Against the Insidious Wiles

Headlines for July 14 - July 20

2011-10-15T22:08:00.000-04:00

A Stand For Justice

Economic gaps widening in affluent Israel
A month ago, Israel's central bank raised its official 2011 growth forecast to 5.2 percent, more than twice the International Monetary Fund's estimate released in June for real GDP growth for advanced economies. Unemployment in Israel has fallen to 5.8 percent, its lowest level in decades.

The current government "has had significant economic achievements," Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz boasted in a television interview on Tuesday. Why are we going broke giving Israel billions of our taxpayer dollars and other perks?

Top CIA Officer: Israel Will Probably Attack Iran in Sept.
Baer added that Netanyahu is "also hoping to draw the United States into the conflict, and in fact there's a warning order inside the Pentagon to prepare for conflict with Iran."

The retired senior CIA officer predicted a scenario in which Israel would attack the Natanz nuclear facility as well as "a couple of others to degrade their capabilities."

"The Iranians will strike back were they can and that will be in Basra and in Baghdad," where the US has a diminished troop presence, Baer said, adding "we've started to look at Iran's targets in Iraq and across the border."

Israel aircraft raid Gaza for fourth day in row

Amid Murdoch Scandal, Some Fear Pro-Israel Media Voice Will Be Muted
Murdoch’s sudden massive reversal of fortune – with 10 top former staffers and executives under arrest in Britain for hacking into the phones of public figures and a murdered schoolgirl, and paying off the police and journalists – has supporters of Israel worried that a diminished Murdoch presence may mute the strongly pro-Israel voice of many of the publications he owns.

...“Murdoch said he didn’t see what the Palestinians’ problem was and James said it was that they were kicked out of their f—ing homes and had nowhere to f—ing live,” the account in The Guardian said. Murdoch chided his son for using foul language in the prime minister’s home.
Rupert Murdoch is a Christian Zionist and is thus a staunch Israel-supporter. And his Fox News network reflects that. I am not heartbroken in the least at the news of this scandal. Ladies and gentlemen, Karma is served.

Jewish settlers are terrorising Palestinians, says Israeli general
A senior Israeli army commander has warned that unchecked "Jewish terror" against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank threatens to plunge the territory into another conflict.

New Israeli strikes on Gaza, rocket fire at Israel

Wife battering, sexual abuse get attention in Gaza
Its lone women's safe–house, opened two months ago, has had eight clients, all guarded by police from the Islamist Hamas movement that runs the enclave and enforces a conservative though not radical Muslim religious code.

..."In 2010 there was no record of killing under the motive of family honor and this is a positive development," said Huda Naeem, a Hamas lawmaker who backed the safe house as a way station for women at risk within their own families.

Jailed Palestinian leader asks millions to protest
He called on Palestinians in the occupied territories as well as those in other countries to "peacefully march in their millions during the week of voting in the U.N."

Barghouti said the sight of protesters waving the black, red, green and white Palestinian flag worldwide would strengthen the Palestinian cause.

Israeli air strike wounds Gaza gunman: medics
Palestinian medics said they recovered the body of a man in his twenties killed in a separate air strike on Thursday against tunnels dug beneath Gaza's border with Egypt. Israel says the tunnels are used to smuggle weapons

Israel ready to talk in Jerusalem, Ramallah
Speaking to Arabic–language television station Al–Arabiya, Netanyahu also denied that Israel wanted to see Syrian President Bashar al–Assad remain in power, and acknowledged that he had held secret peace talks with Damascus in the past. Yet he won't stop building the settlements on Palestinian land. Nobody is fooled.

Israel 'wounds seven' in Gaza raid: Palestinians
Adham Abu Selmiya, spokesman for the Hamas–run medical services in the Gaza Strip, said four children and three adults suffered moderate injuries in air strikes in the northern Beit Hanun area.

Israel 'violates rights' of young Palestinians: study
Nineteen of the minors interviewed by B'Tselem also described being "treated violently" and "threatened during the interrogation," while 23 said they were prevented from using the bathroom, eating or drinking for hours at a time.

Under the military justice system, judges normally order a minor to be held in custody until the end of proceedings, the report said.

"As a result, many minors prefer to enter into a plea bargain, in which they confess to the charges against them... fearing that, if a trial is held, they would be kept in jail during the long period of time that it takes to complete the trial," it said.

In West Bank, settler violence seen on the rise
Scorched hillsides and charred olive groves near Nablus pinpoint the latest acts of arson by hardline Jewish settlers against Palestinians who say they are ever more the victims of such attacks in the West Bank.

"The olive tree is the only source of income for farmers," said Mohammad Zeban, a Palestinian farmer, lamenting the damage inflicted on hundreds of olive trees by a recent fire near the village of Huwara. "They want to annihilate us."

...In footage captured by a Palestinian earlier this month with a camera provide by B'Tselem, soldiers appear to do very little to stop settlers pelting the village of Asira with rocks.
Imagine if the Palestinian forces rounded up the settlers for throwing rocks, much like the Israeli army rounds up the Palestinian kids for throwing rocks? Imagine the uproar in Israel and the US media. It would spark military action against the Palestinians. But it's ok if Israel imprisons CHILDREN for THROWING ROCKS. Mm k.

French boat to Gaza sails to Egypt: Greek coastguard
A French yacht carrying activists hoping to run the Israeli blockade on Gaza has sailed to Egypt after a troubled stay in Greece, the Greek coastguard said late on Saturday.

French boat 'to reach Gaza on Tuesday': organisers
A French yacht carrying pro–Palestinian activists which set sail from a Greek island at the weekend, is expected to reach the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, organisers said

Turkish PM wishes to visit Gaza
Turkey's prime minister said on Tuesday he was considering visiting the Hamas–run Gaza Strip, a move likely to anger Israel amid diplomatic efforts to overcome already strained bilateral ties.

Three settlers of Havat Ma'on attack Internationals in Meshakha valley, South Hebron Hills
On 18 July 2011 around 6:35 pm three settlers attacked two members of Operation Dove and one member of the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) with clubs and stones in the Meshakha valley outside of At-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills. The settlers were observed coming out of the outpost of Havat Ma'on covering their faces with scarves then running with clubs in their hands toward two Palestinian shepherds who were grazing their sheep in a valley nearby.

Israel's Lieberman calls NGOs 'terrorists'
An Israeli rights group on Sunday accused Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman of "incitement and hate" after he referred to a number of leftist NGOs as "terror organisations."

Spain tells Abbas it backs efforts for Palestinian state

Confidential: New biography says Hollywood producer worked as Israeli spy, arms dealer
"When the Israelis were first informed of the investigation by Assistant Secretary of State Richard W. Murphy earlier this year, they apparently were not aware of the export licensing requirements for Krytrons," Time wrote. "Prime Minister Shimon Peres last week told a U.S. television interviewer that Israel's close relationship with the U.S. obviates any need to smuggle out sensitive technology."

Indeed, LAKAM itself was closed in 1986 following revelations that it had recruited an American naval researcher, Jonathan Pollard, to spy for Israel against the United States, causing the largest crisis in the history of U.S.–Israeli relations.

Arabs to seek full Palestinian upgrade at U.N.: draft
Palestinian analyst Talal Okal said the Arab League and Palestinians were aware of the obstacles they faced, including a U.S. veto, but had chosen to push forward because, with peace talks frozen, they saw no other diplomatic solution.

Syria recognises Palestinian state
The Syrian foreign ministry said Monday that Damascus recognises a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital within the borders in effect prior to the 1967 Six–Day War.

Israel plans hundreds more Jewish settler homes
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has refused to hold peace talks with Israel unless it completely freezes settlement activity. He has instead focused efforts on a unilateral bid for statehood recognition from the United Nations in September.

EU presses Israel, Palestinians ahead of UN vote
"The position on recognition is one that we will decide on if necessary come September, but it is far preferrable for talks to resume."

Israelis, Palestinians march for Palestinian state
Some 1,000 Israelis and Palestinians gathered in east Jerusalem on Friday for a protest march to support the Palestinian bid for United Nations recognition.

Hezbollah warns Israel over Med gas
Last week, Lebanon's Foreign Minister Adnan Mansur said the maritime border as proposed by Israel posed a threat to regional security.

The proposed frontier cuts through Lebanon's economic zone, he said, adding that Beirut would "turn to the United Nations."

Abbas ready to bypass opposition to Palestinian declaration
"Our goal is to go to the Security Council. If we fail we will go to the General Assembly,"

UN bid will not affect peace process: Abbas

Ex-Nazi camp guard Demjanjuk faces new probe: report

Israeli and Palestinian Activists Gloomy Over Peace

Noam Sheizaf: Worrying About Israeli Democracy
The meaning is clear: Almost anything said about the immoral nature of the occupation and the need not to cooperate with it could be seen as a violation of the law. A parent who wishes to withdraw his kid from a school trip to Hebron — a recently declared initiative by the Ministry of Education — could be sued for damages. An actor who publicly refuses an invitation to perform in the territories could also get in trouble. And, of course, an NGO that calls for a settlement boycott could be stripped of its tax license.

New Beitar Jerusalem Owner Affiliated With Dovish Group
In recent years, Beitar has been penalized by the league for fans’ anti-Arab slurs toward opposing players.

The team has never had an Arab player. In 2009, after fans complained, the team’s captain apologized for saying that he would like an Arab to join Beitar.

We Can’t Say This
No attempt to threaten or censor can hide the fact that, for 44 years, Israel has ruled another people with its own legitimate, national aspirations, and it is in everyone’s interests, including those of the United States, to negotiate an end to this impasse.

Watch: Israeli Officer Points Loaded Gun at Unarmed Palestinian

Dozens of Israeli law professors protest 'unconstitutional' boycott law

Flotilla activists to be deported: Israel

Jews: Argentina and Iran both failed in bomb probe

Christian Zionists unite in D.C. to express support for Israel
The prime minister encouraged the conference attendees to not only think of Israel as an ally of the Unites States, but as indistinguishable from it This is the main problem with Israel-supporters. And it's why when I say I don't support Israel, they call me a traitor. They do not see Israel and the United States as two separate entities. It's why they feel the US should fight Israel's enemies (Iraq, now Iran). It's why the US Congress works tirelessly on their behalf - due to the efforts of the powerful Israeli lobby.

Former US official derides Palestinian UN effort
Bolton is in Israel along with other members of the Friends of Israel Initiative, a group founded last year by former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.

Silver and Koch Spar Over Weiner Seat
Koch recently called on Jews to defect to the GOP to send a message of disapproval to President Barack Obama over his handling of relations with Israel.

Silver conceded that Jews may be unhappy with the president’s stance, but insisted that sending a Republican to Congress from the heavily Democratic district would only make things worse.

“What we need is more Democrats who will go to bat for Israel, notwithstanding what a president may think,” Silver told the News.

It's always about Israel.

Apparently, We Are All Belarusians
On Tuesday the Tom Lantos Human Rights Hearing convened to discuss what to do about the Syrian regime, which may or may not be engaging in wholesale repression depending on who you believe. Lantos is dead, but while he lived he was considered a major conduit for illegal passage of classified information to the Israeli government. It is nice to see that his spirit lives on in the 112th Congress, particularly as Syria is a front line state that is considered an enemy by Tel Aviv. The Lantos meeting is co-sponsored by Congressman Frank Wolf of Virginia, who is a major recipient of AIPAC funding.

New Man in Tel Aviv by Philip Giraldi
Now some of us old fashioned types have long believed that an American ambassador is supposed to represent US interests, but that is apparently no longer the case, at least when Israel is involved. Even assuming that Obama is dissimulating just a tad to burnish his pro-Israeli credentials, the assertion that Israel’s security is job number one should be producing some indigestion somewhere in the media or punditocracy, but, alas, I cannot find it.

Erekat: Palestinians planning 'massive' diplomatic push for state recognition
I'm surprised that the US Congress hasn't yet made it ILLEGAL to support Palestinian statehood. Maybe they'll use sanctions to try and thwart it, minions of Israel that they are.

Iran 'ready to cooperate' over attack on Argentine Jews
Israel has pointed the finger at the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah for carrying out the attacks, which the Jewish state believes were masterminded by Tehran.

Report: Deadly NZ quake uncovers Israeli spy ring
The Fairfax newspaper group, which didn't state how it obtained the information, said one of the Israelis who died was carrying at least five passports. Israel was involved in a huge diplomatic row with New Zealand a few years back over a passport-stealing operation on the part of Israeli operatives.

MPs to vote on bill probing 'anti-Israeli' NGOs
"This evil initiative, with its anti–democratic message, harms the democracy of the state of Israel,"

Murdoch faces calls for break-up of media empire

Israeli navy takes over Gaza-bound French ship

US Republican hopeful backs right to ban synagogues
Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain on Sunday said US communities that want to ban synagogues have a right to do so, as he backed opponents of a synagogue being built in Tennessee.

"Judaism is both a religion and a set of laws –– Talmudic laws. That's the difference between any one of our traditional religions where it's just about religious purposes," Cain told Fox News Sunday. Imagine if he had said that? The uproar. It's only ok to do this to Muslims, evidently.

Israel suspends Arab lawmaker for joining Gaza flotilla

Dignitaries Visit Israel To Fight Palestinian Statehood Bid
A group of dignitaries including a former prime minister and a Nobel Peace Prize winner came to Israel to pledge to fight the Palestinian bid for statehood recognition at the United Nations.

The group came as part of the Friends of Israel Initiative, which seeks to rally international support for Israel.

The world should collectively give Israel the bird. They have no right to deny statehood to anyone. They themselves illegally declared nationhood (on another people's land) back in 1948.

Neocons Fume Over US Boat to Gaza By Ray McGovern
It certainly appears that the Likudniks, the U.S. neocons and some of the “Harvards” are running scared as Israel’s growing extremism and anti-Muslim bigotry becomes harder to perfume over with every passing day.

Headlines for July 7 - July 13

2011-07-24T12:35:00.001-04:00

A Stand For Justice

Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian in West Bank: sources
Israeli soldiers Wednesday killed a young Palestinian man while looking for an activist of the Islamic Jihad Movement at a refugee camp in the West Bank's north, Palestinian security sources said.

Israel bombs Gaza after rocket fire
Israeli jets bombed two sites in Gaza early on Wednesday, wounding one woman, after Palestinians fired three rockets into southern Israel, Israeli and Palestinian sources said.

US activist death in Israel was accident: witness
Retired Colonel Pinhas Zuaretz, a former brigade commander in Gaza, said a military police investigation into the March 2003 incident found no fault with the behaviour of the bulldozer driver or the officers supervising him. Of course he's going to say that. And also, notice that the US media has ignored this story altogether.

Palestinians hold U.S. responsible for Israel policy
"The only option facing the world today, especially the United States, is to use all tools to oblige the occupiers to halt their racist, expansionary policy," the PLO said in a statement released after its meeting.

"The United States bears the prime responsibility for the continuation of this racist (Israeli) policy," it said.

Israelis say U.N. report on Gaza flotilla to appear soon
A U.N. report on Israel's bloody seizure of a Turkish ship trying to carry aid to Gaza will be published on July 27 after delays to enable talks between Israel and Turkey, an Israeli official said on Thursday. The Israelis trying to milk something out of the Turks before the release of this report - which would most likely condemn Israel, despite their claims to the contrary. Another example of Israel attempting to bribe/cajole/extort something from someone.

Greek president in Israel as ties warm
Papoulias's three–day trip, which will also take him briefly to the Palestinian territories, comes a week after Athens effectively prevented a flotilla of pro–Palestinian activists from reaching Gaza and breaching Israel's naval blockade of strip.

UN to advise Israel to offer apology and pay compensation to Turkey
“If they really drafted a report saying that the blockage is legal, then it means that they do not have the slightest idea about international law. Drafting such a report would mean that they are not relying on international legal norms but instead, they are creating a new international legal norm that does not actually exist,” a Turkish governmental official, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, told Today’s Zaman on Thursday.

“If the report eventually emerges with content that legitimizes and legalizes Israel’s blockage and embargo on Gaza, the report will be legally invalid,” the official added.

Abbas postpones formation of unity government in bid to appease Western allies
The Palestinian president does not want to wage two diplomatic battles for recognition of an alliance with the Islamic militants and for a U.N. nod to statehood at the same time, according to the PLO official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue.

Greece 'sold its soul' on Gaza: Henning Mankell
Swedish bestselling crime author Henning Mankell slammed Greece for blocking the aid flotilla to Gaza as some of Sweden's pro-Palestinian activists returned home on Thursday.

Rachel Corrie's family claim Israeli military withheld vital video evidence
The family of Rachel Corrie, the US activist killed in Gaza while protesting against house demolitions in 2003, on Monday claimed the Israeli military authorities withheld video evidence during the Corries' civil lawsuit and misled US officials on crucial details.

...In arguing that the case should be dismissed, the Israeli government claimed Rachel was responsible for her own death Wow.

Israel recognizes South Sudan, offers economic aid
Israel recognized South Sudan Sunday, offering the new state economic help after it seceded from the mainly Arab Muslim north, which has no relations with the Jewish state. Israel, a prosperous country, recipient of the largest share of US taxpayer foreign aid is offering economic assistance to SOME OTHER COUNTRY? How about they GIVE US OUR MONEY BACK? We give them BILLIONS in taxpayer dollars each year. These are NOT LOANS. These are grants given at the beginning of the year so that Israel can further gain by the interest on the money. As US schools close, teachers are laid off, states, towns and villages are having to make severe cuts in order to balance their budgets, Israel sits high on the hog and is eager to dole out OUR MONEY.

All’s ‘Fare’ in War by Philip Giraldi
The other side of Lawfare, as the name indicates, is using the law itself as a weapon of war. The Israelis and American supporters of Israel have caught on to the potential of the legal weapon and are using lawsuits to tie up opponents.

....The lawsuit was filed with the assistance of the Shurat HaDin or Israel Law Center, which has been established as a Non-Government Organization intended to use the law against groups that are critical of Israel. The objective is to harass such groups with litigation so they become ineffective or, even better, bankrupted by legal costs.

....Any group deemed to be hostile to Israel will be attacked and litigated against. Many of the charges will be frivolous but those who are sued will have to waste time and resources defending themselves, which is precisely what is intended.

....Canadian legislators are already considering making any criticism of Israel a hate crime, and once the idea takes hold here in the United States something similar is sure to follow, creating yet another basis for litigation Wow. Is this America or the USSR?

Israel settlement 'boycott ban' stirs controversy
Despite a firestorm of criticism and the advice of the parliament's legal adviser, Israeli lawmakers have passed a bill effectively outlawing calls to boycott settlements in the West Bank.

The legislation, dubbed "fascism" by one Israeli commentator, targets the efforts of artists, intellectuals and activists who have sought to protest Jewish settlements by boycotting their produce and institutions.

Palestinians call on US to support UN bid
"We have been told by the Americans many times that they'll use a veto at the Security Council against our bid for admittance and we were told that at the General Assembly if we pursue that line at there'll be consequences," Erakat said.

Bulgaria hands Israel unexpected rebuff over Palestinian bid
"You will see when the vote comes," Borisov said, when asked how Bulgaria would vote on the Palestinian bid for statehood at the UN's General Assembly.

"There's still time," he added at a joint press conference with his Israeli counterpart, noting the Palestinians had not yet tabled the statehood bid.

Romania backtracking over Palestinian statehood vote
"As this bid has not been submitted yet, all speculations about Romania's vote are premature."

Palestinians may take statehood bid to UN Assembly
"Our leaders are examining carefully which step we are taking first: the General Assembly first and then secondly the Security Council or the Security Council and then the General Assembly," he said.

Abbas vows to press Palestinian statehood
"The fact that there is no statement from the Quartet is a negative indication that there is deep division between them," Abbas said.

At-Tuwani: Palestinians protest expansion of Havat Ma'on Outpost; Israeli Military responds with violence
The extension of the Israeli outpost consists of a tent that settlers built about two months ago. Settlers built the tent on ground that belongs to families in the nearby Palestinian village of At-Tuwani.

House Threatens To Cut Off Palestinian Aid Over Statehood Move
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee was urging its activists as late as Wednesday to press Congress, mired in budget debates, to pass the resolution.

In the end, only six lawmakers – three Republicans and three Democrats –voted against.

200 activists blocked from Israel flights: police
Some 200 pro–Palestinian activists have been barred from leaving foreign airports for Israel, where authorities are poised to deport others who manage to fly in, Israeli police said on Friday.

Palestinians report dramatic rise in settler attacks
"Since the beginning of June, the settlers attacks escalated dramatically, especially against the land and the trees. In the first week of June, settlers burnt 350 trees Deir al–Hatab village near Nablus, 20 grape vines in Hebron and uprooted 40 grape vines in Beit Ummar village," said a statement from the government released on Wednesday.

Settlers also burned dozens of acres of farmland and more than 1,000 olive trees, the report said.

120 foreign activists detained by Israel
The activists are trying to draw attention to life in the West Bank under Israeli occupation, including travel restrictions. Israel controls all access to the territory, which it captured in the 1967 Mideast war and which the Palestinians hope to make part of an independent state, along with Gaza and east Jerusalem.

Palestinians launch campaign to embargo arms sales to Israel
Today, Palestinian civil society and its supporters worldwide are launching a global campaign for a comprehensive, military embargo against Israel, similar to that imposed against apartheid-era South Africa.

Gaza and a Liturgy for Justice by Ray McGovern
Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, agnostics, atheists — all devoted to help bring Justice to Gaza, to break off the handcuffs and open the prison by lifting the Israeli blockade.

Videos Posted by Roger Waters The Wall

Conviction of bishop for denying Holocaust upheld
he 71–year–old said in the 2008 interview that he did not believe Jews were killed in gas chambers during World War II. Holocaust denial is a crime in Germany. Holocaust denial being a crime in many many nations = philosemitism. I'm surprised it hasn't yet happened here in the good old US.

Holocaust history helps Netanyahu's Balkan engagement
Central and eastern European states, former Soviet satellites keen to reorient toward the West and liberalize their economies, have been receptive to Netanyahu's message that a Palestinian statehood accord must be negotiated. Israeli officials say they hope for their abstentions, if not nays, in any U.N. vote.

Will the One-State Solution Become the Only Solution?
neither side ever really adapted well to the new situation resulting from the creation of the State of Israel. For Palestinians who were forced from their homes by Israeli soldiers, or instructed to leave by their own leaders in anticipation of a quick return, the difficulty of accepting their dispossession from their ancestral homes is certainly understandable. What is required on their part is, simply, recognition of a painful reality. Those olive groves, those villages, those stone huts are gone forever and have been replaced by schools, factories, apartment complexes and concert halls.

Turkey insists on apology to normalize Israel ties
Turkey's prime minister said on Friday Israel must apologize for a bloody raid on a Turkish ship bound for Gaza last year and lift its blockade of the territory if it wants to normalize ties, but Israel rejected the call.

Syria envoy summoned over filming of US protests
The move comes amid escalating tensions between Damascus and Washington over the Syrian government's crackdown on months of opposition protests seeking to oust President Bashar al–Assad.

No rift among Mideast Quartet: Russian envoy
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday brushed aside suggestions of a rift among members of the diplomatic Quartet, one day after the group met in Washington but failed to make progress towards Mideast peace talks.

Strong blast hits Egyptian gas pipeline: report
Saboteurs bombed an Egyptian gas pipeline in the Sinai peninsula for the fourth time since February, cutting supplies to Israel and Jordan, the official MENA news agency reported Tuesday.

Israeli Pres. Peres Thanks Greece for Thwarting Gaza-Bound Flotilla
Peres and the Greek president also discussed their countries' strengthening ties in a number of political and business areas.

French boat to Gaza blocked in Crete
All the other boats which had been expected to participate in a 10–vessel international aid flotilla to Gaza are currently being blocked from leaving ports in Greece, while an Irish boat, which organisers say was sabotaged, is undergoing repairs in Turkey.

Tug-of-war over Iraqi Jewish trove in US hands
There are claims of Jewish pressure to prevent the return of the collection, and questions about why the U.S. didn't prevent the looting of Arab and Islamic treasures during the invasion but was able to bring the Jewish collection to safety in America. That's a good point. Americans need to learn what the term 'philosemitism' means, and its implications. This country via our government seems to be suffering from it, and suffering for it.

Confirming The Futility of Boycotts
Conflating Israel and the settlements may be very bad for Israel in terms of its international reputation and its dealings with other states, but it is very useful to the cause of supporting the settlements. Of course, that is the point of the legislation: to raise the costs to Israelis and foreign companies when they oppose the settlements, and to bind settlements and Israel together to blunt challenges to the former.

Archbishop warns of vanishing Christian communities
"The overall decline in the Christian population in the Holy Land has been very significant in recent decades and it is accelerating in the West Bank and in east Jerusalem very rapidly," he said.

Lawyer Who Promotes Anti-Sharia Laws Publishes New Study on Islamic Extremism
Four years in the making, and part of a project costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, Yerushalmi’s study is titled “Shari’a and Violence in American Mosques” and was co-written by Mordechai Kedar, a professor of Middle East studies at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University. It is published in the current issue of the Middle East Quarterly, the flagship publication of the conservative think tank, the Middle East Forum.

The study has been strongly criticized by liberal organizations but seized upon by conservative publications, such as FrontPage Magazine and National Review Online, as proof that Islam constitutes a grave threat to national security. Writing in National Review Online, Andrew McCarthy said the results proved that, “what we wishfully call ‘radicalism’ is in fact the Islamic mainstream.”

...Yerushalmi did say that one of the study’s funders was the Center for Security Policy, a neoconservative think tank devoted to opposing what it perceives to be the growing threat of radical Islam in the United States.

Put forth by Israelis and pushed forward by neocons, are you surprised?

Leon Panetta, a Defense Secretary With a Long History of Cooperation with Israel
During his recently completed stint as CIA director, Panetta worked closely with Israeli intelligence, which reportedly has shared information about Iran and about terror threats.

“It is important to understand that despite differences on Middle East policy, the military and intelligence relations between the U.S. and Israel were extremely strong,” said Jim Colbert, policy director of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs. “Director Panetta was closely involved on these issues.”

This really means that America is in BIG trouble. We will be attacking Iran before long, no doubt.

Lebanon lawmakers approve Hezbollah-backed government

Lebanon warns Israel against sea border move
"President Michel Sleiman warns against any unilateral decisions Israel may take on maritime borders which would be a breach of international law, as is Israel's habit," Sleiman's office said in a statement.

Israel approves work on controversial museum
Israel has approved the start of work on a controversial Museum of Tolerance that will be built on the site of an old Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday. This would be headlines in the US and Congress would pass at least one resolution condemning the act if it were MUSLIMS that were building ANYTHING on a JEWISH cemetery.

Iran threatens to attack rebels across Iraq border
"The terrorists will not be allowed to take sanctuary in Iraq's territory and attack Iran with the support of America and the Zionist regime," the official said. "Action will be taken against these terrorists." The Israelis trained the Kurds, according to UK news sources.

Interpol issues warrants for Hariri killing suspects

Israeli peace group launches boycott, defying ban
An Israeli peace group launched a boycott of products from Jewish settlements Tuesday - in the wake of a controversial Israeli law banning such actions.

U.N. council split likely on Syria atomic issue: U.S.
Notice how the issue is about what Syria MIGHT have been doing and NOT the fact that Israel violated international law by bombing Syria without any provocation.

American Jew refused entry to Israel on suspicion of converting to Islam

News of the Carrot, Not Pain of the Stick
Alroey shows that “the stream of emigrants from places where pogroms occurred was smaller than from places where the Jews suffered economic hardship but no pogroms.” He is not the first academic to claim this. But what Alroey’s compelling volume makes clear is that Jewish information bureaus played a critical role in encouraging more than 1.5 million Jews to migrate “to all corners of the world” between 1900 and 1914. The presence of these information bureaus, not the Russian Empire’s state-sanctioned terror, correlates with high rates of Jewish emigration.

..Agents of philanthropic, Zionist and territorialist information bureaus fanned out across Russia to circulate agro-industrial reports, dispense advice, distribute funds, cut red tape, arrange for resettlement and track down family members who had disappeared in the melting pot of the New World. Though their ideologies differed, these bureaus all sought to direct Jews to a promised land, be it America or Ottoman Palestine.

Really now.

Jerusalem Riots Expose New Rift Between Religious Zionists and Authorities
Lior is also a controversial sage who affirms, among other things, that it is “permissible for the Israel Defense Forces to attack in the course of warfare a civilian population that is ostensibly innocent of wrongdoing.” This position is informed by Jewish morality, and Jews “should not feel guilt out of the morality of unbelievers,” he claimed in a 2004 ruling

Undocumented Jews Live in Shadows of U.S. Society
“It is difficult to use them for advocacy because like other undocumented populations, they are largely invisible,”

Really now. So they can operate freely here in the US, hmm?

Picasso in Palestine: A Prized Painting Is On Rare and Welcome Visit to Ramallah

New Flap Over Orthodox-Dominated School Board’s Deal With a Yeshiva
Once again, a New York school district controlled by Orthodox Jews is trying to sell a shuttered public elementary school to deal with its budget woes. And once again, critics have asked state officials to stop the sale.

Activists challenging the East Ramapo Central School District’s handling of the latest sale say that it favors two private Jewish schools at the expense of a fair price. Their appeal to the state education department comes just weeks after state officials overturned the school board’s earlier sale of an East Ramapo elementary school to a different Jewish school. A majority of the school board, whose members are elected, is made up of Orthodox Jews.

Iceland “ready to support Palestinian independence”
Icelandic foreign minister Ossur Skarphedinsson has told his Palestinian colleagues at their meeting this week in Ramallah that the Icelandic government is enthusiastic to support Palestinian independence, should the proposed motion be put before the United Nations this autumn.

Hebron: Soldiers Halt Hebron Bicycle Action

'Flytilla' activist says mistreated by Israel
Hundreds of people from Europe and the United States were prevented from flying to Israel or denied entry and taken into custody over the weekend as they sought to join the "Welcome to Palestine" campaign.

Tunisians protest against Israel ties
Around 600 people rallied in Tunis Sunday threatening to out leaders believed to support normalisation of diplomatic ties with Israel.

Israeli soldiers blocked Icelandic FM’s car with rocks
Ossur Skarphedinsson, Icelandic Minister for Foreign Affairs, and his entourage had their trip to Gaza interrupted yesterday when Israeli soldiers obstructed the path of their cars with large rocks.

For Israel, a Balkan bloom despite Palestine chill
The Israeli leader, a free–market champion who is quick to celebrate his country's hi–tech advances and endurance through global economic doldrums, made no secret of wanting to exploit recent off–shore natural gas discoveries as strategic exports.

"Because we need very little of this, we intend basically to lay a pipeline or create a shipping lane. We can be a big supplier in the natural gas field," he said. Israel is FAT from the US taxypayer welfare checks that we HAND them every year. Billions, kids. And there are tons more peripheral perks that they receive such as the US Security Council veto at the UN, defense agreements, numerous pieces of legislation, and the action taken in the Middle East by the US military.

Lebanon's Hariri slams Hezbollah over UN court
Lebanon's opposition leader Saad Hariri on Tuesday defended a UN–backed court that has indicted Hezbollah members in the 2005 murder of his father against "misleading accusations" by the Shiite group

Headlines for June 30 - July 6

2011-07-19T22:25:00.001-04:00

A Stand For Justice

Israeli drone attack kills two militants in Gaza
On Sunday a rocket fired from Gaza struck open fields in southern Israel causing no damage or injuries. The army said two other projectiles were also fired Saturday. They were the first fired from Gaza since June 16 but the border between Gaza and Israel has been largely calm in recent months.

Israeli Army Destroys 9 Water Tanks in Palestinian Village
This is the fifth demolition in Amniyr in the last year, according to village residents and Nasser Nawaja, a B’Tselem worker. One month ago the army destroyed 11 houses and two cisterns full of water. The cisterns had also been destroyed 5 months ago and rebuilt with the help of Israeli activists from Ta’ayush.

UN report 'slams' Israel over Nakba Day bloodshed
The report found that Israeli troops "used direct live fire against unarmed demonstrators" and urged the army to avoid doing so in situations where there was no immediate threat to life. Naturally. The Israelis have done so for decades.

US warns Palestinians on statehood bid
Amid the diplomatic tussling, the US House of Representatives churned towards voting by week's end on a symbolic resolution warning the Palestinians they risk US aid cuts if they pursue their plans at the United Nations.

The House was expected to overwhelmingly back the measure authored by Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Democratic House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer just one week after the Senate passed a similar resolution. We are, after all, Israel's bitch.

Senator Wants US-Israeli Op Against Flotilla
In a report drafted following a visit to Israel in early June, Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., says the United States should "make available all necessary special operations and naval support to the Israeli Navy to effectively disable flotilla vessels before they can pose a threat to Israeli coastal security or put Israeli lives at risk."

Palestinians say Russia supports bid for state
Nabil Shaath, head of a Palestinian delegation that met Tuesday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, said "our plan to go to the United Nations will get support from Russia."

Israel halts handover of Palestinian bodies
Barak's office said the minister's stop order was meant to ensure no harm would be done to negotiations on any future swap deal to secure the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, held captive by Islamist group Hamas for five years. More bargaining chips.

Palestinian civil servants put on half pay: Fayyad
"The government has decided to pay employees half their salary due to the financial crisis that the Palestinian Authority is experiencing because of the failure of donors, including our Arab brothers, to fulfil their pledges," he said.

