Friday, May 20, 2011

Headlines for April 21 - April 27

Apologies for the tardiness. I will try and get caught up in the days to follow.

A Stand For Justice


Israeli killed, 4 wounded in West Bank
Palestinian officials notified the Israeli military that the Israelis "were shot by a Palestinian policeman who, after identifying suspicious movements, fired in their direction," the Israeli military said.

Israeli and Palestinian security forces work closely together to prevent violence. A meeting between the sides was scheduled Sunday to discuss the shooting, the military said.

Jibril al–Bakri, the Palestinian governor of Nablus, said the Palestinian Authority was investigating. "The main problem is that they (the Israelis) entered the city without coordination," al–Bakri said.



Palestinians Prune Trees as Act of Resistance in Susiya, South Hebro
The Palestinians, accompanied by Israeli and international peace
activists, began working on their trees at approximately 10 a.m. Almost
immediately Israeli soldiers appeared and stood above the orchards. They
did not interfere with the pruning.



Rival Palestinian factions reach unity agreement
Israel swiftly rejected the prospect of a Palestinian government including Hamas, citing the militant group's stated goal of destroying the Jewish state. The U.S. expressed similar concerns.


Palestinian Leader Mahmoud Abbas's Frustration with Obama
The resolution demanded that Israel "immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory," a position Obama long supported. In fact, Palestinians say they lifted the language straight from public remarks made by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. But it put Obama in a bind. Members of his Democratic Party felt they'd paid a price in the midterm elections a few months earlier for Obama's tough stand with Netanyahu in the preceding year. An American veto might mitigate the damage. But it would also remind the Arab demonstrators how uncritical America's support for Israel can often be.


Israeli military invades Palestinian school
At 10.35am, when the pupils were all in their classrooms, Israeli soldiers arrived unannounced and tried each of the doors/gates to get onto the school premises. The soldiers cut through the chain holding one of the gates and got into the school playground. They were then unable to get through any of the entrances into the school building itself. The soldiers set off two percussion grenades in the school playground.


Abbas: U.S. would be illogical to block independent Palestinian state at UN
Palestinian leaders will be seeking broad endorsement of statehood at the UN General Assembly. More than 100 nations have said they recognize Palestine as a state.


Stand Firm Against Unilateral Statehood Push
Sadly, it is doubtful that reasoned arguments such as these will sway most members of the U.N., many of which have little regard for any sort of rule of law. But those countries are not the initial audience that Israel needs to convince.

Israel must first mobilize its supporters in the United States — which include the majority of both parties in Congress. The United States needs to send a clear message that any push for Palestinian statehood at the U.N. would not only poison American relations with the Palestinians but would also serve to delegitimize the U.N. itself.

The Zionistas are getting more hysterical as the drums beat louder for a Palestinian state. Notice again who rules Congress, straight from the horse's mouth.


UN Recognition of Palestinians Still Far Off
During her speech at the Security Council meeting Thursday, Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the U.N., made it clear that U.S. support for Israel would remain unconditional, and implicitly suggested that there would be no support for any U.N.-based initiative to recognise a Palestinian state. We are after all Israel's bitch.


Israel 'supplied arms to Argentina during Falklands War'
Interviews conducted by the author of the book, the Argentine journalist Hernan Dobry, reveal that Begin saw the deals as a form of revenge for the hanging of a personal friend, Dov Gruner, by the British Mandatory Authorities in Palestine in 1947.


Poll: More than half of Egyptians want to cancel peace treaty with Israel



Explosion rocks Egypt gas terminal near Israel
It was the second attack in just the past month on the al–Sabil terminal near the town of El–Arish just 30 miles (50 kilometers) from Israel. On March 27 gunmen planted explosives at the terminal, which failed to detonate.


Israeli leader wants Gaza flotilla stopped
Israel's prime minister is stepping up efforts to prevent an international flotilla from reaching the blockaded Gaza Strip in the coming months.

Israel wants to prevent a repeat of last year's showdown with a Gaza–bound flotilla that tried to break through the Israeli blockade. Nine Turkish activists were killed in clashes with naval commandos.


Lobbification Part II



Tuwani: Palestinian nonviolent response to Israeli military escort



As the Palestinians Pursue Statehood, Israel Won’t Take ‘Yes’ for an Answer
So what happened? The talks were suspended when Olmert was indicted on corruption charges and Israel was forced into early elections. No, Abbas didn’t “walk away,” as myth has it. He stood back and waited until Israel elected a new leader with the legitimate authority to negotiate.

As it happened, the leader Israel elected, Benjamin Netanyahu, had different ideas.




A long walk home from school
On 20 and 21 April 2011, during the Jewish Passover holiday, the Israeli military closed all of the gates on the east side of the Old City souq in Al Khalil/Hebron. This severely restricted the movement of Palestinian residents in that area.


