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Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines ~ |
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Settlements/Land Theft and Destruction
Witnesses: Settlers bulldoze land for settlement expansion
Salfit
- Ma’an - Accompanied by soldiers, Israeli settlers driving bulldozers
destroyed the Neweitef Al-Majur spring, the central water source for
residents of the nearby West Bank town of Qarawat Bani Hassan on
Thursday, locals reported.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=251117
Israel’s East Jerusalem Linked Settlement Expansion, Stephen Lendman
On
February 1, 2009, the International Solidarity Movement reported that
Israel continues its E 1 area homes and infrastructure work that
includes linking its Ma’ale Adummim settlement with East Jerusalem and
other settlements around it. It said Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, while
in office, promised to expand E 1 development — the land northeast of
Jerusalem, west of Ma’ale Adummim comprising about 12 square
kilometers, all of it illegally annexed.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/12/israels-east-jerusalem-linked-settlement-expansion/
‘Israeli Settlements Killing Two-State Solution’, Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendle
JERUSALEM
— In the absence of any progress towards peace between Israelis and
Palestinians, leaders of the Palestinian Authority (PA) are adopting a
reasonable approach as a way of building up international pressure on
Israel to get it back to the negotiating table.
http://original.antiwar.com/kessel-klohendler/2009/12/30/israeli-settlements-killing-two-state-solution/
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment
Egypt has a 'Wall of Shame' & a 'pyramid of honor' ...
http://friday-lunch-club.blogspot.com/2009/12/egypt-has-wall-of-shame-pyramid-of.html
Press
release: Protesters are being brutalized in Tahir Square right now –
500+ protesters violently forced into pens, others barricaded in their
hotels
Members of the Gaza Freedom March are being forcibly detained in hotels
around town (Lotus, Liala) as well as violently forced into pens in
Tahir Square by Egyptian police and additional security forces. Reports
of police brutality are flooding a delegate legal hotline faster than
the legal support team can answer the calls. The reports span from
women being kicked, beaten to the ground and dragged into pens, at
least one confirmed account of broken ribs, and many left bloody. The
assault is ongoing, legal team and other spokespeople can be reached at
the Nile Hotel or by contacting the phone numbers listed above.
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/12/press-release-protesters-are-being-brutalized-in-tahir-square-right-now
-500-protesters-violently-forced-into-pens-others-barricaded-in-their-hotels.html
Update from protests in Gaza and at the Erez checkpoint
All along the idea for the Gaza Freedom March was that there would be a
march inside Gaza once the delegation arrived, and a concurrent march
to the Erez checkpoint on the Israeli side of the checkpoint. Although
most of the Gaza Freedom March delegation did not go to Gaza from
Cairo, the marches still took place. The photo above is the from the
Erez checkpoint, and here is a report we just received about the Gaza
march...
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/12/update-from-protests-in-gaza-and-at-the-erez-checkpoint.html
Protests held against Gaza siege
Activists,
both from Gaza and abroad, have held demonstrations on either side of
an Israeli border crossing to the Palestinian territory, protesting
against its continued siege by Israel. Hundreds of protesters gathered
around the Erez crossing on Thursday, to denounce the blockade that has
caused immense suffering to those living in Gaza.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2009/12/200912319314796808.html
Cairo meets the movement, with tears and chaos and exaltation, Philip Weiss
Today
the Gaza Freedom March fragmented slightly when in the face of stern
opposition from their fellows about 80 people headed off to Gaza on
buses, the rest staying in Cairo. But wait, weren’t you trying to go
to Gaza? Yes, but it has been quite a drama. How to state this clearly…
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/12/the-movement-meets-cairo-with-tears-and-chaos-and-renewed-vigor.html
Galloway: I refuse any kind of coordination with Israel
George
Galloway stated that he had received two weeks ago an Egyptian letter
demanding that he obtains an Israeli approval before allowing the
Lifeline 3 convoy to pass into the Gaza Strip.
