Monday, May 31, 2010

Israel attacks civilian ship in international waters - 10 dead

The Israelis attacked another ship - this time a civilian one - in
INTERNATIONAL waters today
, killing as many as 10, maybe more. This somewhat resembles the attack on the USS Liberty because this ship too was in international waters, but it was not military (even though the USS Liberty only had four mounted .50 caliber machine guns for protection).

For more information, click here.

UPDATE: many of the older articles from earlier today seem to be replaced with articles that have removed the reference to the ship having been in international waters.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Headlines for April 22 - April 28

A Stand For Justice


Israel expels West Bank Palestinian to Gaza upon release from prison



Netanyahu: Iran provoking Israel-Syria conflict
Netanyahu says Iran is trying to convince Syria that an Israeli attack is imminent, which he says is a "lie."




Mideast peace would thwart Iran ambitions: Obama aide
While acknowledging disagreements with Israel, Jones said the U.S. commitment to its ally was "unbreakable." "There is no space –– no space –– between the United States and Israel when it comes to Israel's security," he said.


Abbas: No Palestinian state in temporary borders
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he opposes the idea of setting up a Palestinian state in temporary borders.



Egypt: Scud controversy ups Israel-Lebanon tension
Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit traveled to Beirut on Saturday to discuss the issue and later told reporters there the scud allegations are "lies and are laughable."



Abbas calls on Obama to impose Mideast peace deal
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas called on President Barack Obama on Saturday to impose a Mideast peace deal, reflecting growing frustration with what Palestinians see as Washington's failure to wrangle concessions out of Israel's hardline government.



Demonizing Iran: US Media Continue Beating War Drums
Aside from the fact that there is no hard evidence that Iran is trying to make a nuclear bomb or even to refine uranium to obtain nuclear-grade material, the paper ignored one crucial point: Israel cannot "go it alone" in any strike on Iran, since its key weapons--F15 and F-16 fighter-bombers--are supplied to it, and kept flying, thanks to the equipment and spare parts provided by the United States


Palestinian Authority approves July elections in West Bank
The Western-backed government of Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad gave the go-ahead on Sunday for local elections in the West Bank in July, despite opposition from rival Hamas Islamists who run the Gaza Strip.


Israel warns against giving Iran too much time
Iran and the rearming of the Hezbollah militia were major topics of Barak's session at the Pentagon. He met earlier Tuesday with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.




Obama to U.S. Jews: Nothing will distance us from Israel
The letter follows a week of open tensions between the U.S. government and Jewish community leaders after World Jewish Congress president Ronald Lauder took out newspaper advertisements criticizing Obama's Middle East policy. A day later, Nobel laureate Elie Wisel did the same, writing in a full page advertisement in the Washington Post that U.S. pressure would not force a solution to the dispute over Israeli building in East Jerusalem.


U.S. envoy Mitchell meets Netanyahu



Obama meets with Israeli defense minister



Obama meets with Israeli defense minister
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley wouldn't discuss what Israel was telling the United States about Jewish construction.



Mitchell says U.S. wants Mideast solution soon
Obama also wanted to see the Palestinians have a state.
"That has been American policy. That is American policy. That will be American policy," Mitchell told Netanyahu, also repeating Obama's pledge of strong and enduring ties with Israel made by the president on the Jewish state's 62nd anniversary this week.
Before going into talks in the West Bank Friday evening with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the envoy issued a strong endorsement of Palestinian independence aspirations.


Abbas invited to Washington
The daily said Obama has informed Abbas that he did not succeed in convincing Netanyahu to freeze settlements in east Jerusalem but that the hawkish premier would refrain from taking "significant" actions there during the talks.




In Jerusalem, footballs go where people cannot
After the 1967 war, Israel annexed Anata along with the rest of Arab east Jerusalem in a move not recognised by any other government.
It's not recognized, neither is the wall where it's built (largely on Palestinian territory), because these are all in violation of the Fourth Geneva Conventions; war crimes.


