TO DAY IN PALESTINE

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 September 21, 2009 

Land theft/Destruction/Settlement/Settlers

Israeli military set to demolish 55 Palestinian homes in Nablus
Despite the outcry raised by Palestinian and international human rights organizations, the Israeli military announced this weekend it plans to go ahead with 55 home demolitions in Nablus — a city deep inside the West Bank which is supposed to be under the control of the Palestinian Authority.
http://www.imemc.org/article/61701

Report on Israeli settlement in the occupied territories Sep - Oct 2009
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/MYAI-7W34XC?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P

FACTBOX-Facts about Israel’s settlements
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSLL666374

West Bank settlements become havens of Israeli surburbanites
Kiryat Netafim and Tekoa, West Bank - Meet the Ovadiahs, the Allons, and the Cohens. They’re new arrivals in Israeli neighborhoods where freshly laid red-tile roofs and toddler toys dotting green lawns are a picture of the Israeli equivalent of the American dream, minus the white picket fence.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0921/p06s01-wome.html

Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment

Bil’in activists evade week’s second Israeli arrest raid
Ramallah – Ma’an – Israeli forces stormed the central West Bank village of Bil’in at dawn on Monday before unsuccessfully searching the homes of a number of residents there, according to a local organization.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=227051

Bil’in night raid 21/09/09
Israeli forces invaded Bil’in once again just before 1am. Six jeeps entered the village via the gate in the occupation wall. Two jeeps stopped at the house of Mohammed Ahmed Yasseen (age 21) and searched for him in the ground floor apartment belonging to his mother. Four jeeps stopped at Abdullah Mahmoud Aburahma’s (age 37) house and searched for him there. Two of these jeeps left quickly to search for Yasseen Mohammed Yasseen (age 21) at his home. None of the men were at home and no-one was arrested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azGlYTQzI-U

March to freedom – Ni’lin village takes down the Wall
After the people had concluded their Friday prayer in the fields near the village, more than 100 farmers, youth, international and Israeli peace activists marched towards the Apartheid Wall and their confiscated lands. Participants brought car tires and a big home made ladder to climb the high wall.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2073.shtml

Spain excludes settlement university from academic competition
The "University Center of Ariel in Samaria" (AUCS) has beenexcluded from a prestigious university competition about sustainable architecturein Spain. With this move, Spain joins the growing number of Europeangovernments taking effective, even though preliminary, steps to upholdinternational law by boycotting or divesting from institutions and corporationsinvolved in or profiting from Israel’s illegal Wall and colonial settlementsbuilt on occupied Palestinian land.
http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/557

Bristol Co-op shoppers sign-up for boycott campaign
Following the TUC boycott resolution and the UN Gaza report last week, Palestine campaigners were out in Bristol town-centre to test shoppers’ response to a total boycott of Israeli goods. On Saturday afternoon campaigners greeted shoppers at the Co-op on the Centre and asked their opinion on a total boycott of Israeli goods. More than a hundred shoppers signed postcards in little over an hour.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7060

Britain’s unions commit to a mass boycott movement of Israeli goods
In a landmark decision, Britain’s trade unions have voted overwhelmingly to commit to build a mass boycott movement, disinvestment and sanctions on Israel for a negotiated settlement based on justice for Palestinians.
http://stopthewall.org/worldwideactivism/2072.shtml

Aggression and Violence

Army shells tunnels area in Rafah
The Israeli air force shelled early on Monday morning the ’tunnels’ border area’ in Rafah, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
http://www.imemc.org/article/61705

War Crimes/Criminals

PFLP denounces US support for occupation massacres and demands international accountability for war crimes
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine denounced the U.S. position supporting the Israeli massacre in Gaza and the U.S. condemnation of the United Nations fact-finding report on Gaza. The PFLP noted in its statement on September 19, 2009 that the U.S. is exhibiting once again its strategic alliance with the occupation state and its war crimes.
http://www.pflp.ps/english/?q=pflp-denounces-us-support-occupation-massacres-and