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/12/the-movement-meets-cairo-with-tears-and-chaos-and-renewed-vigor.html
Gaza Freedom March
We
are in the Middle East, seeking a nonviolent solution to the blockade
of Gaza. Free Gaza actions are occurring all over Cairo, and so the
police, who are often in riot gear, have had a busy day—they show up
wherever we go. They are incredibly young, maybe 18 or 19. Typically,
they surround us with moveable steel fences, which they line up behind
and they watch us with what seems to be curiosity, not malice.
However, their innocent appearance doesn't mean they won't become
aggressive; police today were very rough with several Spanish
protesters. As internationals, though, we have great protection not
enjoyed by locals. Some Egyptians have joined in these protests, and we
find their courage astounding.
http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticlePrint/23505
The Entire World Demands: Freedom for Gaza!
It
is already possible to attribute one achievement to the Gaza Freedom
March: the Gaza Strip and its 1.5 million inhabitants have come out of
the forgotten world. Since the massacre committed by the Israeli
military, one year ago, it is as if the land had swallowed up Gaza. No
one spoke about the horrific blockade which transformed Gaza into the
world’s largest prison, or the human suffering that bordered on a
humanitarian crisis, or the lack of food, water and medicines, and
principally about Gaza’s disconnect from the West Bank. From the moment
that Israeli war planes stopped their bombings and the massive barrages
of artillery stopped falling, Gaza ceased to interest the world, as if
the blockade is normal for the women, men, children and elderly that
populate the area.
http://www.alternativenews.org/michael-warschawski.html
Israeli Arab MK: Barak enjoys classical music and killing Gaza children
Some
1,000 people, among them all of Israel's Arab MKs and community
leaders, gathered Thursday at the Israeli side of the Gaza border to
express solidarity with the residents of Gaza, one year after Israel's
offensive there. MK Taleb A-Sana relayed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh's
message to the Israeli side via a mobile phone.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1139054.html
Join the rally to free Jamal and the anti-Wall prisoners!
December
31st, 2009-- January 4 is date of Jamal’s court hearing. The gathering
outside the court will remind Israeli authorities that we will not sit
silently while they attempt to repress those who are speaking out
against the Wall. Join the rally outside the Russian Compound,
Jerusalem on 4 January 2010 at 9 am!
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2149.shtml
Take action now for Jamal and the anti-Wall prisoners!
December
31st, 2009-- Wondering how you can you support the release of Jamal
Juma’, Mohammad Othman, Abdallah Abu Rahma and the other anti-Wall
prisoners? Starting this New Year’s Eve, Stop the Wall will be
collecting photos from across the world to use at Jamal’s January 4th
trial. We are also asking you to continue your letter writing, this
time to the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2148.shtml
Release Abdallah Abu Rahmah and other leaders and members of the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements
Abdallah
Abu Rahmah, a leader of the Bil’in Popular Committee
Against the Wall and Settlements, was arrested at his home during a
military operation in Ramallah by the Israeli Army on December 10.
FFIPP interns and members of faculty delegations know Abdallah Abu
Rahmah well. For the past two years, he has received our students and
faculty at his home in Bil’in and has taken them to see the Separation
Wall on the village’s land.
http://palsolidarity.org/2009/12/10164
As
world's attention turns to Gaza, apartheid, settlements, and crack down
on nonviolent resistance in the West Bank and East Jerusalem
One year since Israel unleashed "Operation Cast Lead," Israel's 22-day
assault against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip which killed
more than 1,400 Palestinians, injured thousands more, and destroyed
billions of dollars of Palestinian civilian infrastructure, the world's
attention is once again falling on Gaza as more than 1300 Gaza Freedom Marchers continue to make headlines in Cairo...with good reason.
http://endtheoccupationblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/as-worlds-attention-returns-to-gaza.html
3 (More) Things You Can Do For Justice and Accountability for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip
Yesterday, we issued an action alert
with five things you can do to support the Gaza Freedom March,
including contacting the State Department, joining a solidarity action,
and using our resources to take action in the media and with Congress.
