Today in Palestine!

Land Theft
Audio: Jerusalem: 1400 Palestinians will lose their homes due to Possible Israeli demolition
http://www.imemc.org/article/59019

Palestinian landowners kept in dark over Efrat settlement expansion

Bethlehem – Ma’an – An Israeli military tribunal has issued a decision that could pave the way for the expansion of the West Bank settlement of Efrat without informing a group of Palestinians who were petitioning to save their land. In the ruling, a court in the settlement of Ofer rejected eight separate petitions, each representing dozens of Palestinians. The petitioners had objected to a 2004 declaration by the Israeli Civil Administration to designating some 1,700 dunums (1.7 million square meters) of land north of Efrat “state land.”
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=36049

Jerusalem governor: Settlements will trigger third intifada

Jerusalem – Ma’an Exclusive – The Palestinian Authority’s governor of Jerusalem warned on Wednesday that Israel’s policy of home demolitions could cause a third Palestinian intifada, or uprising.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=36050

Why 88 Arab homes received eviction notices

Israel has plans to demolish Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem to make way for a tourist site. Activists say it’s a demographic play that amounts to ethnic cleansing.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0226/p04s01-wome.html

Attacks/Arrests/Siege/Eyewitness Accounts and Testimonials

Israeli warplanes his tunnels in Rafah
Israeli air strikes hit the tunnels of Rafah between Gaza and Egypt on Thursday, no injures were reported, witnesses said.
http://english.ramattan.net/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=39940

Patient dies due to the siege on Gaza

Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported that a Palestinian patient died on Thursday at a Gaza hospital after the Israeli occupation barred him from leaving the Gaza Strip for medical treatment abroad.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59017

Victims of Israeli siege rise to 291 patients

The victims of the Israeli siege rose to 291 patients after the death of a 30-year old patient called Hossam Helles from the Shujaiyeh neighborhood, east of Gaza.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7b5WZ3QzpdHsv3j2d%2bxGAho9B6mkADunZu1TKJ6kgkdej9zPk2GlqCPN7oZlD63G5SgvpbJp2Jx1ftSvYdJgiaqw6DW9XaBC37pC2OJwVdf8%3d

A Palestinian boy killed in northern West Bank due to explosive left by the Israeli army

A Palestinian boy from Tubas city, northern West Bank, was killed on Thursday afternoon after an explosive device left by he Israeli army exploded next to him.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59025

Feb 25: Soldiers kneecap 17 year old Khoza’a girl

We went to see 17 year old Wafa Al Najar, who was shot yesterday, in Naser Hospital today in Khan Younis. In Palestinian tradition, both her family and neighbours were keeping her company. But they were able to do little for her, and while they all at once told us the story of her shooting and of Khoza’a, their village (where Israel has been accused of war crimes in the recent attacks) Wafa sobbed intermittently in pain.
http://talestotell.wordpress.com/2009/02/25/feb-25-soldiers-kneecap-17-year-old-khozaa-girl/

Teenagers among 12 detained from village near Ramallah

Ramallah – Ma’an Exclusive – Israeli troops detained 12 residents from the Kharbatha Al-Misbah village west of Ramallah late on Tuesday. Most of the detainees are teenagers and all are between the ages of 17 and 20. They were seized when Israeli troops overran the village on Tuesday night.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=36051

IOF arrests 19 Palestinians across West Bank

Gaza, February 25, 2009 (Ramattan) – The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested on Wednesday 19 Palestinian citizens from different cities across the West Bank, Palestinian security sources said.
http://english.ramattan.net/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=39930

Israeli forces seize eight Palestinians in West Bank raids

Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli forces detained eight Palestinians across the West Bank during early morning raids on Thursday. The Israeli army confirmed that it seized eight so-called “wanted” Palestinians from Jenin, Ramallah and Hebron. They said the arrestees were taken for interrogation.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=36054

Israeli soldier evades capture attempt north of Jerusalem

Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israel declared a state of alert on Wednesday after a Palestinian man attempted to steal a soldier’s gun near the illegal settlement of Givat Ze’ev, Israeli sources said. The man reportedly fled in his car after failing to steal the gun, sources added.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=36052

