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Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines ~ |
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Land theft
Mayor says army obstructing annual harvest
The
mayor of Az-Zaytoon, Sa’eed Shreteh, demanded that official, civil
and human rights institutions support farmers who he said were being
persecuted by Israel's army and the settlers during their annual
harvest. Shreteh told Ma’an that the Israeli army had
prevented a number of farmers from reaching their land west of the town
and asked ordered them not to return to the Wad Abu Qare area ...
Shreteh added that the purported practices were intended to confiscate
600-700 acres from the town’s lands via attacks on farmers and
forbidding them from entering their privately owned land.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=229503
Religious use contested East Jerusalem site as mikveh
The neighborhood of Silwan, which is located in southeast Jerusalem and
borders on the Old City, is one of the most politically loaded areas in
the capital. In recent years, am intractable territorial and
ideological battle is being waged between the neighborhood's Arab
residents and a number of Jewish organizations buying up property there
with the objective of Judaizing the area, which is next to the biblical
City of David. The area is steeped in biblical history, and is
considered critically important real estate for Arabs and Jews alike ... Nearly ever Friday afternoon, dozens of
religious and haredi Jews, equipped with towels and soap, come to bath
in the pool, essentially turning the site into a purification mikveh –
or, Jewish ritual bath – for men. Because the bathing is done in total
nudity, entry to women, tourists, and Arab residents of the
neighborhood is thwarted by the bathers even though it is a public
site.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3785275,00.html
Attacks / Incursions / Fighting
Gaza boy shot by Israeli forces
A young boy was shot by Israeli forces on his family’s farm near the
Israeli border in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday, medical officials
said. According to Muawiya Hassanein, the director of Ambulance
and Emergency Services in the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Ashraf Abu
Suleiman was shot in the spine. Hassanein also said Israeli
forces denied ambulances access to the area to take the child to
hospital. Instead, the forces detained him for two hours, he said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=229659
Israeli jets pound Gaza for fourth consecutive day
Israel's air force launched three strikes on the tunnel area in Rafah, between Egypt and southern Gaza, on Sunday morning. The
attacks reportedly terrified residents, but no casualties were
announced after the fourth consecutive series of airstrikes in as many
days. Israeli warplanes have continued to pound the Gaza Strip all week,
purportedly in response to homemade projectiles fired from Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=229568
Clashes break out in Jerusalem's Old City
Palestinians and Israeli forces were seen clashing near Lions' Gate in East Jerusalem's Old City on Sunday morning. No
injuries were immediately reported, although at least 40 people were
hurt when fierce confrontations erupted there last week. A
standoff began around midnight on Sunday morning when Israeli forces
attempted to evacuate and detain about 200 Muslim worshippers holed up
in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Helicopters were spotted flying overhead the mosque, which was soon
under lockdown as a large contingent of Israeli forces deployed in the
Old City and police began demanding that Palestinians at the compound
hand themselves over in exchange for opening the mosque's gates, which
were sealed overnight. The Jerusalem Post reported that the area was closed "to Muslim
visitors and worshipers" over what the English-language newspaper
called security concerns related to Islamic leaders' prior calls for
Palestinians to "come and protect" the mosque, including on printed
flyers posted around town.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=229552
PFLP: Armed wing fired on Israeli bulldozer in Gaza
The armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
said it fired on an Israeli military bulldozer reportedly operating in
Gaza on Sunday. The purported attack occurred north of Kissufim, according to the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades. In
a statement, the group claimed that both the military bulldozer's
driver and another soldier were seen falling to the ground after the
leftist faction's fighters opened fire. Israel's military denied the report.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=229625
Islamic Jihad predicts 'imminent' Israeli attack
Islamic Jihad's armed wing expects Israel to renew attacks on Gaza soon, an official alleged on Saturday. Abu
Ahmad, spokesman for the Al-Quds Brigades, said "developments" had led
the militant wing to suspect Israel was planning an imminent but
unspecified incursion in "the coming days or weeks." He did not
elaborate.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=229498
Blockade
Israel: Hamas to erect strategic mobile homes
...The Israeli daily newspaper Ma'ariv quoted official Israeli sources