But as the Gaza Freedom March steering committee says, "the march
itself is not supposed to be only a symbolic gesture, but rather a part
of a series of events which will lead to the end of the siege, once and
for all." Here are some more ideas for action you can take to hold the
U.S., Israel, and corporate actors accountable for the destruction they
have wrought in the Gaza Strip:
http://endtheoccupationblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/more-gaza-freedom-march-updates-and.html
Breaking Palestine's peaceful protest, Neve Gordon
"Why,"
I have often been asked, "haven't the Palestinians established a peace
movement like the Israeli Peace Now?" The question itself is
problematic, being based on many erroneous assumptions, such as the
notion that there is symmetry between the two sides and that Peace Now
has been a politically effective movement. Most important, though, is
the false supposition that Palestinians have indeed failed to create a
pro-peace popular movement.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/newsfull.php?newid=316814
Blogging beneath the bombs: An interview with Sharyn Lock
Activist
Sharyn Lock sailed to Gaza on the first "Break the Siege" boat with the
Free Gaza Movement in 2008. During Israel's winter attacks last year,
Lock documented the invasion on her blog "Tales to Tell." Her writing
has recently been published in the short book Gaza: Beneath the Bombs.
The Electronic Intifada contributor Arwa Aburawa interviewed lock about
her experience in Gaza.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10980.shtml
Violence and Aggression/Detainees
Witnesses: Soldiers assault cab driver, mock beard
Bethlehem
– Ma’an – A Jerusalemite cab driver was stopped at the Bethlehem DCO on
Thursday by soldiers who audibly mocked his beard, witnesses told
Ma'an. The man, 37-year-old Nasser Muhammad Aton from Sur Baher, was
beaten with rifle butts at the top of the Beit Jala hill where the
Israeli District Coordination Office stands.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=251019
Israeli jails holding 7,500 Palestinians: ministry (AFP)
AFP
- At least 7,500 Palestinians were being held in Israeli jails and
detention facilities at the end of 2009, the Palestinian Authority said
on Thursday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091231/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictpalestinianprisoner
Humanitarian/Human Rights/Siege
Tadamun: IOF killed 1,594 Palestinians in 2009
The
international Tadamun (solidarity) institution for human rights has
said that the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) had killed 1,594
Palestinians in 2009 including 473 children and 126 women.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
UN expert repeats call for threat of sanctions against Israel over Gaza blockade
29
December 2009 – The United Nations independent expert on Palestinian
rights has again called for a threat of economic sanctions against
Israel to force it to lift its blockade of Gaza, which is preventing
the return to a normal life for 1.5 million residents after the
devastating Israeli offensive a year ago. “Obviously Israel does not
respond to language of diplomacy, which has encouraged the lifting of
the blockade and so what I am suggesting is that it has to be
reinforced by a threat of adverse economic consequences for Israel,”
Richard Falk, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights
in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, told UN Radio.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33363&Cr=palestin&Cr1=#
US military engineers supervise building of the wall of death
CAIRO,
(PIC)-- A senior Egyptian engineer told the PIC on condition of
anonymity that the wall is fully supervised by American military
engineers, adding that the blueprints of the wall were prepared about
six months ago and its construction started three months ago amid tight
security. He affirmed that there is a huge main pipe extending 10
kilometers from the sea in the west toward the east and branching into
other perforated pipes directed towards the Palestinian side, where it
will be used to pump salt water directly from the sea into the branch
pipes planted in the ground in order to cause cracks and landslides
leading to the destruction of Gaza tunnels.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/en/
Egypt's Gaza wall months from completion - Israel
Cairo
has played down the scope of the dig on the 14-km (8-mile)-long
frontier but Gaza's Islamist Hamas rulers condemn it as a "wall of
death" that could seal an Israeli-led blockade by smothering smuggler
tunnels from the Egyptian Sinai.