Trapped Between the Wall and the Green Line

RAMALLAH, Feb 26 (IPS) - "They started smashing down doors at 2am last Wednesday before moving through homes and destroying property," says the mayor of Jayyus, Muhammed Taher Shamasni.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45896

Under the Bombing, A Girl Child Called Hope

GAZA CITY, Feb 26 (IPS) - Ghalia Hussein’s husband refused to evacuate their Rafah home near the Israeli border amid heavy bombardment during the recent 22-day siege. Struck by a missile at the top of their stairs, he bled to death while ambulances attempted to reach him. He left Ghalia three children, a destroyed home, and no income to speak of.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45897

Baird reports on Gaza

"I certainly don’t condone the random rocketing of any area. But the scale is completely different. Not just the numbers of deaths, but the scale of destruction" in Gaza, Baird said.
http://www.theolympian.com/southsound/story/770206.html

Bare minimum shipments of food, fuel allowed into Gaza
Gaza – Ma’an – Israel allowed bare minimum amounts of food and fuel into the besieged Gaza Strip on Thursday. The Karni crossing, used for shipping grain and animal feed, was closed. No reason was given.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=36064

OPT/Gaza: the struggle to pick up the pieces

More than a month after the end of the war, people in the Gaza Strip are still struggling to rebuild their lives. Tens of thousands of people have had their houses partially or completely destroyed, while thousands remain without access to running water.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/JBRN-7PMHQU?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P

Curse of heavy rains for Gazans stuck in tents

Heavy rains have proved a curse to Gaza’s newly homeless who are asking that the Israeli ban on reconstruction be lifted. The three-weeks of major attacks destroyed fully or partially thousands of homes. A group of families are crammed together in 50 tents. The cloth does not come close to protecting them from the elements, including the harsh winter and heavy rain.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4854&Itemid=1

State Department: Gaza aid must be delivered, politics aside

The State Department said on Wednesday that while it has generally tried to avoid criticizing Israel over its treatment of the humanitarian aid issue in Gaza, it believes the current crisis in the embattled territory requires the imminent delivery of as many basic supplies as possible.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1066913.html

Rival Palestinian governments seek $2.8 billion in foreign aid

The rival Palestinian governments US backed moderates in the West Bank and the Islamic militants of Hamas in Gaza presented competing plans Wednesday for rebuilding war-ravaged Gaza, each seeking roughly $2.8 billion in foreign aid.
http://archive.gulfnews.com/region/Middle_East/10289583.html

Fayyad asks donors to channel Gaza aid through him

RAMALLAH, West Bank: Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is asking donor countries to channel hundreds of millions in expected aid for Gaza "first and foremost" through his government. Fayyad’s request is part of a 53-page report he presented to donors ahead of a pledging conference for Gaza next week. The report was obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/02/26/news/ML-Palestinians-Gaza-Reconstruction.php

War Crimes/Criminals

European Campaign: Diverting international attention from war crimes will not change facts

Dr. Arafat Madi is the Chairman of the European Campaign to Lift the Siege on Gaza and says the Israelis are trying to divert attention from charges of war crimes. “Such attempts will no succeed. There are many witnesses to the heinous crimes of the occupation," said Madi today whose campaign is active in the maritime attempts to break the siege.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4856&Itemid=1

Turkish delegation: The destruction in Gaza is beyond description

A Turkish delegation stated during a tour in Gaza that the destruction they saw cannot be described and proof of the brutality of the Israeli war which spared no human being, stone, or tree.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7OCZ8utH8wADrG7L2e8Jz%2fVXnderd9MKdHnrq5nEqTPChmQHBJ9PCRfsnvqhRMp2wXhBerITSTaowpWewu3yhLfNeI2aglAWh1%2fgraTpkpWc%3d

Israel’s Livni warns of another Gaza operation

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Wednesday warned that Israel would launch another military "operation" in Gaza if the alleged smuggling of arms from Iran to the territory’s Hamas rulers continues.
http://64.34.254.246/article.aspx?ArticleID=20001

Political Aftermath

U.K. foreign secretary: Talking with Hamas ’the right thing to do’
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Wednesday that talking to the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas was "the right thing to do" but Egypt and other parties were best placed to do it.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1066933.html