Many people injured in clash between Hizb-ut Tahir demonstrators and Palestinian police
On July 2nd, the radical Islamic political organization, Hizb-ut Tahir (The Party of Freedom), staged a last-minute demonstration in Hebron after the Palestinian Authority blocked a planned demonstration in Ramallah. Over 1000 demonstrators descended upon the Palestinian-controlled area of the city in the late afternoon. Subsequent clashes with Palestinian police, with protestors throwing stones and police responding with tear gas and shots fired into the air, resulted in about 30 casualties, including one person in intensive care.

Senate unanimously opposes Palestinian push for statehood (AIPAC wants you to know)

Israeli minister: Don't take eyes off Iran
Britain believes Tehran has conducted at least three secret tests of medium–range ballistic missiles since October, amid an apparent escalation of its nuclear program and increased scrutiny from the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Winners and Losers by Philip Giraldi
Bolton, a leading neoconservative, has been calling for attacking Iran for a number of years. As part of his argument, he always maintains that Iran’s acquisition of a nuclear weapon is imminent. He never explains why it hasn’t happened yet, making one suspect that his warnings are baseless and politically motivated. Even the United States intelligence community, in its recently concluded review of the National Intelligence Estimate of 2007, has stated its belief that there is no evidence that Iran has restarted the nuclear weapons program that it abandoned in 2003.

Palestinians defy US Senate's statehood warning
The Senate on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution warning the Palestinians they could face cuts in US aid for pursuing UN endorsement of a future state not defined as a result of direct negotiations with Israel.

The measure also raises the prospects of halting assistance to any Palestinian unity government that includes Hamas –– unless the radical movement renounces violence and accepts Israel's right to exist.

Palestine U.N. membership a debate for Council in July
The U.N. Security Council plans to discuss in July the possibility of Palestine becoming a United Nations member state, the Security Council president said on Tuesday.

Abbas says Hamas row hobbles Palestinian bid at U.N.
President Mahmoud Abbas urged Hamas on Saturday to relent in a dispute over the formation of unity government for the Palestinians, saying their bid to become a U.N. member state in September was at stake.

Israel pushes on with settlement plans on annexed land
While Palestinians do stop firing rockets, ie stop terrorism, the Israelis never stop building settlements on Palestinian land.

Middle East Quartet discourages more flotillas
The Quartet, represented by former British prime minister Tony Blair, aims to promote an end to the Israel–Palestine conflict and bring stability to the Middle East, according to its web site.

It said there had been a marked increase in the range and scope of goods and materials moving into Gaza. However, it said "considerably more needs to be done to increase the flow of people and goods to and from Gaza, including a liberalization of the market in aggregate, steel bar and cement."

Analysis: Gaza flotilla a foretaste of future diplomatic furor
In a effort to shore up waning support, Israel subsequently went on a charm offensive, reaching out to Turkey's historic foe Greece and proposing a series of military and business tie–ups.

Not previously seen as pro–Israeli, Athens welcomed the overture and the friendship has paid dividends for Israel, with Greek authorities pouncing on flotilla ships preparing to leave its ports this past week and keeping them in harbour.

Israeli military enlisting frontline rabbis
The move, announced in the latest issue of the military's official weekly magazine, Bamahane, drew fire on Monday from one of Israel's most popular newspaper columnists, who cautioned against creating a "God's Army."

Greek government "deaf" to Gaza flotilla activists' call

Israel readies for pro-Palestinian airport protest
Pro–Palestinian activists have said they plan to arrive in their hundreds at Ben Gurion airport outside Tel Aviv on July 8 to protest against Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip.

"We have responded to a call from Palestinian associations and about 500 hundred of us, women, men and children, will leave on July 8 to show them the world hasn't forgotten them," organisers said on the website www.bienvenuepalestine.com.

Greece offers humanitarian aid to Gaza with U.N. assist
Greece offered to ferry humanitarian aid to the Palestinian Authority on Sunday after banning a pro–Palestinian flotilla bound for Gaza from departing from its ports and arresting the captain of one of the boats.

Israel arrests raise spectre of rabbis vs state
Last year, Eliyahu issued a religious ruling calling on Jews not to rent or sell property to Arabs in a move that sparked outrage and deep concern in Israel.

Following Sunday's protests, the Maariv newspaper warned of the rise of "a new current in Judaism which seeks the death of the rule of law."

.....The book reportedly says babies and children of Israel's enemies may be killed in certain circumstances since "it is clear that they will grow to harm us."

It also says non–Jews are "uncompassionate by nature" and that attacks on them "curb their evil inclination." "Anywhere where the influence of gentiles constitutes a threat to the life of Israel, it is permissible to kill them," the rabbis wrote.

Irish activists say Israel sabotaged flotilla vessel
The crew of the MV Saoirse realized there was something wrong with the propeller shaft when they took the vessel for refueling at Gocek on Turkey's southwest coast on Monday. Activists said a marine engineer who inspected the damaged boat in dry dock declared that it had been sabotaged.

"It's identical to the damage to the Swedish boat and you don't need to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out who is behind this," Paul Hogan, a former Irish rugby international who was among the activists, told Irish state broadcaster RTE.

Analysis: Netanyahu gallops on while peacemaking stumbles
srael's ties with Turkey soured after Israeli commandos raided a pro-Palestinian flotilla bound for Gaza in May 2010 and killed nine Turks in clashes with activists wielding clubs and knives: Netanyahu stepped up his courtship of Greece, Turkey's long-time rival.

That diplomatic drive appeared to have paid off for Netanyahu this week after Greece banned another convoy from leaving its ports for the Hamas-controlled Palestinian enclave.

Egypt gas pipeline to Israel hit by explosion

French protest boat 'quits Greece for Gaza'

Greek coastguard intercepts Gaza-bound Canadian ship

Greece confines Gaza flotilla, frees U.S. captain
American John Klusmire, 60, captain of the "Audacity for Hope" ferrying mostly U.S. activists, was charged with breaching the Greek ban and putting lives at risk after being intercepted last week at sea by armed Greek coastguards.

Israel-Turkey flotilla talks break down: source

US Needs a Declaration of Independence - from Israel
Hey, that's my line!

Dutch government rejects Palestinian initiative
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal to seek support for the plan to seek statehood at the U.N. General Assembly in September, although membership of a new state must be endorsed by the Security Council, where it could be vetoed by the U.S. and others.

But Rosenthal bluntly rejected the idea of the Palestinian initiative going to the General Assembly. "No, it will not be supported by the Netherlands," Rosenthal told reporters. Uri Rosenthal, the DUTCH foreign minister?

Fourteen Propaganda Techniques Fox "News" Uses to Brainwash Americans
Take the enormous amount of misinformation that is taken for truth by Fox audiences: the belief that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and that he was in on 9/11, the belief that climate change isn't real and/or man-made, the belief that Barack Obama is Muslim and wasn't born in the United States, the insistence that all Arabs are Muslim and all Muslims are terrorists, the inexplicable perceptions that immigrants are both too lazy to work and are about to steal your job. The pro-Israelis use the same methods.

The FBI's synagogue bomb plot
Throughout the sentencing, Judge McMahon remained firm: this case was a government invention. The men in question did not agree to carry out the crime due to ideology. They had no allegiance to, or even knowledge, of the terrorist group Jaish-i-Mohammed, in whose name they allegedly acted. They were not motivated to criminal behaviour by their allegiance to Allah. They were motivated, purely and simply, by money; as such, they were criminals deserving punishment, but not terrorists. As Judge McMahon repeatedly stated, these men were not equivalent to the 2010 Times Square bomber, Faisal Shazad, or other ideologically motivated terrorists. It's not the entrapment that bothers this reporter but rather the potential for the spread of anti-Semitism. Ok.

Letter: AIPAC a big Kirk supporter
Such a plan provides a powerful suggestion that Kirk is in someone’s back pocket. It also brings to mind a February 2010 report on the TPMMuckraker website that states that the senator received $1,025,000 from pro-Israeli Pacs — AIPAC, in particular.

After that, he called for the U.S. Navy to assist the Israeli navy to intercept the next Gaza relief flotilla on the high seas

U.S. urges Lebanon to act on Hariri indictments
Of course the US urges Lebanon to do so - at Israel's urging of course. This was a complete setup from day one to turn the Lebanese against Hezbollah. It has Israeli false flag operation written all over it.

U.N. prosecutor says Hezbollah should help Hariri probe
Footage aired by Nasrallah on Saturday included scenes of a conference in Israel at which the U.N. Lebanon tribunal's president Antonio Cassese was praised as a friend of Israel.

Nasrallah also showed pictures of documents which he said showed that 97 computers used by investigators had been shipped out of Lebanon via Israel, instead of directly from Beirut's airport or seaport, to the tribunal's headquarters in the Netherlands.

A message for Israel and Evangelicals: Genesis isn’t a policy guide
Theologically based claims to the Holy Land drive politics and undermine peace in the region. When the US Congress slavishly cheered and fawned over Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in his recent address to a joint meeting of the House and Senate, it was, I suspect, as much this evangelical Christian constituency that lawmakers were pandering to as to the “Jewish Lobby.”

Hezbollah chief defends Hariri suspects in Lebanon
Nasrallah said the suspects named in the indictment are brothers "who have an honorable history in resisting Israeli occupation." He went on to cast doubt on the U.N.–backed tribunal investigating the crime and said it was biased. Awful strange that those fingered were Israel's enemies, eh? Can you say false flag?

Thousands protest police probe of rabbis for incitement
Thousands of Jewish settlers protested on Monday against the brief detention of two leading rabbis, in what some commentators have called a clash between religion and the rule of law.

Israel, Greece mark growing ties with joint air force drill
Israel's Air Force on Monday concluded a two-week drill with the Hellenic Air Force as the two nations cemented growing ties between their militaries, recently reflected in Greece's recent move to halt a Gaza-bound flotilla set to depart from its shores.

A July Fourth Shame on the Founders By Ray McGovern
It is also sad that many U.S. politicians — from the Chief Executive to members of Congress — have been seduced by money and political expediency into disregarding our first president’s farewell address, George Washington’s warning to avoid what he called “entangling alliances” and a “passionate attachment” to goals of another country.

At the time, it was France that Washington had in mind. Today, the “entangling alliance” and “passionate attachment” relate to Israel. Common values are adduced to try to justify conflating U.S. objectives and actions with the goals and behavior of our “ally,” Israel.

Gaza flotilla activist: Ray McGovern

United States puts Israel on its terror watch list

Rick Perry calls out Eric Holder on Gaza Flotilla
Texas Governor Rick Perry is looking a little like a presidential campaigner, challenging Attorney General Eric Holder to enforce the law against US citizens who plan to participate in the Gaza Flotilla.

Activist: US boat may sail for Gaza without permit
American Ann Wright repeated allegations Thursday that Israel is pressuring Greek authorities not to allow the 42 passengers and crew of the U.S. flagged Audacity of Hope to leave from a port near Athens.

Hezbollah leader rejects Hariri court indictments
He also portrayed the head of the court, Antonio Cassese, as a friend of Israel who is hostile to Hezbollah and said many of its officials had links to U.S. intelligence.

"This investigation, and this court... as far as we are concerned is American and Israeli," he said.

Headlines for June 23 - June 29

2011-07-17T21:24:00.002-04:00

A Stand For Justice

U.S. Senate Passes Resolution Threatening To Suspend Palestinian Aid
The United States Senate has passed a resolution threatening to suspend financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority if its leaders “persist in efforts to circumvent direct negotiations by turning to the United Nations or other international bodies,” and called on U.S. President Barack Obama to veto a UN vote on unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. Capitol Hill once again working for Israel, not America.

Masked Israeli Settlers Attack Palestinian Shepherds in Mesheha Vall
According to Shaadi Muhamari, the settlers came down from the illegal Israeli outpost of Havat Ma'on. Some of the settlers were masked as they ran toward the shepherds throwing stones, yelling blasphemies against Islam and stating that internationals were now not present to protect them. According to Shaadi Muhamari, a settler attacked his donkey with a knife, and when he attempted to stop the attacker and protect his donkey, settlers hit him with stones in the back and torso. The attack left Shaadi Muhamari with bruises and welts on his back.

Talks with Israel won't stop Palestinian UN bid
The Palestinians say they will be coming to the U.N. in September seeking membership as an independent state even if peace negotiations with Israel are underway.

US State Dept. Threatens Activists with 'Fines or Incarceration' if They Proceed to Gaza
"We underscore that delivering or attempting or conspiring to deliver material support or other resources to or for the benefit of a designated foreign terrorist organization, such as Hamas, could violate U.S. civil and criminal statutes and could lead to fines and incarceration,"

US, Israel Escalate Threats Against Flotilla, Including US Citizens
Condemnation of this outburst was pervasive but also easy: cheering for a foreign army to shoot unarmed protesters -- one's fellow citizens -- is self-evidently warped; that this came from a right-wing war-cheerleader-from-a-safe-distance with endless pretenses to uber-patriotism just added a layer of irony (Dear Foreign Nation: go ahead and shoot and kill Americans). US Israel-supporters are traitors.

Israel said to be clamping down on Hamas prisoners
Netanyahu said on Thursday that as the Palestinian Islamist movement refused to allow Red Cross visits to Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier it has held for five years, he would cut privileges of Hamas militants in Israeli jails, such as external university courses. It's preposterous to allege that any Palestinian prisoners are afforded education in Israeli jails. They're lucky if they're allowed family visits or lawyers.

Israel ministers slam flotilla threat as 'spin'
On Monday, Israeli military spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Avital Leibovitz said there were "radical elements" among the activists participating in the sea convoy, including some carrying "dangerous incendiary chemicals."

But security cabinet ministers told Maariv they were given no such information when they were briefed on the flotilla this week, and even accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office of being behind the disinformation.

Israel: Journalists on flotilla face expulsion
Israel said Sunday that any foreign journalist caught on board a Gaza–bound flotilla could face deportation and a 10–year ban from the country, in a move that threatened to worsen the nation's already strained relationship with the international media. Sounds like something the Nazis would do.

Israel backs away from threat to flotilla reporters
In an email to foreign news organisations on Sunday, the Government Press Office (GPO) said journalists' participation in the flotilla would be "an intentional violation" of Israeli law that could result in a 10–year entry ban to Israel and confiscation of their equipment.

The Foreign Press Association in Jerusalem had described the GPO's warning as a "chilling message" that raised questions about Israel's commitment to freedom of the press. Several Israeli legislators also condemned the GPO's move. The Israelis are out of control. They always have been. It's just that now, the world is getting a clearer picture of it.

Palestinians use bulldozer to ram Israeli fence
Palestinian protesters rammed a bulldozer Friday into a contested barrier near the village of Bilin, days after the Israeli army said it would finally comply with a court order and reposition the fence.

Roger Waters The Wall
Roger Waters on Facebook. Read up on his advocacy for Palestine.

Israel arrests 'terror plot' Palestinians
Israel's Shin Bet internal security service said on Monday it had detained more than 20 Palestinians in Ramallah and annexed east Jerusalem on suspicion of planning attacks against Israelis.

The agency said the men belonged to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and were planning to kidnap Israelis, to acquire weapons to carry out shooting attacks and to kidnap a wealthy Palestinian land dealer to fund their plans.

Iran says U.S. exploits Syria uprising to save Israel
"As interests of America and its allies are endangered in the region ... they are trying to shift the crisis by creating problems for independent countries (like Iran and Syria)."

Polish FM: EU seeks joint position on Palestinians
Europe's position could prove critical: Without its support, a resolution could more easily be dismissed as a result of automatic anti–Israel majority in the General Assembly. But a pro–Palestinian groundswell by major European nations with deep ties to Israel, such as Britain and France, could make the event a watershed and provide a tail wind to talk of boycotts and mass protests against Israel.

Palestinian leaders vote to go for UN recognition
The West Bank Palestinian leadership on Sunday formally decided to press ahead with efforts in September to win U.N. recognition of a state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, in what could be a blow to efforts to restart Israeli–Palestinian peace talks.

AP Exclusive: Palestinians ready to ease demands
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing a sensitive diplomatic proposal, said the Palestinians will ease the demand for a full construction freeze and resume peace talks if Israel accepts President Barack Obama's proposal to base negotiations on a broad Israeli withdrawal from lands captured in the 1967 Mideast war.

Israel arrests 4 Hamas members in West Bank
The arrest of the MP from Salfit brings to 14 the number of Hamas parliamentarians detained by Israeli troops over the past eight months.

It also raises to seven the number of Hamas MPs detained by the army since the Islamist movement signed a surprise reconciliation deal with its Fatah rivals at the end of April, in a move which was roundly condemned by Israel.

Shoot First Diplomacy by Philip Giraldi
Once upon a time the Secretary of State was supposed to protect Americans overseas, particularly when the Americans are not doing anything illegal. But that was before Israel and its Lobby decided what American citizens can and cannot do. A good friend of mine Ray McGovern, who is on the American vessel, is a deeply religious former CIA senior analyst. He has friends on the National Security Council who informed him last week that the US government would let the Israelis do whatever they want to the flotilla and would, in fact, approve of any action taken. In the aftermath, the State Department would do nothing to help any US citizen killed, injured, or arrested. Except possibly have them arrested a second time.

Palestinians going ahead with UN statehood bid
"I say that if negotiations have failed we will go to the United Nations for membership," Abbas told a meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and his Fatah party.

Something Rotten This Way Comes by Philip Giraldi
It is indisputable that Israel and its friends in the White House and Defense Department played a major role in creating the lies and generating the momentum in the drive to war against Iraq in 2002, a conflict that continues to claim American casualties and which has left Iraq in ruins. Now the push is on to “do something” about Iran. There have been a number of bills in Congress that stop just short of declaring war on the Mullahs and there are signs that the Israeli government might be planning a military action before the end of the summer. Does anyone doubt that the United States would immediately be drawn into such a conflict, with disastrous consequences in terms of a terrorist response and energy prices that would skyrocket? Wow. Read on for more groveling to Israel by US politicians, pundits and would-be presidents.

Israel preparing for September West Bank violence

Roger Waters - "We Shall Overcome"
Tribute to Palestine? If he really did that, that's incredible. Kudos to him. Update: It does indeed seem to be legit. God bless you, Sir.

Most Egyptians would keep peace with Israel: poll
The study, conducted by the cabinet's Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC), showed 67 percent of respondents believed it was important to uphold the 1979 Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty, state news agency MENA said.

Majority support Mideast peace
Because Israel refuses to define its borders, descriptions are always qualified. The "pre-1967" borders define the boundary drawn in the 1949 armistice. This boundary, the "Green Line," is the only boundary internationally recognized. Israel would be safest within that existing border.

Jewish Dems losing faith in Obama
At the 2007 AIPAC Policy Conference, Obama professed his love for Israel but then seemed, – to some who were there for his informal talk – to betray a kind of naivete about the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians: "The biggest enemy" he said, using the same rhetoric he applied to American politics, was "not just terrorists, it's not just Hezbollah, it's not just Hamas – it's also cynicism."

At the next year's AIPAC conference, he again botched the conflict's code, committing himself to an "undivided Jerusalem" and then walking it back the next day.

Those doubts and gaffes lingered, even for many of the majority who supported him.

It's Netanyahu who is delegitimising Israel by MJ Rosenberg
The "pro-Israel" lobby's latest hobbyhorse is "delegitimisation". Those who criticise Israeli policies are accused of trying to "delegitimise" Israel, which supposedly means denying Israel's right to exist.

Even President Obama has gotten into the act, stating in his May 19 speech that "for the Palestinians, efforts to delegitimise Israel will end in failure".

Hardline Arab-Israeli imam held in Britain
Saleh has had multiple run–ins with the law in Israel, including most recently being arrested at the Israeli border with Jordan after allegedly striking an interrogator.

In 2010, he spent five months behind bars for spitting at an Israeli policeman, and he has been detained on a number of other occasions, including in connection with an alleged arson incident.

U.S. Funding Rigorous Study of Palestinian and Israeli Textbook Incitement
The study, funded by a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of State, was commissioned by the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land (CRIHL), a Jerusalem-based consortium of senior Islamic, Jewish and Christian religious figures in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. The study seeks to provide the first rigorously empirical and objective analysis of how Palestinian and Israeli textbooks depict the “other.”

How much more American taxpayer money do we have to waste for Israel? Really. Couldn't that money be better spent at home? Don't we give Israel enough money. Let them fight their own battles.

Further delay for Gaza flotilla amid sabotage fears
Frustrated volunteers for the Gaza–bound flotilla milled helplessly around in Athens as organisers also admitted they were making little headway with the Greek government over getting the necessary permission to set sail.

A Veteran Washington Jew-Watcher Looks Back, and Forward
the Jewish groups are more and more focused on Israel, so I see a disconnect in that sense.

The author then goes on to say that Jews aren't that concerned with Israel, it's not their number 1 priority. But it would be if both houses of Congress weren't so pro-Israel. AIPAC makes sure of that,which is why pro-Israeli Jews can shift their focus elsewhere.

Cyprus bans all sailings to Gaza ahead of flotilla plan
Cyprus said on Thursday it had banned all sailings to Gaza, serving notice to any pro–Palestinian activists who might use the Mediterranean island as a springboard to challenge Israel's blockade of the territory.

Flotilla activists seek "blood": Israeli FM
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Tuesday participants in an aid flotilla planning to challenge an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip were seeking "confrontation and blood." Delustional rantings from a delusional, arrogant regime.

Top settler rabbi briefly arrested in racism row
Israeli police briefly detained a leading settler rabbi on Monday in connection with an investigation into a book justifying the killing of non–Jews in some cases, police said.

Hamas prisoners stage hunger strike
Hamas prisoners being held in Israeli jails on Monday began a hunger strike to protest after seven of their number were put in solitary confinement, a minister told AFP.

Gaza: ICRC demands proof that Gilad Shalit is alive

Gaza activists say ship sabotaged in Greece
In a statement, Scandinavian organizers said "hostile divers" had cut the propeller shaft of the "Juliano," a ship shared by Swedish, Norwegian and Greek activists. They said the damage can be repaired and that it will not affect plans to sail for the Palestinian territory toward the end of the week.

Israel Told to Avoid Use of Military Force Against Irish
Ambassador to Ireland, Boaz Modai, that any interception of the flotilla must be peacefu Notice our government doesn't do that given that there will also be Americans on board. In fact, our government did NOTHING when Israel KILLED an American citizen last year.

Israel begins dismantling section of barrier
The rerouting marked a major victory for the residents of Bilin and the international groups that have backed their struggle, but they said it fell short of their demands to remove the structure from the village altogether and vowed to continue with their weekly protests.

‘JINSA John’ Bolton Tells Congress to Bomb Iran, Support Terrorist MEK
“I’ve argued for [military strikes against Iran] for about three and a half years,” John Bolton told the House Foreign Affairs Committee today. “Absent military action against Iran’s nuclear weapons program, Iran will have weapons much sooner rather than later,” Bolton said. “It’s a big mistake to conclude, as I believe the Administration has, that a nuclear Iran can be contained and deterred.”

Even as Bolton called for bombing Iran, President Bush’s controversial former Ambassador to the UN received a warm reception from Republicans and many Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The Chairwoman of the committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, even went so far as to say “I love John Bolton.” Israel's cheering squad in full display. Repulsive.

What’s a Neoconservative?
A neocon is someone who believes in Israel First!, and who cloaks that sentiment in American patriotism.

US 'could withdraw funding from UN if Palestine state is recognised'
Susan Rice, the American ambassador to the UN, said there was "no greater threat" to US support and funding of the UN than the prospect of Palestinian statehood being endorsed by member states. I doubt the rest of the world cares at this point. We've obstructed justice long enough, thanks to the efforts of the Israeli lobby.

Former CIA officer questions EU motives in Syria
EU and US intervention in Syria is designed to harm Iran and to protect Israel and Lebanese Christians, not Syrian people, according to Robert Baer, a retired CIA officer with experience of the region. Robert Baer, one of the good guys.

Lebanon expects Hariri indictments soon
The long–awaited indictments are expected to accuse members of Shi'ite group Hezbollah of involvement in the killing and have already triggered a political crisis which brought down the government of Hariri's son, Saad al–Hariri, in January.

Israpundit » Blog Archive » Michelle Bachmann For President
Bachmann grovels and kowtows to Israel and its US supporters. Repulsive. For which country is she seeking to serve? Bachmann is dead wrong on Israel and America sharing the same values. America is a nation that affords liberty and justice FOR ALL. Bachmann is also LYING when she said that Americans support her view on Israel. She evidently didn't see these two polls from 2010 which state that only 2/3 of the American people want to take Israel's side in that conflict.

Israel adopts tougher Iran sanctions
The measures, which do not need further parliamentary approval, were taken after a committee found in March that, despite years of calling for tough international action against arch–foe Iran, Israel's existing legislation did not live up to public policy.

Iran fires 14 missiles in 2nd day of war games
"Except America and the Zionist regime, we do not feel a threat from any other country,"

Brooklyn Hasid charged with felony hate crime after attacking neighbor
"F–––ing Arabs! F–––ing terrorists!" Schwartz screamed when he grabbed his neighbor, Selda Turan, 27. He shoved the woman against her car and poured beer on her head, a police source said.

Turan's husband of 13 months, Mustafa Turan, rushed out of their house to protect his wife, but Schwartz punched him in the face, the source said.

Neighbors said the Turans moved into the heavily Jewish neighborhood about a month ago. They said the victims were from Turkey; it wasn't clear if they were Muslim.

GOP's Pawlenty Blames Obama for Mideast Deadlock
“It breaks my heart that President Obama treats Israel, our great friend, as a problem, rather than as an ally,” Pawlenty said. “Today the president doesn’t really have a policy toward the peace process. He has an attitude. And let’s be frank about what that attitude is. He thinks Israel is the problem. And he thinks the answer is always more pressure on Israel.”

That is in fact the answer. Cutting off all aid to that nation until it can abide by international law would do wonders for the peace process.

Fighting Off Israeli Isolation With a Dose of Bob Dylan and Shakira
Note to Bob Dylan and Shakira: you're supporting an apartheid regime.

Introducing The Palestinian Gandhi Project
Pam Bailey, an American “corporate refugee” as she calls herself, traveled to Gaza to see for herself what was happening in the region. The product of her trips became “The Palestinian Gandhi Project” which Permission to Narrate is proud to feature here.

Nighttime Home Raids in Old City Hebron

With the Gaza Aid Flotilla: Israeli Assault on the Flotilla is Well Underway
If substantiated, rumors that Israel is threatening the Israeli-Greek trade relationship over the flotilla could mean that Israel is actually threatening the entire economy of the European Union. Given the depth of the Greek debt crisis, any change in the Greek economy would have profound effects on the European Central Bank and even the international economy.

State Department Officials Have an Obligation to Speak Out Against Israeli Threats to Attack U.S. Boat to Gaza
Passengers on the boat noted that the U.S. State Department has a legal obligation to act to protect U.S. citizens when they are traveling abroad. “So far, U.S. government officials have failed to use their influence to discourage Israeli authorities from ordering a physical assault on us,”

Kucinich: Ensure Safety of U.S. Citizens on The Audacity of Hope
These six Representatives were willing to publicly sign their names to this basic appeal, knowing full well that there is a dedicated and well-financed crew of pro-Likud activists in Washington determined to punish any deviance from the Likud line.

Israel Warns Foreign Journalists: Joining Gaza Flotilla Is Illegal
Haaretz correspondent Amira Hass will be joining the flotilla, along with several dozen other journalists and several hundred activists from some 20 countries. Also joining the flotilla will be American writer Alice Walker, despite an American advisory that doing so could be a violation of U.S. law.

Spirits of Justice Going to Gaza by Ray McGovern
The New York Times made an unusually candid revelation in 1982 quoting from a speech in which Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, who held that top post from 1977 to 1983, admitted that the 1967 war was carefully pre-planned by Israel.

“In June 1967, we had a choice,” Begin said. “The Egyptian Army concentrations in the Sinai approaches do not prove that Nasser was really about to attack us. We must be honest with ourselves. We decided to attack him.”

Israeli Video Blog Exposed as a Hoax

Alice Walker: Why I'm sailing to Gaza
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker will join an international flotilla of boats sailing to Gaza to challenge Israel's blockade of the territory. Here, Walker, best known for her 1983 novel "The Color Purple," explains why she will be taking part.

Despite Tension, Obama Wooing Jewish Donors
A Democratic source said that this fundraiser was twice as long as any of the other donor events the president has held in the past several months.

Obama’s backers believe that paying this kind of attention to donors, coupled with his address at the AIPAC conference, has calmed potential donor anxiety over issues relating to Israel. From here, they hope to move on to a business-as-usual mode with Jewish campaign funders. “It is a pivot strategy,” a Democratic activist said. “You answer any questions that come up about Israel, and then pivot to take on any other issue under the sun that donors can come up with.”

It doesn't really matter who is in the White House when you have both houses of Congress in your back pocket.

'US Boat to Gaza' Invites Media to Inspect Boat and Passengers
The entire boat will be open for view, photography, and video. The captain, crew, and passengers on the boat will be available for interviews and inspection. The cargo of the ship - 3,000 letters from Americans to the people of Gaza - will also be available for view, photographs, and video. Everything that will be on the boat when it sets sail, including food and passengers' personal medications for use during their voyage, will be available for inspection.

Israeli PM's teen son maligns Muslims on Facebook
Palestinian spokesman Husam Zomlot interpreted things differently.

"That's the teaching of his father," Zomlot said. "That's what Netanyahu produced in terms of a family and that's what Netanyahu produced in terms of a society." This would've made headlines if it were the son of Mahmoud Abbas, and he said like things about Jews.

Israel's Vatican envoy backs off WWII pope praise

Headlines for June 16 - June 22

2011-07-12T21:41:00.001-04:00

A Stand For Justice

In Gaza, border opening brings little relief
The reopening of the Gaza Strip's main border crossing with Egypt brought widespread relief to Palestinians suffering from a four–year blockade. But one month later, some 20,000 people are on a wait list and despair is growing in this crowded territory.

Israel Escalates Demolitions of Palestinian Homes in West Bank -- News from Antiwar.com
Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has issued a new report detailing the government’s dramatic escalation in the number of Palestinian home demolitions in the Jordan Valley, part of the eastern West Bank.

Israel asks US to let spy attend father's funeral
The U.S. defense establishment is considered hostile to the idea of clemency, claiming Pollard caused huge, but largely undisclosed, damage. Yes he did. This man should thank God he's allowed to live. In other countries, he'd have been shot or hung for his treacherous actions. I have zero sympathy for him, and I believe that those 'Americans' that argue on his behalf are themselves just as treacherous.

Israel hits $7.2 billion in arms exports - UPI.com
The Americans remain uneasy about Israeli defense links to China, in particular about the Chengdu J-10, China's new air force fighter, which reputedly involves technology from the joint U.S.-Israeli Lavi fighter project of the 1980s.

The delta-winged Lavi, being developed by IAI, was canceled in 1987 under political pressure from Washington because of soaring costs....

Six years after the Pentagon blocked Israel from advanced military technology over concerns about leaks to China, Washington is once again funding Israeli high-profile air-defense missile systems development.

....Iron Dome is being built by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems of Israel. The U.S. Congress authorized $205 million to support the Iron Dome program in early 2011.

India has expressed interest in the Arrow but given extensive funding provided by the United States, such sales might be problematical. In March, The Jerusalem Post reported that the Defense Ministry was discussing possible Iron Dome sales to European NATO states.

More Israeli treachery: the transfer of US technology to China, to later be used against us, no doubt.

Palestinian reconciliation summit postponed

Israel to stop Gaza flotilla regardless of cargo
Israel will do everything necessary to prevent a planned international flotilla from reaching Gaza, despite the fact the ships will probably not be carrying weapons, a senior military source said. In other words, they will shoot and kill unarmed civilians again.

Israel allows new Palestinian housing in Gaza
The body that coordinates Israeli activities in the Palestinian areas said it has authorized the construction of the 1,200 homes, as well as 18 badly needed schools, in southern Gaza. Oh how nice of the Israelis to let these people build on their own land.

Medical supplies at crisis level, Gaza health ministry warns
Cancer, kidney, heart and organ transplant patients, as well as patients needing routine surgeries, including eye and dental surgery, have been suffering for the last five years under the Israeli-led, internationally-backed siege of the Gaza Strip. Year by year, the warnings of Gaza’s health crisis grow more dire, with the latest warning from Gaza’s Ministry of Health stating the Strip is at emergency levels of medical supplies

Israel's UN ambassador tells U.S. Jews: Prepare for September vote on Palestinian state
Prosor stressed before the Jewish leaders that they must take advantage of the Jewish community's connections with decision makers in order to get results. Who owns this place anyway?

Saudis give $70m for Palestinian housing in Gaza
A U.N. agency aiding Palestinian refugees said Wednesday that Saudi Arabia is contributing $70 million for new housing units in the Gaza Strip.

Former Israeli soldiers break the silence on military violations
Some of the former soldiers describe the "neighbour procedure", a term for the use of Palestinian civilians, often children, as human shields to protect soldiers from suspected booby traps or attacks by militants. The procedure was ruled illegal by Israel's high court in 2005 Kudos to these brave soldiers. The Israelis always claim that Palestinians and Hezbollah use civilians as human shields when Israel has repeatedly been caught doing so. They are the biggest liars and hypcroties.