saying that Hamas was preparing to erect trailers near the border
purportedly to house Gazans whose homes were destroyed during last
winter's offensive. However, Israel believes the alleged plan to place structures only
hundreds of meters from the border was actually designed to make
digging smuggling tunnels easier, the Hebrew-language newspaper
reported.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=229361
Gaza students: Egypt obstructing right to attend classes
Dozens of Gazan students on Saturday appealed to the Egyptian government
to open the Rafah crossing so they could attend their universities in
Egypt. Several students told Ma’an that the school year had
already begun at Egyptian universities, and added that they appealed to
the Egyptian government to open its crossing so they could join their
classes already in progress. They said they all held valid Egyptian residency visas and were properly enrolled at universities.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=229369
Israel seals two of three crossings into Gaza
Israeli
authorities decided to open the Kerem Shalom crossing on Sunday
to allow food and fuel into the besieged Gaza Strip, according to a
local Palestinian official. Raed Fattouh, a crossings representative,
added that both the Nahal Oz
and Karni crossings with Israel were expected to remain closed. Fattouh
said that the Kerem Shalom crossing would be open for 73-83 trucks
carrying commercial merchandise and humanitarian aid.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=229570
Detention / Prisoner swaps
Senior Islamic Movement member arrested in Jerusalem
Kamal
Khatib, a leader of the Islamic Movement in northern Israel, has been
arrested in Jerusalem. Khatib was seized in the Wadi Joz neighborhood
on suspicion of incitement and attempting to organize an illegal parade
in east Jerusalem. He was taken in for questioning
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3785244,00.html
Israel releases Hamas PLC member
Israel released Hamas-affiliated parliament member Riyad Al-Amlah from
prison on Sunday when he finished a three year, five month sentence for
membership in a “illegal organization.”
Al-Amlah was seized by
Israeli forces in the summer of 2006, during a sweep of senior Hamas
officials following the capture of soldier Gilad Shalit by militants
from Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=229771
Hamas: Israel's refusal to release senior Hamas leader delays prisoner swap
GAZA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Islamic Hamas movement Sunday said
Israel's refusal to release a senior Hamas commander was the reason
that hinders a prisoner exchange deal. Since the beginning of indirect
talks to swap an Israeli soldier for more than 1,000 Palestinian
prisoners, Israel rejected talking about the release of Ibraheem Hamed,
the jailed leader of al-Qassam brigades, Hamas' armed wing in the West
Bank, according to the website of al-Qassam.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-10/04/content_12180774.htm
Report: Dispute over Israeli Arab prisoners stalling Shalit deal
A dispute over the release of Israeli Arab and East
Jerusalem prisoners is delaying the conclusion of a prisoner exchange
between Israel and Hamas aimed at securing the release of captive
Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, the London-based pan Arab
daily Asharq al-Awsat reported on Sunday ...
According to the report, Hamas is insisting that
Israel release most of the prisoners from East Jerusalem as well as
those who are Israeli citizens, since the vast majority of them have
been jailed for a long time, and some of them even belong to Hamas.
However, Israel has refused to release these prisoners, saying that
releasing Israeli citizens would create a dangerous precedent ...
In a separate story, Asharq al-Awsat quoted a
senior Israeli defense official as saying that Israel knows exactly
where Shalit is being held captive, and that the location is under
constant Israeli surveillance.
According to the report, the official said that if Israel so
desired it could take the risk and storm the place, but the fear that
Shalit might get hurt is preventing Israel from launching such an
operation.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1118658.html
Last prisoner freed in 'videotape deal'
The "videotape deal"
between Israel and Hamas
was completed Sunday afternoon, as female Palestinian prisoner Roda
Habib was transferred on a Red Cross vehicle from the Shikma Prison to
the Erez crossing, where she crossed into the Gaza Strip ... Habib had not been included in the list of
prisoners slated to be released, but after Israel had freed 15-year-old
Bara'ah Malki, who was anyway scheduled to be released, Hamas demanded
the release of an additional prisoner in exchange for the videotape
showing kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit
alive and well.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3785270,00.html
Israel's captured youths: Gilad Shalit and a Palestinian girl with braces on her teeth
In an interview, Baraah Malki – one of the first of 20 female
Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel in exchange for a video
of kidnapped soldier Shalit – talks about her time in prison ... "What
I saw in jail, a woman who's 50 has not seen," Baraah says.
