return to Israel was widely understood as a theological construct rather than a pragmatic instruction.
Most Orthodox Jewish leaders before the Holocaust rejected Zionism, saying the exile was a divine punishment and Israel could be restored only in the messianic age. The Reform movement maintained that Judaism is a religion, not a nationality.
Exclusive: Leaked documents show PA undermined Turkey's push for UN flotilla probe
The Palestinian Authority attempted to neutralize a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution condemning Israel's deadly attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, leaked UN and Palestinian Authority documents obtained by The Electronic Intifada show. Israel's 31 May attack killed nine Turkish citizens, including a dual US-Turkish citizen, and injured dozens of others aboard the Mavi Marmara in international waters.
Sen. Kerry in Israel: Praise for Israel, Worried over Iran
. Kerry previously has visited Syria and Gaza in an effort to win backing for a regional peace summit, even though the United States considers Syria a country that supports terrorism.
New York Times reporter calls Zionist terrorism ‘romantic’
"What’s amazing here is not only does Solomon neglect to challenge Livni’s characterization of her parents’ membership in a terrorist group as 'freedom fight[ing],' Solomon herself volunteers further assistance in the whitewash," he opines.
Duss points out that, at the time of Irgun's attacks, the Times itself referred to the group's activities as "terrorism."
Jewish Groups Turn a Cold Shoulder To Turkey, as Turks Refuse To Budge
Jewish groups, who until recent months defended the Israeli-Turkish alliance, are now taking on the task of portraying the Erdogan government as supporting terrorist and extremist regimes. As the Jewish groups turn, so too does the US Congress.
Obama meets Saudi King Abdullah at White House
Report: US warships stationed off Iranian coast
The chart, published by Stratfor and obtained by the Zero Hedge financial blog, shows that over the last few weeks a naval carrier -- the USS Harry S Truman -- has been positioned in the north Indian Ocean, not far from the Strait of Hormuz, which leads into the Persian Gulf. The carrier joins the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which was already located in the area. The chart is dated June 23, 2010.
'The U.S. will have to confront Iran or give up the Middle East'
Amitai Etzioni, professor of International Relations at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., believes the only option available to contain Iran's atomic ambitions is a series of assaults on its non-nuclear facilities. Amitai Etzioni naturally has ties to Israel (he served in the Haganah, the Jewish terror organization).
Punishing Turkey by Philip Giraldi
The Gaza flotilla has been handled by the mainstream media in precisely that fashion – blaming the victim with a unanimity that overwhelms both justice and fairness. No humanity, no mention of the deliberate attempt to starve Gaza most recently endorsed by alleged United States Senator from New York Charles Schumer who said "strangle them economically." Or, if one prefers the wisdom of Representative Eliot Engel, also from New York, the flotilla was "filled with hate-filled provocateurs bent on violence." Punishing Turkey - all because of Israel.
Hezbollah not interested in dialogue with US
Hezbollah's deputy chief said Monday his group is not interested in a dialogue with Washington until the U.S. changes its Mideast policy, which he said is totally biased in favor of Israel.
Congress faces grim numbers in new Gallup poll
Here's something that might help President Obama feel better about his dismal poll numbers: The public is even more unhappy with Congress. A new Gallup poll finds just 20 percent of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, among the lowest ratings ever recorded for the House and Senate ahead of a midterm election. Maybe they ought to try representing OUR interests for a change.
CIA's Panetta: Iran has enough uranium for 2 bombs
Asked about a potential Israeli military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, Panetta said he thinks Israel is giving the U.S. room on the diplomatic and political fronts.
Chavez: Israel and US 'empire' are enemies
"Someday the genocidal state of Israel will be put in its place, in the proper place and hopefully a real democratic state will be born," Chavez said Saturday. "But it has become the murderous arm of the Yankee empire – who can doubt it? – which threatens all of us."
Palin: Obama administration selling out Israel
Who chooses to take the side of a foreign nation over their own? It's treason.