Abbas: Given options, we won’t go to UN
"I don't know if the US has another option, but if it does, we will not go to the UN," Abbas told Lebanese television station LBC.

YouTube - Archbishop Tutu endorses 'Freedom for Palestine' single by OneWorld!

Palestinians stick to call for settlement freeze

Settlers cultivate West Bank tourism to tighten grip on land
Civilian 'settlement's built on occupied land are a violation of article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Conventions. They are war crimes. These settlers, many of whom ARE violent, are committing war crimes.

Turkey to vote for Palestine recognition in UN, says president

Israel urges Apple to remove pro-Palestinian app
"Upon review of the stories, articles and photos published by means of the application, one can easily see that this is in fact anti–Israel and anti–Zionist. Furthermore, as is implied by its name, the application calls for an uprising against the State of Israel,"

US Congressman calls on Egypt to release 'spy'
U.S. Congressman Gary Ackerman called on Egyptian authorities Wednesday to release a constituent and former intern whom Egypt accuses of being an Israeli spy. Another Congressman acting on behalf of Israel.

US man seeks to seize flotilla ships using anti-piracy law
This is the first lawsuit brought to seize the Gaza Flotilla ships.

“We intend to seize the Gaza flotilla ships and turn them over to a victim of Palestinian terrorism.

From June 2010: New liberal fans Meet Anthony Weiner, ultra-hawkish backer of Israel
Weiner's statement is comical. "Even if we are the only country on earth that sees the facts here," Weiner says, "the United States should stand up for Israel." That's the statement of a man with whom there can be no reasoning.

Netanyahu makes call to release Jonathan Pollard on YouTube

Peres: Palestinians' UN move 'an illusion'

Israeli Military Stop Christian Leader From Visiting Central Hebron
The Governor of the Hebron District, Kamel Hmeid, who accompanied the Archbishop on his tour, told reporters that the action of the Israeli military was meant to “prevent [the officials] from seeing the reality about the life of the Palestinian civilians in Hebron and and the humiliating treatment and violations they face on a daily basis by the Israeli settlers and soldiers.” It wouldn't be the first time Israelis have barred officials from visiting Palestinian areas.

“Lawfare” is the latest form of Israeli-AIPAC attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla MichaelMoore.com
Extensive investigations by the United Nations, Turkey and even the Israeli government concluded there were no weapons on any of the 6 ships of the 2010 flotilla and that the cargo was consigned to non-governmental organizations in Gaza. But, the Israeli government never lets truth get in the way of its propaganda machine!

Israel warns Palestinians all deals are off if UN vote goes ahead
Israel will renounce past agreements made with the Palestinians if they press ahead with unilateral plans to seek recognition of a Palestinian state at the UN, foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman has said.

How To Study Anti-Semitism
A more honest approach would be if Yale or any other institution focused research on why there's so much philosemitism in the United States, and its effects on America.

Irish ship set for Gaza sailing
Twenty-five passengers and crew are to sail on the Irish-owned ship MV Saoirse this weekend to join the international flotilla to Gaza.

Gaza youth and students to heavy metal band Napalm Death don't play Tel Aviv

Beit Ommar harvests despite Israeli threats
On June 14th 2011 a Beit Ommar farmer reported that he was “ordered” to leave his farm land by an armed security guard from the adjacent Karmei Tzur settlement. The guard apparently used a dog to drive the farmer and his family from the land. Settlers had also recently set fire to the wheat harvest on the same farmland. The farmland borders a large separation fence, behind which there is further farmland and the settlement. Those lovely settlers again.

Apple removes anti-Israel app from App Store
Apple Inc. says it has removed an application called "ThirdIntifada" from its App Store following complaints that it glorified violence against Israel.

AP interview: Barak says Israel must negotiate
Actions speak louder than words.

American Jews to join Gaza flotilla
"We cannot support an Israeli blockade which is morally and juridically unsupportable... No more people should be slaughtered in the name of the Jews." Kudos to you.

Israel's Netanyahu reaches out to Turkey: official
Israel is on the diplomatic offensive, seems. Maybe due to the events which may take place this September.

Israeli leaders test nuclear bunker in defense drill
Israeli leaders holed up in a new underground nuclear bunker on Wednesday as part of annual maneuvers to prepare for a possible missile war with Iran, Syria and their Lebanese and Palestinian guerrilla allies.

Jews and Latinos Form a Pragmatic Congressional Alliance
The Jewish community would like to see its Latino counterparts become more active on issues relating to Israel, a tall order for a community whose immediate political challenges in this country leave little time for foreign policy concerns, much less concern about the Middle East.

The Latino community, meanwhile, wishes to see Jewish lawmakers help push through comprehensive immigration reform, which is all but stuck in Congress.

...Over the past decade, the Jewish organizations have increased their outreach to Latino communities on both the local and national levels. Jewish groups have taken Latino leaders on trips to Israel and tried to join forces in discussing domestic policy issues.

....Meanwhile, expectations on the Jewish side of the coalition, focus, among other things, on the recent move by several Latin American countries to recognize a Palestinian state. Now you know who is pushing the amnesty for illegals program and why.

Jewish Seat Threatened By Growing Latino Bloc
Though Berman and Sherman have similar voting records, Berman’s reputation as a pro-Israel heavyweight with a nuanced view on foreign affairs has established him as the higher-profile Jew in Congress. “He is a cardiac case,” said Doug Bloomfield, former legislative director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobby. “His support for Israel keeps his blood pumping.”

Really now.

Decline of Jews On Capitol Hill Could Mean a Loss of Power
One of the possible consequences of New York Rep. Anthony Weiner’s Twitter-gate affair is another decline in the number of Jewish representatives in Congress.

The massive overrepresentation of Jews on Capitol Hill, long a source of pride for the community, has been shrinking in recent years and could drop in the coming election cycle from 41 to the mid 30s, a level last seen 15 years ago.

....“At the end of the day, it won’t matter much in terms of the Jewish agenda,” said Kurt Stone, political science professor at Florida Atlantic University and author of two books on Jews in Congress. On the issue of Israel, Stone explained, there is almost a wall-to-wall consensus in Congress

Straight from the horse's mouth, kids. Doesn't really matter anyway if the representative is Jewish or not - that's why they have AIPAC, which has almost all of Congress in its back pocket.

Are Jews Warming to the Tea Party?
Within the Tea Party, Bachmann is at the forefront of those making Israel a key part of her agenda. In her speech at the high-profile Faith & Freedom Conference held in Washington in early June, Bachmann termed Obama’s call for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict based on Israel’s 1967 boundaries and mutually agreed land swaps “shocking.” She followed up by buying ads on Jewish websites reiterating this message.

Bachmann is not alone. Attacks on Obama’s Israel policy have come from former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, known as the Tea Party’s biggest draw. Pundit Glenn Beck, a vocal critic of the Obama presidency, has been devoting much of his airtime lately to the issue of Israel.

Read more: http://forward.com/articles/138661/#ixzz1QhoCSsFU
Run now from this phony 'Tea Party', patriots. They are wolves in sheep's clothing who have a passionate attachment to a nation other than this one- Israel, something George Washington warned about in his Farewell Address.

The Plan to Destabilize Syria
The central idea was to foment unrest in a well circumscribed area and to proclaim the establishment of an Islamic emirate that would serve as a platform for the dismemberment of the country. The choice of the Daraa district can be explained by its proximity to the Jordanian border and the Israeli occupied Golan Heights. This layout would make it easy to funnel supplies to the secessionists.

Obama tells Jewish donors that U.S.-Israel disagreements are only 'tactical'
President Obama took part tonight at two Democratic fundraisers at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, DC, for the Obama Victory Fund. The first was a dinner with Americans in Support of a Strong U.S.-Israel Relationship. The second was dinner with the Mid-Atlantic Finance Committee, for about 100 participants.

Experts Fear Israeli Design to Balkanise Arab States
"The western campaign against Libya wasn't undertaken to protect human rights or foster democracy," said al-Sakhawi. "It was launched with the aim of breaking Libya up politically so as to prevent the unification of three revolutionary Arab states - Egypt, Libya and Tunisia - which together might pose a threat to Israeli regional dominance."

Gaza and American ‘Security’ By Ray McGovern
I also have been cautioned by a source with access to very senior staffers at the National Security Council that not only does the White House plan to do absolutely nothing to protect our boat from Israeli attack or illegal boarding, but that White House officials “would be happy if something happened to us.” ....

..former CIA specialist on al-Qaeda, Michael Scheuer, who had the audacity to state on C-SPAN: “For anyone to say that our support for Israel doesn’t hurt us in the Muslim world … is to just defy reality.”

The Likud Lobby had already succeeded in getting Scheuer fired from his job at the Jamestown Foundation think tank for his forthrightness, and the Israeli media condemned his C-SPAN remarks as “blatantly anti-Semitic.” There can be a high price to pay for candor on this neuralgic issue.

...An unusually candid view of the dangers accruing from the U.S. identification with Israel’s policies appeared several years ago in an unclassified study published by the Pentagon-appointed U.S. Defense Science Board on Sept. 23, 2004. Contradicting President George W. Bush, the board stated:

“Muslims do not ‘hate our freedom,’ but rather, they hate our policies. The overwhelming majority voice their objections to what they see as one-sided support in favor of Israel and against Palestinian rights.” Ray McGovern is a former CIA analyst.

Gaza’s Economic Crisis Reflects the Indignity of Occupation
The U.N. Agency for Palestinian Refugees reports that Gaza's people suffer some of highest unemployment rates in the world, about 45 percent. The difference between Gaza and any other impoverished nation, of course, is that its economic disaster is the product of a deliberate policy imposed by a prosperous colonial regime. After blasting its infrastructure to pieces in a 2008-2009 military campaign, Israel is finishing the job by making Gaza as unlivable as possible.

Obama tells Jewish donors he strongly backs Israel
Obama made the comments at a high–dollar fundraiser at a Washington hotel hosted by Americans in Support of a Strong U.S.–Israel Relationship. This is why campaign financing should be abolished.

Report: US consul says Grapel is 'in big trouble'

Israel reveals it has returned dozens of kilograms of nuclear waste to U.S.
The U.S. stopped supplying enriched uranium for the Sorek reactor as early as 1977 following a law passed by the U.S. Congress and because Israel was not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Haaretz reported at the time. However, according to some Israeli sources, Israel still has an adequate stock of enriched uranium, supplied by the U.S. before the embargo and the prohibition of the sale of enriched uranium was put in place, to keep the Sorek reactor operating on the part-time basis that it has been for years. According to American data, the U.S. provided between 1960-1975, 19 kilograms of highly enriched uranium to fuel the reactor.

AP Interview: Israel says Assad's prospects dim
Barack said Israel was also in the final stages of testing the David's Sling ballistic missile defense system, which would defend against medium–range ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.

United Church Presbytery Group Launches Boycott Divestment Campaign against Israel
The Holy Land Awareness and Action Task Group, of the Social Justice and World Affairs Committee within South West Presbytery of the United Church of Canada, has launched Occupied with Peace in Palestine, a Boycott/Divestment Campaign. God bless 'em.

Israel’s Real Arab Problem
A third of Israeli Jews now support revoking the voting rights of Arab citizens.

Young Palestinian refugee wins UN film competition
A short film based on the story of a Palestinian refugee family returning to their ruined home in a conflict-ravaged camp in Lebanon was today declared the winner of a film competition organized by the United Nations to mark World Refugee Day.

Palestinians More Willing Than Israelis To Accept Obama's Guidelines For Talks
Steve Simon, senior director for Middle East and North Africa at the National Security Council, indicated in a conference call with leaders of Jewish organizations that the response so far from the Palestinian side has been more positive than from the Israelis.

Hebrew Language Charter Schools Are a Bad Bargain
One solution that has emerged as a potential magic bullet to solve all these problems is the Hebrew charter school. The charter school is a publicly funded school organized by private sector sponsors for the purpose of emphasizing a particular approach to education or curriculum. The school follows the normal rules of public school governance. In the case of “Hebrew” charter schools, it’s about learning Hebrew and gaining some appreciation of Israeli society and culture.

How nice of them to let American taxpayers pick up the tab.

When a Synagogue Program May Be an Illegal Hostel
he synagogue argues that its status as a religious institution and its tolerance programs exempt it from the zoning laws that have put it at odds with the DOB.

US Flotilla Ship: We Intend to Break Gaza Blockade
According to a letter the Audacity of Hope group sent to US President Barack Obama, in addition to 36 passengers, 4 crew members, and 10 members of the press, the US-flagged boat “will carry thousands of letters of support and friendship from people throughout the US to the women, children and men of Gaza. There will be no weapons of any sort on board."

Activists vow to stop Israeli forces boarding aid ship Irish Examiner
At least 20 Irish citizens, including former rugby international Trevor Hogan, are taking part in Freedom Flotilla II.

Read more: http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/activists-vow-to-stop-israeli-forces-boarding-aid-ship-158426.html#ixzz1RwZwcb8e

Senator wants U.S. Navy to help block flotillas to Gaza
Kirk’s call for the U.S. Navy to provide “special operations and naval support to the Israeli Navy” to stop the flotilla is particularly alarming because a contingent of American citizens will be a part of the flotilla. Congress doesn't work for you. Congress works for Israel.

US Neocons' New Overtures to Terrorist Opposition Group in Iran, Part 2 Truthout
MKO's latest alliance is with the American neoconservatives and the Israel lobby in the United States. Rajavi and MKO believe that, with the help of American neoconservatives, they will eventually come to power. Over the past several months, six conferences sponsored by US neoconservatives and their allies have been held in Europe and the United States to prop up MKO as the leading alternative to the Islamic Republic. Such infamous neoconservative figures as John Bolton and former CIA director R. James Woolsey support MKO. The neocons also channel their support for MKO through right-wing groups such as the Iran Policy Committee (IPC). An investigation published by Jim Lobe's LobeLog in September 2010 revealed that the IPC has shared an address, accountants and some staff with multiple organizations that either fronted for or had direct ties to Iraqi conman Ahmad Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress - the same body that fabricated much of the bogus intelligence that neocons used to garner support for the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The neocons want war with Iran. Bad.

Will Weiner’s Jewish District Hit The Political Chopping Block?
The 2012 federal redistricting process mandates that New York state must lose two seats in the House of Representatives next year. Weiner’s District 9 — which encompasses parts of Queens and Brooklyn — was originally considered a safe seat. But Weiner’s follies have put his district at risk. State and federal Democrats could decide to chop up District 9, allocating pieces of it to adjacent Congressional territories. The dissolution of Weiner’s district would mean the dissolution of one of the most solidly Jewish Congressional blocs in the country

....Weiner embodies a particular blend of traits common to many Jewish politicians: He votes left on social issues and right — in Weiner’s case, hard right — on Israel policy.

Jewish court sentences dog to death by stoning

Headlines for June 9 - June 15

2011-06-23T20:14:00.000-04:00

A Stand For Justice

Ex-CIA officer: Israel spies on US
An example, Giraldi said, is the Chinese Chengdu Jet J-10 that has been built with technologies that originally came from the US.

This is despite the fact that Israel relies heavily on the US for political and military support.

“It should almost be seen as an act of war,” Giraldi emphasized. Please take a few minutes to give a listen to former counterterrorism officer, Philip Giraldi.

Settlers burn land adjacent to outpost
On 8 June 2011 fire burned 20 to 30 dunums (4 dunums equal about 1 acre) of Palestinian land owned by five different families. The land was part of a plot of 50 dunums planted with different kinds of fruit trees and garden plants.

Abbas's Fatah expels ex-Palestinian strong-man
The ousting of Mohammed Dahlan, for years Fatah's strong–man in the Gaza Strip, and the splits it has revealed, could damage the movement's standing in unity talks with its rival faction, Islamist Hamas.

Haaretz exclusive: Secret cables show Israel's battle plan over Palestinian UN bid
"The goal we have set is to have the maximum number of countries oppose the process of having the UN recognize a Palestinian state," Barak wrote to Israel's ambassadors in his cable, which was sent June 2. "The Palestinian effort must be referred to as a process that erodes the legitimacy of the State of Israel... Read on for more. Notice that the local Jewish community will be used like sheep to further the cause of Israel - increasing the likelihood for anti-Semitism. And you had better believe that our government officials will also be in Europe doing this very same thing. Because after all, we are Israel's bitch. Mark my words, kids.

Human Rights Groups Denounce Israeli Destruction of Bedouin Villages
Human rights groups have denounced an Israeli government plan to destroy 35 Bedouin villages that it has declared illegal in the Negev desert.

The move - reportedly planned to enable the building of homes for 10,000 people - threatens the livelihoods of Bedouins who have been living in the area for 60 years.

Police, Palestinians clash at Jerusalem holy site
Also Friday, a Hamas leader said Israel had stepped up a campaign of arrests against members of the Islamic militant group in the West Bank, which Israel controls.

Mushir al–Masri, a Hamas official in the Gaza Strip, said around 100 Hamas members had been arrested by the Israeli military in the last two weeks in the West Bank, including eight of the group's leaders.

European Parliament: East Jerusalem should be Palestinian capital

Jobless Gaza enters 5th year of Israeli blockade
"It is hard to understand the logic of a man–made policy which deliberately impoverishes so many and condemns hundreds of thousands of potentially productive people to a life of destitution," Gunness said.

Israel continues to blockade Gaza, controlling the flow of imports and tightly restricting access to Israeli territory mainly to urgent humanitarian cases, to prevent Hamas militants who are supported by Iran and Syria from obtaining weapons, explosives and ammunition.

Hamas rejects Fayyad as next Palestinian PM
Fatah has nominated Salam Fayyad, the prime minister of the West Bank–based Palestinian Authority, to head the caretaker government.

Obama’s Dilemma — and Ours by Patrick J. Buchanan
We overextended ourselves. We bankrupted ourselves.

We undertook the defense of nations all over the world having little to do with our vital national interests. We fought unnecessary wars. We doled out trillions in foreign aid to ingrates, incompetents, opportunists and thieves.

Palestinians grapple with opposition to UN plan
Top Palestinian and Israeli negotiators were in Washington this week, meeting separately with U.S. officials in search of ways to resume negotiations. There was no word on any breakthrough.

Target: Iran by Philip Giraldi
An ‘article’ by Seymour Hersh that appeared last week in the New Yorker reveals some details of the still classified 2011 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran. To put it succinctly, there is no actual evidence that Iran has a nuclear weapon program. None. Hersh’s article elicited a response from a number of anonymous White House sources who disputed the article’s conclusions, suggesting very clearly that the Obama Administration embraces the Iranian threat narrative, if only to be able to cite Tehran as the reason for the repeated American failures in the region. Hersh also reported that the NIE had been delayed for four months because the White House had wanted a harsher judgment on Iran’s likely intentions. The intelligence community, having been burned once over Iraq, refused to comply. Read on for the legislation put forth by Israel-firsters on Capitol Hill.

AIPAC Pushes Hard for War With Iran
The overarching problem is the Israel lobby’s subversion of American governance through election fraud, the evasion of tax regulations and laws regulating foreign lobbies, and the systematized, ongoing infiltration of operatives into key government posts to advance the interests of a foreign state. Unfortunately for AIPAC, the Americans gathering to challenge it cross party lines. Whether they wear American flag pins on their suit lapels or Birkenstocks over wool socks is of ever declining significance. Thank God for that. But Americans need to get in the know and take action at a quicker pace, before it's too late.

Activists cry foul over FBI probe
The apparent targets, all vocal and visible critics of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and South America, deny any ties to terrorism. They say the government, using its post-9/11 focus on terrorism as a pretext, is targeting them for their political views....

All 23 of the activists invoked their right not to testify before a grand jury, defying U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, whose office is spearheading the investigation. Patrick Fitzgerald, now a stoolie to the neocons, rather than a prosecutor thereof. Sad.

US activists prepare to break Israel's blockade on Gaza
Other passengers on the boat besides Wright include Alice Walker, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author; Hedy Epstein, an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor; Medea Benjamin of CODEPINK; and former CIA analyst Ray McGovern.

Did Kissinger Urge Egypt to Attack Israel?

Lebanon PM: New government to liberate land under occupation of 'Israeli enemy'

Eastern Europe new battleground in Mideast rift
With the stakes so high, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans visits soon to Poland, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, while envoys are also working hard in the Czech Republic and Slovakia to make their case for opposing the Palestinian initiative in the expected U.N. vote.

"60 Minutes" Reports on Jerusalem
Notice again that these Jewish settlers are American, and also witness the settler crash his car into the Palestinian kid then speed away. Lovely, lovely people. And we are handing that nation billiions of dollars. Many settler charities are tax deductible here in the States, to round out their swindling of American taxpayers.

EU in Kosovo says Turk, Israeli trafficked organs
Organ trafficking is evidently becoming a common thing in Israel.

EU: Palestinian state vote could be 'dangerous'
Concerned about the possibility of Palestinian riots in September, Israeli police conducted a drill Tuesday simulating large–scale disturbances. Hundreds of police in riot gear took part.

Bentzi Sau, commander of the police Central District, told reporters that police were aware that a unilateral declaration of statehood by the Palestinians "could cause disturbances of the kind we've seen in neighboring Arab countries."

Jewish American Teenage Hero Lucas Koerner takes on two World Powers
Israel's hand will ultimately be forced into respecting human rights and international laws, but not because an American President or the U.S. Congress will force it into complying, because they won't. They lack the moral courage to stand up to Tel Aviv. It will, in fact, be forced by courageous Jewish heroes like Lucas Koerner and Rae Abileah who will be joined by hundreds of thousands of peace-loving Israelis

YouTube - Irish Rugby Players for Irish Ship to Gaza
Excellent.

Fighter-jet engines 'stolen from Israeli base'
Air force officials quoted in the Maariv newspaper said the stolen parts were eight engines from F–15 and F–16 fighter jets which were taken from Tel Nof air base.

On Shavuot, Women Asked To Walk a Longer Kotel Route
why then, should Jewish women today have to walk separately from men to the Kotel to pray this year on Shavuot, which begins tonight? Actually, if certain Haredi authorities had it their way, not only would women walk a different route through the Old City of Jerusalem, but they wouldn’t go to the Kotel tonight at all.

And again.

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Risks Taking Over Milan's Central Piazza
Pro–Palestinian activists have posted an online plea against the event, and have threatened to organize a rally against it on June 18. "We do not want Milan to become the stage for Zionist imperialism's propaganda," they wrote.

Israel holds drill for next Gaza-bound flotilla
The Israeli military says it's holding a drill ahead of the next Gaza–bound flotilla with pro–Palestinian activists who could try to breach Israel's naval blockade of the territory.

‘... and an unshakable commitment to the security of Israel’ — RT
a bipartisan group of US senators wants to prove that American exceptionalism is alive and well by demanding the US recognize the results of the war of 1967 as legitimate.

Syrians flee as troops mass, West concern grows
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Thursday said 2,400 people had already crossed into Turkey.

Israel’s ‘Mr. Security’ Goes Rogue
In a series of semi-public talks with academics, journalists and a Knesset committee, Dagan has been arguing since January that Iran is further from gaining a nuclear weapon than Israel’s leaders claim and that the notion of attacking Iran’s nuclear installations, a cornerstone of Benjamin Netanyahu’s defense strategy, is “stupid.” He says that an attack wouldn’t succeed in eliminating Iran’s dispersed, heavily fortified nuclear sites. It would, however, spark a regional war which could threaten Israel’s existence. Moreover, he says, issuing military threats in order to deter Iran and stiffen Western resolve has the perverse effect of spurring Iran to speed up its efforts, in self-defense.

Read more: http://www.forward.com/articles/138492/#ixzz1Q337ki5s
Thank you for your honesty and cojones, Mr. Dagan. While you are looking out for your country, I am looking out for mine.

New Square: Where Tradition And the Rebbe Rule
Among other things, New Square residents must walk streets strictly divided by gender, with women on one side and men on the other, as Yiddish signs posted on telephone poles lining those streets dictate. Women are not allowed to drive

....This is not New Square’s first turn in the spotlight in connection with a scandal. In January 2001, President Bill Clinton commuted the sentences of four New Square officials who had been convicted earlier in a multi-million dollar federal Pell Grant scandal. This was shortly after the village overwhelmingly voted for Clinton’s wife in the November 2000 Senate campaign.

What? Guess where this takes place? Yes, good old America. Who owns this place? Wait, I thought we were in danger of Sharia Law here?

The Republicans Heart Netanyahu
Republicans see an opportunity to seize on the distance between a recalcitrant, right-wing Israeli regime and a liberal Democratic American president for their own political gain. What’s more, the party’s base is increasingly dominated by the conservative Christian Zionists, whose love for Israel is, according to their interpretation of Scripture, commanded by the Almighty.

American Diplomacy 101 by Philip Giraldi
It seems that Rohrabacher and some fellow wingnuts to include Ileana Ros Lehtinen, the committee chairman, have a soft spot in their hearts for MEK because it is an enemy of the Mullah regime in Tehran. They have tried a number of times to get it delisted as a terrorist organization. Not coincidentally, the congressmen who are fond of MEK are also passionate supporters of Israel. My enemy’s enemy…

Debate Rages over US Withdrawal
"I would hope that (the withdrawal) is very small," the 2008 Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, told the Financial Times this week. "I would hope that it is 3,000. We need another fighting season (against the Taliban)." McCain wants to keep our troops over there so that they can protect Israel. McCain: Iraq troop pullout bad for Israel

Iran and the Issue of Nuclear Weapons
Israeli politicians are addicted to the Iran threat. Iran serves, alongside the Palestinians, as the latter day ruthless anti-Semite who would destroy the Jews. Zionists seem to need this kind of “existentialist” enemy. This is the equivalent of the Islamic fundamentalist taking the place of the hateful communist as the great enemy that the United States also seems to need. The Israeli lobby is more influential in formulating U.S. foreign policy toward Iran than all of the nation’s intelligence services put together.

The No-Longer Temporary Occupation
Netanyahu’s speech has left the peace process dead in the water and presents Israelis with a harsh reality they had been ignoring: Permanent occupation which can only be maintained through a form of apartheid governance. His theoretical framework sent a clear message that Israel not only requires permanent occupation for its continued existence, but also, in fact, desires it because of religious, cultural and security concerns.

Why Google Earth Pixelates Israel
Israel's low–resolution e–presence can be traced back to the 1997 National Defense Authorization Act. Tucked inside the 2,870–page bill is a two–bullet point section titled "SEC. 1064. PROHIBITION ON COLLECTION AND RELEASE OF DETAILED SATELLITE IMAGERY RELATING TO ISRAEL" (page 2653). Below, the full–text:

Report: Suspected Israeli spy arrested in Egypt was traveling to Libya
A former paratrooper in the Israel Defense Forces with dual American-Israeli citizenship, Grapel reportedly travelled to several parts of Egypt, and was given the task of gauging the public's reaction to the policies of the Egyptian high military council.

Lebanon gets Hezbollah-led cabinet after 5-month lag
Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced Monday a long–delayed government dominated by Iranian–backed Hezbollah and its allies, which is likely to cause alarm among Western powers at a time of regional turmoil.

Key US lawmaker urges aid cut-off for Lebanon
A key US lawmaker called Monday for cutting all US aid to Lebanon's new government, in which Hezbollah and its allies hold the majority, and to any Palestinian government in which Hamas is a partner.

"The US should immediately cut off assistance to the Lebanese government as long as any violent extremist group designated by the US as foreign terrorist organizations participates in it," said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Ileana Ros–Lehtinen, a Republican and frequent White House critic. Ros-Lehtinen is one of Israel's top shills on Capitol Hill.

The Missing Headlines Israelists Schumer, Lieberman, Chertoff turning U.S. into Islamophobic police state
In an interview last year with a Jewish radio talk show in New York, Senator Schumer said he believed that HaShem(an Orthodox Jewish term for “God”) gave him the name “Schumer” — which means “guardian” — so that he could fulfill his “very important” role in the U.S. Senate as a “guardian of Israel.” Presumably, Schumer’s God-given role also includes turning the country he is actuallypaid to represent — the United States — into an Islamophobic police state.

Iran urges world community to pressure Israel into joining Non-Proliferation Treaty
"The world community should put pressure on the Zionist regime (Israel) to join the NPT and allow inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi said.

Backing Away from September
A Jerusalem Post article quotes senior Palestinian Authority officials saying that after a visit this week to Washington by Saeb Erekat and Nabil Abu Rudaineh, two top PA negotiators, the Palestinians are rethinking their strategy. It’s also clear that pressure from the administration is the decisive factor.

“We are under pressure from the Americans and some Europeans to postpone the plan to ask for UN recognition in September,” the official told The Jerusalem Post. “They are even threatening to impose financial sanctions on us if we don’t comply.”

As predicted, the US acts as Israel's bitch.

Hebron: "Vacations" from the Occupation

Pentagon Sees Libya Military Costs Soar - FT
U.S. military operations in Libya are expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars more than the initial $750 million outgoing defense secretary Robert Gates estimated last month, the Financial Times reported on its website Thursday, citing figures it obtained. And for what? And is not Syria's Assad doing exactly the same thing Ghaddafi was allegedly doing to his people? And the US takes no action against Syria. Why? Because Israel prefers Assad.

Headlines for June 2 - June 8

2011-06-16T21:38:00.000-04:00

A Stand For Justice

The cover-up of Israel’s crime against the USS Liberty crewmen continues
Despite the official Israeli story of mistaken identity, two Israeli pilots radioed base and clearly identified the ship as American. They were ordered to attack the ship anyway, both refused. The pair was immediately arrested upon returning to base.

Supervisor insists roads not holding up
* Adopted a resolution to declaring June 8 "Remember the USS Liberty Day," and ordered that flags be flown at half staff that day to honor the memories of the 34 men who died and 172 wounded June 8, 1967, when the ship was torpedoed by Israeli forces during the six day Arab-Israeli war.

Re-open the USS Liberty Case 44 years after attack, US Politicians still cover for Israel
According to the ‘Independent Commission of Inquiry into the Attack on the USS Liberty’, this accidental air and naval attack lasted two hours “during which time unmarked Israeli aircraft dropped napalm canisters on the Liberty’s bridge, and fired 30mm cannons and rockets, causing 821 holes, more than 100 of which were rocket size; survivors estimate 30 or more sorties were flown over the ship by a minimum of 12 attacking Israeli planes which were jamming all five American emergency radio channels.”

This ‘accident’ happened after only eight, yes eight, hours of aerial surveillance, on the Liberty, which had unmistakable American markings.

Letter: Lest we forget
June 8 is the 44th anniversary of the attack on the USS Liberty during the 1967 Six-Day War. With bombs, napalm and torpedoes, 34 Americans were killed, 171 wounded and the lightly armed ship was damaged beyond repair.

USS Liberty hero dies without seeing justice
With the encouragement of his wife, Mary Ann, John Hrankowski dedicated much of his personal time to telling Americans about the Liberty and the US cover-up that continues to this day.

He was one of the most active and committed members of the Liberty Veteran’s Association.

Cooper: US, Israel shove USS Liberty under rug
All of the facts about the attack on the USS Liberty need to be aired in public before a congressional panel. It is astounding that Congress has found time to conduct hearings into just about everything under the sun but our elected representatives have not been able to delve into the sneak attack on a U.S. naval vessel.

It is time for the voices of the Liberty's dead to be heard.

Attack on ship not forgotten
For the last two decades, the Liberty survivors and some current high-ranking military and U.S. government officials have asserted the attack was intentional, and have been embroiled in a battle of words with supporters who claim the attack was a case of "mistaken identity." Many have continuously lobbied for a U.S. congressional investigation into the attack and the subsequent cover-up, but without success.

June 8, 1967 - Americans have no idea what happened on this date
It's when Israel killed 34 Americans in an attack by air and by sea that lasted for 75 minutes.

Report: 14 Palestinians shot dead in Syrian refugee camp
Palestinian security guards reportedly killed 14 Palestinians Monday in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria. According to witnesses, an angry crowd of mourners began to charge toward leaders of Palestinian factions, prompting their security guards to open fire.

Egypt and Hamas reopen Rafah crossing with Gaza
The Gaza Strip's border crossing with Egypt reopened on Wednesday after a four-day closure caused by a dispute between Cairo and Gaza's Hamas rulers over travel arrangements, officials said.

Gen. Keane Keen on Attacking Iran
It was like waving a red flag before a four-star bull. “What’s your question?” he barked.

I asked: “Why do you join with those neoconservatives who have such difficulty distinguishing between the strategic needs of Israel on the one hand and those of the U.S. on the other? Why do you keep claiming the Iranians ‘are acquiring nuclear weapons,’ when you know that this is not true. How can you keep a straight face in telling us that Iran is our ‘main strategic enemy?’ That is also not true, and you know it.” God love ya, Mr. McGovern.

US Spying Detects No Iranian Nukes
The former Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) said in a new published report that he had not seen “a shred of evidence” that Iran was “building nuclear-weapons facilities and using enriched materials.”....El Baradei’s remarks are contained in an article by Hersh titled “Iran And The Bomb,” published in the June 6 issue of The New Yorker magazine.