"Suddenly, I became older. In the interrogation, I was threatened and
pushed around to the point where I admitted to things I hadn't done."
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1002/p06s10-wome.html
Defense officials satisfied after watching Shalit video
Defense experts who analyzed the tape showing captive
soldier Gilad Shalit came away with the impression that Hamas is highly
interested in meeting the demands relayed to it by the German mediator. ... The manner in which Shalit spoke of the family Golan
visit to an army base - the soldier can be heard changing his
intonation - indicated this is the only segment of the video in which
the words spoken are his alone. This also proved that despite what he was forced to endure these
last three years in captivity, Shalit was not subjected to Hamas
indoctrination.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1118624.html
Hamas leader expects swap deal within weeks
Hamas leader Mahmoud Az-Zahar said on Saturday that a comprehensive
prisoner swap would be arranged between Israel and Palestinian factions
within a matter of weeks, or months at most ... Hamas has demanded hundreds of Israel's estimated 10,000 Palestinian
prisoners be freed in exchange for the soldier. A major sticking point
in the proposal is Israel's insistence that dozens of these detainees
be exiled to other countries rather than return to their homes.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=229557
War crimes / Goldstone report
Abbas orders probe of deferral of Gaza report
President Mahmoud Abbas has ordered an investigation into why his own
government delayed international action on a United Nations report on
alleged Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip ... According to the news agency AFP, Palestinian Authority Minister of
National Economy Bassem Khoury tendered his resignation over the PA's
involvement in the deferral of the Goldstone report. In an interview
with Ma’an however, he refused to confirm or deny this report.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=229678
Hamas: Abbas cannot investigate himself
...Hamas spokesperson Ismail Radwan said that since Abbas is himself the
head of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), he cannot
investigate the PLO’s actions. “We do not need to form a
national investigating committee but to form a committee to bring to
account those responsible” for the decision, Radwan said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=229678
PA move to thwart Goldstone Gaza report shocks Palestinian public
By Amira Hass. The decision by the UN Human Rights
Council to delay the vote on the findings of its report into the Gaza
conflict - in line with a request by Palestinian Authority - has
shocked the Palestinian public. Palestinian sources told Haaretz that Abbas made the decision to
delay the vote immediately after meeting with the U.S. Consul General
last Thursday, without the knowledge of the PLO leadership or the
government of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, and without any
consultation ...
The Palestinian sources said they believed that the
consul general had passed on an unequivocal request from Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton to ensure that the document remain on the table
at the Human Rights Council.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1118691.html
Mishaal slams Abbas for not supporting UN report on Israeli war crimes in Gaza
“We are shocked today … this is a shame … the blood of children and
women in Gaza will curse those who renounced the Palestinian blood,”
Mishaal said in his speech during a ceremony held in the context of
celebrating Jerusalem as the capital of Arab culture in Damascus.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
Goldstone: As a Jew, it's my duty to probe war crimes
United Nations investigator Richard
Goldstone said Sunday that he was saddened by the fact that Jews felt
he should not be investigating Israel
because he is Jewish. As a Jew, he told CNN, I have an even bigger duty
to investigate war crimes. I probed war crimes in other countries, he
said, so why should Israel be different?