Erekat Voices Frustration With Israel’s Unwillingness To Play ‘End Game’
while Netanyahu has endorsed the two-state solution, his expectations that Jerusalem remains united under Israeli control, that the Palestinian entity is demilitarized and without control of its electromagnetic field or airspace, that settlements remain and that Palestinians recognize the Jewish character of Israel, indicate that he is not serious. “And after that,” Erekat said, “after he finishes all these conditions, he addresses me and tells me: ‘Come here, boy, we know what’s best for you. Come without conditions.’ So he gives himself the right to dictate.”
Iran says Egypt barring Gaza aid ship from Suez Canal
The Iranian Red Crescent said on Sunday that in addition to restrictions imposed by Israel, Egypt had barred a Gaza-bound aid ship from entering the Suez Canal, leading to the trip being postponed.
Kagan explains Barak remarks
"I am troubled by the fact that you hold up Barak as a judicial role model," Grassley said. "He's been described as creating a degree of judicial power undreamed of by most U.S. justices."
ISRAEL 'PLOTS TEHRAN RAID'
Preparations are underway to launch the military attack from Azerbaijan and Georgia, reports our sister paper Akhbar Al Khaleej, quoting military sources.
Chances of Israeli Bombing Increase
Congresswoman Raises Red Flag on Hezbollah-Cartel Nexus on U.S. Border
AIPAC is no doubt behind this effort..
Infrastructure Minister warns Hezbollah: Israel will fight for its gas fields
Lebanon parliament speaker Nabih Berri earlier this month urged his government to start exploring its offshore natural gas reserves, claiming that otherwise Israel would claim the resources.
Will mainline American Protestants give Palestinian Christians a voice?
B'nai B'rith has issued a statement criticizing the recommendations of the Middle East Study Committee of the Presbyterian Church USA. These recommendations include possibly withholding US military aid to Israel in order to encourage it to abide by international law as well as an endorsement of the important Kairos Document, recently put forth jointly by the leaders of the Palestinian Christian community.
Barred from Jerusalem for Crime of Being Palestinian
At the age of 33, he has suddenly become, to use his own word, "stateless". His only "crime" has been to spend several years in the US doing an electrical engineering PhD, completing post-doctoral research funded by a division of the US Army, acquiring high-tech work experience with the sole purpose of bettering his future career prospects in the Holy Land, and being a little homesick.
Ministers reject bill to prevent discrimination in state schools
The bill had been submitted before the Ashkenazi parents in the ultra-Orthodox community of Immanuel were given a two-week jail term for refusing a court order to send their daughters to school with girls of Sephardi, or Middle Eastern, origin. On Sunday, the court ordered the parents released from jail immediately, after a deal was reached to see the girls integrated in classes for the remaining three days of the school year.
On Gaza, an About-Face That Was Overdue
Israel’s policy failed to achieve its stated goals. It didn’t bring down the Hamas government, and it didn’t help free captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Instead, the siege seems to have strengthened Hamas and has damaged Israel’s image.
THE REAL SEAN HANNITY
a man called into Hannity’s radio talk show on Friday June 25th, and politely informed him he was disappointed that Hannity showed a bit too much biased obsequiousness, often referring to Israel as “Americas greatest ally” and refusing to admit any inequities. The caller pointed out that it was Israeli fighter jets which bombed the U.S.S Liberty and killed American sailors, and that nearly all, if not all, those aboard the vessel claimed it was an obviously intentional act.
However, Hannity would not even consider the man’s statements as objectively inquisitive and instead began insinuating that the caller was a “conspiracy theorist.” The sober disappointment could be heard in the caller’s voice as he respectfully requested that Hannity just research the incident.
In Brooklyn, Passengers Aboard the Flotilla Ship Give Eyewitness Accounts
Al-Awda spokesman David Letwin denounced the State Department’s decision to deny a visa to ex-Turkish parliamentarian Ahmet Faruk Unsal, who was also scheduled to speak. It was, he said, “an effort to shut down discussion, intimidate people and make it harder for them to be heard.” He noted that Unsal had visited the United States frequently in the past.
Will The NY Times Ever Retract Michael Oren’s Falsehoods?