Ex-peace negotiators call for dialogue with Hamas

AFP - A group of former peace negotiators called in a public letter Thursday for the international community to start engaging directly with Hamas, as the only way to achieve peace in the Middle East.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090226/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictpeacepalestinian

Rival Palestinian groups agree to prisoner swap

AP - Rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah agreed Wednesday to exchange prisoners as part of talks meant to reconcile, a senior Hamas official said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090225/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_palestinians_reconciliation

Hamas and Fateh agree to stop arrests, smear campaigns

The third session of talks between Hamas and Fateh movements ended in Cairo on Wednesday after the two movements agreed to resolve some of the conflicting issues between them, mainly releasing political prisoners held by the two sides in Gaza and the West Bank.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59011

New Fatah TV station to take on Hamas

Fatah decides to establish television, radio stations to counter Hamas’ media supremacy.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3677741,00.html

Sweden urges Palestinian reconciliation

AFP - Sweden’s Prime Minister on Wednesday met Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and expressed support for national reconciliation between the two main Palestinian factions.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090225/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictswedengaza

Sacked Palestinian PM sees national reconciliation as Hamas priority

Sacked Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haneya said on Thursday achieving Palestinian national unity and real reconciliation is the top priority of Gaza ruler Hamas. "The national dialogue (in Cairo) is a way for national salvage and it is not a political tactic," Haneya said in a statement published by the Palestinian Information Center, Hamas’ official media outlet. His government aims at "achieving a real reconciliation through the dialogue," launched in Cairo earlier in the day, said Haneya, who has been hiding since the launch of a massive Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip in December.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-02/26/content_10904310.htm

PRC: Hamas and Fatah must unite to confront Israel

Gaza – Ma’an – Hamas and Fatah must unite in order to face a likely right wing government in Israel, a leader with the radical Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) said on Thursday. A member of political leadership of the PRC, Zuheir Al-Queisi said that an extremest Israeli government will continue to expand settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=36063

PA official: Israelis shouldn’t be allowed to compete in world

Head of Palestinian Football Association Jibril Rajoub says international community should refrain from hosting Israeli athletes until Israel ’frees Palestinian sport from suppression and injustice’
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3677423,00.html

Israelis deliver list of political prisoners to Egypt

The envoy to outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert arrived in Cairo today with what is claimed to be a list of Palestinian political prisoners that the Israelis are willing to release. This is part of the ongoing negotiations mediated by Egypt between Palestinians and Israelis for an exchange of prisoners for the captured Israeli soldier.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4857&Itemid=1

Fayyad: Israeli gov’t to be measured by commitment to peace

In exclusive interview to The Media Line, Palestinian prime minister says future Israeli coalition, be it right-wing or not, should fulfil past obligations to peace process, including removal of illegal outposts.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3677599,00.html

Netanyahu opposes talks with a PA gov’t that includes Hamas

Zalman Shoval, one of Netanyahu’s five primary foreign policy advisers, said the Netanyahu diplomatic team was "trying to persuade whomever" that a Palestinian Authority unity government is a bad idea.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1235410718352&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Arab League chief praises Obama’s Mideast envoy as ’honest broker’

President Barak Obama’s call for change raises hope that the United States will take on the role of "honest broker" in the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians, the Arab League secretary-general said Wednesday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1067026.html

Arab League chief praises Obama, Mitchell

AP - President Barak Obama’s call for change raises hope that the United States will take on the role of "honest broker" in the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians, the Arab League secretary-general said Wednesday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090225/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_mideast

Other News

Embrace commandment of war, Hesder students told

Rabbi Haim Druckman, who heads Bnei Akiva, said that `fighting our enemies is a commandment. To serve in the IDF is a commandment. We must remember that we could not carry out this commandment for 2,000 years. How happy we must be that we live in this great and special time, a time in which we have returned to our land, seen the founding of our state, the ingathering of exiles.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1235410716304&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

Olmert says he was ’within whisker’ of peace with Palestinians

As his term in office officially comes to a close, Israel’s premier said on Wednesday that his government was close to a historic breathrough in peace negotiations with the country’s Arab neighbors.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1066926.html