http://af.reuters.com/article/egyptNews/idAFLDE5BT1A720091230?rpc=401
&feedType=RSS&feedName=egyptNews&rpc=401
Photostory: Egypt further encaging Gaza
With
and the Egyptian government's new underground wall and the closure of
the Rafah crossing -- Gaza's sole exit to the outside world -- Egypt's
complicity shines more than ever. The following are exclusive images of
Egyptian authorities building the new underground wall on the border
with Gaza.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10979.shtml
Italian organizations: The steel wall makes Egypt equal to Israel
Italian
human rights organizations and dignitaries warned that the steel of
wall being built on the Palestinian-Egyptian borders would equalize
Egypt with Israel in its blockade on the Gaza Strip.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
Gaza sees more newborns of malformation
GAZA,
Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Um Hamza, a 22-year-old pregnant woman, from
Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza Strip, woke up at night numerous
times during the 22-day Israeli war which ended on Jan. 18, sniffing
the smell of gas.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/31/content_12737323.htm
Has Israel forgotten the “reason” for Gaza’s closure?
Gisha
- Gaza Gateway - Israel has justified its 3.5 year closure of Rafah
Crossing and 2.5 year closure of Gaza’s other crossings as “sanctions”
designed to pressure the Hamas regime, especially to release Shalit.
While Gisha and other human rights groups have criticized the closure
as unlawful collective punishment – irrespective of its “goals” –
Israeli officials have insisted that closing Gaza’s crossings nearly
hermetically is not only permissible but is also effective in achieving
political objectives.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=37507
Gaza One Year Later
Gaza's war of words - 28 December 2009 - part 1
A
year has passed since Israel's 22 day war on Gaza, but the war of words
continues. Both sides have sophisticated media strategies, and as the
message is ever more muddied, distilling the truth becomes yet more
difficult. Al-Jazeera looks at how the War of words between Israel and
Hamas is waged.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atwoPoD22xs&feature=youtube_gdata
Gaza's War of Words - 28 December 2009 Part 2
A
year has passed since Israel's 22 day war on Gaza, but the war of words
continues. Both sides have sophisticated media strategies, and as the
message is ever more muddied, distilling the truth becomes yet more
difficult. An Original Al-Jazeera Documentary looks at how the War of
words between Israel and Hamas is waged.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnsXYm2lIDU&feature=youtube_gdata
Gaza offensive: Israeli war crimes are in little doubt, Jonathan Cook
NAZARETH
// The debate reverberating in the human rights community one year
after Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip is not about whether Israel
committed war crimes during its attack last winter, but whether and how
its political and military leaders can ever be brought to book. The
problems were highlighted this month when an arrest warrant was issued
in Britain for Tzipi Livni, Israel’s foreign minister during the war,
after it was mistakenly believed she was visiting.
http://www.jkcook.net/Articles3/0441.htm#Top
In Gaza, New Year Reopens Wounds of the Old, Eva Bartlett
GAZA
CITY — For many survivors of the last Israeli war on Gaza, time has not
healed their wounds, physical or emotional. Amal Samouni, 10, still
suffers vision problems in her right eye. The shrapnel remaining in her
head causes her constant pain and she is unable to concentrate at
school.
http://original.antiwar.com/bartlett/2009/12/30/in-gaza-new-year-reopens-wounds-of-the-old/
Truth cast in lead
Michael
Sfard - Ynet - Cast Lead was our second war of independence. In the
first, we liberated ourselves from two thousand years of living under
the control of others. In the second, we liberated ourselves from the
ropes of Jewish heritage and morality that have been binding us for
years. We no longer have to comply with the prohibition of killing the
righteous with the wicked. We are exempted from remembering the lessons
of being an occupied people without rights. The unavoidable insights of
those who have been silenced have been erased and substituted with
attitudes reserved for sub-humans.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=37508
Political Developments
Report: US pressing Israel not to free Barghouti
London-based al-Hayat newspaper says Americans fear release of senior prisoner will increase Hamas popularity, undermine Abbas.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3828025,00.html
Hamas says foiled Shalit rescue attempt
Internal security chief in Gaza says Palestinian cell helping Shin Bet to find kidnapped soldier arrested.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3827640,00.html
Hamas says Israeli demands 'impossible'
Movement's
representatives from Gaza leave Damascus following discussions, plan to
reject latest Israeli offer on prisoner swap. 'We are under the
impression that Israel is not interested in a deal,' Hamas source tells
Ynet, stressing talks will continue.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3827738,00.html
Arab League chief: More UN, less U.S. in Mideast peace bids
CAIRO
- The United Nations must play a bigger role in trying to resolve the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the United States should not be the
only mediator, according to the head of the Arab League.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1138811.html
Other News
Rabbi Kahane's relative suspected of torching mosque
Judea
and Samaria Police arrest member of former Kach chairman's family
suspicion of setting fire to Yasuf house of prayer about three weeks
ago. Palestinian official expresses satisfaction with arrest, says
hopes Israel 'will judge him severely'.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3827979,00.html
Mazuz's farewell decision: Will 'Jenin, Jenin' director be indicted?