Nearly a month after publishing Israeli Ambassador the US Michael Oren’s apologia for the flotilla massacre, the NY Times has yet to correct two of the most glaring lies Oren made
Venezuela's Chavez meets with Syrian President Bashar Assad, vows to fight US 'imperialism'
This Is What Jewish Democracy Looks Like
The 1982 congress actually voted to end the WZO’s role in building settlements in the territories, but the WZO’s then-chairman, Likudnik Arye Dulzin, declared the session out of order and adjourned. A revote was held the next morning, after Hadassah had been pressured into switching sides to oppose the resolution, thus sinking it......With the Israeli left reduced to a rump, the numbers must mean that most of the Diaspora delegates were voting against most of the Israelis. Who says Peter Beinart was wrong?
Children in West Bank facing worse conditions than in Gaza
Israel's restrictions on Palestinian access to and development of agricultural land – in an area where almost all families are herders - mean that thousands of children are going hungry and are vulnerable to killer illnesses like diarrhoea and pneumonia.
Sinking Ship - The attack on the Gaza relief flotilla jeopardizes Israel itself. By John J. Mearsheimer
It is easy to see why. Because the United States gives Israel so much support and U.S. politicians routinely laud the “special relationship” in the most lavish terms, people around the globe naturally associate the United States with Israel’s actions. Unfortunately, this makes huge numbers of people in the Arab and Islamic world furious with the United States for supporting Israel’s cruel treatment of the Palestinians. That anger in turn helps fuel terrorism against America. Remember that the 9/11 Commission Report, which describes Khalid Sheik Muhammad as the “principal architect of the 9/11 attacks,” concludes that his “animus toward the United States stemmed not from his experiences there as a student, but rather from his violent disagreement with U.S. foreign policy favoring Israel.” Osama bin Laden’s hostility toward the United States was fuelled in part by this same concern.
An absolutely superb piece by Mearsheimer. If you're American (like me), please read it.
Gaza aid victims shot more than once - report
Forensic reports have found that all but two of the nine Turks killed in an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship last month were shot more than once.
Israel police arrest Hamas man set for expulsion
Policemen arrested Mohammed Abu Teir in east Jerusalem for ignoring a court order to vacate his home, according to police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. Abu Teir was taken to a police compound in downtown Jerusalem and will appear in court Thursday, he said, and any further decision on if and when the Palestinian lawmaker will be expelled will be made by the court.
Palestinian family fears Gaza expulsion
The Helou family is so worried about getting expelled to Gaza by Israeli authorities that they’re all but trapped in Jenin.
They couldn’t even leave to get their disabled son the best possible surgery to let him walk.
Some 20,000 Palestinians in the West Bank live under the same fear, because they hold residency papers from the Gaza Strip and Israeli authorities refuse to allow their papers to be updated – though they have lived in the West Bank for years.
US Approves New Iran Sanctions
The pro-Israel lobby American Israel Public Affairs committee (AIPAC) praised the sanctions, saying they “provide the best hope that political and economic measures can peaceably persuade Iran to end its illicit nuclear program before it is too late.”
AIPAC is pulling the strings.
Palestinians seek new partner: American Jews
"I think it's a mistake to ignore these institutions and communities by saying that they are against us, and that we should not talk to them," Abbas told The Associated Press. "No, we should sit with them, and we should try to convince them by talking to them."
And there's nobody better for the job than Mahmoud Abbas. It's too bad that those extremists in the pro-Israeli camp will never accept a word he says.
Rival Hamas, UN summer camps compete over children
The U.N. says it hopes to help shield Gaza's children against the lure of militancy, a task that's getting harder in the impoverished territory. Educators say today's children are more vulnerable than the previous generation, having witnessed war with Israel last year, internal Palestinian fighting and the violent Hamas takeover in 2007, followed by an Israeli–Egyptian blockade that has virtually cut Gaza off from the outside world
Razing of Palestinian homes in E. Jerusalem approved despite 250 shortfalls in plan
Fearing expulsion, Palestinians stay home
Racing Palestinian girls speed into record books
It's another step for Palestinian women who have been claiming more positions of influence in a still very much male–dominated society. This year, the first female Palestinian governor was appointed to oversee the West Bank district of Ramallah. The mayor of the district's main city is a woman, as are four ministers in the Palestinian Cabinet.
