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.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Headlines for July 7 - July 13
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
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
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Headlines for June 30 - July 6
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.
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.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Headlines for June 23 - June 29
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
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
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