Hersh points out that the last two U.S. National Intelligence Estimates (N.I.E.s) on Iranian nuclear progress “have stated that there is no conclusive evidence that Iran has made any effort to build the bomb since 2003.”....Hersh quotes W. Patrick Lang, a retired Army intelligence officer and former ranking Defense Intelligence Agency(DIA) analyst on the Middle East as saying that after the disaster in Iraq, “Analysts in the intelligence community are just refusing to sign up this time for a lot of baloney.” Thank God for that, Mr. Lang. Kudos to our intel community.

Hamas shuts Egyptian border crossing
The ruling Hamas militant group has closed the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt to protest what it says are repeated delays at the crossing since Egypt permanently opened it last week.

Israeli prime minister Israeli prime minister is misguided
Although Israel was founded under a U.N. resolution and agreed to loyally uphold the principle of the U.N. charter, it continuously ignores U.N. resolutions, including the call for termination of illegal settlements and return to pre-1967 war boundaries — the same war during which the Israeli Navy and Air Force sank the USS Liberty with the loss of 34 U.S. sailors and the wounding of 174 for which there has never been an accounting to the American people, as promised

Palestinians agree to attend Mideast conference
The Palestinians on Saturday accepted a French invitation to attend a conference in Paris aimed at reviving peace talks with Israel, as their strategy to bypass negotiations and seek U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state appeared to be unraveling.

Settlers from Acion Destroy Roof on Farmer’s House
On May 17, settlers near Acion Settlement destroyed the roof over two rooms of Mohammed Saleh Abu Swai’s home. Mohammed is a farmer who primarily cultivates olive trees. Just two days before this destruction he had come to see and fertilize his trees.

Settlers Cut Down 21 Grape Trees near Beit Ummar
On June 1, settlers cut down 21 grape trees in a Palestinian farmer’s vineyards close to the Bet’Ayn Settlement near Beit Ummar. The farmers said the destruction happened during the night. The field is some distance from the village; therefore, it cannot be monitored every hour. These settlers from Bet’Ayn, according to the people of the village, have a reputation of being aggressive toward the farmers in the area.

Settlers injure Palestinian with Stones
In the old city in Hebron, two boys, ages 14 and 15, residents of Beit Hadassah
Settlement, threw multiple stones, some as large as 5 inches, at Palestinians
walking past in the market place. One nine year old boy was struck with two
stones causing a head injury that splattered the sidewalk and storefront with
blood.

Path to Palestinian Unity Revealed: The Untold Story of the Deal that Shocked the Middle East by Robert Fisk
President Obama virtually dismissed the Palestinian unity initiative. But 1967 borders means that Hamas is accepting Israel and the ‘resistance’ initiative means an end to Gaza rockets on Israel. International law and UN resolutions mean peace can be completed and a Palestinian state brought into being. That, at least, is the opinion of both Palestinian sides. The world will wait to see if Israel will reject it all again.

UN agency report shows West Bank economy not flourishing
The report's findings challenge assertions that the Palestinian economy is growing, helped by the removal of Israeli roadblocks and other movement restrictions. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech to the U.S. Congress last month that the Palestinian economy was booming.

Rafah border crossing still shut Palestinians

Settlers try to burn down mosque: Palestinians
The attackers lit tyres inside the mosque in Al–Mughayyir village, some 20 kilometres (12 miles) northeast of Ramallah, which damaged prayer mats inside the building.

They also spraypainted on the walls anti–Arab slogans and the words Alei Ayin, the name of a nearby settlement outpost which was demolished by Israeli police last week in an operation that sparked fierce clashes with the settlers.

Palestinians storm shut Egypt crossing: witnesses
"We have not been notified of any reason for the closure, passengers are angry,"

Phil Giraldi Spills Beans on Israeli Espionage in America
An Israeli company was caught monitoring a Department of Defense telecommunications system to obtain classified information, while other Israeli entities targeted avionics, missile telemetry, aircraft communications, software systems, and advanced materials and coatings used in missile re-entry. The GAO concluded that Israel “conducts the most aggressive espionage operation against the United States of any US ally.”.....It would be nice to think that the Pentagon wants to keep the maintenance in American hands to preserve jobs during these tough economic times, but the Defense Department has never cared about US workers before when the issue is Israel.The real reason for the standoff is that Lockheed-Martin and the Pentagon both know that Israel will steal whatever it can if it gains access. It would then use the technology to market its own products at a price below that of US defense contractors.

The result would be a triple whammy for Uncle Sam Extorting billions each year from the American taxpayers evidently isn't enough for Israel.

The USS Liberty

Iran sends submarines to Red Sea in move that could anger Israel

Americans Demand Justice Department Regulate AIPAC as Israeli Foreign Agent [Video, Documents]
According to 2010 civil court filings AIPAC obtained classified annual U.S. arms transfer data, secret U.S. policy accords with Saudi Arabia, classified signals intelligence flows that were used in lobbying Congress, National Security Decision Directives, Justice Department investigation files and troves of other government classified information. Petitioners argue that AIPAC is trafficking classified U.S. government secrets for the same reason its parent organization laundered overseas funds into the U.S. during the 1960s–to serve the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs–where AIPAC's founder worked until 1951.
Wow. Read on.

Israeli Firm’s Trade With Iran Proves Awkward for Activists Pushing Sanctions
Adding to the drama is the fact that the owners of Ofer Brothers have close, personal connections to the top echelon of Israel’s political, military and economic leadership. After one of the founding brothers, Sammy Ofer, died June 3, Netanyahu issued a statement calling him “a true Zionist.”

Guest column: Netanyahu lied to Congress yet drew applause
Netanyahu began by declaring that "America has no better friend than Israel." Congress stood and applauded.

That's the same Israel that attacked the USS Liberty in international waters and tried to sink it with all hands aboard in 1967, and then lied about it. The same Israel that prompted the FBI to declare Israel the second most aggressive nation mounting espionage operations in the U.S., and the Justice Department head of internal security to say, "those of us who worked in the espionage area regarded Israel as being the second most active foreign intelligence service in the United States." China was first. Thank you, Ron Estes, for speaking out, my hat's off to you, Sir.

Is Israel Really A Staunch Ally
And, lest we forget, Israel’s unprovoked June 8, 1967, attack, in neutral waters, on the USS Liberty by Israeli aircraft and torpedo boats, killing 34 U.S. sailors and extensively damaging our flag-flying ship.

With “staunch allies” like this, who needs enemies?

Israeli troops battle protesters in Syria, 20 dead
Israeli troops on Sunday battled hundreds of pro–Palestinian protesters who tried to burst across Syria's frontier with the Golan Heights, killing a reported 20 people and wounding scores more in the second outbreak of deadly violence in the border area in less than a month.

About Israel & 9/11: Caller is Correct, Politician is Wrong
Wow. Listen to Congressman Garamendi lie about the real reason for 911: our support for Israel. The 911 Commission did include that fact in its report. And also it was the reason given by the mastermind of 911, Khaled S. Mohammed. Watch the rest of this video which includes footage of the 911 Commission, among other things.

The Tie that Binds by Philip Giraldi
Completely frustrated by his experience as peace negotiator, George Mitchell resigned shortly before Netanyahu appeared in Washington to attend the AIPAC conference and also to lecture President Obama. Obama’s eagerly awaited speech on the Middle East delivered the night before Netanyahu’s arrival was actually reviewed by the Israeli Prime Minister before it was given, demonstrating clearly whose foot was on whose neck. Netanyahu reportedly responded angrily to any mention of the 1967 borders in a phone conversation with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the speech was delayed for forty minutes while the president and his staff worked in other rewrites demanded by the Israeli Prime Minister. Another great article by former CIA counterterrorism officer, Philip Giraldi.

Annual NYC Parade Celebrates Israel
The thousands of marchers who stepped off at 57th Street late Sunday morning included New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, followed later by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and U.S. Sens. Kristen Gillibrand and Charles Schumer.

US, France seek consensus on Mideast peace meeting
He pointed out that the Palestinians have embraced the proposal, while acknowledging that Israelis have said only that they are studying it.

Lebanon seals off Israel border ahead of planned demonstrations

Fear is driving Israelis to obtain foreign passports

Freedom for Palestine by OneWorld.
Proceeds from the single will go to UK Charity War on Want for projects in Palestine.

Israeli PM orders restraint if Arabs rush border
Laughable.

Seymour Hersh U.S. Could Be Headed for Iraq Redux Veterans Today

Israeli defense minister: Syrian regime doomed
Ehud Barak says Assad, who has launched a deadly crackdown on the Syrian opposition, has lost his legitimacy.

Gaza, the most Facebook friendly place on earth
Per capita, says Saidam, the largest number of Facebook users in the world is in Gaza.

"That's one thing people don't know," he says. Per capita, the largest number of video conferencing in the world is also in the Palestinian territories. "The legislative council used to meet through video conferencing in the West Bank and Gaza," says Saidam.

Deference is a two-way street
My friends keep telling me that Israel must show more deference to the suggestions and wishes of the United States because, after all, the United States is the only friend that Israel has in the Mideast. How very correct.

I would however like to remind these same friends that the United States must show full deference to Israel.

Really? And you call yourself an American?

Israeli left-wing leader: IDF used 'excessive force' in Naksa Day protests
Uri Avneri, former MK and activist with Gush Shalom left-wing organization, said Sunday that the IDF used excessive force against the protesters in the Golan Heights. "The trigger-happy behavior stands out in particular when compared to the softness with which violent settlers are treated," he said.

Palestinians cancel Naksa Day march to Israel-Lebanon border
The organizers say that Sunday's planned march marking the 1967 Arab-Israeli war's anniversary would be replaced by strikes across all 12 of Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camps.

Israel's Netanyahu thanks France for intervening in Libya
Meeting visiting French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, Netanyahu noted that Gaddafi had 'was never a friend of Israel or the Jewish people and Israel will not be sorry to see him disappear from the map.'

Could Obama Veto Palestine's Application to the United Nations
Palestine is a member state of the League of Arab States and of the Organization of Islamic Conference (O.I.C). When the International Court of Justice in The Hague—the World Court of the United Nations System—conducted its legal proceedings on Israel’s apartheid wall on the West Bank, it invited the State of Palestine to participate in the proceedings. In other words, the International Court of Justice recognized the State of Palestine.

What Is Really Happening in New Square?
This incident came to mind after the recent events in New Square in which eighteen-year-old Shaul Spitzer, a yeshiva student and attendant to the community’s grand rabbi, attempted to firebomb the house of a dissident member of the community. He ended up inflicting third-degree burns on over 50% of the body of Aron Rottenberg, whose home was the target of the attack. Rottenberg’s crime: he prayed at the wrong synagogue. Instead of the main synagogue, which belongs to grand rabbi David Twersky, Rottenberg attended services at a synagogue a short distance outside the village.

Sounds like something that Islamic extremists would do. If it in fact was perpetrated by Islamic extremists, this story would have been plastered all over the news by now. Not so.

Weiner admits to lying about underwear photo
Weiner, who is Jewish and an ardent pro-Israel lawmaker, said none of the relationships had ever become physical, nor had he met any of the women.

DE BORCHGRAVE: Netanyahu’s conundrum
ex-Mossad chief Meir Dagan is a dagger in Mr. Netanyahu’s body politic. And Mr. Dagan is not alone. Several former intelligence chiefs are lined up with him. They also know firsthand how anxious Mr. Netanyahu is to detract from Palestinian pressure for their own state in the West Bank and Gaza – by bombing Iran ‘s nuclear installations.

As Mr. Dagan put it, “This would mean regional war and in that case, you would give Iran the best possible reason to continue its nuclear program.”...

Mr. Dagan, Yuval Diskin, head of Shin Bet, the internal security agency, and Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, the military chief of staff, all stepped down this year. Mr. Dugan made clear he and his retiring colleagues served as a brake on the gung-ho Mr. Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

According to Israeli media reports, a week before retiring, Mr. Dagan tried to send a message to the Israeli public to warn about Mr. Netanyahu’s plans for an attack on Iran . But military censorship blocked any reporting of Mr. Dagan’s views. No sooner officially retired than he evaded the censors Really.

Glenn Beck: Israel never shot protesters like the Syrians - an outright lie

Ex-Israeli spymaster takes swipe at Netanyahu
Just days after his retirement, an Israeli newspaper quoted him as saying Israel "should not hurry" to attack Iran. Last month, he was quoted as saying a military strike on Iran would be "stupid."

'Iran could produce a nuclear weapon within two months' it is claimed as UN atomic watchdog reveals concerns
Amano said the U.N. agency had received 'further information related to possible past or current undisclosed nuclear-related activities that seem to point to the existence of possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear programme'.

The Japanese later told a news conference, without disclosing the source of the information

I bet we all can guess from which nation they received this new 'information', hmm? Starts with an 'I', ends in 'L'.

Israeli Stealth Ships in Raids on Iran
Last week Richard Silverstein, an American blogger who specialises in breaking Israeli defence secrets, claimed Mossad, Israel’s national intelligence agency, used Ofer Group cargo ships to smuggle its agents into Iran.

Last year Mossad agents allegedly assassinated Mahmoud al-Mabhuh, a senior Hamas militant, in his Dubai hotel room. It is now believed some of the agents left Dubai hidden in one of Ofer’s ships.

Archbishop Tutu Stands For Justice Against Apartheid Israel

Video - Seymour Hersh: Despite Intelligence Rejecting Iran as Nuclear Threat, U.S. Could Be Headed for Iraq Redux

Thousands rally in Tel Aviv against occupation
On the West Bank, Christians organised a religious service for "peace and justice" at a military checkpoint near Bethlehem, which also denounced the continuing occupation.

Why are the Libyan Rebels seeking Israel's support?
"The main point was that the future Libyan regime would be moderate and anti-terrorist and will be concerned with justice for the Palestinians and security for Israel,"

Weiner repeatedly lied (about Israel and Palestine– does anyone care)
Here are five of those lies: There is no Israeli occupation of the West Bank, the Goldstone Report was not based on the laws of war, Israel is at war with 20 neighbors, American progressives should support the absence of free speech in Israel when it comes to its character as a Jewish state, and Egypt is an Islamic state.

State Annuls Attempted Sale of Public School to New Square-Based Yeshiva
The commissioner of the New York State Education Department has annulled the sale of a New York elementary school to a New Square Orthodox yeshiva, criticizing the local school board for failing to take steps to get the best price for the property.

The rejection of the sale is the latest development in an ongoing dispute between the largely non-Jewish parents of children in the East Ramapo Central School District and the Orthodox majority on the district’s board of trustees, members of religious communities that send children to private yeshivas.

'More Israeli Arabs would have been killed in 2000 riots had I been in charge'
Upper Nazareth Mayor says his town would never be a mixed Arab-Jewish city and that a mosque would never be built despite the fact that 16 percent of its residents are Arab.

East Jerusalem: Sharing our house with settlers - video
How Israel's slow ethnic cleansing proceeds. How many of those tourists were Americans (future Israeli settlers)? Oops, look at the very last few seconds as a woman tourist with an American accent assails the Palestinian whose land was taken over by Israeli settlers, calling them a 'murderer'. Disgusting racism. But then, that's what one would expect from people who support supremacism. These Palestinians are actually getting off easy at the moment as compared to what has happened to others. Settlers can be violent. And they act with impunity. Thus does Israel's pillage and plunder of Palestine continue.

Progressive Democrats Of America Endorses New Flotilla Against Israel

Shavuot 2011: obscenities as words of Torah
"Death to the Arabs, death to the leftists," they chanted. "The Temple will be rebuilt, the mosque will be destroyed." "Kahane lives, Mohammed is dead." "Itbach al-Arab" ("Death to the Arabs" in Arabic ). Thus they elevate Jerusalem as their chief sin: May their tongues cleave to their palates.

Ukraine professors defend Palestinian engineer
Israel would not immediately comment on the incongruities concerning the professor's name or the purported military academy.

Vlasov, an expert in civilian electrical and mineral processing systems, said he had no connection to the military, never sent any of his students to a military academy and has never even seen a missile.

"This is all lies, there isn't a single word of truth in it," Vlasov, 80, said in a telephone interview. "I have never lectured at any military academy and never had anything to do with anything military. I have only seen missiles on TV." Israel never lets the truth get in the way of its BS.

Do the American people support the 'special relationship?' Stephen M. Walt
a survey conducted by the Anti-Defamation League in 2005 found that 78 percent of Americans believed that Washington should favor neither Israel nor the Palestinians. A 2010 survey by the Brookings Institution found similar results: although 25 percent of Americans thought the United States should "lean toward Israel" in its efforts to resolve the conflict, a healthy 67 percent believed the United States should "lean toward neither side." I'm glad somebody besides myself drove this point home. Americans by and large want the US to take no side in that conflict, according to numerous polls over the years. Yet Congress does not reflect that. We have a serious problem here. The Congress does not reflect the will of the people. And that needs to change, folks.

Headlines for May 26 - June 1

2011-06-09T21:58:00.001-04:00

A Stand For Justice

Israel Prepping to Block Next Gaza Flotilla
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel prefers a diplomatic move to thwart the flotilla expected at the end of June, but if necessary would exercise force against anyone who tries to disobey the navy's orders and head to Gaza's shore.

Egypt permanently opens Gaza border crossing
Rami Arafat, 52, was among the earliest arrivals. He said he hoped to catch a flight out of Cairo on Sunday to Algeria for his daughter's wedding.

"All we need is to travel like humans, be treated with dignity, and feel like any other citizens of the world who can travel in and out freely,'' Arafat said. He said he believed the relaxing of travel restrictions "will guarantee more support from all Arabs and Palestinians for the new Egyptian regime.''
Free at last, free at last.

Arrests made at Jerusalem march

Gaza flotilla organizers mark raid anniversary
"The Gaza shore has to be free. That's why we are sailing there," said Vangelis Pisias, a Greek organizer, said at a news conference on the Mavi Marmara, a ferry that was boarded by Israeli commandos before dawn on May 31, 2010. Nine activists died in the botched commando operation, with each side accusing the other of starting the violence

Jewish worshippers, soldiers clash in West Bank
The Israeli military says soldiers have forcibly removed dozens of Jewish worshippers who refused to leave a holy site inside a Palestinian city in the West Bank.

An estimated 1,600 worshippers entered the city of Nablus early Monday for nighttime prayers at a site believed to be the tomb of the biblical Joseph. The visit was coordinated with the military and Palestinian security forces.

UN: Israel should end eviction of Palestinians from their homes
Israel should end the forced eviction of Palestinians from their homes in the occupied Palestinian territories, the UN humanitarian emergency coordinator said Tuesday

Top Palestinian negotiator: Israel destroying two-state solution

One Year from Gaza Freedom Flotilla, Another on the Horizon
The United States government refused to conduct an investigation into the death of American citizen Dogan, instead stating that the U.S. would rely on Israel’s investigation into its own actions. The United States even refused to cite Dogan’s death in the recently released State Department’s annual Human Rights report on Israel, the first time the violent death of an American citizen in the West Bank or Gaza has not been acknowledged in this report. This is what happened when Israel attacked the USS Liberty on June 8, 1967, killing 34 Americans and wounding scores more. The US did nothing. Same with when Israel killed Rachel Corrie in 2003. Israel kills Americans with impunity.

'Spain will recognize Palestinian state on 1967 lines'
The Palestinian Authority announced on Thursday that Spain has decided to recognize a Palestinian state along the 1967 lines before September. A spanish diplomat told Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath that Spain would support making the state of Palestine a UN member. Excellent news.

Settlers burn ancient olive trees in Tel Rumeida
The fire affected sixteen ancient olive trees, some more than a thousand years
old, in an area of almost two dunum (one-half acre). The soldiers from the post
nearby yelled at the CPTers to leave the field, but CPTers called out to them
that they were on land belonging to the Abu Haikel family, who had invited them
to be there. When the CPTers continued to take pictures, the soldiers took no
further action.

CPT releases video about Israeli intelligence incursion in At-Tuwani
On Monday May 23, Israeli intelligence entered At-Tuwani, escorted by about fifteen soldiers. In the operation the Israeli military invaded a local leader's house, demanded that villagers stop their nonviolent resistance and threatened violent retaliation if the Palestinians persist asserting their rights to the land.

Obama pushes Europe not to support Palestinians' U.N. statehood bid
A week after ratcheting up pressure on Israel's government to restart peace talks with Palestinians, President Obama launched a campaign to persuade European leaders not to endorse a separate Palestinian bid for statehood. But his appeal to Britain's prime minister, David Cameron, won only a noncommittal response. The United States ought to stop doing Israel's bidding, heed the wonderous words in George Washington's Farewell address.

Hamas: Russia pledges to back Palestinian bid for state recognition
A partner of the United States, the EU and the United Nations in the Middle East "quartet", Moscow has made a point of calling for the inclusion of Hamas in diplomacy, hosting its leaders and saying isolating it is counterproductive.

Arab League to seek U.N. seat for Palestinian state
The Arab League's peace process committee, meeting in Doha, said it would request membership for the state of Palestine at the U.N. General Assembly's meeting in New York in September.

Abbas sees no hope for talks and is firm on U.N. path
The Palestinian president said on Saturday there were "no shared foundations" for peace talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and seeking U.N. recognition of Palestinian statehood was his only option.

Obama's new security staff may approve attack on Iran
The conclusion is that between the end of June and Gates' retirement, and the end of September and Mullen's retirement, the danger that Netanyahu and Barak will aim at a surprise in Iran is especially great, especially since this would divert attention from the Palestinian issue. As the Supreme Court explained to Moshe Katsav's lawyers, some plans for summer vacations might be canceled.

Bad News From The BBC - Part 1: 'Replete With Imbalance And Distortion'
One of the main headlines on the BBC news homepage earlier this month read, 'Violence erupts at Israel borders'. Israeli soldiers had shot dead at least 12 protesters and injured dozens more. BBC 'impartiality' decreed that the brutal killings were presented almost as an act of nature, a volcanic eruption that simply happened.

Free software campaigner Richard Stallman cancels Israel lectures due to Palestinian pressure
The funding for his trip came from the Palestinians who invited him to lecture for them, Stallman wrote in a letter explaining the cancellation. He said that they were not pleased that he had been scheduled to lecture at Israeli universities as well, and so withheld funding for his trip.

Why did I disrupt
Do you know that our Congress gave 29 standing ovations to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he spoke in the Capital on Tuesday, May 24? I couldn't watch this hero's welcome for a man who supports the continued building of illegal settlements, won't lift the siege of Gaza, and refuses to negotiate with the new Palestinian unity government. During the talk, when Netanyahu was praising young people rising up for democracy in the Middle East, and I took my cue to stand up from my seat in the Capitol Gallery, unfurl a banner, and shout, "No More Occupation! Stop Israeli War Crimes! Equal Rights for Palestinians!"
Immediately, I was tackled, gagged and violently shoved to the floor by other members of the audience, many of whom were still wearing their badges from the AIPAC conference this past weekend. Keep at it. Don't ever let these bastards win.

Prayer, politics collide on midnight pilgrimage
Nablus was a militant hotbed in the years of the Palestinian uprising last decade. The city's Palestinians and the residents of nearby settlements, considered hard-line even by many other settlers, view each other with deep animosity.

To secure the Jewish worshippers, the military takes up positions in nearby buildings. Keep those settler psychos in ISRAEL. Keep kicking the hornet's nest and you WILL get stung, geniuses.

NYT’s Friedman doubts sincerity of Netanyahu’s standing ovations
"You know, as far as American Jews, you know – you know, to me, the question, Fareed, is yes, Bibi Netanyahu, because of political reasons and campaign donations and AIPAC's influence, can get standing ovations in the U.S. Congress anytime they want, seven days a week, 24/7. How many standing ovations do you think he could get at the student government at the University of Missouri? At Stanford? At Harvard? At the University of Virginia? At the University of Texas? If you went to those student governments, they're the future. They're the future of voters. They're the future people who will maintain the strategic relationship with Israel. And there, I can tell you, as anyone who goes to college campuses knows, that people don't get Israel, what Israel is doing right now. They – some are alienated. Some – more – and this is a bigger part, more just – you know, I don't know. It's messy. I don't want to get involved in this at all."

What Bibi Gains by Misrepresenting Obama's Middle East Policy
Why on earth would Bibi Netanyahu choose to be so boorish and provocative? Because he can be. He has the U.S. Congress in his pocket, a fact made obvious by the applause tsunami that attended his speech to a joint session (and by the fact that an astonishing 68 Senators and 286 Representatives attended the American Israel Public Affairs Committee banquet the night before he spoke

Donor Bread (Money) and Congressional Circuses

TV anchor under fire for 'Arab discrimination' comment during Netanyahu's Congress speech
Dozens of viewers complained about a comment added by Yonit Levy of Channel 2 television after her simultaneous translation of Netanyahu's statement that out of 300 million Arabs in our region, "less than one half of one percent are truly free, and they're all citizens of Israel."

Dozens of viewers complained about a comment added by Yonit Levy of Channel 2 television after her simultaneous translation of Netanyahu's statement that out of 300 million Arabs in our region, "less than one half of one percent are truly free, and they're all citizens of Israel."

'The smallest minds and cowardliest hearts': Is Congress clapping for apartheid?

Coldplay endorses 'Freedom for Palestine' single on Facebook page
British music giants Coldplay have endorsed an upcoming musical collaboration called "Freedom for Palestine," released as a single by the War on Want and One World foundations. Excellent.

Canada takes strong pro-Israel line at G8 summit
Canadians better wise up - you are living in an(other) Israeli-occupied territory.

Israeli Culture Minister storms out of film, calls it too pro-Palestinian
Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat ,who attended the opening of a film festival in Israel's south, left before the screening began, claiming the film presents a one-sided view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and ignores the suffering of the residents of the south of Israel.

The Book of Netanyahu by Philip Giraldi

Great American Patriots
What makes this more remarkable still is that this foreign leader whom they were cheering so boisterously and continuously just completed a public, ugly conflict with the American leader and has a long record of demonstrated indifference to American interests; yet the super-patriots of the American Right sided so brazenly and publicly with this foreign leader over their own country's President.

Roadside bomb in Lebanon wounds 6 UN peacekeepers
A roadside bomb ripped through a U.N. convoy carrying Italian peacekeepers in southern Lebanon on Friday, wounding six of them in the first such attack since 2008, officials said.

Inside The United States' Secret Sabotage Of Iran
in the last year, much has become known about intelligence operations in Iran, says Bruce Riedel, a former CIA official who is now an analyst with the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution.

"There's little doubt that there's a covert war under way against Iran," he says. "There are at least two players in it: the United States and Israel."

Israel minister: Strike on Iran could be necessary
Chicken Little at it again.

‘Land Swaps’: Is There Enough Land To Swap?
“You could find the equivalent of 2.5% of the territories, but when people in Israel talk about it, they are talking about keeping 6% to 10%. Finding that kind of land inside Israel just can’t be done,” said Tel Aviv University geographer Gideon Biger, editor of the “Encyclopedia of International Boundaries.”...

Swapping areas populated by Arabs is, however, already an accepted principle by many in Israel. Yisrael Beiteinu, the third-largest political party in the Knesset, is proposing freeing up land for swaps and strengthening the Jewish majority in Israel by incorporating Arab areas close to the Green Line, such as the city of Umm al-Fahm, into a future Palestinian state.

"What's yours is ours, and what's theirs is yours". That's some generosity. What a bunch of shysters.

Head to Head / Arabeh Mayor Omar Nasser, do you agree with Netanyahu that Arabs live better here than elsewhere?
Is there a democratic country in the world where there are unrecognized villages? In Israel there are. Is there a country in the world where there are laws that allow for admissions committees to prevent citizens from living in certain communities? In Israel there are. Is there a country with a true democracy where a bill like the Nakba Law can be passed or where citizenship can be revoked, including citizenship of tens of thousands of Palestinians from East Jerusalem? Is there a democratic state that rules over another people as Israel does over the Palestinians?

Waging War Gets Easier by Philip Giraldi
The authorization also expands the understanding of what constitutes an “enemy” since anyone can be so designated. The new rule will be that an enemy is anyone so identified by the president because of his or her “hostility” towards the United States. That also means that there will be no judicial process for those accused and they can safely be whisked off to Guantanamo Prison for further processing or not as the case might be. The new law is not yet in place but there is every indication that the president will sign it. Its first victim is likely to be suspected Hezbollah official Ali Mussa Daqduq even though Hezbollah had nothing to do with 9/11. Five Republican senators have already demanded that Daqduq be tried at Guantanamo rather than in a federal court. Hezbollah too? Well, we are Israel's bitch.

As Bibi Slouches Toward September
he had an ugly head-butt with President Obama at the White House, but this just reinforces his street cred, solidifies his coalition and dispirits his critics. Besides, while the run-in ruffled feathers in the administration, it was Obama who ended up running to AIPAC to clear the air.

For icing on the cake, he put Democrats on the defensive. They were forced to play catch-up, with Harry Reid publicly rebuking Obama and congressional Democrats leaping to their feet every few sentences throughout Bibi’s grant-no-quarter speech so as not to appear disloyal.

Who says Israel doesn't have any control over America? What's this lobby you speak of?... Quite interesting the last few paragraphs. So you finally fear the retribution, do you? After years of making sure America is dragged into your BS, NOW the chickens are coming home to roost. And Americans, like me a few years ago when I first caught wind of the truth of all of this are going to be PISSED. Good luck with it.

Don’t Make Us Choose
No one wants to choose between the President and the Prime Minister, between America’s interest and Israel’s. No matter who is in the White House, no matter who is in charge of the government in Jerusalem, Jews here like to see consensus, a smooth connection, the enunciation not just of shared values, but a shared approach to geopolitical challenges.

Really?

FM warns against involvement in Gaza flotilla
"I strongly urge those wishing to deliver humanitarian goods to the Gaza Strip to do so through established channels," Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird said on Sunday.

David Cameron resigns as patron of the Jewish National Fund
The JNF was originally set up to buy land in Palestine to establish Jewish settlements before the creation of the state of Israel. Now it is a global charity which describes itself as the "caretakers of the land and people of Israel", specialising in planting forests. Critics say it expropriated land belonging to Palestinians and has obliterated pre-1948 Arab villages by planting forests and parks. The JNF is involved in the demolition of Bedouin villages in the Negev desert as part of an afforestation plan.

Blair: Obama anxious about Israel's fate
Blair described Obama's initiative – rejected by Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu – as "an attempt to fill a vacuum which he sees as dangerous, particularly dangerous for Israel in the run–up to September," when the assembly is expected to take up the issue of Palestinian statehood during the U.N.'s annual meeting.

Republicans Use Israel To Attract Jewish Voters — And Jewish Money
At the recent annual gathering of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, pro-Israel activists found themselves courted both by Republicans critical of Obama’s Israel policy and by Democratic lawmakers seeking to distance themselves from the president.

Who Cares in the Middle East What Obama Says? By Robert Fisk
There was an interesting linguistic collapse in the president's language over those critical four days. On Thursday 19 May, he referred to the continuation of Israeli "settlements". A day later, Netanyahu was lecturing him on "certain demographic changes that have taken place on the ground". Then when Obama addressed the American Aipac lobby group (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) on the Sunday, he had cravenly adopted Netanyahu's own preposterous expression. Now he, too, spoke of "new demographic realities on the ground." Who would believe that he was talking about internationally illegal Jewish colonies built on land stolen from Arabs in one of the biggest property heists in the history of "Palestine"? A great read by seasoned journalist Robert Fisk.

South Hebron Hills Reflection: Healing the Trees
I know in my head that Israeli settlers who live across the valley from At-Tuwani sometimes sneak down at night and chop down the villagers’ olive trees. But seeing the wounded trees myself cuts more deeply. The breaks are jagged, branches twisting off the trunk, the silver-green leaves curling in the dust. Ten trees have been hacked off, an attempt to chop down Palestinian life in the South Hebron Hills.

Headlines for May 19 - May 25

2011-06-02T18:27:00.000-04:00

A Stand For Justice

Official: Palestinian PM suffered heart attack
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad suffered a heart attack while visiting the U.S. and is recovering at a Texas hospital, a spokesman said Monday.

Egypt to open Rafah crossing permanently
Egypt will open its only crossing with the Gaza Strip this weekend, the Cairo military government announced Wednesday, significantly easing a four–year blockade on the Hamas–ruled territory but setting up a potential conflict with Israel.

Palestinians more skeptical about Mideast talks
Chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said it's best for the Palestinians to keep quiet and let Netanyahu do the talking.

"We accept two states based on the 1967 lines, with agreed swaps ... and we want Mr. Netanyahu to say this sentence," Erekat said. "We hope to hear it in front of Congress, at AIPAC, in Hebrew, in Arabic, in Chinese, in any language."

HEBRON/AL-KHALIL:Soldiers throw sound bombs in market as shopkeepers close up for evening; several people injured
Although many settler youth were in town for the Israeli Lag Baomer holiday, all witnesses who saw the sound bombs thrown from the roofs in disparate areas of the market said that soldiers had thrown them. No demonstrations or gatherings of any kind were happening in the market at the time. The last shopkeepers were closing their stores, and a few Old City residents were returning to their homes.

Obama tells Israel: Go back to 1967 borders

Israel rejects Obama peace plan, Palestinians cagey
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, due to fly to Washington just hours after Obama's speech, immediately called on the White House to guarantee Israel would not have to withdraw to the 1967 lines.

He urged Obama to commit to the assurances laid out in 2004 by then president George W. Bush, who said "new realities on the ground," meant a "full and complete return" to the 1967 borders was "unrealistic."