G-8 'fully believes' Israel will attack Iran, says Italy PM
Abbas: Israel must not expel Hamas politicians from Jerusalem
Abbas warned that expelling the politicians to the West Bank would set a dangerous precedent and would create new obstacles for peace.
U.S. frustrated with Netanyahu over stalled proximity talks
Indictment: Settlers attacked Arabs in Tel Aviv
Two youths from West Bank settlements charged with attacking Arab brothers with knifes; spitting, cursing their Russian friend for 'hanging out with Arabs'
Planning committee to release blueprint outlining takeover of East Jerusalem
The Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee at the Interior Ministry will publish in the coming weeks a new blueprint program for development in Jerusalem that will include plans to expand Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem. Most of the land earmarked for this expansion is privately owned by Arabs. If the plan is approved, after objections to it are heard, it will grant official approval to an urban plan for the Israeli takeover of East Jerusalem. Wow.
Methodist Church to boycott goods from illegal Israeli settlements
The Methodist Church has today voted to boycott all products from Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories, and to encourage Methodists across Britain to do the same.
Israel Foreign Minister: 'No Chance' For Palestinian State By 2012
The comments by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman drew swift Palestinian condemnations and could put Israel at odds with the international community, which has set a 2012 target for brokering a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.
UN urges Israel to rethink East Jerusalem construction plans
The United Nations late Wednesday called Israel's plan to demolish Arab homes in East Jerusalem for the purpose of settlement construction "unhelpful" and "contrary to international law."
HEBRON/AL-KHALIL: Settlers destroy Palestinian crops and slash water piles in the
The family lives between the settlement of Kiryat Arba and a set of
prefabricated housing, installed about five years ago, called Havat Gal.
The father of one of the children in the family said that he is often afraid
to go to work because settlers in the area have threatened to kidnap his
children.
Israel: We will not apologize to Turkey over Gaza flotilla deaths
Foreign Ministry officials said Saturday that Israel would not apologize to Turkey for the deaths of nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists who were killed during the Israel Navy's raid on the Turkish-flagged 'Freedom Flotilla' ship earlier this week.
Israel's Likud backs West Bank settlement growth
Israel's right–wing Likud party backed on Thursday the expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, with an eye to a building spurt when a building moratorium expires in September.
Double crossers.
Iran cancels aid ship to Gaza: report
"In order to deprive the Zionist regime of any excuse, the aid collected for the oppressed people of Gaza will be delivered to them by other means without mentioning the name of Iran."
US Military Chief: Doesn’t Trust Iran but Israel, US “in Synch”
Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of U.S. Joint Chief of Staffs, returned home from Israel and said that although he has “no reason to trust” Iran, Israel knows that attacking the Islamic Republic's nuclear sites would be "incredibly destabilizing.”.....Mullen’s visit to Israel Sunday was the 15th time he has met with IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi since taking office in 2007. He said that he considers Chief of Staff Ashkenazi a “personal friend” and that he always tries to share Israel’s view of threats against the country.
Is Benjamin Netanyahu Rational? by Philip Giraldi
Israel appears to have little concern about doing whatever is necessary to drag the United States down with it if that is what is required. It is we Americans who should be fearful. Each American should be very concerned about what Bibi is actually thinking, particularly as our Congress and media have already been bought and occupied and we have a president who is so unsure of the support of his own party that he is afraid to face down an Israeli prime minister. I encourage my fellow Americans to heed (former CIA) Philip Giraldi's words.
War crimes suit filed against Barak, Livni in Belgium
After similar circumstances last week prompted the last-minute cancellation of Defense Minister Ehud Barak's trip to Paris, another court case was filed against the Barak and a series of other senior Israeli officials for alleged war crimes committed in the Gaza Strip during Operation Cast Lead.