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3785344,00.html
Sderot mayor sends letter to Goldstone
Mayor of southern
city accuses judge who led UN-appointed probe of Operation Cast Lead of
ignoring Israeli side of equation. 'You and entire world stood silent
when 8,000 rockets landed in our city,' he says in letter, to which he
enclosed photos of three children killed in past Qassam attacks
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3784949,00.html
Goldstone to Sderot mayor: Report didn't ignore rocket fire
In
response to accusations, head of UN inquiry into Gaza war says report
stated that Qassam, mortar fire towards south Israel constituted war
crimes. Mayor Buskila invites Goldstone to visit Sderot and 'see that
we are not war mongers'
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3785451,00.html
When the PA collaborators overplayed their hand: Abu Mazen investigates
By As`ad AbuKhalil. This could be one of those watersheds. This could become the point at
which the Palestinian (and Arab) peoples revolted against the betrayals
by the PA leadership. They are in trouble: there is no question about
that ... The accusations and recriminations will begin: and Salam Fayyad will
toss the ball to Abu Mazen, and the latter will do the same. It is not
that this is the first betrayal by this PA collaborationist gang, but
this extent of betrayal must have proven to be too much and has gone
too far, even by moderate Palestinian and Arab standards.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/10/when-pa-collaborators-overplayed-their.html
Letter to Gaza from a West Bank Palestinian
By Seham. Dear Gazans, I am very sorry. I am speechless. I keep thinking that my people in
the West Bank will come to their senses and turn against the
collaborators in the government that supported the indiscriminate
slaughter of your children last December, I did not think those
barbarians could stoop any lower. I was wrong – "Palestinians drop endorsement of Goldstone report on Gaza war."
I will never forget and never forgive.
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/10/letter-to-gaza-from-a-west-bank-palestinian.html#more-9640
Throwing Judge Goldstone (and the Gazans) under the bus - who won and who lost
It took about a week to finish off Richard Goldstone and
his Gaza Report. You have to give a lot of credit to the Netanyahu
government. They get better at killing the messenger each time they do
it. This time a few days of Israeli phone calls to the European
capitals, intensive public relations, and a lot of help from the US
government, did the trick ... But an honorable mention and a big yashar koah goes to the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah, which buckled under "intense pressure" from the US, and agreed to delay deliberations on the report until March.
http://themagneszionist.blogspot.com/
Israel vs. human rights
Comment by Adam Horowitz & Philip Weiss. In his speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vigorously took up the country's latest
strategy for responding to allegations of human rights abuses: kill the
messenger ... The head of the UN Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, Judge
Richard Goldstone, was "upset" by the speech ... "The
idea that this is aimed at delegitimating the state of Israel--that is
the last thing I would want to do."
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091019/horowitz_weiss
Political developments
Mubarek urges Israel to open final status talks
Egyptian president
tells al-Quwat al-Musallaha newspaper Israel should move straight to
six 'final status' issues in talks with Palestinians, including border,
status of Jerusalem, refugees, settlements, security and water. 'What
is required now is political will, particularly by leaders of Israel,'
he says
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3784905,00.html
Jerusalem sources: Peace talks with PA to resume very soon
The U.S. envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell,
was expected to arrive in Israel on Wednesday in order to continue
efforts to restart peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
Jerusalem sources believe that the resumption of talks will be
announced soon, possibly immediately following Mitchell's visit.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1118540.html
Report: Maldives to relay Abbas message to Netanyahu
Mahmoud Abbas recently asked the Maldive Islands president, Mohamed
Nasheed, to pass along a message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu, a Malé-based newswire reported on Saturday. According
to the independent news agency Minivan, the purported message
reiterated the Ramallah-based Palestinian government's interest in
reviving dialogue with Israel ... Meanwhile in New York, while addressing members at the 64th session of
the United Nations General Assembly last week, Nasheed said the
Maldives would use its renewed ties with Israel to assert support for
an "independent and sovereign" Palestinian homeland.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=229452
Refugees
Palestinian women denied rights even in camps
BEIRUT: Palestinian women in one of
Lebanon’s largest refugee camps say that with no rights in the country
or even within their own community, they feel they are treated “worse
than dogs.” Offering a unique insight into life in one of 12 refugee
camps in the country, Medical Aid for Palestinians, a British charity
working for the health of Palestinians in Lebanon, released a report
Wednesday on the disenfranchisement of Burj al-Barajneh’s women.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=107107
Other news
70 Palestinians caught crammed into refrigerator truck
Seventy
illegal Palestinian aliens were apprehended Sunday, during routine
Border Guard operations. The man transporting them, a resident of the
Jerusalem-adjacent Israeli-Arab town Abu Gosh, was also apprehended.