Justice This Time Around: Will Goldstone’s Report Deliver?, Ramzy Baroud
’We may be witnessing the beginning of the end of the era of impunity,’ Nadia Hijab, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Institute for Palestine Studies, was quoted by IPS in response to the findings of a 574-page report by a four-member United Nations Fact finding mission. The mission, led by internationally-renowned former South African supreme court justice and chief prosecutor in the international tribunals for Rwanda and Yugoslavia, investigated alleged war crimes committed by Israeli troops in Gaza in a 23-day bloody, unprecedented onslaught against a largely defenseless population.
http://jnoubiyeh.blogspot.com/2009/09/justice-this-time-around-will.html

It’s all spin, darling: Not one of Goldstone’s 37 factual assertions has been rebutted
A friend sent the note below along today. It is really all you have to remember when considering the fight over the Goldstone report. They aren’t talking about the factual assertions. They are talking about the international ramifications, about the legal implications, about alleged double standards and American practices, etc.
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/09/its-all-spin-darling-not-one-of-goldstones-37-factual-assertions-has-been-rebutted.html

Falk: Goldstone is historic blow in the war Israel is losing– the ‘Legitimacy War’
Two listservs to which I have access have been circulating a commentary by Richard Falk, the Princeton law professor and UN rapporteur on Gaza, on the Goldstone report to the UN Human Rights Council. People I trust say that Falk, who by the way is Jewish (as is Goldstone), wrote this, and they are encouraging its wide distribution. So here it is below.
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/09/falk-goldstone-bombshell-will-fray-jewish-support-for-israel.html

Humanitarian/Human Rights

HUMAN RIGHTS IN PALESTINE AND OTHER OCCUPIED ARAB TERRITORIES
Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/specialsession/9/docs/UNFFMGC_Report.pdf

19 Septmber 2009: Urgent Call

Since the last month WOFPP has accompanied, with deep concern, the minor political prisoner who complained of sexual harassment by one of the guards in Hasharon Prison where she was held. WOFPP’s lawyer, Taghreed Jahshan, visited the prisoner many times during the recent period and has sent a very urgent letter, on 6 September 2009, to the Prisons Service Commissioner, with copies to the Central Area’s Commander and other persons of the Service Prison staff and to the Chairman of the Bar Association’s Prisons Committee. Since there was no reply, another urgent letter was sent on 14 September, and again it had not been answered in writing.
http://www.wofpp.org/english/minor.html

Israel refuses plea to allow humanitarian items into Gaza
As Muslims around the world, and in the besieged Gaza Strip, celebrate the holiday of Eid al-Fatr this weekend, Gazans remain without many of the key items used to celebrate the holiday, including dates, sweets, food, and new clothes and shoes for children. Israel refused to allow these items to enter the Strip due to "security concerns".
http://www.imemc.org/article/61703

MIDEAST: Widows and Children Begin to Beg
GAZA CITY, Sep 21 (IPS) - There are few parks and green spaces in Gaza, and those that exist are crowded with people hungry for nature. Day and night, people of all ages flock to the Joondi, or the park of the Unknown Soldier, in central Gaza City.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48516

Political Developments

Israeli Sources: Obama Summit Will Just Be a Photo Opportunity
Tuesday’s meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. President Barack Obama and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will just be a photo opportunity, sources at the Israeli prime minister’s bureau have said. "The meeting will not inaugurate [renewed] negotiations and will not involve any significant details," the sources said. "The differences on the issue of the settlements and the framework of the talks remain deep."
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=104077&language=en

Aide: Netanyahu won’t bend on settlements
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won’t bend on his opposition to a settlement freeze when he meets the American and Palestinian leaders in New York, a top aide said Monday. The tough Israeli line could signal trouble for Tuesday’s summit, where President Barack Obama is bringing together Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in hopes of relaunching peace talks.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ioi_0jtO9RjMwPNRoXNCndRPRq3gD9AROAAG0

Can Hamas spoil Obama’s three-way Mideast summit?
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Sunday that Palestinians would reject anything rival Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas agrees to during this week’s talks with President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0920/p06s01-wome.html