U.S. Needs its Own ‘Arab Spring’ to Counter Power of Pro-Israel Lobby
An interim step we can take to ease the way for congresspersons overly dependent on lobbyists and their contributions is to counter the outsized and outdated influence of AIPAC. That’s why more than 100 peace and justice groups have taken a page from the Arab playbook and launched a people-power movement of our own, called “Move Over AIPAC: Building a New Middle East Policy.” We will meet to discuss alternative views and make those views known as AIPAC convenes in Washington DC’s Convention Center.


House Newcomer Defies GOP Leaders on Israel, From the Right
For those who know him, it was no surprise when freshman Rep. Michael Grimm broke ranks with his party and became the first House Republican to call for the release of Jonathan Pollard.

The freshman member from New York has made Israel a key element of his political work. And while the Republican House leadership has thus far refrained from speaking out in favor of a commutation of Pollard’s life sentence for spying for Israel, Grimm pays small heed to political consensus.

Oh great, another traitor.


Palestinian Economy Wins Plaudits, But Statehood Still Distant Without Israel's Cooperation
According to the World Bank and the IMF, financial viability is ultimately conditioned on Israel’s good will. “Ultimately, sustainable economic growth in WB&G can only be underpinned by a vibrant private sector,” The World Bank concludes, “The latter will not rebound significantly while Israeli restrictions on access to natural resources and markets remain in place.” These restrictions include an Israeli imposed blockade of the Gaza Strip and hundreds of roadblocks limiting free travel in the West Bank. Israel also significantly restricts Palestinian export through its ports and the import of some materials and goods. Experts also warn of overestimating the importance of economic progress as paving the way to Palestinian independence.




Our Divisive Discourse
The school’s potential to help students thoughtfully engage with Israel was undercut by a divisive discourse that became fixated upon the question of who counted among the ranks of Israel’s supporters. As a result, even previously committed students — hawk and dove alike — wanted little to do with the Jewish state.

Studies have shown that today’s American Jewish youth are disengaging with Israel. It is particularly troubling that this would be true even at a Jewish day school that stresses engagement with Israel as a priority.

Pretty ridiculous given that this school is in AMERICA.


Our Skewed Priorities
they must be brainwashed into being the next generation of pro-Israel footsoldiers in America. Hogwash.


JNF Challenged on Discrimination
A challenge to the tax-exempt status of Jewish National Fund’s American arm introduces a new wrinkle into an ongoing debate over how the Internal Revenue Service should treat charities whose foreign operations run counter to public policy of the United States.

A coalition of anti-Zionist groups has claimed in its challenge that JNF ethnically discriminates by refusing to sell or lease its land in Israel to non-Jews.




US treads warily in Syria, considers sanctions
Israel and its U.S. backers do not want to be seen as opposing the forces of reform sweeping the region – which have toppled autocratic rulers in Egypt and Tunisia and weakened those in Yemen, Libya, Jordan and Bahrain – particularly if they deliver a blow to Israel's archenemy, Iran.

But although Syria is despised in Israel for its close alliance with Iran and support for the Iranian proxies Hamas and Hezbollah, the Syrian leadership has meticulously enforced quiet along the countries' shared border and has expressed willingness in the past to talk peace with Israel. There is widespread worry is Israel and Washington that if Assad does not survive, any successor could be far more extreme, Islamist and belligerent.


Haaretz WikiLeaks exclusive / Netanyahu agreed to join Olmert's government if Israel attacked Iran



Disincentives to Peace: US Weapons Sales to Israel
Israel may be forgiven for failing to realize the current fiscal woes of the United States. After all, U.S. military aid to Israel not only sailed unscathed through last week's passage of the 2011 budget, but reached the record level of $3 billion.

The United States additionally provided Israel $415 million for procurement, research and development of joint U.S.-Israeli missile defense projects, including $205 million to fund Israel's newly-deployed Iron Dome system.

...From 2000-2009, the United States licensed, paid for, and delivered to Israel more than 670 million weapons and related equipment, valued at nearly $19 billion, through three main weapons transfer programs (Foreign Military Sales, Direct Commercial Sales, and Excess Defense Articles). These weapons transfer programs accounted for nearly 80 percent of the more than $24 billion in military aid appropriated to Israel during these years. Think about that the next time you see the effects of the severe budget cuts most cities and towns of America are now facing.


Palestine: Hundreds celebrate popular struggle at the opening of the
Dozens of diplomats and senior figures from across the Palestinian
political spectrum joined hundreds of activists in the opening of the
6th International Bil’in Conference on Popular Resistance. Palestinian
PM, Salam Fayyad, called for the international community to promote
Palestinian self determination.





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