The men were caught after Border Guard officers performing routine
vehicle inspection on Highway 6 ordered the driver, manning the wheel
of a refrigeration truck, to pull over. When the officers opened the
back of the truck, they found dozens of illegal aliens crammed into it
... The Palestinians were returned to Palestinian Authority territory.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3785424,00.html
'All-star team of Israel-haters' at Norway school raises concern
In a move which Foreign Ministry sources defined as
"unusual," Israel's embassy in Norway has officially protested the
launch of a high profile academic seminar there delivered exclusively
by lecturers known for their highly critical views of Israel ... The seminar, whose first session took place last
month, includes lectures by Ilan Pappe, who accuses Israel of
perpetrating an "ethnic cleansing of Palestine" and by Stephen Walt,
the coauthor of a controversial study on the effect of the Israel-lobby
on U.S. policy.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1118684.html
Israeli supermodels in catwalk spat over draft-dodging
She has already been criticised by the military for her decision to
avoid the draft in her native Israel, but now a former girlfriend of
Leonardo DiCaprio is under attack from a fellow supermodel ... It is
thought that about a third of the eligible population in Israel
now avoid being called up for national service and that figure is
expected to pass 50 per cent by 2025.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/
israeli-supermodels-in-catwalk-spat-over-draftdodging-1797311.html
Opinion / Analysis
It's all kosher for Kasher
By Gideon Levy. ...One day, when historians take the time to examine
Israel's brutal offensive in Gaza, otherwise known as "Cast Lead," they
will settle a score with political leaders and officers who were
responsible for committing war crimes. They will delve deep and
denounce the enablers of this nation, the whitewashers and apologists,
those who let the Israel Defense Forces win at any cost, even if it was
the heaviest moral cost possible. The main target on their list will be Mr. Ethics,
Prof. Asa Kasher, the Israel Prize-winning philosopher and author of
the IDF's Code of Conduct.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1118638.html
A story of betrayal
By Uri Avnery. A soldier captured by the enemy in a military action is
a prisoner of war – in every language, in every country. Gilad Shalit
was captured in a military action. He was an armed
soldier in uniform. In this context, it does not matter whether the
action itself was legal or illegal, and whether the captors were
regular soldiers or guerrillas. Gilad Shalit is a prisoner of war. The
denial started at the first moment. The Israeli government refused
to call the capture by its proper name and insisted that it was an
“abduction” or even “kidnapping” ... The words are important. All
armies are familiar with exchanges of
prisoners of war. Generally, this happens after the end of hostilities,
sometimes while the war is still going on. The army releases the enemy
fighters in return for the release of its own captured soldiers. This
does not apply to abducted persons. When criminals abduct a
person and hold them for ransom, the question arises whether the price
should be paid.
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1254590727/
Analysis: Hamas score rare victory in tape swap
JERUSALEM (AFP) – The release of 19 Palestinian women prisoners in
exchange for a brief video clip of a captured Israeli soldier has
handed a much-need victory to the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, analysts said on Sunday. In the three years since Hamas captured the now 23-year-old Gilad Shalit
the group has endured two massive military offensives, long periods of
near-daily Israeli raids and a crippling economic blockade enforced by Israel and Egypt. But now Hamas can boast that for the first time since taking power of Gaza
in June 2007 it has compelled Israel to release prisoners -- not as a
gesture to encourage peace talks, but as the hard-won fruit of armed
struggle.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091004/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictprisonerhamas
Analysis: Palestinians simmer, but no Intifada for now
By Mohammerd Assadi. * Palestinian anger may take years to erupt *
Dahlan wary that new uprising could hurt Palestinians * Demonstrations,
clashes could become more common -- JERUSALEM, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Peace
talks with Israel are in deadlock
and tear gas and rocks are flying at Jerusalem's holy sites, but for
all the mounting frustration in the West Bank talk of a Third Intifada
seems premature to most Palestinians.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L1117612.htm
Among the Shministim - excommunication and self-hatred
By Philip Weiss. More on the Shministim’s tour:
...They did not dwell on their personal stories. They are using their
visit to educate people about the conflict, and the dispossession of
the Palestinians. On this score they were eloquent and ferocious,
showing maps of partition and of checkpoints and settlements ... Netta
said that she loves being an Israeli but does not want to be a
patriot, and that her worst encounters were with American Jews with
their Israel patriotism. "It is realy hard and really painful," she
said, "and sometimes I even cry," when people criticize her for not
caring about Israel, when their only connection to Israel is the Star
of David on their neck. And meanwhile through the lobby–a word she
didn’t use–they are exercising some kind of "control" of Israeli
policy. Yes, Netta, it’s about dual loyalty, and the parallel
mental/policy universe it creates.