"Prime Minister Netanyahu expects to hear a reaffirmation from President Obama of US commitments made to Israel in 2004, which were overwhelmingly supported by both houses of Congress," Netanyahu's statement said.

Netanyahu lectures Obama in Oval Office
Lectured like an insolent child for daring to cross Israel.

Obama to aides: Netanyahu will never do what it takes to achieve Mideast peace
In what seems to be a response to Netanyahu's comments, Obama aides told the New York Times that the U.S. president did not believe Netanyahu will ever be willing to make the kind of concessions that would lead to a peace deal.

World backs Obama Palestinian plan as Israel digs in heels

As Obama's vision was welcomed by the European Union, the United Nations, Russia, the Palestinians and parts of the Arab world, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bluntly rejected it as "unrealistic".

Without talks, Palestinians to head to UN: Abbas
The Israeli leader, who addressed Congress on the last day of a trip to Washington, said he was willing to make "painful compromises" for peace.

But he ruled out a division of Jerusalem, the return of Palestinian refugees, and the possibility of using the borders that existed before 1967 as a basis for peace negotiations. Then evidently there won't be any 'painful compromises' on the part of Israel. There never are.

Israel rejects total pullback to 1967 borders

Distinguished Panel will Question Military Aid to Israel

Nakba day: we waited 63 years for this
This is the shared experience we commemorate every year on Nakba Day: the year-long expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians that began in 1947 and continued straight through 1948 into the terrible snowstorm winters of 1949, creating what is now the world's largest refugee population.

Harsh West Bank 'honor killing' brings tougher law
"Such a tragic event managed to send a message that change is needed," said rights campaigner Hanan Ashrawi. "We have traction and we are going to move."

...Arafat's widow, Suha, said that when she lived in the Gaza Strip with her husband in the 1990s, she used to hide women feeling threatened by male relatives and would help smuggle them to safer areas.

Palestinians: Netanyahu peace outline unacceptable

Nabil Shaath, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Netanyahu's insistence on keeping key parts of the territories the Palestinians want for their state is a "declaration of war against the Palestinians."

Center for Constitutional Rights Launches Case Seeking U.S. Knowledge of and Role in Deadly Israeli Attack on Humanitarian Flotilla to Gaza
said Center for Constitutional Rights Senior Staff Attorney, Katherine Gallagher. “A U.S. citizen was killed and the U.S. has not conducted an independent investigation into his killing in international waters by a foreign military. Indeed, the State Department did not even mention the killing of Furkan Doğan in its recently released Human Rights report on Israel. We need to know what our government is doing to protect us – and hold those to account who harm U.S. citizens.” If the killers are Israelis, our govenrment does NOTHING.

Face to face, Netanyahu rejects Obama on borders
On Thursday, Netanyahu was informed shortly before Obama's speech of its contents by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, according to U.S. officials. Netanyahu sought in vain to get the border language removed from the speech, the officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive diplomatic exchange.

Some Questions for Bibi by Philip Giraldi
Speaking of attacking, you rocketed, strafed, and torpedoed a US Naval vessel the USS Liberty in international waters in 1967, killing 34 of the crew and injuring 174. The attack was both unprovoked and brutal, intended to sink the ship and kill everyone on board. You claim it was an accident but have never given American investigators access to your government records. It sounds like a cover-up and many Americans are wondering whether you will ever come clean on what happened that day. Will you ever open up your records relating to the Liberty? Excellent questions by former CIA counterterrorism officer, Philip Giraldi.

NAKBA 201 50,000 Palestinians Crash Israeli Border Veterans Today
This is a historic event similar to the freedom marches America used to have in the 1960s civil rights movement — the spirit is so great. This is a momentous historic event of NAKBA and the need to be liberated because of the Arab and Islamic awakening and this is part of that awakening. It’s amazing — I’ve been to a lot of demonstrations — nothing like this. Nothing like this has occurred on the question of Palestine for the past 63 years.

Bibi to Congress: No compromise on Jerusalem, refugees or Jordan River presence
Netanyahu received a warm reception from Congress, including more than two dozen standing ovations, and made a forceful case highlighting the commonalities between Israel and America and explaining Israel’s security challenges. He talked about the threat of Iran’s nuclear program and said the Palestinian Authority must end its agreement with Hamas, which he called “the Palestinian version of al-Qaida.”

The Israeli prime minister had an informal delivery, cracking several jokes and twice turning around to address Vice President Joe Biden. When a heckler interrupted Netanyahu at one point, Congress tried to drown her out with a standing ovation, much as the pro-Israel crowd at the annual banquet of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee did the previous evening for the Jewish state's leader. Our own president doesn't get this many ovations when he speaks to Congress. Netanyahu is the real leader of Congress, and he knows it. Israel's wishes trump the wishes of the American people, 2/3 of whom want the US to take no side in that conflict.

Abbas Says Netanyahu's Congress Speech Full of 'Falsehoods'

Obama to AIPAC: Israelis, Palestinians should negotiate a new border
In his speech Sunday, Obama said he told Netanyahu at their White House meeting two days earlier that “The march to isolate Israel internationally -- and the impulse of the Palestinians to abandon negotiations -- will continue to gain momentum in the absence of a credible peace process and alternative.”

Israeli intelligence, backed by military, threatens villagers in At-Tuwani
On Monday May 23, Israeli intelligence entered At-Tuwani, escorted by about fifteen soldiers. In the operation the Israeli military invaded a local leader's house, demanded that villagers stop their nonviolent resistance and threatened violent retaliation if the Palestinians persist asserting their rights to the land.

CPT releases video of Palestinian testimonies about settler attack in Tuba
Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) has released a video of Palestinian testimonies about the recent settler invasion of the village of Tuba. On 16 May, shortly before midnight, Israeli settlers invaded Tuba, damaged property, and stole and injured several sheep belonging to the Ali Awwad family.

Palestinians condemn latest Israel settlement plan
Palestinian officials Friday condemned an Israeli plan to build 1,550 housing units on annexed land around Jerusalem, authorized the day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left for talks in Washington. Peace? The Israelis thought they said PIECE, as in - another PIECE of Palestine. They don't mind if they do.

Palestinians to proceed with UN recognition bid
"I don't think we can talk about a peace process with a man who says the 1967 lines are an illusion, that Jerusalem will be the capital of Israel, undivided, and he does not want a single (Palestinian) refugee to go back," Erekat said. "What is left to negotiate about?"

Palestinians seek Arab consultation on Obama speech
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas asked the Arab League Saturday to convene a discussion of President Barack Obama's vision for peace with Israel, a Palestinian official said.

Obama's 'Jewish state' reference jars Palestinians
Most difficult for Palestinians is Obama's call to recognize Israel as the Jewish homeland, essentially requiring the Palestinians to accept that most refugees will be denied the "right of return" to what is now Israel.

Perhaps for this reason, the Palestinians have remained largely quiet about the substance of Obama's speeches, seemingly content to watch Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clash with the U.S. administration over Israel's future borders.

OBSTRUCTIONIST ISRAELI RIGHT DISDAINS ANY TALK OF PEACE

Netanyahu's Israel is on course to become a pariah state
Closer to home, Deutsche Bahn's withdrawal from the project to lay a railway line between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem should have caused a shock. But here, we prefer to avoid reality.

Israeli Right Mocks Obama's Rapid Submission To Netanyahu
Benny Katzover, longtime leader of the West Bank settlement movement, said that the speech didn’t just represent a victory for Israel, but it was also a great statement of support to the concept of settlement and to the "entrenchment of Jewish presence" in the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Golan.

Jewish Protester Disrupts Netanyahu During Congressional Address
During the Joint Session of Congress while Prime Minister Netanyahu was speaking, Rae Abileah stood up from the gallery and shouted “Stop Israeli War Crimes.” Yay Rae!

The President Goes AIPACing
If you are not Jewish, the goal of Israeli society is to render you a second class citizen and, eventually, expel you altogether. In terms of democracy, this makes Israel as democratic as, say, Alabama circa 1950. As a nation, the United States has left that era behind. So tell me, where are the shared values?

Netanyahu's Congress speech could set Middle East peace back another 18 years
Taking advantage of his New York accent while addressing Congress on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered an eloquent speech offering only more obstacles to a lasting and just peace in the Middle East. He not only failed to provide a vision for the peace process in a changing Middle East, but also introduced new terms and phrases that will probably hamper any peace efforts in the future.

Netanyahu to outline peace vision in speech to Congress
Israeli leaders have long regarded AIPAC as a valuable advocacy group in the United States and have frequently attended its annual conventions.

Listing a membership of 100,000, the group has worked with Congress and the White House on securing foreign aid for Israel and legislation to strengthen what it describes as the vital U.S.-Israel relationship.

Muslims rush to restore torched Egypt church
The 26–year–old is one of a vast group of mostly Muslim craftsmen tasked with restoring St Mary's Church in the Cairo suburb of Imbaba after militants set it on fire on May 7.

The Onion’s quick swipe at the “Israel Lobby”
“I love this piece because it captures perfectly how the system works in the U.S. when it comes to talking about Israel,” Walt’s co-author John J. Mearsheimer, a political science professor at University of Chicago, wrote in an email. “Criticize Israel and the lobby will smear you and try to destroy your career, even if your criticism is smart and well-intentioned. While the piece is humorous, it is also a sad commentary on what blind support for Israel is doing to large portions of the American Jewish community.”

Obama, Tell Netanyahu – Don’t Mess With Flotilla to Gaza by Ray McGovern
We, the passengers and crew of “The Audacity of Hope,” sailing to Gaza together with the 2nd International Freedom Flotilla, represent ordinary Americans determined to speak to the aspirations of the 1.5 million ordinary Gazans yearning to be free.

Ukrainians Cling to Belief That Demjanjuk Is Innocent
That Israeli court conviction was secured by eyewitness testimony. Three former prisoners positively — and, it turns out, erroneously — identified Demjanjuk as “Ivan the Terrible.”

Lots of Rhetoric – But Very Little Help By Robert Fisk
Well, this weekend is Netanyahu's weekend and the Israeli settlements – more were flagged only hours before Obama spoke – will go on as before. And by the time Obama ends up swearing eternal loyalty to the Israelis, the Arabs will forget yesterday's posturing. And the reference to the "Jewish state" was obviously intended to make Netanyahu happy. Last time I went there, there were hundreds of thousands of Arabs who lived in Israel, all of them with Israeli passports. They didn't get a reference from Obama. Or maybe I was just imagining.

US agenda on Israel is not one of peace - author
According to writer William Engdahl, the global community is now witnessing the most significant change in US-Israeli relations since the recognition of the Israeli state.

Protestor who disrupted Netanyahu in Congress attacked, hospitalized, arrested The Electronic Intifada
Rae Abileah a CODEPINK activist who disrupted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech in the United States Congress this morning was physically attacked, hospitalized and then arrested from hospital according to reports.

Egypt says Obama speech will help Palestinians
But the Egyptian ambassador said Obama missed an opportunity to address other key issues including Israel's continued settlement activities, water, ending the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, the return of refugees "which is a critical issue," and the Palestinian demand for East Jerusalem as its capital.

DePaul students vote by large margin to ban Sabra hummus

Congress Claps for Apartheid Stephen M. Walt
Netanyahu's central message yesterday was an emphatic rejection of a genuine two-state solution. While professing to be willing to make major sacrifices for the sake of peace, his lengthy list of preconditions made it abundantly clear that he thinks Israel is entitled to rule the Palestinian population in perpetuity-even when it becomes numerically larger than Israel's Jewish citizens -- and that the United States should back this effort no matter what. And even though the only alternatives to a two-state solution are 1) further ethnic cleansing, 2) a binational, one-state democracy, or 3) permanent apartheid, Congress is just fine with that.

Close attention to Obama's latest words on Israel

Analysis: Obama jolt unlikely to spark peace talks
President Barack Obama is trying to shock the moribund Israeli–Palestinian peace process to life, but there is little chance the patient can be resuscitated anytime soon.

My Political Rupture With AIPAC By MIKE GRAVEL
Political positions and decisions within AIPAC were and continue to be profoundly influenced by the Israeli government. And AIPAC, in turn, profoundly influences our government.

The Enemy of My Enemy . . .
Then there’s his position on foreign assistance. Ron Paul has raised the specter of the “Israel Lobby,” voted against condemning the United Nations for its scurrilous Goldstone Report on the 2008 Gaza war, and declared America should be neutral between Israel and the Palestinians. Rand Paul simply says sorry, we can’t afford the aid. “We can’t give away money to any country, even to our allies,” he told me.

Obama eases Israeli anger on Mideast peace vision
Obama's speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) also served as a reminder his peace formula could cost him support among Jewish and pro–Israel voters and donors as he runs for re–election in 2012. Some prospective Republican presidential challengers have already accused him of betraying Israel, Washington's closest ally in the region.

...While Obama won the Jewish vote overwhelmingly in 2008, some prominent Jewish Americans were rethinking their support for his re–election after this week's events.

Some Israelis have never felt entirely comfortable with Obama, unnerved by his early attempts to reach out to Iran and his support for Arab revolutions that have unsettled Israel.
Oh dear.

Obama vows to stand up to Hezbollah over 'assassination'
"Iran continues to support terrorism across the region, including providing weapons and funds to terrorist organizations," Obama said in a speech to the pro–Israel lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

"So we will continue to work to prevent these actions, and will stand up to groups like Hezbollah who exercise political assassination, and seek to impose their will through rockets and car bombs," Obama said. Obama basically stating: 'we will continue to be Israel's bitch'.

Ron Paul to Obama: Stop Dictating to Israel
Patriotic Americans to Israel: stop dictating to America.

Obama and the Israel Lobby

US Politicians Kowtow to a Foreign Leader
Yet, as I am not the first to point out, there was nothing new in what the President said about the 1967 borders. That didn’t matter to Obama’s critics, however: so quick were they to pick up the latest party line from Tel Aviv that they didn’t even bother to acknowledge this, but were only concerned with echoing every jot and tittle of the Israeli position. Not since the heyday of the old Communist Party USA, when the Daily Worker was adept at not only defending but anticipating the line handed down by the Kremlin, have we seen such a phenomenon: the kowtowing before a foreign leader by American politicians.

“Bibi” Votes Republican by Patrick J. Buchanan
Obama, however, was lectured like some schoolboy in the Oval Office in front of the national press and a worldwide TV audience.

And two days later, he trooped over to the Israeli lobby AIPAC to walk back what he had said that had so infuriated Netanyahu.

“Bibi” then purred that he was “pleased” with the clarification. Who owns this place, folks?

Immigration Reform Is Our Jewish Responsibility
We have already started to strengthen our ties with the Latino community, the fastest-growing minority in the United States. As this strategic alliance of mutual support forms, immigration is a natural connector. At some point, however, dialogue alone will not be enough; true partnership will depend on concrete joint action.
Strange how Israel's immigration system, ie the barring of those that actually owned the land, doesn't bother these same people badly enough to act. But they want to make sure that America rewards lawbreaking with 'amnesty'. It's hypocrisy and BS. These non-Jews wouldn't be allowed to immigrate to Israel.

Israel and the Right
For most traditional conservatives of Reagan’s era, support for Israel did not necessarily mean unconditional support for absolutely everything Israel did. This is generally not true of the neoconservatives. If the US condemned Israel for attacking Iraq in 1981, it was not a shock that by the time the neoconservative Bush administration came to power two decades later America and Israel would more often begin to share the same enemies.

Judge awards $300M in each of 2 suicide bombings
The other award was made to American citizen Seth Haim, his father and his brother. They were injured in the 1995 bombing of a bus in the Gaza Strip by the Iranian–supported Shaqaqi Faction of the Palestine Islamic Jihad.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said he was making the awards – which will be difficult, perhaps impossible, for the families to collect – in the interest of deterring future terrorist attacks.

Israel in a Post-American Era by Patrick J. Buchanan
And what happened Sunday on the 63rd anniversary of Israel’s independence and the Palestinian “nakba,” or “catastrophe,” where 700,000 fled or were driven into exile, is perhaps the most ominous portent of all.

Palestinian protesters approached the fence separating Lebanon and Israel and climbed the fence on the Israeli-occupied Golan heights to come and reclaim Palestinian lands. Fifteen to 20 were shot to death and scores were wounded by Israeli troops.

'Israel pushing Obama into war with Iran'
Morris said it was worrying that Obama's National Security Advisor Tom Donilon has called on the Washington Institute for Near East Affairs to take stronger actions against Iran.

NSA Tom Donilon Addresses The Washington Institute (AIPAC spin-off Think Tank)
Speaking before an audience of more than 400 policymakers, diplomats, journalists, and members of the Institute’s board of trustees, he offered a behind-the-scenes look at the operation against Usama bin Laden, reiterated the White House’s commitment to prevent Iran from achieving a nuclear weapons capability, and discussed the depth and breadth of the U.S.-Israel strategic relationship. The WINEP is a part of Israel's lobby in the US.

Republicans Use Israel To Attract Jewish Voters — And Jewish Money
While a majority of AIPAC members and activists, according to a former staffer, are Democrats — as are most members of the Jewish community — strong supporters of the group are more likely to make political decisions based on the candidate’s views on Israel.

AIPAC Hits Capitol Hill With Hard Line Message on Palestinian Authority
AIPAC delegates, as they embark on lobbying meetings on Tuesday, will ask their representatives to support resolutions in the House and Senate that reaffirm the American opposition to a unilateral Palestinian move at the U.N. and threaten the P.A. with cutting American aid if it moves forward with the Hamas unity agreement.

More resolutions on behalf of Israel that have no import for the vast majority of Americans. Who owns Congress?

Bibi and Obama Now Set To Battle for Congress, Public Opinion
Guess who won? Who got the 25 standing ovations? Not Obama.

Congress Wielding Foreign Aid Budget in Effort to Influence Shape of New Middle East
The discussion over foreign aid to the Middle East is being conducted against the backdrop of increasing calls for austerity and against reluctance among lawmakers to approve any new budgetary expense. And while Israel, with an annual aid package of $3 billion, has been reassured that American funding is safe, its neighbors in the region are faced with both economic and political hurdles in Congress when seeking a share of foreign aid from the United States.

...Israel enjoys other foreign aid perks, including the ability to spend parts of the military aid in Israel rather than use it all to purchase American-made defense goods. It also enjoys early disbursement of the aid that enables Israel to earn interest on the funds throughout the year.

Calls for budget cuts, an Israeli diplomat dealing with the issue said, has caused some alarm among pro-Israel activists, but “we were assured very quickly that our aid is safe,” the diplomat said.

As jobless Americans lose their homes, go hungry and as schools close all over the country, so long as Israel has its billions. Israel, with its prosperous economy...

Bibi Rides Again by Philip Giraldi
Benjamin Netanyahu reacts furiously to the mention of 1967, berating Hillary Clinton over the phone before the speech, seeking to have the date removed. Interestingly, Netanyahu’s intervention means he received a copy of the speech before it was given I found that fact interesting too.

Was Obama's speech too tough on Israel Republican criticism mounts.
Several GOP presidential contenders slammed Mr. Obama’s comments on Israel. “President Obama has thrown Israel under the bus,” said former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, in a statement. “He has disrespected Israel and undermined its ability to negotiate peace.”

Congressional Republicans picked up similar themes.

Should USAID Use Public Funds For Religious Entities Overseas?
t the agency has come under scrutiny in the past for using taxpayer dollars to fund religious projects overseas. In 1988, the Washington Jewish Week reported that USAID was funding Orthodox Jewish and Catholic religious institutions overseas. The American Civil Liberties Union took the issue to court and won on both the district and federal appeals court levels.

Palestinian UN bid enters unknown territory
Robbie Sabel, an international law expert at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said a U.N. vote on the borders, though not binding, "would give them (the Palestinians) impressive political support for their position that Israel should withdraw to the 1967 lines," he said.

Gabriela Shalev, Israel's former U.N. ambassador, said such a declaration would change little on the ground at first, but that Israel could be in an increasingly difficult diplomatic position if most countries in the world consider it to be occupying a sovereign state. She contended it would "definitely be an obstacle to the peace process."

...Obama has warned the Palestinians twice in recent days against unilateral moves.

"The United States will stand up against efforts to single Israel out at the United Nations or in any international forum," he told the pro–Israel lobbying group AIPAC in a speech in Washington on Sunday.

However, the U.S. would clearly want to avoid being put in the position of having to veto Palestinian statehood.
Oh the US has vetoed peace all along at the UN Security Council each and every time any resolution is proposed that criticizes Israel. Without fail. We are, after all, Israel's bitch.

Strauss-Kahn’s Journey From Acceptance to Sex Scandal
During those meetings, he wondered if an old statement he made to a French Jewish newspaper would come back to haunt him. In 2003, he told Tribune Juive that he wakes up every morning wondering how he could be useful to Israel — a remark he now calls a “stupidity.”

I'm sorry, which country was he trying to get elected to serve?

UC Debates Free Speech Vs. Federal Protection
should Jews make a federal case out of it?

That question has been hanging since last year, when the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights expanded its coverage to include Jews among those protected by Title VI of the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act. Dubnov is answering the question in a markedly different way than one of his colleagues at UC’s Santa Cruz campus, where a faculty member’s complaint about anti-Israel activities has set off a federal probe.

Read more: http://forward.com/articles/137927/#ixzz1O48wEF1H
Read the rest of the article to find out what the real problem these people are having: the harsh criticism of Israel. Suddenly it's now 'anti-Semitism', and they want to shut everyone up. Let them do it, let the rest of this country see the fascists for what they are. Then maybe we can do something about it. You're in America, folks. And if you don't like freedom of speech, then don't let the door hit you in the ass. These people are literally trying to stop Americans from criticizing Israel (because it makes them 'uncomfortable'. Are you an AMERICAN or are you an ISRAELI?).

Scant Response to Video of a Violent Israeli Prison Night Search
Viewers could see the jail, silent as prisoners slept. Then, Masada operatives ran in, holding loaded weapons. Prisoners resisted, throwing unidentifiable objects; the operatives threatened tear gas if orders were not obeyed, and they shot ammunition — the nature of which has never been revealed — into prisoners’ tents in the dark. A prisoner injured in his leg is shown asking for medical attention but not receiving any and trying to treat himself. A wounded Ashkar is shown lying on the ground. The TV report said that Masada operatives deviated from plans to handcuff and search prisoners and extended the operation to wings of the prison that were not part of the plan.

Ultra-Orthodox Group Affirms Abuse Cases Go First To Rabbi
One of America’s leading ultra-Orthodox groups has reaffirmed that its followers must consult a rabbi before going to law enforcement authorities with suspicions of sexual abuse committed by community members.

Wow.

The Modern Orthodox Case for Gender Segregation on Public Buses
The practice of gender segregation on public buses in Israel has received new and unexpected support from American Modern Orthodoxy.

I thought only Muslims treated their women like crap, or so we have been told...

Netanyahu: Militant Islam threatening the world
Israel's prime minister, in an address to Congress on Tuesday, held out the threat of a military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, saying the only time Iran halted its nuclear program was when it feared such an attack. Sorry Bibi, but militant Zionism (backed by hundreds of nukes) with its visions of Greater Israel, and its total control over both houses of Congress, is a greater threat.

Top Jewish Americans ponder support for Obama
Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, wrote an open letter to the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, calling on it to cancel a scheduled address by Obama to the lobby group on Sunday.

Many in US-Israel lobby wary of Obama peace push
"Most of us are very disappointed in Obama's comments," Cheryl Rosenbaum, an AIPAC delegate from Glenview, Illinois, a suburb outside of Obama's hometown Chicago, told AFP.

"I need a safe and secure Israel," she said,

...AIPAC will use its clout to burnish the US–Israel relationship, and pressure lawmakers in some 500 meetings Tuesday to pledge that they have Israel's back. Hey that's nice. But the rest of Americans want a safe and secure AMERICA. And AMERICA'S interests ought to come FIRST.

Russia: Israel's military attaché arrested while receiving secret information
Russia said on Thursday it expelled Israel's military attache last week after catching the diplomat spying.

Former Netanyahu Aide Leaked Secret Nuclear Project with U.S.
The leak, published by several media organizations last July, asserted that the United States and Israel had reached substantive understandings in secret talks on the civilian nuclear issue. Washington was furious and demanded an investigation into the source of the leak. Netanyahu complied, and the culprit eventually proved to be Arad.

The secret talks took place in June 2010, shortly after Obama infuriated Israel by backing a resolution on a nuclear-free Middle East at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference. A month later, reports on the secret talks appeared simultaneously in Haaretz, on Channel 2 television and on Army Radio. According to these reports, the United States had given Israel unequivocal guarantees that its "strategic capabilities" in the nuclear field would be preserved and strengthened.

Activists Decry Probe Revealed by Found FBI Papers
Kelly said agents went through thousands of files at his house, emptied drawers and cabinets and took away boxes of materials. When his partner was recently looking through a file cabinet, she came across the FBI documents, Kelly said.

FBI spokesman Steve Warfield said most of the papers appeared to be legitimate FBI documents and were left behind by mistake. It may happen to these activists now. But who will it be next, hmm?

Israel Pushing Obama Toward War with Iran

Israeli attaché expelled from Russia over spying allegations
The Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday confirmed that Leiderman had been expelled. He was caught “red-handed after he received classified information from a Russian citizen in Moscow on May 12,” it said. The ministry expressed its protest and declared the Israeli citizen persona non grata over activities “incompatible with his diplomatic status.” He was given 48 hours to leave Russia.

Jewish Donors Warn Obama on Israel - WSJ.com
One top Democratic fund-raiser, Miami developer Michael Adler, said he urged Obama campaign manager Jim Messina to be "extremely proactive" in countering the perception in the Jewish community that Mr. Obama is too critical of Israel.

Soldiers detain and abuse 14-year-old boy; new documentary describes Israeli
Gerry O'Sullivan, a former member of the Ecumenical Accompaniers in Hebron and
friend of CPT's Hebron team, recently created a documentary about the arrests
and imprisonment of minors in the Hebron area titled, "Stolen Children; Stolen
Lives." It is available in two parts on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zaeERjVReE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9mDscNEws4&feature=related

Russia sabotaged Iran nuclear programme: report
The leaked documents, which were not immediately available on either the Yediot or Wikileaks websites, purportedly detail talks between the head of Israel's Atomic Energy Commission and then–US ambassador to Israel Richard Jones.

Headlines for May 12 - May 18

2011-05-30T11:21:00.000-04:00

A Stand For Justice

Bloodshed on Israel borders on Nakba Day
Israeli gunfire killed at least two people on the border with Lebanon as thousands of mainly Palestinian refugees demonstrated along the tense frontier, according to a Lebanese security official.

And Israel's military said dozens of people were wounded when the army opened fire at "thousands" of protesters crossing from Syria into the Israeli–annexed Golan Heights

Israeli troops fire at Palestinian protesters on borders, killing at least 12
Thousands of Palestinians marched from Syria, Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank toward Israeli border positions on Sunday, hurling rocks and surging across one frontier before the Israeli army opened fire, killing at least 12 people and injuring scores.

Israeli troops clash with protesters
Thousands of Arab protesters tried to burst through border fences along Israel on Sunday, and at least 15 people were killed when Israeli defense forces fired to keep them out.

Palestinian teen dies of gunshot in east Jerusalem
Fahri Abu Diab, a local activist in east Jerusalem's Silwan neighborhood, said Palestinians threw stones Friday at a Jewish settler enclave in the area, known as Beit Yonathan. Abu Diab said Ayyash was close to the enclave, and that a settler guard fired from the rooftop at the stone throwers. He said Israeli border police fired tear gas, but not live rounds.

Hebron Commemorates Nakba May 15
“Their independence is our Nakba.” This banner on the streets of Bethlehem says it all. What Israel considers the beginning of their state since 1948 was the “Great Catastrophe” for the Palestinians. Nakba, for the Palestinans, is the day remembering the loss of over 400 of their villages to the invading Israeli armed militias. At that time hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled to other parts of Israel, to Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. More than 750,000 lost their homes, set up camps and waited for the day when under international law they would return to their homes.

Mideast envoy resigns as US refocuses on region
With Israelis suspicious of Obama even before he assumed office, Mitchell further unnerved them by taking a tough line against West Bank settlements, saying that any construction was unacceptable. The Palestinians, initially encouraged, became disillusioned when the U.S. was unable to persuade Israel to freeze settlement construction.

Israel to transfer cash to Palestinian government
Israel collects tax funds and customs fees from Palestinians who work in Israel on the Palestinians' behalf. It is supposed to transfer the money to the Western–backed Palestinian Authority.

But it held up the transfer this month, saying it feared money would reach militants in the Hamas–ruled Gaza Strip.

Israel hunts Syria infiltrators after day of bloodshed
Interviewed by Israel's privately owned Channel 10 television, Hijazi spoke of his pride at making it to Jaffa, his ancestral hometown, now a mixed Arab–Jewish district of greater Tel Aviv.

"This isn't Israel, this is my country," he said. "I don't want to go back to Syria. I want to stay here where my father and my great–grandfather were born and bring my family here."

Hamas sends signals of moderation to West

Arab protesters descend on Israeli borders
Sunday's unrest – which came after activists used Facebook and other websites to mobilize Palestinians and their supporters in neighboring countries to march on the border with Israel – marked the first time the protests that have swept the Arab world in recent months have been directed at Israel.

The events carried a message for Israel: Even as it wrestles with the Palestinian demand for a state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem – areas Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war – there is a related problem of neighboring countries that host millions of Palestinians with aspirations to return.

U.S. Congress members to Turkey's Erdogan: Stop Gaza flotilla
Members of the U.S. Congress issued a letter to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday in which they urge Turkey's premier to stop the departure of another flotilla to the Gaza Strip. For whom do these Congresspersons work?

Israel blocks anti-war activists' ship from Gaza
The military said it ordered the ship to return to an Egyptian port where it had been anchored for several days. But it said the vessel disregarded the order, prompting it to fire warning shots. The ship then changed course to return to Egypt.

Rampaging Israeli settlers invade Palestinian village of Tuba
The rampaging settlers stole seven sheep, killed two, and injured others, including one which lost an eye. In addition, the settlers upended three water tanks, which held a total of 4.5 cubic meters of water. They destroyed fences, punctured a storage tent and three large sacks of yogurt, damaged a goat pen and destroyed the ventilation pipe of an outhouse. They also set loose a donkey, which later returned.

At-Tuwani: Palestinian trees destroyed in ongoing settler vandalism
In the early morning of 12 May 2011, Palestinian farmers discovered
that during the night unknown perpetrators had vandalized ten olive
trees in Humra valley, near At -Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills. The
trees and the land belong to At-Tuwani resident Salman Jibrin Raba'i.
The evidence suggests that the vandals sawed and then broke branches
off the trees, completely destroying seven trees and partially
damaging another three.

Palestinian president declares three days of mourning
The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, yesterday declared three days of mourning for 15 people killed in mass marches toward multiple Israeli borders that marked a stunning new tactic in the struggle for Palestinian statehood.

Photographer deliberately shot by Israeli soldier during Nakba Day clashes
Reporters Without Borders was told that Othman was clearly identifiable as a journalist at the time of the shooting and was deliberately targeted. The press freedom organization urges the Israeli authorities to investigate the circumstances in which he was shot and punish those responsible.

Army dogs wage war on illegal Palestinian workers
Palestinians desperate for work in Israel will go to extremes to sneak past the West Bank barrier, but now they face a new hurdle –– army attack dogs sent to sniff them out.

Bibi Prepares To Address a Friendly Congress, an Impatient White House
In his address Netanyahu is expected to use the strong backing he enjoys in Congress to counter the administration’s anticipation of a bold new approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

A foreign leader has more weight over Congress than the American president. See a problem here? It's treason.

Abbas urges UN: Recognize Palestinian state, pave way for legal action against Israel
"It would also pave the way for us to pursue claims against Israel at the United Nations, human rights treaty bodies and the International Court of Justice," he added, saying that the Palestinians were going to the UN "to secure the right to live free in the remaining 22 percent of our historic homeland because we have been negotiating with the State of Israel for 20 years without coming any closer to realizing a state of our own."

Palestinians postpone local elections to October
"Palestine would be negotiating from the position of one United Nations member whose territory is militarily occupied by another ... and not as a vanquished people ready to accept whatever terms are put in front of us," Mahmoud Abbas wrote in The New York Times, presenting his most detailed explanation yet of his reasons for the U.N. bid.

Israel burnishes missile shield as Mideast churns
Partly funded by the United States, Arrow III is envisaged as the future Israeli bulwark against Iran and Syria, with shorter–range interceptors providing protection against rockets favored by neighboring Lebanese and Palestinian guerrillas.

Israel Hunts Syria Infiltrators After Day of Bloodshed
In Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinian territories, people gathered to mourn the 14 people killed when Israeli troops opened fire on thousands of protesters who sought to breach its northern borders.

Egypt blocks Sinai access to halt Gaza march
On Thursday, an interior ministry statement affirmed Egypt's support for Palestinians but urged activists to cancel the march to avoid any risks it may pose for Egypt at this critical stage.

Obama's draft speech to urge '67 borders, negate PA's state bid
Obama is expected to urge Israel to return to the 1967 lines while negating the Palestinian Authority's planned unilateral bid for statehood in September.