IDF draws up new Gaza war doctrine
Ahead of a potential new conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the IDF has drawn up plans to evacuate entire Palestinian villages and refugee camps from areas of conflict in the event of an Israeli incursion, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
Is this the same type of 'evacuation' (expulsion) that the Israelis employed in the 40s?
Gaza: Allow Access to Gilad Shalit
Hamas authorities in Gaza should immediately end the cruel and inhuman treatment of Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit of Israel and allow him to communicate with his family and receive visits from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Human Rights Watch said today.
British trade union calls for boycott
One of Britain’s largest trade unions passed a motion at its annual conference in Bournemouth last week accusing Israel of lying over the Gaza flotilla incident and has called for a complete boycott of Israel and for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador, it was confirmed on Thursday.
Peres to Austrian chancellor: Terror groups overtook Gaza flotillas
President Shimon Peres on Thursday told visiting Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann that the aid flotillas to the Gaza Strip have been taken over by terrorist groups "seeking provocation and conflict." Note to Peres: I don't think anyone (besides the US) is buying it.
Report: Lieberman changes policy, invites European diplomats to Gaza
Earlier Thursday, the Council of Europe parliamentarians called on Israel to completely end its siege of the Gaza Strip, days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered an ease of the land blockade, which it imposed in 2007.
Something tells me that a whitewash is in the making, in order to ease the international pressure with respect to Gaza.
Jon Voight to Obama: You are Harming Israel and Promoting anti-Semitism
Maybe Jon Voight could better serve ISRAEL'S interests by MOVING THERE. This here is AMERICA.
YouTube - Israelis Enjoy Massacre (Shocking)
Palestinian boycott of Israeli settlement goods starts to bite
Israeli factories based in settlements on the West Bank have been forced to cut back production as a growing Palestinian boycott movement begins to take effect.
Palestinian Children Beaten by Israeli Soldier
Barak: Clear mines from Israel-US ties
The defense minister told reporters that "the Americans expect to see an Israel which takes its security seriously, but also takes risks to stop the lack of progress and isolation. A real advancement of a political move will give Israel the freedom of action to carry out the military actions required for its security.
US says Gaza flotillas 'irresponsible'
Turkey closes airspace to some Israeli flights
Turkey has closed its airspace to some Israeli military flights following a deadly raid on a Gaza–bound aid ship, the Turkish prime minister and officials said Monday. An official said civilian commercial flights were not affected.
Hamas says asked by US to keep silent on talks
The Hamas figure told the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper that the Americans fear discussing the talks publicly would "rouse the Jewish lobby and other pressure groups in the US and cause them to pressure the administration to suspend all talks with Hamas."
New Australian PM supportive of Israel
Julia Gillard was elected unopposed in a Labor Party caucus meeting Thursday after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd agreed to a leadership ballot triggered by a slump in the polls.......Rudd, a staunch supporter of Israel, recently had come under fire from Jewish leaders for expelling an official from the Israeli Embassy in Canberra over the Dubai passports affair. Gillard stayed largely silent on the controversial affair. Australia has its own version of AIPAC, the powerful Israeli lobby.
US: Turkey must show commitment
Turkey's crime? It dared stand up to Israel.
Sidelining Conflict
Welcome to “The Team,” a 30-part television drama that began broadcasting on the Palestinian Ma’an Network on June 11, the first day of the World Cup.
American Jews Who Reject Zionism Say Events Aid Cause
Until Theodore Herzl created the modern Zionist movement early in the 20th century, the biblical injunction to return to Israel was widely understood as a theological construct rather than a pragmatic instruction.
Most Orthodox Jewish leaders before the Holocaust rejected Zionism, saying the exile was a divine punishment and Israel could be restored only in the messianic age. The Reform movement maintained that Judaism is a religion, not a nationality.
Exclusive: Leaked documents show PA undermined Turkey's push for UN flotilla probe
The Palestinian Authority attempted to neutralize a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution condemning Israel's deadly attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, leaked UN and Palestinian Authority documents obtained by The Electronic Intifada show. Israel's 31 May attack killed nine Turkish citizens, including a dual US-Turkish citizen, and injured dozens of others aboard the Mavi Marmara in international waters.