Habayit Hayehudi MK Orlev: Arab nations must absorb Palestinians
Habayit Hayehudi MK Zevulun Orlev told Israel Radio Monday that the party would never support a settlement construction freeze.
"The 22 Arab nations must absorb the Palestinians into their territories," he added.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1253198162299&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Other News

Text messaging helps young Palestinians find work
Souktel system lets users create mini-CVs in attempt to tackle unemployment in occupied West Bank.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/21/souktel-jobs-west-bank

Israeli organ story not racist, official says
Swedish news agency TT says a newspaper that claimed Israeli troops harvested the organs of dead Palestinians won’t be charged with inciting racism.
http://archive.gulfnews.com/region/Middle_East/10350671.html

What is this?
Look at the ad in this collaborationist Palestinian newspaper. Is this an ad by an Israeli general wishing Muslims a happy `Id?
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/09/what-is-this.html

Zionist bids to have a Swedish paper investigated for inciting racism fail
Aftonbladet, the news paper that published an article about the involvement of the IOF in harvesting organs of dead Palestinians, will not be investigated or charged.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s70mvLZNvImgh4pXlP4JVYGQA0pJyyOH9D8h2ALvLMjTC95e1qQMhV0uLR8AO5qy0RFySVmG2zZ5Ty9M3jTArcp%2fb13AObCw2DTrYFEsj0N3I%3d

From the playbook of classical racists: Shimon Peres calls for a decrease in Arab birth rate
"Acutely conscious that Israel’s Arab population considers itself to be the victim of discrimination, Peres made the point that the Arabs would live better if they had fewer children. Parents of ten or more children cannot necessarily give them the education they deserve. Cutting down on the Arab birth rate, he suggested, would raise the standard of living of each Arab family, and would make education for all the children in each family much more affordable." [end]
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/09/from-playbook-of-classical-racists.html

A Palestinian in London Sings for his Country, by Sameh A. Habeeb
Palestinians have been fighting to regain their rights since ever their Nakba started - a nakba that left around one million displaced, thousands killed and others affected. Following that shift in Palestine history, resistance arose with a military shape, to face Israeli occupation.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/entertainment/music/2319-a-palestinian-in-london-sings-for-his-country-by-sameh-a-habeeb

Lieberman fights Hamas bees
Animated online clip depicts FM, Obama attacked by terrorist bees while eating apples and honey.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3778960,00.html

Israelis’ views on Obama and the peace process - 21 Sept 09
Barack Obama, the US president, is getting ready to host Israeli and Palestinian leaders for a meeting he hopes might get peace talks started again. But Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has made his position clear in the past few hours, saying he will defend settlement expansion, which is the big sticking point. Al Jazeera’s Clayton Swisher has been out on the streets of Jerusalem to find out what Israelis think about Obama and his plans.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgS9LbZsmN8&feature=youtube_gdata

Analysis/Op-ed/Human Interest

Hamas is not al-Qaida | Anas Altikriti
The two are radically different – the position of the democratically elected Hamas is about land, not religion, creed or race. The New Statesman’s interview with Khaled Meshal, the Hamas leader, was one of the most significant interviews with the leading figure in a movement that has been demonised and excommunicated by most of the western world and its media. The fact that Meshal realises that his words will be scrutinised by his allies and supporters as closely as his adversaries confirms that he speaks of the official position of Hamas on a number of crucial issues which the pro-Israel propaganda apparatus has managed to manipulate for so long.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/sep/21/hamas-al-qaida

Exclusive: Hamas leader interview
In a world exclusive, Ken Livingstone discusses religion, violence and the chances for peace with the Hamas leader Khaled Meshal. The key to peace in the Middle East is restoration of international law and the recognition of the right of both Palestinians and Israeli Jews to live in peace and security side by side. As President Obama says, there is no peace process today. Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, continues to extend illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and maintain a near-complete blockade of Gaza. Palestinians fire ineffectual rockets into Israel. Israel regularly attacks Palestinian territories with modern weapons.
http://www.newstatesman.com/middle-east/2009/09/israel-palestinian-hamas