Hamas accepts 1967 borders, but will never recognize Israel, top official says
Speaking to Ma'an on Wednesday, Zahar, hinting at the possible political line of a future Palestinian unity cabinet, said that recognizing Israel would "preclude the right of the next generations to liberate the lands," wondering: "What will be the fate of the five million Palestinians in the diaspora?"

The Long Overdue Palestinian State By MAHMOUD ABBAS
SIXTY-THREE years ago, a 13-year-old Palestinian boy was forced to leave his home in the Galilean city of Safed and flee with his family to Syria. He took up shelter in a canvas tent provided to all the arriving refugees. Though he and his family wished for decades to return to their home and homeland, they were denied that most basic of human rights. That child’s story, like that of so many other Palestinians, is mine.

Palestinians, Israeli troops clash over teen death
Masked Palestinians whirling slingshots clashed with Israeli riot police in two Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem on Saturday after the shooting death of a teenage stone thrower. It was a sign of rising tensions on the eve of Palestinian commemorations of their uprooting during Israel's 1948 creation.

Demjanjuk convicted over Nazi camp deaths
Now in the U.S., new litigation is under way following the AP report that brought to light the 1985 FBI report questioning the legitimacy of the Trawniki identity card used in the current prosecution. That revelation has led to new court action, with a federal judge in Cleveland agreeing this week to appoint a public defender to represent Demjanjuk there.

Demjanjuk Convicted — By the KGB By Patrick J. Buchanan
“A German court has found John Demjanjuk guilty of helping to murder more than 28,000 Jews at a Nazi death camp in Poland.”

Not until paragraph 17 does one find this jolting fact: “No evidence was produced that he committed a specific crime.”

Israel’s Security Elite Joins the Opposition
It probably won’t surprise you to hear that the leaders of Israel’s security establishment, the people who’ve led the fight against the state’s enemies for decades, are more frightened now than they’ve been in a long time. You might be shocked, though, to hear what’s got them in a panic.

Israel was infiltrated, but no real borders were crossed
Therefore, on Sunday the Syrians penetrated an area held by the State of Israel, but they did not cross the Israeli border. Nor did Palestinians from the Gaza Strip attempt to cross the Israeli border in the south. They crossed the cease-fire line that was ratified in the Oslo Accords but never demarcated as a border between Israel and any neighbor in the south of the country.

Israel and Palestine Here comes your non-violent resistance
So now we have an opportunity to see how Americans will react. We've asked the Palestinians to lay down their arms. We've told them their lack of a state is their own fault; if only they would embrace non-violence, a reasonable and unprejudiced world would see the merit of their claims. Over the weekend, tens of thousands of them did just that, and it seems likely to continue. If crowds of tens of thousands of non-violent Palestinian protestors continue to march, and if Israel continues to shoot at them, what will we do? Will we make good on our rhetoric, and press Israel to give them their state?

Historian writes of 'pleasure' at murder of pro-Palestinian activist
Arrigoni, an activist with the International Solidarity Movement, was murdered in Gaza last month after being abducted by Islamic extremists. He was strangled with a plastic cord. Hamas subsequently killed those responsible for Arrigoni's death.

Former UN envoy: Israel's international status at all-time low

The Jewish Roots of Madoff's Crime
Madoff’s $50 billion fraud, which landed him in jail for the rest of his life; decimated hundreds, perhaps thousands, of investors, and left his own family in ruins, was not a Jewish crime — it was too far-flung and globalized to deserve that narrow description. It was a crime perpetuated by someone who happened to be Jewish. But now, two and a half years after Madoff’s arrest, Henriques’s work makes it evident that this was a crime enabled by Jewish businessmen like Chais, Shapiro, Levy and Picower; by Jewish power brokers like Ezra Merkin, and by Jewish institutions that gave into the allure of easy, reliable, bountiful money without doing the due diligence they owed their clients, donors and causes.

Gag order in case of Egyptian spying for Israel
An Egyptian court has imposed a gag order on the trial of a local businessman accused of spying on his country, Syria and Lebanon for Israel.

Those Irrepressible Neocons
Jennifer Rubin, on the other hand, was just one of those plugging along in Kingdom Neocon (she was a contributing editor to Commentary and its blog, Contentions) until recently, when the neocon editor of the Washington Post editorial page, Fred Hiatt, plucked her from obscurity and brought her to the Post.

Beyond their Commentary roots, the two are almost ideologically identical. And that means that they are both driven, above all other considerations, by dedication to the concept of Greater Israel (a concept which is taken more seriously inside the Beltway than it is in Israel itself).

....So let's not hear from this crowd about the poor Iranians or Syrians or Libyans, or whatever other group they suddenly profess to care about. Better they should think about those thousands of Americans, along with the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, who perished as a consequence of the horrific war they enthusiastically agitated for. Don't they have enough to atone for without adding more deadly U.S. military interventions? Beautiful piece.

Pollard Again By Philip Giraldi
The Lobby has been active lately in the lead-up to the AIPAC conference. A letter calling on Obama to free Pollard has been circulating since January and has attracted a number of endorsements including George Shultz. Last week 36 congressmen signed on to a letter originated by Rep. Steve Israel (no irony intended) calling on the Turkish government to stop the next aid flotilla planned for Gaza, which will likely depart next month. The letter implies that there will be dire consequences, and rightly so, if the ships are allowed to sail. Today the White House press secretary all but commended Israel for killing twenty protesters along the Syrian and Lebanese borders during demonstrations on Sunday, praising the “restraint” and noting that it was a proper remedy for “unauthorized border crossing.”

Arab Spring Fails to Improve U.S. Image
for the most part, Obama’s handling of issues in the Muslim world, including the recent uprisings in the Middle East, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iran and Afghanistan, are met with disapproval.

The Bright Red Line
When a single member of CUNY’s board of trustees declared that Kushner’s views on Israel ought to disqualify him for this purely academic honor, the incendiary topic of where-you-stand-on-Israel was thrust into a place it did not belong. And a majority of the CUNY board, apparently flummoxed by this ridiculous charge, went along and tabled the nomination.

Three Mountains, Different Views
It is doubtful that the Palestinian residents of Hebron sympathize with the Tent of Nations slogan, “We refuse to be enemies.” It is, however, evident every day that the Jewish settlers here actively reject the slogan.

A High-Profile Call for Marriage Equality in Israel
If a Jew wants to marry a non-Jew, a Cohen wants to marry a divorced woman, or, of course, if two Jews of the same gender wish to wed, they are out of luck. The only way for these “forbidden matches” to be recognized legally is if they take place abroad.

Kushner Foe In Biggest Brawl of His Long Career
In 1999, Wiesenfeld’s name was linked to a Pataki administration scandal involving alleged political manipulation of the state parole board. Wiesenfeld was never charged with any crime, but federal officials probed allegations that a Pataki fundraiser had passed names of prisoners coming up for parole to Wiesenfeld, who sent inquiries — and, in at least one instance, a letter of recommendation on the governor’s stationery — to the parole board.

U.S. accuses Syria of inciting Israel border clashes
White House spokesman Jay Carney expressed regret for the loss of life in confrontations on Israel's frontiers with Syria, Lebanon and Gaza on Sunday but said Israel "has the right to prevent unauthorized crossing at its borders." We're still Israel's bitch.

For the Best Argument Against a Unilateral Declaration of Statehood, Look to the Palestinians Themselves
In a March 2009 memo to the Palestinian leadership, the negotiating unit worried that if the International Criminal Court recognizes this truncated version of Palestine as a state before “the termination of the Israeli occupation,” it would not only “prejudice border negotiations from both legal/political and physical points of view,” but could also “weaken Palestine’s claim to the remaining part of the occupied Palestinian territory.”

I think the fear here is that with Israel's non-stop settlement-building, there isn't going to be anything left for a state by the time the Palestinians are granted one, if ever.

Peace prospects bleak for Netanyahu U.S. visit
There is little indication the right–wing leader will, or can, offer new peacemaking ideas to persuade Palestinians not to take a detour at the U.N. General Assembly in September around the brick wall that the U.S. peace efforts have run into.

AL-KHALIL/HEBRON: New video highlights the work of CPT Palestine

Produced, filmed and edited by journalist Catherine Rabenstine, the nine-minute
film interviews CPT's Palestinian partners who are resisting non-violently the
Israeli military occupation in Hebron/Al Khalil and the South Hebron Hills.
Rabenstine also interviews CPT Palestine members in the field, who describe
their work and their partnership with Palestinians practicing "sumoud," or
steadfastness, in raising their families, going to school and doing their work
in the face of enormous systematic violence imposed by the Israeli Occupation.

Headlines for May 5 - May 11

2011-05-27T20:55:00.000-04:00

A Stand For Justice

South Hebron Hills: Israeli military prolongs Amniyr closure
CPT has released a video of the evacuation of Amniyr, a Palestinian
village south of Yatta, carried out by the Israeli military on Friday,
May 6. After declaring the area a closed military zone, soldiers and
police used tear gas and sound grenades to chase away the families who
own the land. The previous day at 5 a.m., the military destroyed six
shacks and uprooted 150 olive trees in Amniyr, demolishing all the
structures in the village for the third time in about ten weeks.

EU approves $124 million in aid to PA after Israel blocks transfer of Palestinian funds
According to Reuters, the move was decided on after Israel on Sunday blocked the transfer of 105 million dollars in customs duties and other levies it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, following a deal to reunite the two rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah.

UN chief to Netanyahu: Do not withhold tax revenues from PA

Hamas chief: We will coordinate all decisions regarding Israel with Fatah
Meshal stressed in the interview that "negotiations with Israel, domestic governance, foreign affairs, domestic security and resistance and other field activities" against Israel, would be reached in consensus with the Fatah.

Norway joins ranks supporting unified Palestine

Israeli PM's military attache skips UK visit for fear of arrest
Fearing possible arrest over alleged war crimes charges, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's military attache opted to avoid an official visit to Britain this week.

Israel Stripped 140,000 Palestinians of Residency Rights, Document Reveals
Israel stripped thousands of Palestinians of their right to live in the West Bank over a 27-year period, forcing most of them into permanent exile abroad, a document obtained under freedom of information laws has disclosed.

...Richard Falk, an investigator for the United Nations human rights council, described this as "the forcible eviction of long-residing Palestinians ... [which] can only be described in its cumulative impact as a form of ethnic cleansing".

Erekat: Israel's cancelation of Palestinian residency is a 'war crime'
Top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Wednesday that Israel's cancelling of the residency status of 140,000 West Bank Palestinians, as reported by Haaretz, constitutes a war crime and represents an Israeli attempt to affect the demographic composition of the West Bank.

EU lawmakers pledge to take part in new Gaza flotilla
The flotilla is expected to reach the waters off Gaza in the third week of June, Greek organizer Vangelis Pissias said at a press conference hosted by European Union parliamentarians in Strasbourg.

HEBRON/AL-KHALIL: Settlers attack family home on Shuhada Street
According to the workers and the family, the Israeli military accompanied the
settlers and did nothing to stop the assault on the home. The police were
called, but never came to investigate.

Palestinians to ask UN to stop Israeli tax freeze
The Palestinian leadership on Wednesday voted to ask for United Nations intervention to lift an Israeli freeze on transfers of tax revenues owed to the Palestinian Authority.

Israeli military demolishes, then evacuates village of Amniyr
On Friday, May 6, the Israeli military declared the area of Amniyr, a
Palestinian village south of Yatta, a closed military zone and chased
away the families who own the land, after demolishing structures and
trees on the land the day before. The demolitions occurred at 5 a.m.
on Thursday, May 5, when the military destroyed six shacks and
uprooted 150 olive trees in Amniyr.

France: Peace talks soon or Palestinian state
French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he will support a unilateral declaration of Palestinian independence if peace talks with Israel don't restart by September, dealing a tough setback to Israel's campaign to isolate the incoming Palestinian unity government.

The comments published Thursday – similar to a message from Britain a day earlier – suggest Europe may be inching toward a watershed moment, joining those in favor of recognizing Palestine even if there is no peace deal with Israel.

AL-KHALIL/HEBRON: The dayafter Bin Laden died.
I was in Hebron on September 11, 2001. I remember old men approaching me on the street, eyes full of tears, telling me that God would help me and my fellow citizens. Other Palestinian friends called us, sobbing, as they described what they were watching on TV......I asked a Hebronite friend what most Palestinians in Hebron were saying about Bin Laden's death. Most, he said, do not care. A small minority were upset about the killing. A much larger minority, himself included, thought Bin Laden deserved his fate. A member of the Christian Peacekeeper Teams in Hebron offers Palestinian perspectives that you won't find in mainstream American media

Israel defense minister: Iran won't bomb us
Israel's defense minister says even if Iran develops nuclear arms, it is unlikely to bomb Israel.

Former Mossad chief: Israel air strike on Iran 'stupidest thing I have ever heard'
When asked about what would happen in the aftermath of an Israeli attack Dagan said that: "It will be followed by a war with Iran. It is the kind of thing where we know how it starts, but not how it will end."

Bin Laden vows no US security in final tape: website
Addressing US President Barack Obama, he said: "America will not be able to dream of security until we live in security in Palestine. It is unfair that you live in peace while our brothers in Gaza live in insecurity."

"Accordingly, and with the will of God, our attacks will continue against you as long as your support for Israel continues," he warned in a message posted on Shamikh1.net, a conduit for Al–Qaeda communications. Wait, I thought they 'hated us for our freedoms'?...

AL-KHALIL: An open letter to Bill Clinton from the Christian Peacemaker Team in
Members of Christian Peacemaker Teams in Hebron were witnesses in 1997 to the
attacks Israeli settlers made on the Palestinian laborers and USAID engineer
David Muirhead. As you probably know, these attacks and Israeli-imposed curfews
caused the renovations to end up costing U.S. taxpayers twice as much as
projected.

Tony Kushner Denied Honors Over Palestine
This week, the news hit that Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner, perhaps best known for his Angels in America, was being blocked from receiving an honorary degree from the City University of New York because of his views on Israel.

Petraeus: Can He Tell It Straight? By Ray McGovern
Iran will continue to loom large as a target for intelligence analysis during Petraeus’s tenure at CIA. What is disconcerting on that front is that Petraeus has been eager to serve up “intelligence” to portray Iran in the worst light. One rather strange but instructive example comes to mind. It involved a studied, if disingenuous, effort to blame all the troubles in southern Iraq on the “malignant” influence of Iran.......

Though Petraeus’s testimony might strike many of us as a no-brainer, not so for the neocons. They resist any suggestion that Israeli intransigence regarding peace talks on Palestine contributes to the dangers faced by American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan or by the American people from possible acts of terrorism at home.

US-Israeli relations: Obama back on top?
President George W Bush, surrounded by neocon advisers who viewed Arabs the same way the Israeli right did, was happy to conflate 9/11 and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Israelis became us and the Palestinians became al Qaeda. Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader who had recognised Israel and worked with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to thwart terrorism, instantly became Osama bin Laden.

War is a Sticky Business by Philip Giraldi
And just to demonstrate that Washington continues to live in a complete fantasy world, wars four and five just might be hovering on the horizon. Last week Senators John McCain, Joe Lieberman, and Lindsey Graham all called on the Obama Administration to get tough with Syria. They had better check first with their minders in Israel since it is by no means clear whether Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu would welcome the removal of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who is, at least, predictable compared to whatever kind of regime would succeed him. And then there is Iran, always the enemy of choice, with a constant drumbeat from Tel Aviv and Washington.

Osama’s Undying Reach by Patrick J. Buchanan
Some yet argue that Osama and al-Qaida attacked us because they hate our freedoms. Why, then, did they fight the Russians? Did they hate the freedoms enjoyed by Soviet citizens in Leonid Brezhnev’s time?

In his 1998 declaration of war, Osama gave three reasons. Americans, he said, had deployed their infidel troops on sacred Saudi soil. Americans were strangling a crushed Iraqi people with murderous sanctions. Americans were enabling Zionists to oppress and rob Palestinian Arabs of their lands. His reasons for attacking us were available online at one point. But most Americans still believe - because they've been willfully deceived by government leaders - that we were attacked because of our freedoms. Lie.

Vanishing American Footprint by Patrick J. Buchanan
Why is America’s footprint shrinking in that part of the world?

First, Americans have never been less popular there, and one demand of every revolution is for a new government, independent of the United States, that will defend the national sovereignty.

Second, we are broke. We can no longer afford the bases. We can no longer afford the wars. We can no longer afford the aid.

Mordechai Vanunu Demands Revoking of His Israeli Citizenship
“I request that you set me free of Israel, since Israel does not want me nor do I want Israel,” he wrote. “I have no interest in Israeli citizenship, I don’t want to go on living here.”

Report: Qatar offering Israel gas
According to the reports, Qatar's Industry and Commerce Minister Hassan Abdulla Fakhro told his Israeli counterpart in a phone conversation that his country was willing to export natural gas to the Jewish state "for an unlimited period of time and below market prices".

The robbery is going off without a hitch
Once again, Israel is showing everyone who the real man is here. It is busy carrying out (yet another ) robbery in broad daylight of $105 million from the Palestinians. And as usual, it is going off without a hitch.

Your Taxes Fund Anti-Muslim Hatred
The poison of this rhetoric was on display a few days ago when a trustee of City University of New York blocked the playwright Tony Kushner, who is Jewish, from receiving an honorary doctorate because of Kushner’s criticism of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians. The trustee, Jeffrey S. Wiesenfeld, labeling Kushner “an extremist,” told The New York Times that the Palestinians “who worship death for their children are not human.”

John Bolton: I care about things besides bombing Iran
Bolton is, of course, a single-issue guy. His issue is bombing Iran. That is the only reason why anyone has expressed any interest in him as a candidate: He is the man who promises to bomb Iran. Every foreign policy issue of our time looks like a nail to John Bolton, and his hammer is bombing Iran. John Bolton = Israel-firster and neocon extraordinaire.

Syrian shelling kills 18, evokes 1982 crackdown
The Syrian army shelled residential areas and unleashed gunmen Wednesday, and a human rights group said at least 18 people were killed, including an 8–year–old boy. The shelling of neighborhoods evoked memories of the Assad regime's brutal, 40–year legacy of crushing dissent. No action on the part of America is taken because Israel wants Assad to stay in power, as opposed to the action we took with Libya for its gunning down of protesters.

Ex-Israeli spymaster opposes Iran attack
Former spymaster Meir Dagan told a weekend conference that an effective attack on Iran would be difficult because Iranian nuclear facilities are scattered and mobile, Israeli media reported.

Dagan also cautioned that a strike would be liable to trigger war with Iran and possibly Syria.

Survey of Campus BDS Finds Few Serious Cases
Jewish communal mobilization against BDS has sometimes been overwhelming in its scale and, at times, apparently effective. In April 2010, local offices of the ADL, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the Jewish Community Relations Council and J Street collaborated with the Berkeley Hillel and Israel’s consul general in San Francisco to devise a lobbying strategy to deprive BDS supporters at Berkeley of the student senate votes needed to overturn a presidential veto of a pro-BDS resolution that had passed days earlier. Intensive joint efforts by the groups succeeded in changing the votes of two senators and causing one to abstain. The attempt to overturn the veto failed.

Amid Syria's turmoil, Israel sees Assad as the lesser evil
"I prefer the political extremism of Assad over religious extremism," says Ayoub Kara, a parliament member from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party. "We don’t want religious extremism on the border."

WikiLeaks: U.S. saw Israeli firm's rise in Latin America as a threat
"Alfaro is increasingly open about his agenda to replace U.S. law enforcement and security support with Israelis and others," the cable said, adding that the move "bodes ill" for quelling narcotics activity and crime in Panama.

Headlines for April 28 - May 4

2011-05-22T19:44:00.001-04:00

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

A Stand For Justice

Prosperous but Unequal: OECD Report Spotlights Alarming Trend
Growing by 7.8% last year, the Israeli economy ranked fifth highest in growth among the group’s 34 members. Israel’s growth outstripped that of the United States, Britain, Japan, Germany and France.

Read that again. We are giving Israel BILLIONS of American taxpayer dollars each year. These are not loans. Meanwhile, across America, cities, towns and villages are having to make drastic budget cuts as Israel PROSPERS (at our expense. WHY? Ask your Congressman.

Israel Acquires Additional Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules Lockheed Martin
Israel ordered its first C-130J in April 2010 and will receive that aircraft in spring 2013. The next two aircraft will be delivered in late 2013 and late 2014 respectively. The contract also covers a number of items to meet Israel’s unique operational requirements. The Israeli Air Force’s new Super Hercules are the longer fuselage or "stretched" variant of the C-130J. At US taxpayers' expense, no doubt.

Egypt urges US to back Palestinian state declaration
The statement marks yet another big shift in Egypt's foreign policy.

The new call marks a move away from Egypt's past compliance with the United States and Israel, which have strongly opposed the Palestinian authority's campaign to win backing for a unilateral declaration of statehood.

Hamas leader Meshaal in Cairo to sign unity deal

Egypt to open Rafah border crossing with Gaza: FM
the fact that the new regime in Cairo was seeking to upgrade its ties with Gaza's Hamas rulers and was also seeking to better ties with long–time foe Iran, was an issue which could have strategic implications for Israel's national security

U.S. Congressmen call for cutting aid to a Fatah-Hamas government
Congresswomen Kay Granger of Texas and Nita Lowey of New York, Chair and Ranking Member on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, sent a letter to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, warning him of the implications of the Hamas-Fatah reconciliation on the U.S. assistance (since 1994, it topped $ 3.5 billion, and the U.S. is also the largest donor to UNRWA, the agency taking care of the Palestinian refugees). For whom do these Congresspersons work?

Egypt sending team to Gaza to help implement Palestinian deal

Gaza demonstrators condemn death of bin Laden
About 25 people holding pictures and posters of bin Laden rallied outside a Gaza City university. The crowd included al–Qaida sympathizers as well as students who said they opposed bin Laden's ideology, but were angry at the U.S. for killing him and consider him a martyr. I will remind you that there are over 1 million Palestinians in Gaza, and another couple million in the West Bank. Predictably, this headline was put on the front page of Yahoo as was the case when in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the handful of Palestinians passing out candy was aired alongside footage of the carnage. Nah, there's nobody in the media that wants you to hate all Palestinians or anything..

Egypt Warns Israel: Don't Interfere With Opening of Gaza Border Crossing

Iranian state TV carries report of Israeli build-up
Iranian state television ran a report Monday saying Israeli military aircraft were massing at a U.S. air base in Iraq for a strike on Iran.

UN official: Israeli occupation killed 1,300 Palestinian children since 2000
According to Prof. Richard Falk, the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Israeli forces killed 1,335 children in direct military operations and arbitrary shootings. He pointed out that 17 children were killed in 2010 alone while collecting stones in the borders areas between Gaza and Israel. They were attempting to help their families rebuild their homes. Israel continues to prevent the import of building material into the Strip.

Surprise Palestinian unity deal challenges Israel
"The agreement between Fatah and the terror organization Hamas is a fatal mistake that will prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and will sabotage chances of peace and stability in the region," Israeli President Shimon Peres said.

Palestinian factions sign unity deal in Cairo
Abbas said Israel does not wish to see the Palestinians united because it thrives on their divisions. Divide and conquer is a strategy employed in the Middle East to lessen any threats, and so too is it employed here in the US. If everyone is at each other's throats here because of party line issues, then they aren't paying attention to the real problem in this country.

Popular Palestinian premier could be on way out
In a sign of what could lie ahead, Israel announced Sunday it was withholding a routine $89 million cash transfer – tax funds Israel collects and owes Fayyad's government – until it receives assurances the funds will not reach Hamas. Fayyad has warned that he won't be able to pay the salaries of tens of thousands of civil servants without this cash.

Israel: Cash transfer to Palestinians on hold
The current Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, said the Israeli move Sunday would not affect the unity plan.

"We definitely will not stop the reconciliation because of these threats, and we are in contact with all the influential international forces and the international parties which can affect this matter to stop Israel from taking these steps," he said during a visit to Bethlehem.

What’s In It for Us, Mr. Obama? by Philip Giraldi
That Washington has become a victim of the internal politics of the Middle East is largely due to manipulation by Israel and its lobby, which has turned all Americans into enablers of Israeli policies, no matter how short-sighted or ill-conceived. It is the US national interest that has been sacrificed in the process. That is the point

....Several congressmen, including Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs committee, and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor explicitly stated their opposition to any reduction in aid to Israel. But the real surprise came in the final spending bill. Israel not only was not cut in its assistance level, it received $205 million in additional funding for its Iron Dome defensive missile development, which competes with US defense firm Raytheon’s Patriot system. Read that excerpt again, folks. As schools are being closed in YOUR towns and cities, we're still shoveling billions to Israel in order for it to continue to pillage and plunder Palestine.

Ashrawi urges international support for unity

As a Holocaust Survivor, AIPAC Doesn’t Speak for Me
At the end of one of my first journeys to the Israeli-occupied West Bank in 2004, I endured a shocking experience at Ben-Gurion Airport. I never imagined that Israeli security forces would abuse a 79-year-old Holocaust survivor, but they held me for five hours, and strip-searched and cavity-searched every part of my naked body. The only shame these security officials expressed was to turn their badges around so that their names were invisible. My hat's off to Hedy Epstein, a brave woman.

Palin, former Pentagon official speaking in Colo.
Sarah Palin will share the stage in Colorado with a former senior military intelligence official who disparaged Islam while helping to lead the war on terror after Sept. 11.

Monday evening's speech was already scheduled before Sunday's killing of Osama bin Laden. The Republican former vice presidential candidate is speaking at a fundraiser at Colorado Christian University with Retired Lt. Gen. William Boykin.

Who Is To Say When It’s Okay To Cry ‘Fire’?
Some people don’t want anyone discussing Israel’s bad side. In fact, we’ve got a whole network of organizations these days to monitor public discourse and let us know when somebody says the wrong things about Israel: JCC Watch to monitor the movies, Campus Watch to monitor the professors, Palestinian Media Watch, U.N. Watch, NGO (for non-governmental organization) Monitor and a whole potpourri of Watches and Watchamacallits checking up on newspapers, TV reporters and anybody else who might be saying bad things about Israel, including Israelis in their own country.

No kidding?

Ending the Culture of Silence
At the Passover Seder, we are supposed to ask questions about why things are done the way they are. Recently I asked some questions about the government-funded social service agency that serves my Jewish community in Brooklyn, the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council

Why/how is that religious organization 'government- funded'?

IAEA chief: Syria tried to build nuclear reactor
Suggesting that Amano had erred in making the public comments, the IAEA later put out a statement that he "did not say that the IAEA had reached the conclusion that the site was definitely a nuclear reactor."

Middle East politics at play in passport dispute
when the mother asked that her son's passport and other documents indicate that he was born in Israel, State Department officials refused, citing longstanding U.S. policy to refrain from expressing an official view about Jerusalem's status. Israel has proclaimed the once–divided city as its capital; the U.S. and most nations do not recognize Jerusalem as the capital.

A lawsuit followed. The dispute over Menachem's passport, a mix of the thorny politics of the Middle East and a fight between Congress and the president over primacy in foreign policy, has landed at the Supreme Court. The justices could say as early as Monday whether they will hear the case.
Another waste of taxpayer dollars.

Mike Huckabee for President 2012 What His Holocaust Gaffe Reveals - The Daily Beast
Huckabee usually gets away with this sort of thing because he is pro-Israel, if by pro-Israel one means unequivocally supporting Israeli irredentism. Unlike the majority of American Jews, he opposes a two-state solution, and in February he said Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem should be resettled in “a territory that [is] in the hands of Muslims, in the hands of Arabs,” which might make him the first modern American presidential aspirant to openly champion ethnic cleansing.

...Huckabee even leads group tours of evangelicals to Israel for about $4,500 a person; naturally, one of the stops is Megiddo, or, in Greek, Armageddon He sounds like a real genius...

Is Israel's Rightwing in Eric Cantor's District?
Cantor is listed on Maplight.org as the top recipient of campaign money from "pro-Israel" groups in the U.S. House of Representatives, having taken in over $200,000. These groups, most of them affiliated with AIPAC, dump tens of millions of dollars into U.S. elections each cycle. And they certainly appear to get what they pay for.

Surprise, Surprise! Iraq War Was About Oil by Ray McGovern
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke publicly about Israel’s input into the all-important Bush-Blair deliberations on Iraq in Crawford, Texas, in April 2002. Inexplicably, Blair slipped up on his propensity for hiding important facts from the public and told some truth, though his indiscretion got little attention in America’s FCM. Blair said:

“As I recall that [April 2002] discussion, it was less to do with specifics about what we were going to do on Iraq or, indeed, the Middle East, because the Israel issue was a big, big issue at the time. I think, in fact, I remember, actually, there may have been conversations that we had even with Israelis, the two of us [Bush and Blair], whilst we were there. So that was a major part of all this.”

Panic From the Houses of Congress and Aipac?
Netanyahu, the conferees were told, wants Congress to flex its muscle with the White House and deliver a strong message to President Obama that his political future is tied to Israel’s. Hence the current “America needs Israel more than ever stupid!” campaign wafting from the Israel Lobby across the talk radio airwaves.

In N.Y. Town, Orthodox and Locals Vie for School Control
In March, the NYCLU issued a letter to the school board, raising concerns about a proposal to absorb a private religious school for Yiddish-speaking special education students into the school district. That proposal has since been dropped, but it appears that it may have been the precipitating event in the recently announced investigation into the district by the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education.

Headlines for April 21 - April 27

2011-05-20T20:30:00.001-04:00

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.

Headlines for April 14 - April 20

2011-04-30T21:19:00.000-04:00

A Stand For Justice

Italian Peace Activist Murdered by Islamist Militants in Gaza
Vittorio Arrigoni was murdered by the Tawheed and Jihad group, one of several extremist Islamic groups that operate in the Gaza Strip in opposition to the Hamas government. The group abducted Arrigoni in an attempt to force Hamas to release its leader, who was arrested last month.

U.S. Senate urges UN to rescind Goldstone's Gaza report
The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution on Thursday calling on the United Nations Human Rights Council to rescind the Goldstone Commission's report on the Gaza war, in light of its author's expressed regret for some of its claim. Further proof that Israel runs Capitol Hill.

Special Relationship
Rice, meanwhile, assured Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman during an Oct. 21, 2009, meeting in Tel Aviv that the United States had done its utmost to "blunt the effects of the Goldstone report" and that she was confident she could "build a blocking coalition" to prevent any push for a probe by the Security Council, according to an Oct. 27, 2009 cable. The United States is Israel's bitch.

Passover brings further restrictions on Palestinians
The Ibrahimi Mosque lies to the east of the Old City of Hebron. The fourth holiest site in Islam, today the mosque was open only to Jewish worshippers. All of the gates allowing entrance to and exit from the Old City souq on its east side were locked or barred shut to Palestinian residents and non-Jewish international visitors.

Abbas rules out Israeli troops in future state
In an interview, Abbas said he would not allow any Israeli troops to be deployed in a future Palestinian state, despite Israel's insistence that it be able to maintain a military presence along the West Bank's border with Jordan.

Israel says it would need such a security presence for around 40 years to ensure the border between any Palestinian state and Jordan was secure

EU grants Palestinian produce duty-free access
The European Union announced Wednesday it would grant duty-free access to produce from the West Bank and the Gaza strip in a bid to support Palestinian state building.

Goldstone report: Statement issued by members of UN mission on Gaza war
We concur in our view that there is no justification for any demand or expectation for reconsideration of the report as nothing of substance has appeared that would in any way change the context, findings or conclusions of that report with respect to any of the parties to the Gaza conflict. Indeed, there is no UN procedure or precedent to that effect. I guess the holdouts here can now expect the pressure Goldstone received....

UN Gaza Report Co-Authors Round on Goldstone
Though they do not mention Goldstone by name, they shoot down several of the main contentions in his article and imply that he has bowed to intense political pressure.

Israeli teen wounded in April 7 bus attack dies
Two Palestinian teenagers, meanwhile, are in custody, suspected of the stabbing deaths of five members of a West Bank settler family, including small children, Israeli authorities said. .....

The two suspects, teenagers from Awarta, belonged to a small PLO faction, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, although it appeared they acted independently, said Col. Nimrod Aloni, a West Bank military commander. The mother of one of the suspects said her son is innocent.

Aloni said the teenagers said during questioning that they "wanted to test their courage and bravery" by penetrating the settlement and stealing a rifle. He said the pair claimed they did not initially plan to kill anyone, but panicked when the baby started crying, endangering their escape.

"My estimation is that they worked independently with no direction whatsoever," he said.

Israel's Channel 2 TV quoted from what it said was the interrogation of the two, saying that they intended to kill Jews and expressed no remorse.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the suspects confessed to a well–planned murder plot from the outset. It was unclear why his version differed from the military commander's account.

U.S. Report Details Rights Abuses
the report spends significant time on the activities of Israel in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. “Palestinians faced violence and discrimination in the occupied territories” from Israel, the report states. Its findings, some of which cite outside sources, include:

• Reports of killings of civilians by Israeli forces in the occupied territories.

• Concerns about the handling of 147 investigations by the Israeli military police of killings or injuries of Palestinians by Israeli security forces in the occupied territories. Few ended in convictions, the report noted. And human rights groups reported that many investigations began long after the incidents took place.

• A report that Israeli security forces had tortured children in detention, according to one NGO. The NGO found 28 children who were beaten and kicked by Israeli forces in the second half of 2010, and three who said that electric shocks had been applied to their bodies.