Before
he steps down late next month, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz is
expected to decide on a case likely to again provoke considerable
debate on freedom of expression - whether actor and director Mohammed
Bakri should be indicted for his controversial film "Jenin, Jenin."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1138902.html
Bethlehem Christians boycott Greek Patriarch over land sales
Bethlehem
– Ma’an – Thirteen Greek Orthodox Christian leaders met in Bethlehem
Wednesday and voted unanimously to boycott the reception of the
denomination’s Patriarch Theophilos III for the 6 January Christmas
celebrations. Officials and scouts affiliated with the groups under
the 13 and those they represent will not receive the Patriarch at the
Mar Elias Monastery or meet him at the entrance to Bethlehem at
Israel’s Checkpoint 300 for his procession to the Nativity Church.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=250666
Al
Jazeera's Nisreen El-Shamyleh reports from Nazareth on the first
structure from the early Roman period to be unearthed in that part of
the world.Ancient home found in Nazareth - 29 Dec 09
Archaeologists in the old city of Nazareth in Israel have discovered
what they claim may have been a home dating back to the era of Jesus
Christ. Christ is believed to have spent his early childhood there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M39TZeqkQbQ&feature=youtube_gdata
Analysis/Op-ed/Human Interest
On Gaza Drivers, Rumours and Egypt's Steel Wall, Ramzy BaroudThose
pesky taxi drivers of Gaza are always circulating rumours. One story
that made the rounds during the first Palestinian uprising in 1987
claimed that an Arab army crossed the Sinai desert to save Palestinians
from the daily killings and protracted state of siege which caused
untold suffering for civilians. The army in question would change from
time to time, but the focus inevitably returned to Egypt. The rumour of
an Egyptian military intervention persevered through the years, and it
registered deeply in Palestinian psyche, especially among those living
in Gaza.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=15656
‘The two-state solution is starting to look impractical’, Jonathan CookNAZARETH
// The biggest effect for Israel’s 1.3 million Palestinian citizens of
its assault on Gaza last winter has been to smash any remaining
illusions that there is a future for the minority in a Jewish state,
the community’s leaders have agreed. They say that minority voters
have almost completely abandoned Zionist parties, even left-wing ones,
believing that none is really interested in a peaceful solution to the
country’s conflict with the Palestinians.
http://www.jkcook.net/Articles3/0442.htm#Top
Flashpoints has Gaza covered – from 1956 to today
 Today’s Flashpoints features great interviews with Hedy Epstein from Cairo on the Gaza Freedom March, and Joe Sacco on his important new book Footnotes in Gaza, which deals with Israeli massacres in Rafah and Khan Younis in 1956 (read an excerpt here).
In the interviews Epstein explains why she didn’t get on the bus to go
to Gaza, and Sacco discusses his intentions behind the book, how he
recreated a story that is now over 50 years old, and his thoughts on
how the mainstream media treats the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Give
it a listen.
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/12/flashpoints-has-gaza-covered-from-1956-to-today.htmlThere is no deluxe occupation
The barring of Palestinians from Route 443 was one of
the ugliest aspects of a deluxe occupation. Real security cannot be
achieved by roadblocks, fences and separate roads, but only by a fair
peace accord that will bring an end to the occupation.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1138928.htmlRattling the Cage: A taboo question for Israelis, Larry Derfner
There's
a question we Israelis won't ask ourselves about the Palestinians,
especially not about Gaza. The question is taboo. Not only won't anyone
ask it out loud, but very, very few people will dare ask it in the
privacy of their own minds. However, I think it's time we start asking
it, privately and in public. If we don't, I think there's going to be
Operation Cast Lead II, then Operation Cast Lead III, and each one is
going to be worse than the last, and the consequences for Palestinians
and Israelis are going to be unimaginable.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1261364551818&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
A New Year For Gaza Or A Repeat Of The Old?