Israel to US: No building halt in east Jerusalem
Aides to Israel's prime minister said Thursday that his government has officially rejected President Barack Obama's demand that it suspends all construction in contested east Jerusalem, a move that threatens to entrench a year–old deadlock in Israeli–Palestinian peacemaking.




Obama tells Barak US committed to Israel's security
Monday's meeting with Obama and Jones was the first in a series of meetings Barak is scheduled to hold with administration officials. The talks are expected to focus on the Iranian nuclear threats, the developments in Lebanon and Syria and the stalled peace negotiations with the Palestinians.


U.S. lawmaker: Obama should deal with Iran nukes, not criticize Israel
Ros-Lehtinen lashed out at Obama for neglecting to deal with the "urgency" of Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons: "After months of generous offers and repeated rejections with one deadline after another passing without action, nothing of substance has been accomplished and Iran continues to relentlessly move forward. Ros-Lehtinen is one of Israel's top agents in Congress. She spends more time on all matters Israel than she does on those of America, evidently.


Israel rejects US calls for east Jerusalem freeze
Benjamin Netanyahu's comments were broadcast on Israel's Channel 2 TV shortly after envoy George Mitchell arrived for his first visit in six weeks


U.S. Nuclear Option on Iran Linked to Israeli Attack Threat
Although administration officials have carefully refrained from drawing any direct connection between the new nuclear option and the Israeli threat, the NPR broadens the range of contingencies in which nuclear weapons might play a role so as to include an Iranian military response to an Israeli attack.


An Act Of War By Congressman Ron Paul
Mr. Speaker I rise in opposition to this motion to instruct House conferees on HR 2194, the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act, and I rise in strong opposition again to the underlying bill and to its Senate version as well. I object to this entire push for war on Iran, however it is disguised. Listening to the debate on the Floor on this motion and the underlying bill it feels as if we are back in 2002 all over again: the same falsehoods and distortions used to push the United States into a disastrous and unnecessary one trillion dollar war on Iraq are being trotted out again to lead us to what will likely be an even more disastrous and costly war on Iran. The parallels are astonishing. Ron Paul- one of the few to stand up to Israel's lobby and its minions on Capitol Hill.


Biden: Israel won't attack Iran before sanctions allowed to work
On Wednesday, the Obama administration said that progress toward Middle East peace would help thwart Iran's ambitions by preventing it from "cynically" using the conflict to divert attention from its nuclear program.


US: Missile transfers could lead to war
Earlier, Israeli officials have warned of the grave consequences of Scud missile transfers to Hezbollah. No kidding? Say I wonder who our lawmakers take their cues from?


Mayor pledges more Jewish homes in east Jerusalem
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat pledged that more Jewish homes will be built in east Jerusalem, despite US calls for a freeze there in a bid to boost prospects for Middle East peace. They aren't building 'homes' for Arabs there, do not be fooled. These 'homes' are for Jews only, as all Israeli settlements are.


'All options' open if Syria gives Hezbollah missiles: US



Iran a Threat? I Mean, Really? By Ray McGovern
All right. Secretary Clinton concedes that Iran does not directly threaten the United States. Now who are these "friends" to whom she refers? First and foremost, Israel, of course. How often have we heard Israeli officials warn that they would consider nuclear weapons in Iran's hands an "existential" threat?


Gaza's manly men vie for bodybuilding trophies



CPT Al Khalil/Hebron
Moslem leaders are encouraging local people to use the Ibrahimi Mosque following the announcement by the Israeli prime minister that the Ibrahimi Mosque complex is now regarded as a Jewish Historical Site.


Has Chuck Schumer Ever Criticized Israel or its Leadership in the Way He Just Unloaded on Obama?
Schumer's screed gets to the edge of sounding as if he is more a Senator working in the Knesset than working in the United States Senate.