• Accounts of civilians, including three children, who were allegedly used as human shields by Israeli forces.

• Claims that Israeli forces did not respond sufficiently to settler violence against West Bank Palestinians.

Christians mark Palm Sunday in Jerusalem
Christians also celebrated at the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, and in the Gaza Strip, home to a small Christian population of about 2,000.

Wikileaks: 'US Helped Israel with UN Gaza War Probe'
The online foreign affairs magazine cited exclusive WikiLeaks cables, detailing moves by Washington's UN ambassador Susan Rice to prevent a more thorough UN investigation of alleged abuses in the conflict. The United States is Israel's bitch.

Bachmann: America ‘Cursed’ By God ‘If We Reject Israel’
At a Republican Jewish Coalition event in Los Angeles last week, Rep. Michele Bachmann offered a candid view of her positions on Israel: Support for Israel is handed down by God and if the United States pulls back its support, America will cease to exist.

AP Interview: Palestinians want Quartet deal
Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. observer, expressed regret that the United States blocked a meeting of the Quartet – the U.S., U.N., European Union and Russia – that had been tentatively scheduled to take place Friday in Berlin to discuss, and hopefully endorse, the outlines of a peace settlement proposed by Britain, France and Germany.

Goldstone Recants, Gaza Dies by Philip Giraldi
The United States has long been on the receiving end of Israeli misbehavior. Israel invades Lebanon or Gaza, the US vetoes UN Security Council resolutions condemning civilian deaths and destruction of infrastructure, and Washington winds up taking the blame for condoning Tel Aviv’s recklessness. Repeat that twenty times and it is no surprise that most of the world regards the United States as the enabler of Israel’s oppression of the Palestinians. Osama bin Laden has repeatedly cited American support of Israeli repression as one of his reasons for attacking the United States. The United States is Israel's bitch.

Goldstone's shameful U-turn
Just weeks ago, Israeli military intelligence announced it had created a special unit to monitor, confront, and possibly hunt down, individuals and bodies suspected of "delegitimizing" Israel abroad. In light of this, perhaps quite a few of the faint-hearted felt standing up to Israel was not worth it. Really now. Watch who you confront, boys. Some of us aren't your usual 'fish in a barrel', hmm?

Attorney general: Indict Israeli foreign minister
Lieberman is suspected of illicitly receiving money and laundering it through shell companies.

Egypt orders review of gas contracts with Israel
Egypt's contracts to supply gas to Israel have been widely criticized in the country as offering gas at rates far below market prices.

Ex-NY comptroller Hevesi gets 1-4 years in prison
Hevesi admitted that in awarding pension fund investments, he "improperly favored" a venture capitalist who paid for at least $75,000 worth of travel expenses to Israel and Italy for the comptroller, his family and other officials.

A Civility Deficit? Or an Indignation Deficit?
there is an informal ban on J Street, a ban so thorough that the possibility that a representative of J Street might be invited to make a presentation is not even raised. The curious thing about such a ban is that it is not imposed by mindless people, by people who believe that American Jews must act in lockstep with Israel’s government. There is some of that, to be sure, but more often, it’s simply all the noise that J Street’s opponents have kicked up that makes people nervous. Where there’s so much smoke, they conclude, there must be fire. The aspect of the controversy that most aggravates me is the assertion, loudly made in the Knesset at a recent hearing convened on J Street, that those who criticize the policies of Israel’s government do so to curry the favorable opinion of non-Jews, an outrageous and utterly baseless charge.

Why Christian Women Are Sporting Jewish Jewelry
On her trip last month to Israel, during which she met with Prime Minister Netanyahu and visited sites like the Kotel, Palin was seen sporting a sizeable silver Magen David. According to David Brog, the Jewish director for Christians United For Israel — see the Forward’s story on the organization here — Palin’s choice in jewelry is an increasingly common one for American evangelical Christians.

Poll: Americans strongly oppose some deficit proposals
Despite growing concerns about the country's long–term fiscal problems and an intensifying debate in Washington about how to deal with them, Americans strongly oppose some of the major remedies under consideration, according to a new Washington Post–ABC News poll. Too bad foreign aid isn't on the chopping block. Instead, schools are being closed and other major cuts to education are being implemented. Yet, Israel is still rewarded with billions of dollars a year to steal another people's land and occupy their territory. The wars fought on their behalf are also a major drain on the American budget.

House leader to ask Netanyahu to speak to Congress
Israel = Congress' real leader.

Brand Ahmadinejad rights abuser: US senators
At Israel's urging, no doubt.

FBI Counter-Terror Official: Al Qaeda 'Thrives' After Dictators Fall
Giuliano made the comments at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy WINEP is an arm of AIPAC, the Israeli lobby.

Iranian general accuses Siemens of helping U.S., Israel build Stuxnet
An Iranian military commander Saturday accused the German electronics giant Siemens with helping U.S. and Israeli teams craft the Stuxnet worm that attacked his country's nuclear facilities.

US helped Israel contain UN Gaza war probe: report
The United States worked behind the scenes to help Israel contain UN probes into possible war crimes committed during the 2008–2009 Gaza war, Foreign Policy reported Tuesday. The US is Israel's bitch.

JVP, Harsh Critic Of Israel, Seeks a Seat at the Communal Table

Bibi-Bieber Summit is Off, Bieber Hates Israeli Paparazzi and More
According to Netanyahu’s office, Bieber had requested a meeting with the Israeli leader this week, as part of the Christian singer’s first trip to Israel. Netanyahu obliged, but then — perhaps to justify meeting with a teen singer — invited children from near Israel’s volatile border with Gaza. The move appears to have displeased the singer, as have overly zealous local paparazzi.

Thus does the Hasbara campaign continue.

Headlines for April 7 - April 13

2011-04-21T20:04:00.001-04:00

A Stand For Justice

Gaza: Israel kills 12 amid cross-border exchanges
Several of those killed in Gaza were civilians, including a Palestinian mother and her 21-year-old daughter, as well as a 55-year-old man in the southern city of Khan Younis, Palestinian medics say.

A 50-year-old civilian who had been sitting outside his home died when he was hit by tank fire on Thursday, an official in Gaza said.

Israel strikes hard in Gaza after school bus hit
Israeli aircraft and tanks pounded Gaza on Friday, killing seven Hamas militants and five civilians in a surge of fighting sparked by a Palestinian rocket attack on an Israeli school bus the day before.

...The early morning attack brought the two–day death toll from Israel's ongoing retaliation to 17 Gazans – 10 militants, a Hamas policeman and six civilians – amounting to the bloodiest tally since Israel and Hamas wrapped up their three–week–long war more than two years ago. Israel isn't any better than the 'militants' when they themselves take out civilians - in disproportionate numbers. Yes they in fact DO target civilians when they indiscriminately fire into neighborhoods - just like Hamas.

Death toll rises in deadly Gaza strikes
The death toll of 12 made it the deadliest 24 hours in Gaza since the end of Operation Cast Lead, the devastating 22–day offensive Israel launched in December 2008 that claimed the lives of some 1,400 Palestinians –– more than half of them civilians –– and 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers.

Palestinians to U.S.: Revive peace talks before we establish state
Given a continuing impasse despite 18 years of talks, Palestinian leaders aim to ask the UN General Assembly in September for recognition of statehood on all of the territory Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day War. That would include Gaza, over which the Palestinian Authority currently has no control

Call for no-fly zone over Gaza
World
Call for no-fly zone over Gaza
Monday 11 April 2011
by Our Foreign Desk
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The Arab League said on Sunday that it would ask the United Nations to impose a no-fly zone over the Gaza Strip to protect civilians against Israeli air strikes.

Gaza truce holds after days of deadly clashes
In Cairo, the Arab League said it would call on the United Nations to impose a no–fly zone over Gaza after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that continued rocket fire by Gaza militants would be dealt with harshly.

Haaretz WikiLeaks exclusive / Settler leader downplays comments on West Bank evacuation

MK Herzog: Israel May Take Back Gaza

Blowback: Israel's bogus narrative on Palestinian refugees
Contrary to the official Israeli version, still largely believed, that the Palestinian exodus of 750,000 people -- without which there would be no Israel today -- happened in the fog of war, people like me are living proof that many of us had been forced out of our homeland months earlier.

Hamas warns Israel: Halt air strikes on Gaza or we'll intensify rocket fire
Hamas said on Saturday it would escalate its attacks against Israel to include a wider range of targets if Israel failed to halt its aerial assaults on the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian official: Israel, Gaza militants agreed to a cease-fire
Although neither Israel nor the Palestinians confirmed the cease-fire, a significantly smaller number of rockets were fired from Gaza on Sunday and Palestinians reported no Israeli air strikes.

Missile from Gaza hits Israeli school bus; 2 hurt

Israel pounds Hamas targets in Gaza for third day

Israel and Hamas look to end Gaza flare-up

Hamas makes rare appeal to Israel to halt fighting
A senior member of Gaza's ruling Hamas movement on Sunday made a rare appeal to the Israeli public for a halt to the escalating cross–border fighting, telling an Israeli radio station in fluent Hebrew that Hamas is ready to stop its rocket fire if Israel ends its attacks on Gaza.

Hamas says didn't mean to target Israeli school bus
"It was not known that the bus targeted on the outskirts of Gaza carried schoolchildren," spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters, adding that the road where the bus was travelling was often used by Israeli military vehicles.

Humanitarian Interventionism by the Numbers by Philip Giraldi
By any metric Israel should be attacked first to prevent massacres of civilians as it has killed thousands of Arabs in internationally recognized war crimes carried out in Lebanon and Gaza. That Israel is untouchable on humanitarian grounds raises the inevitable question about Washington’s hypocrisy. A friendly Saudi Arabia too has demonstrated that it is more than willing to use force to maintain its autarchic rule.

Haaretz WikiLeaks exclusive / Israel ruled out military option on Iran years ago
which is why they've been trying to get us to do it.

Latest WikiLeaks cables reveal Israel's fears and alliances
The cables show intimate co-operation between US and Israeli intelligence organisations. Israel's preoccupation with Iranian nuclear ambitions is well known and the US cables detail the battering on the subject that diplomats repeatedly receive from Tel Aviv.

Israel ruled out Iran strike in 2005: Wikileaks
Another telegram a month later, detailing talks between a US congressman and the then deputy chief of Israel's Atomic Energy Commission, Ariel Levite, offered a stronger suggestion that Israel considered a strike on Iran's facilities unfeasible. That's why they want us to do it for them.

Israeli official: We struck in Sudan
A senior Israeli military official told TIME Magazine Wednesday that the Jewish state was behind a mysterious air strike in Sudan Tuesday that killed two people.

Milwaukee County Sheriff going to Israel
The American Israel Educational Foundation is paying for the trip. Thus does the Israelification of America continue.

Ahmadinejad: U.S. seeking to divide Jordan to form Palestinian state
Ahmadinejad was quoted by the Iranian Mehr news agency as saying that a Western plot was in motion to divide Jordan, geared at saving "the Zionist regime from annihilation and tell the world that an independent state of Palestine has been formed"

Sudan says found proof of Israeli strike
Sudan said Sunday that remnants of a missile used in a mysterious attack that killed two people on April 5 proved that Israel carried out the strike.

Time running out for Israel and peace talks - CSMonitor.com
Part of the urgency is the Arab uprising. Israel’s longtime friend and peace partner, Hosni Mubarak, was ousted by democracy revolutionaries in Egypt in February. Demonstrations have taken place in Jordan, another friend, and are intensifying in neighboring Syria, from which Israel won the Golan Heights in the 1967 war. They won the land in war? I wonder if the writer of this op-ed piece realizes that a nation cannot 'win' territory in battle anymore. This is a violation of the Hague Convention and the Fourth Geneva Convention; international law. Biased much?

AP Exclusive: FBI thought Demjanjuk evidence faked
Throughout three decades of U.S. hearings, an extradition, a death sentence followed by acquittal in Israel, a deportation and now a trial in Munich, the arguments have relied heavily on the photo ID from an SS training camp that indicates Demjanjuk was sent to Sobibor.
Really now.

Amnesty urges Lebanon to trace civil war missing

AP’s Matti Friedman: Israeli citizen and former Israeli soldier

New Israeli system alters war against Gaza rockets
Israeli officials say the $200 million "Iron Dome" has performed beyond all expectations, raising hopes the military has finally found a way to rob Hamas militants of their most potent weapon: the short–range rockets that have made life miserable for large swaths of the population over the past decade.
American taxpayers footed the bill for this system.

Lieberman told he may face fraud charges pending hearing
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein informed Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Wednesday that he was considering indicting him on charges of fraud, money laundering, and breach of trust.

Haaretz Wikileaks exclusive / Bahrain King boasted of intelligence ties with Israel
After that meeting, Monroe wrote to Washington that "He [the king] revealed that Bahrain already has contacts with Israel at the intelligence/security level (ie with Mossad) and indicated that Bahrain will be willing to move forward in other areas."

corrected link to photos of demolitions in Amnyir

Ford Foundation, Big Funder of Israeli NGOs, Pulling Out
The director of one of those groups, Jafar Farah of Israel’s Mossawa Center, which advocates for equal rights for Arab Israelis, told the Forward he hopes that the Ford grants will no longer be needed by the time they end in 2013. “I hope that by then, Israel will be a real democracy with equality for all,” he said.

Safed rabbi says struggle to keep the city Jewish moving forward
"The struggle to preserve the special character of the city of Safed is beginning to bear fruit here and everywhere in the country and it is necessary to continue with this here. It has not stopped with one call and a rabbinical ruling," wrote Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, Chief Rabbi of Safed, in a statement he issued this week under the heading "Continuation of the Rabbis' Letter on the Issue of Selling Apartments to Gentiles."

Juliano Mer-Khamis, Activist Who Lived in Two Worlds, Murdered in Jenin
Born in Nazareth in 1958 to a Jewish mother and a Christian-Palestinian father, both citizens of Israel, Mer-Khamis was a unique cultural and activist figure. In recent years he divided his time between Haifa and Jenin. His assassination drew expressions of outrage both from many in Israel’s cultural world and from Palestinians whose cause he made his own.

Did a Private Meeting Prompt Goldstone To Change His Mind?
The meeting, an official parlay between Goldstone and a cross-section of 10 of the South African Jewish community’s top leaders, had a profound impact on Goldstone, said one participant and another senior official briefed on it afterward.

“Debating face to face with the community really shook him,” said David Saks, associate director of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, who received a read-out on the meeting right after it took place. “When he saw the extent of the anger and he couldn’t answer the accusations against him… I think he realized he was wrong.”

...“I think the meeting with the Fed made a difference,” Saks said. “It was a heavy meeting. They went in very hard against him. There were no smiling handshakes afterwards. Avrom’s opening statement was pretty merciless.”
....“It has been like watching an innocent man whipped at the stake,” said Goldstone’s friend Letty Cottin Pogrebin, founder of Ms. magazine. “His dedication to Israel is so strong and rooted. He suffered at the thought that his work was being used to delegitimize Israel. It truly wounded and pained him.”

“His family is taking terrible strain,” reported a close South African friend who would speak only on condition of anonymity. “He told us, ‘If I had known what it would do to my family, I wouldn’t have done it.’”....

Goldstone’s acceptance of these closed investigations by the Israeli military of itself represented a dramatic turnaround. In an in-depth interview with the Forward in October 2009, he explicitly rejected such probes as inherently flawed.

...To those who know Goldstone, this willingness to relax his initial standards indicates a desire to soften the impact of his report on Israel, in particular as the enormity of this impact was driven home to him.

A Cynical Giveaway
They’re cheering in Kiryas Joel and other ultra-Orthodox enclaves in New York over a new provision in the state’s otherwise austere and demanding budget for 2011-2012. But the governor, the legislature and the Jewish leaders who pushed for this special-interest giveaway ought to be ashamed of themselves.

At the same time that public colleges and universities were handed a 10% cut in state aid, the legislature managed to find $18 million a year for tuition for needy students who attend private religious schools. But not just any student. And not just any school.

The lawmakers, rabbis and lobbyists who have been pushing for this change for a decade argue that it’s legal, and that’s probably true, since they took great pains to write a law that funnels the money to the student, not the school, and therefore likely passes constitutional muster in its narrowest interpretation. There's that philosemitism again.

Op-Ed Doesn’t Close the Book on Cast Lead
it is crucial to restate the basic facts: In Operation Cast Lead, Israel killed at least 758 Palestinian civilians who did not take part in the hostilities; 318 of them were minors. In excess of 5,300 Palestinians were injured, more than 350 of them seriously. More than 3,500 houses were destroyed, and electricity, water and sewage infrastructure were badly damaged. In many ways, Gaza has not yet managed to recover.

Demjanjuk defense asks for trial suspension
A defense attorney asked a German court to suspend John Demjanjuk's trial on Nazi war crimes charges Wednesday after giving judges an Associated Press story that uncovered documents showing the FBI believed a key piece of evidence was fake. The witchhunt never ends.

Headlines for March 31 - April 6

2011-04-13T21:39:00.000-04:00

A Stand For Justice

Israeli Gaza strikes wound four Palestinians: medics
Israeli aircraft attacked two targets in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, wounding four people, among them a pregnant woman, Palestinian medics and witnesses said.

...On Tuesday, as Palestinian factions met to discuss tensions with Israel along the Gaza border, Israeli army fire killed a man in the north of the strip.

"A Palestinian was killed by an Israeli tank shell near Erez," Gaza medical official Abu Selmiya said at the time, identifying him as 21–year–old Mohammed Ziyad Shalha.

Palestinian man killed along border with Israel
Relatives of the man, Mohammed Shalha, say he was collecting gravel along the border when he was shot. Impoverished Gazans often search the area for scrap metal and other materials in hopes of reselling them.

Israeli Airstrike Kills Gaza Militants
Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Adham Abu Salmia said three men were killed. No militant group has claimed the men as members but Gaza officials say they belonged to the Islamic Jihad group.

Official: Goldstone invited to visit Israel
South African jurist Richard Goldstone has accepted an invitation to visit Israel and promised to work to nullify his U.N. report accusing Israel of deliberately targeted civilians during its offensive in the Gaza Strip two years ago, the interior minister said Tuesday. They got to him.

Israel to Germany: drop Palestinian statehood plan
Germany, Britain and France support that position, and are expected to bring it up at a meeting of Mideast mediators next week as a way of restarting long–stalled talks. The Palestinians have said they won't resume talks with the hardline Netanyahu unless there's a clear framework and Israel halts all settlement construction in Israeli–occupied lands they want for their state.

U.S. 'deeply concerned' about Israel settlement expansion
The Jerusalem Planning and Building Committee discussed the construction of 942 housing units in the Gilo neighborhood in the south of the city, beyond the Green Line on Sunday, and Haaretz was informed that same day that Defense Minister Ehud Barak plans to sign off on four settlement development plans.

Israel panel approving new east Jerusalem building
Israel doesn't want peace or a Palestinian state because they aren't done stealing Palestinian land.

U.S. committed to ending anti-Israel bias on UN council, envoy says
Rice said on Wednesday that she wanted the controversial report to "disappear" but did not think it could be amended despite Goldstone's admission that some of his assessments may have been wrong.

Israel has urged the United Nations to cancel the 2009 report to the U.N. Human, however, Rice told a congressional hearing that she is "not sure it [the report] can be amended." The US is Israel's bitch.

UN council: Goldstone regret not enough to rescind Gaza war report

Gaza: the Stain Remains on Israel's War Record
Goldstone has not retreated from the report's allegation that Israel engaged in large-scale attacks in violation of the laws of war. These attacks included Israel's indiscriminate use of heavy artillery and white phosphorus in densely populated areas, and its massive and deliberate destruction of civilian buildings and infrastructure without a lawful military reason. This misconduct was so widespread and systematic that it clearly reflected Israeli policy.

Israel to Launch Campaign Urging UN to Retract Goldstone Report
In an op-ed for the Washington Post, Goldstone had expressed regret for his accusation that the IDF targeted civilians during the Gaza war.

"We know a lot more today about what happened in the Gaza war of 2008-09 than we did when I chaired the fact-finding mission appointed by the UN Human Rights Council that produced what has come to be known as the Goldstone Report," Goldstone wrote, adding, "If I had known then what I know now, the Goldstone Report would have been a different document." They got to Goldstone, as they have done with so many others. His report was a HUGE problem for Israel. You better believe they got to him.

Rising oil prices beginning to hurt US economy
The higher costs have been driven by unrest in Libya and other oil–producing Middle East countries, along with rising energy demand from a strengthening U.S. economy. Hey I know. Let's pour a couple more trillion into the Middle East.

Israel holds secret talks with Russia in bid to thwart recognition of Palestinian state
he visit comes just two weeks before the foreign ministers of the Quartet − the United States, Russia, the European Union and the UN − are to meet. France, Germany and the United Kingdom are pushing for announcing a new international peace initiative.

Ros-Lehtinen says that Obama stopped pressuring Israel because ‘the American Jewish community got mad’

46% of Israeli teens: Revoke Arabs' rights

SocDoc Studios - Documentaries about Palestine

Goldstone's Shameful U-turn
"If I had known then that the report would turn me into a self-hating Jew in the eyes of my beloved Israel and my own Jewish community in South Africa, the Goldstone report would never have been written at all." And if that wasn't the original sentence, it is certainly the subtext of Goldstone's article.

Jordan wants to retrieve major Christian relics
Jordan's archaeology chief says he has a solid legal case to press for the return of 70 ancient lead books stolen and smuggled into Israel

Israeli tells citizens to leave Sinai immediately
The government warned its citizens to "leave Sinai immediately and return to Israel," and quoted intelligence sources about "terrorist plans to kidnap Israelis and use them as bargaining chips."

Israel asks for Goldstone Report to be repealed
Here comes the whitewash.

Netanyahu seeks UN help to stop flotilla
The flotilla of about 15 ships with activists from 25 countries is to leave next month to mark the first anniversary of an Israeli commando raid on an aid convoy trying to get to Gaza that left nine Turkish activists dead.

Israeli map shows nearly 1,000 Hezbollah sites
The Israeli military on Thursday released a map detailing what it says are nearly 1,000 underground bunkers, weapons storage facilities and monitoring sites built by the militant Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon. Oh!! It was ISRAEL that provided the map. Oh OK. That means we know it's legit. AHAHAHAHAHA. Hilarious!

Washington Turns Toward Iran as Revolutions Spread in the Middle East
One sign that these approaches are evolving was a March 20 video address for the Iranian New Year of Nowruz by President Obama in which he pointedly highlighted the plight of Iranian dissidents.

Another indication of change was the formation 10 days later of a nongovernmental policy task force focused on developing and building backing for policies that would encourage democracy and respond to human rights abuses in Iran. The task force’s members include one current staffer and another former official with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Washington’s leading pro-Israel lobbying group.

..“No one has been more critical of Obama than I have, but you have to recognize good news,” said Michael Ledeen, a prominent neoconservative writer.

....Israel and its supporters remain focused on increasing the pressure on Iran and ensuring that Washington maintains a credible military threat against Tehran. Speaking at a New York fundraising event for Friends of Israel Defense Forces, Israel’s defense minister, Ehud Barak, said that “it is essential to shift towards crippling and paralyzing sanctions while all options [are] on the table.”
Read on for the other members of the new task force - including more pro-Israelis, not surprisingly. They are the ones in charge of our foreign policy, folks. Read the entire article for the proof, and it's coming straight from the horse's mouth.

HRW Founder Charts Another Way To Probe Human Rights
underneath this new mandate, the clear motivating factor for Bernstein’s new initiative is his concern for Israel. It rises to the surface as soon as he is asked about the point of starting yet another human rights organization: Israel, as a democratic, open society, should not be under constant investigation by human rights groups, he said. The country and the way it wages war need to be better explained and defended.
Read the first 3 paragaraphs. Expect this to be an(other) organization that refuses to call Israel out on its violations of humanitarian and international law. Israel's minions on Capitol Hill and in the mainstream media will shamelessly promote this new 'human rights organization'.

US Approaching Insolvency but there’s always money for Israel

Military Tribunal May Keep 9/11 Motives Hidden
The motive? US support for Israel. Read the 911 Commission report. Poltiicans and media alike ignore this fact.

Neo-Cons Target Assad Regime
Indeed, the notorious 1996 "Clean Break" memo that was prepared for then-incoming Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu by several prominent neo-conservatives who, seven years later, would take senior posts in the Bush administration, depicted the overthrow of Saddam Hussein as one crucial step in a larger strategy designed to destabilise Syria. Neocon foreign policy - always about Israel.

'U.K. didn't always feel safe to share intelligence with Israel'
Dearlove added, saying that he had frequent discussions "with Robin Cook as Foreign Secretary about what should or shouldn't be passed to our Israeli colleagues - and there are obvious reasons for that, because we could never guarantee how the intelligence might or would be used by the state of Israel." The Israelis are terrorists. The Brits were their first victims. Menachem Begin had a bounty on him. Do the research.

A Morning at an Israeli Checkpoint
We are Jewish, and began to weep. How was it possible that our own people, who have gone through such suffering, can inflict this ordeal, intended to humiliate and intimidate another people?

Lebanon-Israel Tensions Rise over Offshore Oil and Gas
Key to the tensions over the potential gas bonanza is that the maritime border between Israel and Lebanon has never been delineated because the two states are still technically at war. Since when does Israel care about crossing borders and stealing other people's property? It's been going on for 60 years.

ElBaradei Threatens Israel over Gaza

Egypt ready to re-establish Iran diplomatic ties
Egypt has long been an ally of the United States and Israel but since Mubarak was toppled there have been signs of warming ties between Cairo and Tehran

Cuba’s Remnant Rediscovers Religion
In 1992, Rafi Eitan, a former senior Mossad operative and current Israeli Cabinet minister, founded a company that owns several large citrus cooperatives in the country. He markets the cooperative’s fruits in Israel. Eitan, who was implicated in Jonathan Pollard’s Washington espionage scandal in the 1980s, has a personal relationship with Fidel Castro through his company. In 2006, Eitan joined Castro to inaugurate Havana’s Holocaust memorial monument — a large seven-branch menorah in a central city square.

New Book and New Guilty Plea Cast Syrian Jewish Community Back in Spotlight
“We were told over and over again: It’s bad for the Jews,” Margolin said, referring to the social pressures on the two reporters — both Jewish — to tone down their coverage.

Oh. Is that how it works?

'US firmly opposed to PA seeking statehood in UN'
“We have consistently made it clear that the way to produce a Palestinian state is through negotiations, not through unilateral declarations, not through going to the UN,” Dennis Ross told the Anti-Defamation League’s annual leadership conference. “Our position on that has been consistent in opposition.”

Is There Really a Goldstone 'Retraction'?

Facebook sued for $1 billion over Intifada page
Facebook and co–founder Mark Zuckerberg have been hit with a lawsuit seeking more than $1 billion in damages over a page on the social network which called for a "Third Intifada" against Israel.

Facebook this week shut down the "Third Intifada" page, which had almost 500,000 fans, but the lawsuit filed in a court here claims that the social network showed "negligence" by not quickly responding to appeals to remove the page.

US lawmakers urge support for Syrian opposition
Republican Senator John McCain and Independent Senator Joe Lieberman said Obama's effort to engage rather than shun Damascus had "little to show for it" and declared it was time to back protesters against Assad's rule. Here we go again. And it's 2 of Israel's top shills, no less.

Headlines for March 24 - March 30

2011-04-06T21:36:00.000-04:00

A Stand For Justice

Israeli air strike kills two militants in northern Gaza
In the past week at least 10 Palestinians, including several civilians and children, have been killed by Israeli attacks.

Dan Rather aide: Crew harassed by Israeli security
Andrew Glazer, an Emmy–award winning producer at Dan Rather Reports, wrote that the legendary anchorman came to do a story about improving Israeli–Palestinian relations pitched by Israel's Foreign Ministry.

Glazer said problems mounted after they arrived. He said they were held up for hours at security checks. Israeli soldiers barred the crew's veteran Palestinian cameramen – a Jerusalem resident – from accompanying Rather to a West Bank neighborhood. And then came the a strip search before an interview with Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor.

UN chief: Israel's occupation is 'morally, politically unsustainable'
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on Israel Wednesday to halt settlement building in the West Bank and put a stop to all forms of violence and incitement, the UN News Center reported.

Israel threatens unilateral steps if UN recognizes Palestinian state
European diplomats have confirmed to Haaretz that such a message was conveyed several days ago. One diplomat said his country did not receive a serious response when asked what unilateral steps Israel might take. Another diplomat, from a European country, said in light of the current deadlock in negotiations, international recognition of Palestinian statehood appeared unavoidable in September.

Drafting Palestinian constitution prepares for establishment of independent state

US casts only vote for Israel in UNHRC
The US was the only country to vote against all six United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolutions on Israel, which were approved in Geneva this Thursday and Friday.

Obama telephones Netanyahu over terrorist bombing
Another stoolie for Israeli.

Israeli, Palestinian hurt amid rise in violence
A Palestinian was shot and wounded by Israeli police Friday after he injured a soldier in the West Bank, police said, the latest incident amid a spike in violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the Palestinian attacked an Israeli soldier with a stone at a bus stop early Friday, inflicting a serious head wound. Police who arrived at the scene shot and wounded the Palestinian. Notice how the AP in this article plants the seeds of blame implicating Palestinians for the recent bombing and the attack on the settlers. The Associated Press is the main newswire that feeds nearly all mainstream news media in the United States.

Village of At-Tuwani honors recent victim of stabbing
On March 19, a settler from Havat Ma'on attacked and stabbed Awad on
the outskirts of At-Tuwani. Awad was traveling by donkey to the city
of Yatta for a medical appointment. A resident of the village saw the
attack and ran towards the settler, who ran back into the outpost.
Awad was transported to Alia Hospital in Hebron, where he is
recovering from stab wounds to his head, arm and chest.

Diplomats: New European proposal on Mideast peace
Britain, France and Germany want the United Nations and the European Union to propose the outlines of a final settlement of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict that would lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state, U.N. diplomats said.

'Abbas would give up US aid to reconcile with Hamas'

European countries want UN, not U.S., to advance Mideast peace talks
The U.S. veto on February 18 of a Security Council resolution that would have condemned Israeli settlements as illegal and demanded an immediate halt to all settlement building spurred Britain, France and Germany, who supported the measure, to issue a joint statement expressing serious concern about the stalemate in the Middle East peace process.

Since the U.S. efforts have been unsuccessful, diplomats said the three European powers decided to try a new approach in hopes of breaking the deadlock.

Gaza militant groups agree Israel ceasefire, says Hamas
In the past week at least 10 Palestinians, including several civilians and children, have been killed by Israeli attacks.

US defense chief defends Israeli airstrikes
Israeli security officials have said little about the investigations into Wednesday's bus stop bombing and the knife killings of five members of a family in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank two weeks ago. No arrests yet made in the case of the murder of the settlers? Was it the work of Thai immigrants as has been suggested by locals in the area with knowledge of this case's background? Strange how it's still automatically assumed to be the work of Palestinians.

US defence chief arrives in Israel after bombing
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Israel on Thursday to push for peace overtures with the Palestinians a day after a bombing in Jerusalem left one dead and more than 30 wounded. So let me get this straight: a bombing occurs for the first time in years just before Gates arrives to get the peace process going, and none of the Palestinian militant groups takes responsibility for said bombing? And this coming on the heels of the murder of settlers, for which no one has been arrested, and just after which - Israel announced plans to build MORE settlements. Sounds to me like somebody isn't interested in making any peace and is looking for any excuse not to do so.

Israel violence complicates Gates' call for peace
Gates agreed that no sovereign state can tolerate having rockets fired at its people. But, he added that "we don't want to do anything that allows extremists or others to divert the narrative of reform that's going on in virtually all the countries of the region."
You don't say?....

Gaza militants fire rockets deep into Israel › Japan Today Japan News and Discussion
Citing gag orders, Israeli security officials have said little about the investigations into Wednesday’s bus stop bombing or the knife killings two weeks ago. Strange that.

US foreign aid faces cuts as China's reach grows
The Obama administration has sought to step up its engagement in Asia, the Pacific, Africa, Central Asia and Latin America. Development aid is a key plank of its strategy. The State Department argues it is "as central to advancing America's interests as diplomacy and defense."

But that aid, like all federal spending, is under pressure as lawmakers debate how to reel in the government's deficit, forecast at $1.5 trillion this year. Much of the red ink is financed by China. The lion's share of foreign aid goes to Israel, despite the fact that Israel is not an impoverished nation. To the contrary, Israel's economy is flourishing. We're going broke to maintain that, to the detriment of our national interest - in more ways than one.

Israel considering annexing West Bank settlements
In a related development, the Israeli Transportation Ministry is working on a plan to build an island off the coast of Gaza, where an Palestinian–run airport and seaport would be located. Ministry spokesman Ilan Leizerovich said this would allow Israel to cut all ties with Hamas–ruled Gaza.

Neocon Foreign Policy by Philip Giraldi
Mike Huckabee, Haley Barbour, and Mitt Romney were all recently in Israel where they pledged undying affection for Bibi Netanyahu and all his political progeny while Sarah Palin is doing the same this week. Comments about facing down the Iranian nuclear threat are obligatory. Netanyahu himself recently upped the ante regarding Iran by declaring that military action will have to be taken against the country if sanctions do not end its nuclear program. As sanctions are unlikely to accomplish that, it amounted to a demand that war should be the next phase. Netanyahu even expressed a preference for who should do the attacking: the United States.