UK,
December 31, 2009, (Pal Telegraph) - As we remember the victims of Gaza
we have to ask ourselves have we seen the end to the Israeli atrocities
or will the 2010 show the same old business as usual? As it stands at
the moment the Israeli military is still flexing its enormous might
with repeated air strikes using fighters, helicopter gunships and the
dreaded drones.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/columnists/peter-eyre/3428-a-new-year-for-gaza-or-a-repeat-of-the-old
Happy New Year Palestine, Happy new year humanity!
When
Mahmoud Darwish, Palestine great poet was asked in one of the most
difficult period in Palestine history, what Palestinians can do now,
his immediate answer was to grow up hope. For more than 70 years,
Palestinians move from war to war, from occupation to occupation, from
exile to exile, from siege to siege yet they continue to hope. Hope and
resistance are interacted, one resists because one hopes, and because
one hopes one resists.
http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2009/12/30/
happy-new-year-palestine-happy-new-year-#more9169
AIPAC Celebrates 47th Birthday in Court
The
American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) enters its 47th year
of existence battling to extricate itself from two highly damaging
civil court cases. The more recent is Steven J. Rosen’s defamation suit
against AIPAC, which has now entered its most critical phase.
http://original.antiwar.com/smith-grant/2009/12/30/aipac-celebrates-47th-birthday-in-court/
Iraq
Wednesday: 41 Iraqis Killed, 138 Wounded
Deadly
bomb attacks in two Iraqis cities overshadowed the news that a British
hostage was released after two and half years in captivity. At least 41
were killed and 138 more were wounded in those explosions and in other
violence across the country. Also, Iraq sent a memo to Iran protesting
Iranian forces at the Fakka oil field.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2009/12/30/iraq-40-killed-138-wounded/
U.S. and other world news
2009 in Perspective: Glenn Greenwald on the Five Wars US Is Fighting in Muslim Countries
As
2009 comes to a close, today we begin by taking a step back and putting
this year of war in perspective. Salon.com blogger Glenn Greenwald
discusses US foreign policy, including the escalation of the war in
Afghanistan, drone strikes on Pakistan, cruise missile attacks on
Yemen, operations in Somalia, the ongoing operation in Iraq, and much
more.
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/12/31/glenn
Afghans condemn US for 10 'civilian deaths':
"Obama! Obama! Take your soldiers out of
Afghanistan!" the protesters chanted, wearing blue headbands with the words: "Stop killing us!"
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/12/200912281348623886.html
Afghans protest civilian deaths - 31 Dec 2009
The
streets of Kabul have been flooded with protesters, angry at the number
of civilian deaths at the hands of foreign forces in the country. The
protests were triggered by an ISAF air raid, that killed ten Afghans,
including schoolchildren, in Kunar Province, close to the Pakistani
border. Western forces in Afghanistan face a huge PR problem, as the
troops get less popular with every civilian death.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYDPwH2AmIk&feature=youtube_gdata
Jordan jails man for 10 years over 'honour killing'
A
Jordanian court sentenced a 61-year-old man to 10 years in prison on
Wednesday after convicting him of killing his teenage daughter last
year to "defend his honor," a judicial official said."In 2008, the
17-year-old girl was kidnapped and raped by a group of men, who are
currently on trial," the official said."But the father suspected that
his daughter was involved in a sexual relationship.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=110220
Senior cleric tells Iran's opposition leaders to either repent or face death
Hundreds
of thousands of government supporters took to Iran's streets on
Wednesday in a show of force against the opposition, with a senior
cleric telling their leaders to repent or be declared enemies of God
and face death.Just hours later, state news agency IRNA reported that
top opposition leaders Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi had fled
the capital fearing for their lives.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=110223 |
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