Palestinian negotiator: We were not close to peace deal with Israel

Palestinian veteran negotiator on Thursday rejected Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s remarks that Israel and the Palestinians were very close to reach a peace deal. "We engaged serious negotiations with Mr. Olmert but I can not say we were that close to reach an agreement," says Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian negotiator. "We did not settle any final-statues issues."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-02/26/content_10904525.htm

Spray your tag on West Bank wall — long-distance

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Feb 25 (Reuters) - It could turn out to be the world’s longest graffiti space — the massive concrete barrier separating Israel from the Palestinians.
Over the Internet, a group of Palestinian graffiti artists is offering to spray-paint your personal message on Israel’s towering security wall in the occupied West Bank.
http://www.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUSLP823417

US rights report names and shames the Mideast

The United States Wednesday singled out regional ally Egypt as well as Iran, Libya and Syria in the Middle East for jailing rights activists because of their beliefs.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2009/02/25/67249.html

Reform women rabbis’ prayer at Western Wall draws wrath of ultra-Orthodox
North American female rabbis from the Reform Movement stirred up controversy at the Western Wall Wednesday, when they defied Orthodox Jewish customs by praying and singing aloud while wearing prayer shawls and skull caps at the holy site.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1067028.html

Turkey president plans to visit Israel to ease tensions over Gaza op

Turkish President Abdullah Gul is interested in making an official visit to Israel in the coming months to put an end to the crisis in relations between his country and Israel. If he does come, Gul is expected to be here during the second half of the year.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1067031.html

Security sources to PNN: accused murderer escapes from court

A man accused of murder escaped from a Ramallah courtroom in the central West Bank Thursday. A Palestinian security source told PNN that the accused fled during today’s session in the midst of chaos. A witness had pointed a gun at the man standing trial.
Police wrestled the gun away and during the fracas the accused escaped from custody.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4858&Itemid=49

Solidarity/Boycott/Divestment/Sanctions

Targeting Israel: The Global BDS Movement

Enough is enough. After 61 years of Palestinian slaughter, displacement, occupation, oppression, and international dismissiveness and complicity, global action is essential. Israel must be held accountable. World leaders won’t do it, so grassroots movements must lead the way.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=14863

The Palestinian Issue: A Strong and Important Presence at the World Social Forum in Belem, Brazil

Palestinian women during the closing ceremony of the World Social Forum, in Belem, Brazil, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2009. The 8th World Social Forum was launched in Belem, capital of Amazon, in the north of Brazil on 27 January. Twenty thousand representatives of social movement from all over the world gathered in order to dialogue and discuss about the problems and needs of humanity in the 21st Century.
http://www.alternativenews.org/content/view/1600/104/

Adalah files an appeal for releasing Lebanese solidarity held by Israel

The Adalah Center (The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel) filed on Tuesday, February 24, an appeal demanding Israel to release “The Brotherhood” solidarity ship withheld by Israel since February 5, 2009.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59010

What to do about orchestrated email campaigns

Based on his analysis of emails, Sabbagh concludes that the BMJ was the target of an orchestrated campaign to silence criticism of Israel. And that is certainly how it felt. As well as almost 1000 emails to the editor, the BMJ’s website received hundreds of electronic responses to the article itself as well as feedback generally critical of the journal’s decision to publish it. The feedback messages began in earnest three days after publication and then streamed in, almost in alphabetical order of the senders’ names. Their wording was uncannily similar, with some authors seemingly ignorant of the article they were criticising—well described features of orchestrated campaigns.4 5 Some took us to task for covering the difficulties faced by diabetic Palestinians in Gaza; this issue had been raised not by the BMJ but by Diabetes Voice, which has no connection to the BMJ.6 We had been used to unfamiliar voices from unfamiliar places crowding in to debates on the Middle East before, but never on this scale.
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/338/feb24_2/b500

Jerusalem: Haredi riots prompt switch to metal trash cans

Torching of plastic garbage cans in protest of gay parade have cost capital over a million shekels over the years.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3678082,00.html