Student-teacher invention wins plaudits at home and abroad
For the last two years, Maysoon and Iman, from Aida camp’s school, grew increasingly concerned about the many accidents related to gas leaks in Bethlehem, some of which have proven fatal. Starting out, the teacher and student experimented with various different designs, including an electronic window and a special gas-leak alarm, before arriving at the perfect idea

The ‘A-Word’ in Hebron
after 14 years, the main street looks like a ghost town, its crumbling buildings scarred with Hebrew graffiti: “Jews Only Buy From Jews.” “No Arabs, No Mice.” “Death to the Arabs!” and worse. My stomach heaved at the hate-filled words but even more so at the sight of the street split by a physical divider, one side for Palestinians, the other for Jews — the larger side for Jews — with Israeli soldiers on guard over the scene. Ofran said some Palestinians, because they cannot use the streets, must reach their homes via their neighbors’ rooftops.

Thank you, brave soul Letty Pogrebin, for having the guts to speak the truth.

Israeli military demolishes village of Amniyr for second time in five weeks
The Israeli military demolished the village of Amniyr
early this morning, destroying seven tent dwellings and a sheep pen.
This is the second time in just over a month that the military has
demolished the village

Netanyahu plays up Iran threat in Russia
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday played up the global danger of Iran as he sought to persuade Russia to scale down its cooperation with Israel's foes in the increasingly volatile region.

Palestinian president meets Hamas to talk unity

Obama Goes to War by Patrick J. Buchanan
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman thinks so. As he said in Paris: “The same principles, activities, the Western world has taken in Libya … I hope to see those regarding the Iranian regime and the Syrian regime.”

Is Libya the dress rehearsal for Syria and Iran?

Neocons could not be giddier. Weekly Standard editor William Kristol is ebullient: “Despite his doubts and dithering, President Obama is taking us to war in another Muslim country. Good for him.”

Perhaps. But will bloodying another Muslim country be good for America?

Lieberman: ‘Precedent’ for Syrian intervention
“There is a precedent now … we’re not going to allow Assad to slaughter his own people.” Lieberman doesn't give a rat's ass about the Syrian people.

Carter says can't bring home jailed US contractor
Gross was arrested while working on a USAID–backed democracy–building project and convicted of crimes against state security earlier this month in a case that has blocked improved ties between the U.S. and Cuba.

Gross has said he was working to improve Internet communications for Cuba's tiny Jewish community.

Clinton rules out U.S. Syria involvement
Syria, if it chose, could cause trouble for the United States in many ways, increasing its support for Hezbollah in Lebanon, providing greater backing to anti–Israel Palestinian groups such as Hamas or possibly moving against Israel itself, the United States' closest ally in the Middle East.
To hell with freedom, if it endangers Israel.

Israel not eager to see Syria's Assad go
"That has been the working assumption in Israel for years: Better the devil you know than the devil you don't," said Eyal Zisser, director of the Middle East Studies department at Tel Aviv University. "(Syria) scrupulously maintained the quiet. And who knows what will happen now – Islamic terror, al–Qaida, chaos?"

81 Reasons Why Gaza Has The Right To Self-defense

Anti-Semitism Has No Place in Islam
The work we are doing is reinforced by our scriptures and by our American vision of pluralism and diversity. As Muslims, we must understand that there is absolutely no place for anti-Semitism in Islam, and we must speak out against all instances of anti-Semitism, wherever they may occur.

It also bears repeating that criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitism, no matter how hard pro-Israelis try to make it so.

Two dead, scores hurt in Jordanian clashes

Syria arrests US national 'for spying for Israel'

Impatient Palestinians eye Arab world in flux
Israel had previously dismissed the General Assembly as toothless, but that is starting to change.

In an interview with the Jerusalem Post Friday, former Israeli U.N. Ambassador Gabriela Shalev warned that a General Assembly resolution might be meaningful if passed under the auspices of so–called Resolution 377, a little–used device dating back to the Korean War that permits the body to recommend measures ranging from sanctions to the use of force in cases where the Security Council members cannot reach unanimity and peace is imperiled.

Is J Street a Threat? Not to Most Israelis
In polling commissioned by the Forward, only 14% of Jewish Israelis said they had heard of J Street. The remaining 86% had not.

The results call into question the stated rationale of politicians who initiated and supported a March 23 Knesset hearing to probe J Street’s activities and ideology. They claimed that public concern necessitated the hearing — especially since January, when the American group urged President Obama not to veto a United Nations resolution condemning Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Israel deploys system as shield from Gaza rockets
Israel deployed its newly developed "Iron Dome" rocket defense system for the first time Friday to defend its southern communities from attacks by Gaza militants after a bloody week of Palestinian strikes and Israeli reprisals.

Russians still intend to go through with Syria missile sale
The Russian sale of Yakhnot anti-ship cruise missiles to Syria is a "done deal," and Moscow has no intention of scuttling it, the Kremlin told Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Thursday in Moscow Thursday, according to a senior Israeli diplomatic source.

Jimmy Carter to visit Jewish community in Cuba
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is scheduled to meet with Jewish leaders shortly after arriving in Cuba Monday, hinting that his visit will deal partly with the case of a U.S. contractor whose conviction has further dented relations between Havana and Washington.

An agenda released Saturday by Cuba's Foreign Relations Ministry says Carter is to visit a Jewish institution. The imprisoned contractor, Alan Gross, had said he was trying to improve internet access for the small Jewish community when he was arrested in December 2009.

On the Run, the Palestinian Youth Movement May Yet Get Its Way

State Police rabbi abruptly resigns
Freilich was appointed as a State Police liaison to the Jewish community by Gov. George Pataki in March 1995. The position, which pays $100,780, was created by Gov. Mario Cuomo.

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/State-Police-rabbi-abruptly-resigns-1305023.php#ixzz1InJ5qZZT

Growing Disenchantment on a Global Scale
And then we arrive at the bottom four: Iran, 16% positive, 59% negative; North Korea, 16% to 55%; Pakistan, 17% to 56%; Israel, 21% to 49%. In all, the samples in 22 of the 27 countries polled saw Israel in an unfavorable light; two (Ghana and Russia) leaned positive, and three were divided. The American sample gives Israel 43% positive and 41% negative — an increase of 10 points in the negatives since 2010

Oh dear.

JCCs Are a New Front in the Culture War on Israel
A small window into the way it all works. Pressure is put on organizations (and governments) to be more pro-Israel, else the money is cut.

The Man Behind ‘Miral’ Defends His Work, and No One Stopped Him
In an interview conducted in a conference room of Palazzo Chupi — the hot-pink West Village, Manhattan apartment building that Schnabel developed and calls home — the filmmaker weighed in on what he thinks is behind the allegations that “Miral” is anti-Israel.

“Maybe it’s the simple fact that a high-profile film written by a Palestinian is cause enough for Jewish opprobrium,” said Schnabel, who arrived wearing what has become a signature uniform: plaid shirt, pajama bottoms and sunglasses. “Maybe it’s because the director of the film, Julian Schnabel, is Jewish, and his commitment to any perspective other than the Jewish paradigm is akin to tribal and national betrayal.”

Schnabel, another brave soul. Kudos.

Facebook drops uprising page after Israel protest
A Facebook page calling on Palestinians to take up arms against Israel has been removed from the social–networking site after a high–profile Israeli appeal.

Yale's Secret Society That's Hiding in Plain Sight
Past speakers have included: former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Senator Joe Lieberman, comedian Charles Grodin, actor Elliott Gould, Muslim activists Tarek Fatah and Mona Eltahawy, Chief Justice Of Israel Aharon Barak, Nation columnist Eric Alterman, talk show host Jerry Springer, and the list goes on and on.

Headlines for March 17 - March 23

2011-03-31T19:39:00.000-04:00

A Stand For Justice

IDF tank fire kills four Palestinians in Gaza, hospital officials say
Palestinian medics said the dead youths were aged 12, 16 and 17. The 58-year-old owner of the house was also killed.

Palestinian man stabbed by settler in Tuwani days after settler riot
Sadly, villagers think these events may have been triggered in part by
the recent killing of a settler couple and their children in Itamar
settlement near Nablus. No Palestinians have been charged or arrested
and it now appears possible that the murders may have been committed
by Thai workers who were angry because they had not been paid for
their labor.

Five Gazans killed by Israeli fire: medics
Five Palestinians, most of them minors, were killed on Tuesday when Israeli artillery fired on a house in Gaza City, an emergency services spokesman said.

Israel kills 9 in Gaza in deadliest day in months
Palestinian medical officials said three youths aged 12, 16 and 17 who were playing football and an adult relative were killed by Israeli shelling, and five militants were killed later in two separate air strikes elsewhere in the Gaza Strip.

PM: Palestinian unity government would kill off the peace process

Palestinian leader: No state with temporary border

Israeli warplanes raid Gaza City: witnesses
I apologize that some of the links in this newsbatch are a few weeks old.

Hamas militants say truce if Israel halts Gaza attacks

46% of Jewish Israelis support settler “price tag” terror, Congress blames Palestinians for incitement
The police investigation into the Itamar murders remains under a gag order. No individual Palestinian has been accused or even named as a suspect by the police. However, the resident of the neighboring Palestinian village Awarta, who have suffered for years from settler pogroms, are being collectively blamed and punished. According to a report by three International Solidarity Movement volunteers living under curfew in Awarta, Israeli soldiers and settlers have rampaged through the village in recent days, seeking murder suspects and the satisfaction that comes with retributive violence. Read the first sentence again. I am not sure if anyone has since been arrested in the Itamar murder case, but the blame is automatically laid at the feet of the Palestinians.

Militants fire on Israeli city as Gaza violence spirals

Hamas: If IDF continue to bomb Gaza, response will be severe

Settlers Blame Left For Itamar Murders
Read the dispatch from the Christian Peacekeeper Teams (in that area) in this news batch regarding the attack on the Itamar settlers. They claim that even the police suspect Thai workers committed the attack. Notice how in Israel, the blame automatically falls on the Palestinians. I don't believe any arrests have been made in this case. I could be wrong on that.

Hebron: An Eventful day in the West Bank - March 15, 2011
A horrible murder took place four days ago in the illegal settlement of Itamar near Nablus. Parents and three young children were stabbed to death, presumably in their sleep.

The attack followed a week of countless attacks on the Palestinian people by the illegal settlers. Houses had been set on fire, trees cut down and water sources destroyed.

,,,,,Yesterday, we read in the media that all foreign workers of Thai and Filipino origin had been interrogated about the crime. From our contacts with the ISM (International Solidarity Movement) we were told that it was a man from Thailand who carried out the attack. He had threatened to kill the family if he did not get his outstanding salary

No Palestinians have been found guilty of the terrible atrocity in Itamar.

After all the accusations and threats, not least from the Israeli leadership, we expected to hear some form of apology and corrections. Instead, it was announced that 500 new settlement houses will be built as a punishment for the alleged offense. In fact, bosättarhåll announced that a new settlement is already being built on Palestinian land, in memory of and in retaliation for the slain family. The information about the man from Thailand has been neither confirmed or denied. Read that again, kids. The murder of the settler family was not committed by Palestinians. Yet Israel still used it as an excuse to announce more settlement construction.

Abbas to Russia: Pressure Israel to halt Gaza escalation
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas asked Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to put pressure on Israel to end the "escalation" of strikes in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported.

Egypt warns Israel against military action in Gaza
He also warned others -- an apparent reference to Palestinian groups -- from giving Israel any excuse to use violence, adding that Egypt rejected and condemned violence against civilians.

Hamas threatens to retaliate for IDF killing of Gaza civilians
IDF military shelling aimed at Palestinian militants missed its target on Tuesday, killing three teens and their uncle and wounding 13 other family members as they played soccer in their backyard in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said.

Israel admits to arrest and detention of Gaza engineer
Israel admitted that they indeed arrested the Gazan engineer, Dirar Abu Sisi, who was reported to have gone missing from the Ukraine almost two weeks ago, the partial lifting of a gag order revealed.

Israel passes laws that critics say are anti-Arab
The first law denies state funding to any municipality that commemorates Israel's 1948 creation as the "nakba," or "catastrophe." Palestinians use the term to describe their defeat and exile in the war that surrounded Israel's founding.

The second law grants small communities the authority to reject admission to applicants that are perceived as not fitting into their social fabric.

French PM: Palestinian state must be created in 2011

UN Investigator: Israel Engaged in Ethnic Cleansing
Israel's expansion of settlements in East Jerusalem and eviction of Palestinians from their homes there is a form of ethnic cleansing, a United Nations investigator said on Monday.

A Farewell Address by Philip Giraldi
After seven years and hundreds of billions of dollars invested, one might note that perfection is also something that costs a lot. As ex-Trotskyites, neocons can be unyielding in their understanding that freedom doesn’t come cheap or easy, even if they have been able to avoid the fighting and paying on any personal level. They know that that’s why you have government and a professional army – to make someone else actually bear the pain and cough up the cash. I'll sit with you at the tomb for the reading, Mr. Giraldi. I know how you feel.

Military action if Iran sanctions fail: Netanyahu
Netanyahu said if military action was taken, he would prefer that it be lead by the United States. They got us to attack Iraq for them (by way of their minions, the neoconservatives - Feith, Perle, Wolfowitz, etc).

Robert Fisk: Palestinians understand Gaddafi better than we do
There was a time when this kind of drivel would be ignored but it is now part of an increasingly dangerous narrative in which charity is turned into evil, in which the one institution supplying help to perhaps 95 per cent of almost five million Palestinian refugees is to become a target. And since UNRWA in Gaza did appear to become a target in the 2008-9 bloodbath, this is pretty frightening stuff.

Egypt report: Israeli spy ring uncovered by Egyptian authorities

Is Another ‘Cast Lead’ in the Offing?
Indeed, the stars seem to be aligning for another brutal Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip two years after “Operation Cast Lead” killed some 1,400 Palestinians, the vast majority of them civilians, and completely destroyed 3,000 homes in what Judge Richard Goldstone termed a “deliberately disproportionate attack designed to punish, humiliate and terrorize a civilian population.”

Sarah Palin dines with Netanyahu, skips Bethlehem
As expected, the former Alaska governor had dinner Monday night with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, becoming the fourth 2012 hopeful in the last three months to sit down with the top Israeli leader.

WikiLeaks: Lebanon army seized Hezbollah arms truck during 2006 war
According to the WikiLeaks cable, the Christian leaders told then U.S. envoy to Lebanon Jeff Feltman and Assistant Secretary of State David Welch that they would approve of another week or two of Israeli attacks against Hezbollah if it meant those actions would weaken the militant group.

Report: U.S. considering strategic outreach to Hezbollah

Reckoning Wrongly in a Massacre’s Wake
Again, were any Palestinians arrested for the murder of the settler family? It is automatically assumed it was the work of Palestinians.

Historic Canadian Jewish Congress To Be Merged Into New Communal Group
The Canadian Jewish Congress, which has functioned as Canadian Jewry’s primary advocacy group since 1919, is being merged into a larger super-agency that is expected to put greater emphasis on Israel advocacy.

Canadians, beware.

Sirhan Sirhan denied parole in 1968 RFK killing
I apologize that some of the links in this newsbatch are a few weeks old.

Hamas protests UN plans to teach Holocaust in Gaza
The United Nations has launched a new plan to teach the Holocaust in Gaza schools, drawing fierce condemnation from Gaza's militant Hamas rulers, school teachers – and even the body tasked with peace negotiations with Israel. Touche.The Israelis just passed a bill denying funding to muncipalities that commemorate the 'Palocaust' (the Nakba). I guess the difference between the two is that the Palocaust goes on to this day.

Victim was looking to build a better world for all
Ahmet Dogan, the father of a 19-year-old man killed by Israeli troops who violently attacked a humanitarian aid ship from Turkey, recently was in Washington to tell the truth about that attack. His commentary, "A father speaks for his son," appeared in the Times Union on Feb. 24.

Penn, De Niro Attend U.N. Screening of 'Anti-Israel' Film
Over the objections of the Israeli government and the American Jewish Committee, the United Nations yesterday hosted the American premiere of a movie sure to generate further controversy with its depiction of Israel’s 1948 founding.

Oh dear.

Helen Thomas: Playboy Interview
THOMAS: I knew I’d hit the third rail. You cannot say anything about Israel in this country. But I’ve lived with this cause for many years. Everybody knows my feelings that the Palestinians have been shortchanged in every way. Sure, the Israelis have a right to exist—but where they were born, not to come and take someone else’s home. I’ve had it up to here with the violations against the Palestinians. Why shouldn’t I say it? I knew exactly what I was doing—I was going for broke. I had reached the point of no return. You finally get fed up. God love her for never backing down, despite the overwhelming vitriol aimed at her. And kudos to Playboy for this interview. What happened to Helen Thomas is yet further proof that you can say anything you want in this country about Christians or Muslims, but don't you dare criticize Israel (or Jews), you're done for.

What's Palin Doing in Israel?
For the former Alaska governor, the trip offers a chance to distinguish herself as more pro-Israel than other American politicians and, perhaps, to make amends for her “blood libel” gaffe in January that angered many Jews. Palin has already pointed out that President Obama has yet to visit Israel during more than two years in office. At a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, she was expected to distance herself from the position of some fellow Tea Partiers—chiefly Sen. Rand Paul—in favor of cutting aid to Israel. You can be sure that Sarah is going to need some Kleenex to wipe the Israeli feces off of her nose.

US politician Sarah Palin visits Israel
Stay there, Sarah.

The ‘Other Muslim’ in Congress
Carson, who visited Israel last August and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Tzipi Livni, has a solid voting record on Israel and attended the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee last year. After the Gaza military operation of 2008, Carson supported a resolution backing Israel, a vote that triggered some criticism against him from pro-Palestinian activists.

So in other words, Carson is an 'Uncle Tom' Muslim.

Sarah Palin: The End of the Affair
At a minimum, we can assume that Kristol’s core operatives such as Randy Scheunemann and Michael Goldfarb will be with Palin for the long haul.

The Manipulative Pro-War Argument in Libya
my real question for Judis (and those who voice the same accusations against Libya intervention opponents) is this: do you support military intervention to protect protesters in Yemen, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and other U.S. allies from suppression, or to stop the still-horrendous suffering in the Sudan, or to prevent the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Ivory Coast? Did you advocate military intervention to protect protesters in Iran and Egypt, or to stop the Israeli slaughter of hundreds of trapped innocent civilians in Gaza and Lebanon or its brutal and growing occupation of the West Bank?

Israeli Government Rejects Orthodox Converts’ Bids To Immigrate as Jews
He added that although Fanny, who completed her conversion 10 years ago, could move to Israel registered as his non-Jewish wife, the Smiths cannot afford to do this. She would lose out on the financial benefit package that only new Jewish immigrants receive.

Only Jews receive the financial package? Really? I call that discrimination. Supremacism.

Israeli-Arab leaders under fire for Libya visit

Ukraine seeks answers on Palestinian's detention
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday it plans to summon Israel's ambassador for an explanation of how a Palestinian engineer disappeared from Ukraine and ended up jailed in Israel.

Headlines for March 10 - March 16

2011-03-23T20:09:00.000-04:00

A Stand For Justice

Israelis and Palestinians in shock after Fogel family massacre

Palestinians: Three killed in Israeli air strike on Gaza

Israeli jets bomb target in Gaza; 2 dead

Israel hunts for killers of sleeping settlers
Ron Nahman, mayor of the Ariel settlement, called on the government to respond to the "massacre" by resuming construction in earnest. He said anything else would send a message to Arabs that "you can do anything against the settlers."

...The White House condemned the attack and offering condolences to the Israeli people.

UN suspects Israel in kidnapping of Palestinian
The Israeli group HaMoked, which defends the rights of Palestinians, says Abu Sisi has been held in an Israeli prison since Feb 19. He is being kept in the Shikma detention center outside the coastal city of Ashkelon, the group said.

Fatah snubs new Hamas Palestinian unity initiative

Gaza: Investigate Torture of Protest Organizer
Hamas authorities in Gaza should investigate claims that security officials tortured a blogger and activist and prosecute any officials responsible, Human Rights Watch said today.

Olive Trees Destroyed in West Bank village of At-Tuwani
On the morning of March 16^th , residents of the Palestinian village of
At-Tuwani woke to discover that someone had destroyed six of their olive
trees in the night. The villagers said that the perpetrators were almost
certainly Israeli settlers from the nearby illegal outpost of Havat
Ma'on.

Israel accused of abducting Palestinian in Ukraine
The Palestinian engineer vanished from a Ukrainian train in the middle of the night.

Now, authorities are trying to verify his wife's claims that he is being held in prison by the Israeli secret service, whom she accuses of kidnapping the man two weeks ago.

Roger Waters voices support for Israel boycott
In the letter Waters wrote announcing his support of a cultural boycott of Israel, he said that in his "view, the abhorrent and draconian control that Israel wields over the besieged Palestinians in Gaza, and the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, coupled with its denial of the rights of refugees to return to their homes in Israel, demands that fair minded people around the world support the Palestinians in their civil, nonviolent resistance." Bravo, Roger Waters!

Abbas: I won't seek re-election in next Palestinian polls

Hebron: Palestinians demand the opening of Shuhada Street
An estimated one thousand Palestinians, joined by Israeli and international activists, took to the streets on Friday to demand the opening of Shuhada (Martyrs) Street, a former thoroughfare in the West Bank city of Hebron. Israeli occupying forces fired foam-tipped bullets, tear gas, and sound grenades resulting in the serious injury of nine protestors, in addition to the many who suffered the adverse effects of tear gas inhalation.

Abbas offers to visit Gaza after Israeli arms haul
Mahmoud Abbas' gesture to Hamas suggests he has given up on reaching peace with Israel and will instead seek internal reconciliation at the risk of jeopardizing relations with the West. The U.S., Israel and EU consider Hamas a terror group.

A Huge Palestinian Demonstration Marks “Unity Day” for Hebron

Uruguay recognizes Palestinian state

Israel gags talk on jailed Gaza power plant chief
While the reasons for Mr Abu Sisi's detention were unclear, it was widely assumed in Gaza that it was somehow linked to his position at the power plant and the successful efforts of Hamas to reduce the station's dependency on industrial diesel fuel imported from Israel.

EU recognition of Palestinian state a 'possibility': France
Faced with a lack of progress in Israeli–Palestinian peace talks, a number of countries have upgraded the status of Palestinian delegations, most recently Denmark on March 9.

Israel to expand settlements after family killing
The decision to approve 500 housing units was taken on Saturday night, less than 24 hours after the Fogel family were attacked with knives as they slept in their home in the isolated settlement of Itamar, deep in the West Bank. All five had their throats slit.

US criticizes Israeli settlement construction plan
The U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv said Monday it was "deeply concerned" by Israel's plans to build hundreds of new homes in the West Bank following a deadly attack on a settler family, calling Israeli settlements "illegitimate" and an obstacle to peacemaking.
The settlements are illegal, not just 'illegitimate'. Cut off all aid.

Israeli PM: Military must remain in West Bank
Barak also told the newspaper that Israel might seek an additional $20 billion in U.S. military aid to help it deal with potential threats arising from the turmoil in the Arab world. Are your communities seeing draconian budget cuts? Do you know how many trillions of dollars we have given, yes given over to the Middle East? This is why we are having to make budget cuts, including cuts to schools. Strange how we don't have to hand Britain billions each year to be our 'ally'.

Israel to build settler homes after Palestinian attack
Israel said on Sunday it would build several hundred homes for settlers in the occupied West Bank, a day after a Palestinian attack killed an Israeli couple and three of their children in a settlement.

Video: Pat Buchanan interviewed about American Intervention in Libya
Great interview with Mr. Patrick J. Buchanan, one of the most experienced and knowledgeable political commentators in America. Love him.

The J Street Scam by Philip Giraldi
J Street really only differs from AIPAC in tone, not in substance. It advocates continued and unlimited United States support for Israel, militarily, economically, and politically. J Street wants Israel to have an overwhelming military advantage over its Arab neighbors and it wants that margin to be provided by Washington. It wants Republicans and Democrats together to provide political cover for Israel when it attacks Lebanon or bombs the Gazans. It does not object when Israel exercises a military option against its neighbors. In spite of the fact that the United States is in deep trouble economically while Israel is one of the richest countries in the world and is enjoying an economic boom, J Street was one of the first organizations to complain when Senator Rand Paul called for an end to all foreign aid.

Hebron: Settlers from Harsina Attack Palestinian Home
At 2:30 pm fifteen settlers from Harsina Settlement began throwing stones at the Jabber home but were stopped by the Israeli Military. They returned at 6:30pm and stoned the house for one hour with no interference from the Army.

PM says IDF to build fence along Jordan border
"The illegal infiltrators from Africa enter the Negev's cities, as well as cities all across Israel; they change the make-up of the population and take away jobs from Israelis," the PM continued to say, adding that "the infiltration threatens to alter the Jewish and democratic character of the state. We must stop the flood of infiltrators to protect our future." The Master Race must be preserved at all costs.

US group fights ban on Israel 'war crime' bus ads
A US lobby group is taking legal action to challenge a local authority's refusal to let it put posters on Seattle buses criticizing Israel's "war crimes" in Gaza.

David Horowitz's Displays His Hatred Of Palestinians And Muslims In General.
He would appear to be an utterly delusional and prejudiced individual. And angry to boot. He writes for the neocon/pro-Israel FrontPageMag.

Netanyahu's exploitation of the murders at Itamar

In Opposing Federal Budget Cuts, Unity Is Elusive
For Jewish groups, in particular the federation system, any change in funding for Medicaid or Medicare could have significant consequences. The federations’ affiliated agencies receive 75% of their public funding — some $7.5 billion per year — through these two programs.

What?

2 US warships cross Egypt's Suez Canal
US military officials have ordered warships into the Mediterranean in case they are needed for Libya-related operations ranging from humanitarian assistance to possible military action.

Thousands in Beirut demand Hezbollah disarm
a slew of billboards has popped up in Beirut lately, saying "Israel also wants Hezbollah disarmed" – a clear message that Hezbollah sees its weapons as a necessary safeguard against its enemies.

Republicans in Congress aim to cut foreign aid
But yet not one dime will be cut from our aid to Israel, the most flagrant violator of international law on earth.

Palestine release: Palestinian women call for justice on Internation
All across the occupied Palestinian territories, women took to the streets on Tuesday in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day.

Hebron: A Call to Let Go of All Fear for the Sake of Justice
Now into my third year as a member of the Christian Peacemaker team in Hebron, West Bank, I think about the truth of Williamson’s words. I’ve been living in the reality of the Israeli Occupation. I daily encounter these Palestinian people whose freedom has been taken from them. The separation wall has turned their towns and villages into prisons separating them from one another. Israeli settlements control their water and natural resources and their ability to raise their crops.

Egypt swears in new post-Mubarak Cabinet
Egypt's military rulers on Monday swore in a new Cabinet that includes new faces in key ministries, responding to protesters' demands that the new government be free of stalwarts of ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

The history of the Camp David Accords reveals that even a sympathetic president could not stand up for the Palestinians
To recall this history is to recognize that so long as the Israel lobby is more powerful than the justice lobby, the United States is constitutionally incapable of being an honest broker in the Middle East. This unpalatable fact has asserted itself repeatedly, with Carter, Brzezinski and Vance, with George H.W. Bush and James Baker, and with Presidents Clinton and Obama. If a trend can be observed, it is that the United States has become even less able to stand up to Israel with each passing decade.

What Obama Should Say to Israelis

The 'Beacon That Is Israel'
Koch's claim that the Arab protests point only to repressive Arab regimes denies the 63 years of repressive policies carried out by Israel against the Palestinian people

Headlines for March 3 - March 9

2011-03-21T18:35:00.001-04:00

A Stand For Justice

Diplomat: I can no longer represent Israel
Ilan Baruch says he quit because "Israel's foreign policy is wrong," pointing to the Palestinian issue.

Should this trend continue, he warned, Israel will turn into a pariah state and face growing de-legitimization.

Palestine accuses UNSC of double standard as its people''s right to freedom being ignored
Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour on Friday accused the Security Council of double standard as it seeks to protect the rights of people in the Middle East, especially in Libya these days, and turns a blind eye to the Israeli practices in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.

Egypt considers easing Gaza blockade, says diplomat
Working with Israel, former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak greatly restricted the movement of people and goods out of the coastal strip after Hamas militants seized power in Gaza nearly four years ago. Mubarak was ousted last month.

Egypt's ambassador promises big change in policy towards Gaza

Britain to upgrade status of Palestinian delegation to 'mission'

Denmark to upgrade status of Palestinian representation to 'mission'
Denmark to upgrade status of Palestinian representation to 'mission'

IDF is preparing for mass civil uprising in West Bank
Photo by: AP

Senior officers now serving, or who once served, in the West Bank say they have long felt there is no way to effectively contend with a widespread, nonviolent civil uprising. During the first intifada which begain in 1988, the IDF used live rounds on protestors. 40000 children alone were maimed, hundreds were killed. At the end of that intifada in 1993, the first suicide bombings occurred, right after the Baruch Goldstein massacre.

"Hebron" Settlers Take One More Piece of Land in Al Bweireh
After CPT asked to see the official permission to level this land for the settlers, the Israeli security guard showed a yellow scrap of paper with a paragraph written in Hebrew. When one CPTer insisted this was not an official document, the security guard made no effort to defend himself.

Israel: No Palestinian peace deal possible now
In related news, Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics reported that settlers began building up to 500 apartments and homes in the West Bank after a 10–month moratorium on settlement construction expired in late September.

Former AIPAC Staffer Loses Lawsuit
In his civil suit, Rosen sought to prove that receiving secret government information and distributing it was regarded as acceptable practice by AIPAC and therefore that the lobby’s claim that when Rosen did so he acted beneath AIPAC’s standards was defamatory. To prove this point Rosen listed other cases in which AIPAC officials allegedly received classified information.

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Report: Mubarak's sons received millions of dollars for backing Israeli gas sales

George Galloway: Gaza war as bad as WW2
Speaking to LSE students on Monday, the former Respect MP called Israel an “apartheid” state and compared scenes in Gaza after Operation Cast Lead to those in the Second World War.

Extradited to L.A., the Abergils Get Ready To Face the Music
The Abergil brothers, whom federal prosecutors label one of “the most powerful crime families in Israel,” face an indictment that alleges a trail of drug dealing, murder, money laundering, racketeering and extortion, as they hopscotched from Belgium to Thailand, from Jerusalem to Miami, to Malaga in Spain, and myriad locations around the globe, including, of course, Los Angeles.

Kissinger asks Obama to release spy for Israel
Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger is urging President Barack Obama to release an American convicted of spying for Israel 24 years ago.

In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, Kissinger wrote to Obama, "I believe justice would be served by commuting" Jonathan Pollard's life sentence. This story was evidently removed at the time of this writing.

NPR ‘appalled’ by former exec’s comments -
Also, Ron Schiller doesn't appear to interject when the two men make outlandish comments about Jews controlling the media and laughs when they jokingly refer to NPR as "National Palestinian Radio."

Mubarak Regime ‘Provoked’ Attacks on Christians
Analysts say there is growing evidence that Egyptian security forces planned attacks on Christian churches and clergy, or allowed them to happen. The apparent purpose of the attacks was to reinforce the idea to sympathetic Western governments that without Mubarak, radical Islamist groups would gain a foothold in Egypt and wage a holy war on its Christian community.

Israel to 'finally' impose sanctions on Iran

Pennsylvania Cuts 40,000 From Low-Income Insurance Program
Meanwhile, the billions in US taxpayer dollars flow freely each year to Israel.

Why Is Israel Aid Exempt From Cuts?
It no longer comes as much of a surprise that the average Democrat or Republican will rule that Israel aid cuts are off the table -- while supporting cuts in programs like Head Start, which educates poor children, or WIC, which provides nutrition assistance to disadvantaged women and their infants. (See this list of the proposed GOP aid cuts for the rest of FY2010).

...AIPAC produced a letter for the Republican first-termers to sign in which they pledged that, no matter what else they cut, Israel would be exempt. And almost immediately, 65 of the 87 Republican freshmen signed on.

Where were the calls for a no-fly zone when Israel attacked Gaza, asks George Galloway
As Western powers look for an excuse to intervene in Libya, George Galloway, interviewed by the BBC, asks where were the calls for a no-fly zone when Israel attacked Gaza. Would the West call for a no-fly zone to support the rebels if there was a revolution in Saudi Arabia?

Do Neocons Want Democracy?
Maintaining the window dressing for their racket is always job one, even ahead of their Israel-first ideology.

Democracy in Egypt
I actually don’t have a problem with recognizing and promoting US interests in the region, but my concern is, inevitably, that it will turn out to be all about Israel yet again given the conjunction of McCain, Lieberman, and Kagan.

Uncle NED Comes Calling by Philip Giraldi

Rather Than Defend Obama, J Street Is Now Pushing Him
Conference organizers say that more than 50 members of Congress were in attendance, a good turnout for a young organization, although significantly fewer than the numbers seen at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual national conference, where more than half of Congress attends the dinner.

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GOP Slogan for 2012: Who Lost The Empire?