Sen. Kerry in Israel: Praise for Israel, Worried over Iran
. Kerry previously has visited Syria and Gaza in an effort to win backing for a regional peace summit, even though the United States considers Syria a country that supports terrorism.
New York Times reporter calls Zionist terrorism ‘romantic’
"What’s amazing here is not only does Solomon neglect to challenge Livni’s characterization of her parents’ membership in a terrorist group as 'freedom fight[ing],' Solomon herself volunteers further assistance in the whitewash," he opines.
Duss points out that, at the time of Irgun's attacks, the Times itself referred to the group's activities as "terrorism."
Jewish Groups Turn a Cold Shoulder To Turkey, as Turks Refuse To Budge
Jewish groups, who until recent months defended the Israeli-Turkish alliance, are now taking on the task of portraying the Erdogan government as supporting terrorist and extremist regimes. As the Jewish groups turn, so too does the US Congress.
Obama meets Saudi King Abdullah at White House
Report: US warships stationed off Iranian coast
The chart, published by Stratfor and obtained by the Zero Hedge financial blog, shows that over the last few weeks a naval carrier -- the USS Harry S Truman -- has been positioned in the north Indian Ocean, not far from the Strait of Hormuz, which leads into the Persian Gulf. The carrier joins the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which was already located in the area. The chart is dated June 23, 2010.
'The U.S. will have to confront Iran or give up the Middle East'
Amitai Etzioni, professor of International Relations at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., believes the only option available to contain Iran's atomic ambitions is a series of assaults on its non-nuclear facilities. Amitai Etzioni naturally has ties to Israel (he served in the Haganah, the Jewish terror organization).
Punishing Turkey by Philip Giraldi
The Gaza flotilla has been handled by the mainstream media in precisely that fashion – blaming the victim with a unanimity that overwhelms both justice and fairness. No humanity, no mention of the deliberate attempt to starve Gaza most recently endorsed by alleged United States Senator from New York Charles Schumer who said "strangle them economically." Or, if one prefers the wisdom of Representative Eliot Engel, also from New York, the flotilla was "filled with hate-filled provocateurs bent on violence." Punishing Turkey - all because of Israel.
Hezbollah not interested in dialogue with US
Hezbollah's deputy chief said Monday his group is not interested in a dialogue with Washington until the U.S. changes its Mideast policy, which he said is totally biased in favor of Israel.
Congress faces grim numbers in new Gallup poll
Here's something that might help President Obama feel better about his dismal poll numbers: The public is even more unhappy with Congress. A new Gallup poll finds just 20 percent of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, among the lowest ratings ever recorded for the House and Senate ahead of a midterm election. Maybe they ought to try representing OUR interests for a change.
CIA's Panetta: Iran has enough uranium for 2 bombs
Asked about a potential Israeli military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, Panetta said he thinks Israel is giving the U.S. room on the diplomatic and political fronts.
Chavez: Israel and US 'empire' are enemies
"Someday the genocidal state of Israel will be put in its place, in the proper place and hopefully a real democratic state will be born," Chavez said Saturday. "But it has become the murderous arm of the Yankee empire – who can doubt it? – which threatens all of us."
Palin: Obama administration selling out Israel
Who chooses to take the side of a foreign nation over their own? It's treason.
Erekat Voices Frustration With Israel’s Unwillingness To Play ‘End Game’
while Netanyahu has endorsed the two-state solution, his expectations that Jerusalem remains united under Israeli control, that the Palestinian entity is demilitarized and without control of its electromagnetic field or airspace, that settlements remain and that Palestinians recognize the Jewish character of Israel, indicate that he is not serious. “And after that,” Erekat said, “after he finishes all these conditions, he addresses me and tells me: ‘Come here, boy, we know what’s best for you. Come without conditions.’ So he gives himself the right to dictate.”
Iran says Egypt barring Gaza aid ship from Suez Canal
The Iranian Red Crescent said on Sunday that in addition to restrictions imposed by Israel, Egypt had barred a Gaza-bound aid ship from entering the Suez Canal, leading to the trip being postponed.