Analysis/Op-ed

The Battle of terms behind the conflict

Many times, when people are discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, they use terms such as ‘holocaust’, ‘genocide’, ‘apartheid’ and ‘ethnic cleansing’. Although these are descriptive in some ways of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, they are ‘used’ terms—they are connected to a different situation in a separate time and historical context in most people’s minds—and their recycling ends up creating confusion and controversy more than anything else.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article839

Interesting only when they are violent

Ignoring the situation is convenient for everyone, and therefore all are partner to the concept that the Arabs are interesting only when they are violent. Under cover of this lack of interest, the Israeli rule over the West Bank is continuing to deepen. It is commonly believed that the Palestinians will begin a third intifada but perhaps this stems from sticking to the concept that they understand nothing but force.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1067052.html

Pasta is not a weapon

The border crossings between Israel and Gaza have become a central tool in the struggle against Hamas in the years since it took over the Strip. Security circles claim they have solid proof that Hamas is using raw materials and "innocent" products for the creation of weapons. In addition to the security arguments, Israel makes it difficult for goods to enter the Gaza Strip as a means of punishment and as pressure on Hamas every time it disturbs the peace. Recently Israel added food products, such as pasta, and building materials, such as glass, which are needed for repairing the many buildings destroyed during Operation Cast Lead, to the list of prohibited goods.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1067055.html

In Gaza’s shadow: an interview with School for Peace Director Ahmad Hijazi, M.A.

Last fall, you began a three-year term as Director of the School for Peace. Can you give us an update?
At this time (just after a ceasefire with Gaza), we can’t discuss anything about our work without thinking about the Gaza offensive, and the continuing consequences on people and the prospects for peace… Once again, we have witnessed the futility of violence and its terrible human cost. And "the war" is still not over: the intolerable siege on the people of Gaza continues, and the people of southern Israel are not secure either.
http://nswas.org/spip.php?article871

Israel’s authoritarian transformation

One of the main issues raised during the recent conflict in the Gaza Strip — apart from a considerable number of allegations of violations of international humanitarian law that will not be dealt with here — concerns the functioning of rule of law in Israel in cases regarding the freedoms of expression, opinion and access to information. Sharon Weill and Valentina Azarov analyze for The Electronic Intifada.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10331.shtml

Justice and couscous

The spirit’s resolve is an amazing tool for change and was the trigger for a remarkable group of women from Ein al-Sultan camp to come together a few years ago to devise an innovative way in which to break free from the shackles of their destitution. And so begins the inspirational story of Jericho’s women’s fair trade couscous cooperative. Gen Sander reports from Jericho.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10343.shtml

The Gaza War Strengthened Israel’s Far Right

The results of the elections to Israel’s 18th Knesset clearly bolstered the far Right, which won 65 of the parliament’s 120 seats. This outcome is partly due to the paralysis that beset Ehud Olmert’s government. Almost three years ago he received a mandate to advance the peace process, but he squandered it on two wars. The lack of progress toward peace has had the effect of strengthening Hamas. It has also encouraged chauvinistic trends in Israel, as expressed in wall-to-wall support for the Gaza War. Israelis turned their backs on the notion that the conflict with the Palestinians must be solved by diplomacy.
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2009/02/the-gaza-war-strengthened-israels-far-right/

Contemptible government

The government of Israel, which recently announced that it demands the release of abducted soldier Gilad Shalit before declaring a ceasefire with Hamas, and the frequent changes it makes to the lists of prisoners with blood on their hands, deserves much contempt in this context. In the failed war in the north, and also in the war whose cruelty, destruction, and death will be spoken of for many years to come, we sowed fear among Gaza residents while disregarding international law and showing no mercy to civilian lives.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3677321,00.html

The controversy over Chas Freeman

Some sources noted that among Freeman’s most outspoken critics, are those who have accused many other administration officials of being insufficiently pro-Israel or too even-handed, such as NSC senior director for multilateral affairs Samantha Power, U.S. Middle East peace special envoy Sen. George Mitchell, and indeed, during the election campaign, Obama himself...The source close to Freeman said that the former ambassador was recruited for the post by Admiral Blair and had not been seeking a return to government service, which Freeman had retired from in 1994.
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/02/25/the_controversy_over_chas_freeman

Peretz says America’s historical mission is to ’protect Zion.’ Got that?