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/10/among-the-shministim-excommunication-and-self-hatred.html
Book review: Gannet Ankori's Palestinian Art
Divided into four parts, "Foundations," "Earth and Sky," "Body and Home" and "Being Arab in Israel," Palestinian Art
largely focuses on artists working after 1948. With the exception of
"Foundations," which provides a quick overview of the formation of
Palestinian art before and immediately after the Nakba, or
dispossession, Ankori narrows her investigation to a small number of
artists, weaving together extensive analysis of their work within a
larger framework of what she calls "Dis-Orientalism."
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10808.shtml
alternate universe department: End the Arab occupation of Israel
By Ron Breiman. ...Most of the Arabs in the Land of Israel immigrated
here after our waves of aliyah. In other words, Zionism and the
prosperity it engendered spawned "the Palestinian people." Since the
Arab occupation of the Land of Israel in the seventh century, and
throughout the centuries of Muslim occupation, not one of the occupiers
viewed this land as anything more than a distant imperial outpost.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1118635.html
Israel's vile anti-miscegenation squads
By Seth Freedman. When the police lend support to vigilante groups
hounding Jewish-Arab couples, what hope is there for coexistence? ...
Were the shoe to be on the other foot, with Jews singled out for such
base racial discrimination, the same people supporting such behaviour
now against Arabs would rightly be up in arms and demanding justice in
the name of the persecuted. But, of course, this is Israel, and
therefore somehow "different" and "unique" – the standard retorts of
those unable to defend Israeli crimes with any semblance of rational
debate.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/sep/29/israel-jewish-arab-couples
Iraq
Saturday: 3 Iraqis killed, 8 wounded
Excerpt: At least three Iraqis were killed and eight Iraqis were wounded in light violence. Meanwhile, the sudden exit of U.S. troops from Anbar province has become a local scandal for chiefs who feel abandoned by the absence. Also, an International Monetary Fund official said the IMF would likely approve $7 billion loan to Iraq. In Mosul, a woman’s severed head was discovered. Gunmen killed a traffic policeman and a civilian in separate incidents. Security forces have arrested between 100-150 in the latest regional crackdown, but many are already presumed innocent. A munitions depot was found. An al-Qaeda suspect was arrested. In Baghdad, a bomb wounded an electricity official and his driver in Adhamiya; at least two others were wounded. The parliament building was evacuated during a bomb scare. A sticky bomb injured
three people in Ramadi, including the mayor of Haditha.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2009/10/03/saturday-1-iraqi-killed-6-wounded/
Sunday: 4 Iraqis killed, 11 wounded
At least four Iraqis were killed 11 more were wounded
across the country. One of the dead belonged to a group of escapees. In Baghdad, a bomb killed one
person and wounded four more in the Mashtal neighborhood. Gunmen in Amin
killed a policeman. A fuel
truck exploded near the airport, where the blast wounded
five guards; the cause is under investigation. In Mosul, a bomb killed a
trucker. Two bombs wounded
two civilians near Nasariya. An Awakening Council in Samarra found two of the Tikrit
jail escapees. They killed
one and detained the other. The dead man was facing the death penalty. Twenty suspects were arrested across Basra
province. Two I.E.D.s were defused in separate locations
near Amara. [End]
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2009/10/04/sunday-4-iraqis-killed-11-wounded/
Iran
IAEA to inspect Iran's Qom site October 25
UN nuclear
watchdog director tells reporters in Tehran that Iran's relations with
West moving from 'conspiracy' to 'cooperation', nuclear dispute could
be solved through diplomacy
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3785204,00.html
Obama aide: Iran not closer to nuclear bomb
In interview with CBS's 'Face the Nation', National Security adviser
Jones dismisses IAEA's conclusion that Tehran has 'sufficient
information' to produce bomb, says dispute over nuclear program
shifting to cooperation
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3785429,00.html
Audio: Scott Horton interviews Scott Ritter
Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter discusses the overblown “gotcha” revelation of the “secret”
Iranian nuclear facility, how the wonkish debate over IAEA Additional
Protocol minutiae turned into accusations that Iran is building nukes,
the secret Saudi, U.K. and U.S. funding of opposition candidates in the
Iranian election and the likely disastrous results of a war with Iran.