Kagan explains Barak remarks
"I am troubled by the fact that you hold up Barak as a judicial role model," Grassley said. "He's been described as creating a degree of judicial power undreamed of by most U.S. justices."
ISRAEL 'PLOTS TEHRAN RAID'
Preparations are underway to launch the military attack from Azerbaijan and Georgia, reports our sister paper Akhbar Al Khaleej, quoting military sources.
Chances of Israeli Bombing Increase
Congresswoman Raises Red Flag on Hezbollah-Cartel Nexus on U.S. Border
AIPAC is no doubt behind this effort..
Infrastructure Minister warns Hezbollah: Israel will fight for its gas fields
Lebanon parliament speaker Nabih Berri earlier this month urged his government to start exploring its offshore natural gas reserves, claiming that otherwise Israel would claim the resources.
Will mainline American Protestants give Palestinian Christians a voice?
B'nai B'rith has issued a statement criticizing the recommendations of the Middle East Study Committee of the Presbyterian Church USA. These recommendations include possibly withholding US military aid to Israel in order to encourage it to abide by international law as well as an endorsement of the important Kairos Document, recently put forth jointly by the leaders of the Palestinian Christian community.
Barred from Jerusalem for Crime of Being Palestinian
At the age of 33, he has suddenly become, to use his own word, "stateless". His only "crime" has been to spend several years in the US doing an electrical engineering PhD, completing post-doctoral research funded by a division of the US Army, acquiring high-tech work experience with the sole purpose of bettering his future career prospects in the Holy Land, and being a little homesick.
Ministers reject bill to prevent discrimination in state schools
The bill had been submitted before the Ashkenazi parents in the ultra-Orthodox community of Immanuel were given a two-week jail term for refusing a court order to send their daughters to school with girls of Sephardi, or Middle Eastern, origin. On Sunday, the court ordered the parents released from jail immediately, after a deal was reached to see the girls integrated in classes for the remaining three days of the school year.
On Gaza, an About-Face That Was Overdue
Israel’s policy failed to achieve its stated goals. It didn’t bring down the Hamas government, and it didn’t help free captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Instead, the siege seems to have strengthened Hamas and has damaged Israel’s image.
THE REAL SEAN HANNITY
a man called into Hannity’s radio talk show on Friday June 25th, and politely informed him he was disappointed that Hannity showed a bit too much biased obsequiousness, often referring to Israel as “Americas greatest ally” and refusing to admit any inequities. The caller pointed out that it was Israeli fighter jets which bombed the U.S.S Liberty and killed American sailors, and that nearly all, if not all, those aboard the vessel claimed it was an obviously intentional act.
However, Hannity would not even consider the man’s statements as objectively inquisitive and instead began insinuating that the caller was a “conspiracy theorist.” The sober disappointment could be heard in the caller’s voice as he respectfully requested that Hannity just research the incident.
In Brooklyn, Passengers Aboard the Flotilla Ship Give Eyewitness Accounts
Al-Awda spokesman David Letwin denounced the State Department’s decision to deny a visa to ex-Turkish parliamentarian Ahmet Faruk Unsal, who was also scheduled to speak. It was, he said, “an effort to shut down discussion, intimidate people and make it harder for them to be heard.” He noted that Unsal had visited the United States frequently in the past.
Will The NY Times Ever Retract Michael Oren’s Falsehoods?
Nearly a month after publishing Israeli Ambassador the US Michael Oren’s apologia for the flotilla massacre, the NY Times has yet to correct two of the most glaring lies Oren made
Venezuela's Chavez meets with Syrian President Bashar Assad, vows to fight US 'imperialism'
This Is What Jewish Democracy Looks Like
The 1982 congress actually voted to end the WZO’s role in building settlements in the territories, but the WZO’s then-chairman, Likudnik Arye Dulzin, declared the session out of order and adjourned. A revote was held the next morning, after Hadassah had been pressured into switching sides to oppose the resolution, thus sinking it......With the Israeli left reduced to a rump, the numbers must mean that most of the Diaspora delegates were voting against most of the Israelis. Who says Peter Beinart was wrong?
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