Is Netanyahu Quietly Freezing Jerusalem Settlements?
Take Plan number 12705 for the new Shimon HaTzadik neighborhood in Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem, which would demolish 40 low–rise Palestinian homes built in traditional local stone to make way for modern apartment blocks up to 18 stories high, containing 200 residential units for Israelis. There have been weekly demonstrations at the site since the landowners, Nahalat Shimon International, began evicting the Palestinians who had been living in the area when it was captured by Israeli forces in the war of 1967.


Video: Tyranny & Politics of Fear, Loyalty to Israel vs. US
Post presents an exclusive interview with Colonel Larry Wilkerson on the tyrannical presidency and politics of fear, Israel’s interests versus US interests and the question of loyalties, and more: A great video. Five minutes long. Watch it.


Hezbollah vows to continue amassing 'arms of resistance'
Israel and the U.S. have accused Syria of supplying Hezbollah with Scud missiles, which are capable of striking deep into Israel. BothBeirut and Damascus have denied this.


Abrams: U.S. must address Iran’s threat to Israel
“Israelis are living under the threat of annihilation every day," Elliot Abrams, the Bush administration's National Security Council senior director for Near East and North African Affairs, said April 25 at the Baltimore Zionist District’s "U.S.-Israel Relations In A New Era" symposium, the Baltimore Jewish Times reported. "If the world does not act, I believe Israel will act, and I hope the U.S. will.”


Can The U.S. Beat Israel At Their Game?
This guy has some interesting commentary and also made a video about this game theory, the link for which is somewhere in the recent postings of my website.


Hezbollah slams US accusations
In comments published Wednesday in the Arabic–language newspaper As–Safir, which is close to Hezbollah, Fadlallah said Hezbollah's arms do not compare to "the level of armament of the United States, which it used in its crimes against peoples around the world, from Hiroshima to the more than 100,000 martyrs killed in Iraq and the tens of thousands killed in Palestine, Lebanon and Afghanistan."



Gadhafi to Arab MKs: I'm against Zionism, not Jews
During the meeting, Gadhafi stressed the importance with which he viewed the delegation's visit, and said: "We are not against Jews, but against Zionism."


25 Insanities of the Israeli Occupation in Palestine
A young Israeli soldier from Cleveland, Ohio, names the 300+ children killed in Gaza during Cast Lead “collateral damage”.


Palestinian girls invent 'seeing' walking stick for blind
"I didn't look outside, I looked home," Aseel said. That's where she noticed some of the logistical problems that her blind aunt faced.
Along with classmates Aseel Sha 'ar and Nour El Arda, she invented an obstacle–detecting walking stick. They entered the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair alongside 6 million global contestants, and were chosen to be among 1,500 finalists to attend the world's largest science fair next month in San Jose, Calif.



Palestinian Village Inspires Popular Movement



Firm Run by Ex-Israeli Special Forces Soldier Wants US Security Contracts in Jerusalem, Iraq, Afghanistan



Scuds or no Scuds, south Lebanon beckons tourists
"We are defying Israel with projects like these," said Moussa Nasrallah, the Lebanese engineer in charge of the park project. "The idea was to show that this area that was leveled and where Israeli tanks were once positioned is now a booming place." ....."This is a form of civilian resistance, which is even more important than military resistance," he told The Associated Press. "Resistance can be in going to have lunch, dinner or just a drink along the border."



Nick Clegg’s Israel-bashing is sickening
Nile Gardiner should move from the UK to Israel, and let the Brits deal with matters of import to Britain.


Option of striking Iran never off the table: Pentagon
the demonization and isolation of Richard Goldstone is wrong, offensive and, frankly, in violation of the very Jewish values that the community pretends to uphold. That the man cannot even attend his grandson’s bar mitzvah in South Africa speaks volumes about the intolerance and ignorance of those who bully in the name of Israel.


Brit MP George Galloway: Should he be allowed into Canada?
Leading up to the scheduled court hearing, supporters on both sides of the dispute gathered in front of the courthouse in downtown Toronto. Anti-war demonstrators and freedom-of-speech advocates were protesting on the north side of Queen Street West on Monday morning, while representatives of the Jewish Defence League protested on the south side.