http://antiwar.com/radio/2009/09/30/scott-ritter-9/
Iran, Israel, and the muzzled US press
by Faramarz Farbod. "Iran must comply with United Nations resolutions," declared President
Obama. Iran is "as defiant as ever" says a chorus of corporate
employees otherwise known as mainstream journalists. Really! Is Iran
defiant for testing missiles for its military? What military in the
world fails to test missiles? Is Iran defiant for reporting the
construction of a "secret underground" uranium enrichment plant at
least a year in advance of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
obligations require it to?
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/10/03-1
'Israel hands Kremlin list of Russians helping Iran build nukes'
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave Moscow a list
of Russian scientists Israel believes are helping Iran in its quest to
build nuclear weapons, the Times reported on Saturday.
According to the report, Netanyahu delivered the list when he paid a secret, undisclosed trip to Moscow last month. The Times report quotes a source as saying that Netanyahu presented
"concrete evidence" Russians are helping Iran build the bomb, and that
Israel kept the list private in order to spare Moscow political
embarrassment.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1118539.html
Israel silent on Iranian nuclear talks
JERUSALEM, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Long strident in its calls for tougher
international action over Iran's nuclear programme, Israel has fallen
silent as world powers try to convert last week's talks with Tehran
into a lasting deal. Israeli officials have declined comment on
Thursday's meeting in Geneva, which yielded agreements to open a newly
disclosed Iranian uranium enrichment site to inspection and follow-up
negotiations.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L4536462.htm
Debunking of the Telegraph's story about Ahmadinejad's Jewish family roots
By Cyrus Safdari. ...First of all, Iranian Jews have been around longer than there have been
Jews in most of Europe. There are really no such things as
"Jewish-only" names --Sarah, David, Abraham are all pretty common names
in Iran ... I have to wonder why the Telegraph decided that today was a good time
to promote this claim about Ahmadinejad secretly being a Jew when the
whole story goes back about a year ago when one of his detractor's sons posted it onto his blog
http://www.iranaffairs.com/iran_affairs/2009/10/ahmadinejad-secretly-jewishoi-vey-lol.html
Other Mideast
Hizbullah demonstrates against Al-Aqsa unrest
Hizbullah organized a demonstration
on Friday to protest against the recent violence that erupted in the
Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied Jerusalem. The protest took place
during Friday prayers at the Al-Qaem Mosque amid tight security in
Dahiyeh, or the southern suburbs of Beirut.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=107111
Yemen: Children in north suffer severe malnutrition
SANAA,
4 October 2009 (IRIN) - Many children in the impoverished northern
governorates of Yemen, particularly Saada, are suffering severe
malnutrition as a result of food price hikes and limited access to food
because of escalating violence between the army and rebels, according
to UN and Yemeni government officials.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86423
U.S.
Poll: US Jews Obama's biggest supporters
WASHINGTON-
While support for US President Barack Obama in Israel is at an all-time
low, American Jews continue to be the number one supporters of the
President among the American public. According to a survey published by
Gallup Poll during the weekend, 64% of US Jews support Obama, compared
with only 52% of all Americans.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3784974,00.html |
| For further information contact Shadi Fadda |
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