Marty Peretz, running wild and free like a mighty horse in a Marlboro ad not stopping for commas: "But [Chas] Freeman’s real offense (and the president’s if he were to appoint him) is that he has questioned the loyalty and patriotism of not only Zionists and other friends of Israel, the great swath of American Jews and their Christian countrymen, who believed that the protection of Zion is at the core of our religious and secular history, from the Pilgrim fathers through Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy. And how has he offended this tradition? By publishing and peddling the unabridged John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt book, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, with panegyric and hysteria. If Freeman believes that this book is the truth he can’t be trusted by anyone, least of all Barack Obama. I can’t believe that Obama wants to appoint someone who is quintessentially an insult to the patriotism of some many of his supporters, me included."
http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/02/peretz-says-americas-historical-mission-is-to-protect-zion-got-that-.html

Abrams tells Palestinians to be like the Jews. OK, let’s do it!

The great perceiver Jim Lobe says that Elliott Abrams has now declared himself to be the official spokesman for Netanyahu in the U.S., at the Weekly Standard and the CFR. The piece on which Lobe makes this judgment, at the Weekly Standard, says that the Palestinians have not undergone the long preparation for statehood that the Zionists went through.
http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/02/abrams-tells-palestinians-to-study-the-jews-ok-lets-do-it.html

’US 4Israel’ says Obama seeks ’to hurt Israel’ with Freeman pick

Below the jump I append an email being circulated by Israel lobbyists to attack the appointment of a good man, and an Arabist, Charles Freeman, as the head of the National Intelligence Council under Obama. The email was sent out by "US 4Israel." I wonder what they want? The money quote...
http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/02/us-4israel-says-obama-seeks-to-hurt-israel-with-freeman-pick.html

Poised for Expansion: Zionists in 1948

"The Achilles’ heel of the Arab coalition is Lebanon. Muslim supremacy in this country is artificial and can easily be overthrown. A Christian State ought to be set up there, with its southern frontier on the river Litani. We should sign a treaty of alliance with this State. Then, when we have broken the strength of the Arab Legion and bombed Amman, we could wipe out Transjordan; after that Syria would fall. And if Egypt dared to make war on us, we would bomb Port Said, Alexandria and Cairo. We should thus end the war, and would have settled the account with Egypt, Assyria and Chaldea on behalf of our ancestors." Ben-Gurion, 1948 ((Michael Bar-Zohar, Ben-Gurion; the Armed Prophet‎, p130)
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=14865

The First Waltz

Watching Ari Folman’s Waltz With Bashir inevitably reminded me of Eran Riklis’ Cup Final, also an Israeli film about its 1982 invasion of Lebanon. When Cup Final came out in 1992, it made me think that a common future for Israelis and Palestinians was possible. I had expected the same of Waltz. Both films deal with the story of young soldiers during Israel’s horror-filled 1982 war. Both won critical acclaim, though Cup Final won just one award compared to the 10 Waltz scooped up before it hit the Oscars (but lost to another foreign film, Departures).
http://www.counterpunch.com/hijab02252009.html

Are Palestinians Allowed to Resist?

The issue of Palestinian resistance, in terms of its permissibility and types, is a highly inflammatory question for most Western observers. Mainstream media discourse frequently boils down to criticisms and condemnations of its “violence” or alternatively, asserts its impotence in the face of Israeli military might and Western opposition. It might therefore be helpful to place it in historical and current context and to comparatively evaluate it against that other famous struggle for independence, Indian national liberation. India’s struggle, given the prominent role of Gandhi’s satyagraha’s role, is usually synonymous in Western discourse with non-violent resistance.
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2009/02/are-palestinians-allowed-to-resist/

Israel’s Military Mephistopheles

NAZARETH — It is not entirely surprising that Amos Gilad, an Israeli general who once sued his own government for “irreversible mental damage” caused by his role in the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, has publicly courted controversy again. On Monday, Ehud Olmert, Israel’s outgoing prime minister, suspended Mr. Gilad as his envoy to Egypt, responsible for negotiating a ceasefire with Hamas, after Mr. Gilad called the prime minister’s truce conditions “insane”.
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2009/02/israel%e2%80%99s-military-mephistopheles/