Worshipers Take Risks For Ramadan Prayers
This Ramadan, Israel loosened restrictions for worshipers in the west bank who wanted to go pray at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem — women over 45 and men over 50 were allowed to pass through the tight security cordon Israel has put in place. Many others were turned away and some had to take great risks to fulfill their desire to pray at the third holiest site for Islam. Lourdes Garcia Navarro shares her reporter’s notebook.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113005549&ft=1&f=1004

Eid in Gaza: Brought to You by…the Tunnels, By Hanitizer
Aside from the siege, and the unique political situation in the Strip, Gaza is just like the rest of the Muslim world. Gazans celebrate the holidays just like the rest of the Muslim and Arab word. Ten days prior to the Eid, the Muslim holiday following Ramadan one starts to see more activity in the markets. The first items that indicate the arrival of the Eid is the appearance of pickled and sun dried salty fish (fiseekh). This type of fish makes you so thirsty that it’s all banned in Ramadan. Clothing vendors start exhibiting all sorts of new garments as people tend to buy new outfits to welcome the holiday. Thanks to the tunnels Gazans can find many goods including clothes as Israelis do not include clothes as humanitarian good. For their mediocre quality, clothes are a lot more expensive in Gaza than the rest of Palestine.
http://www.kabobfest.com/2009/09/my-eid-less-eid-in-gaza.html

Salam Fayyad: like Nuri al-Maliki or Vidkun Quisling?, Helena Cobban
The Canadian-Israeli management guru Bernard Avishai has published a paean to Salam Fayyad in the current issue of Harper’s magazine. This raised for me, yet again, a question that I’ve thought about a lot over the past year: Does Salam Fayyad have a chance of ending up like Nuri al-Maliki, the as-it-turned-out fairly deft Iraqi politician who became Prime Minister in an Iraqi parliament that was elected while his country was still under full-scale US occupation— but who was then able to use the rhetoric of "a sovereign Iraq" as well as his own non-trivial political skills to force the Bush administration to sign an agreement mandating the full withdrawal of US forces from Iraq by the end of 2011, no strings attached?
http://justworldnews.org/archives/003808.html

A typical Israeli liberal, As’ad Abukhalil
The difference between an Israeli liberal and an Israeli conservative is that an Israeli liberal is—like an Israeli conserviative—willing to support the murder of hundreds of Palestinian children but—unlike an Israeli conservative—he/she would add a few words about anguish—of the Israeli killers. That is really the difference. Look at this dude: "But they never imagined that the report would accuse the Jewish state of intentionally aiming at civilians. Israelis believe that their army did not deliberately kill the hundreds of Palestinian civilians, including children, who died during “Operation Cast Lead.” They believe, therefore, that Israel is not culpable, morally or criminally, for these civilian deaths, which were collateral to the true aim of the operation — killing Hamas gunmen." OK, one was not intentional, two was not intentional, or three was not intentional, but when hundreds of children are killed, this Zionist justification of murder becomes hollow. [end]

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/09/typical-israeli-liberal.html

What is wrong with the Economist?, As’ad Abukhalil
I was rather most disappointed with this article about Judge Goldstone’s report on Israeli war crimes. It was not typical of the Economist’s coverage of the Middle East. As if the reporter was pained by the findings. Look at this sentence: "Unlike Syria, say, Israel is a democracy that claims to live by the rule of law. It needs to make its case by moral force as well as by force of arms." Clear propaganda. But I like how Goldstone’s daughter defended her father: "Mr Goldstone’s daughter, Nicole, who lived in Israel for many years but now lives in Canada, vigorously defended her father’s report in an interview on the army radio. “If it hadn’t been for him, the report would have been even harsher,” she said, speaking in Hebrew."
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/09/what-is-wrnog-with-economist.html

The Alleged Israeli “Religious Freedom”
Last Friday Israeli authorities erected scores of military checkpoints, deployed hundreds of its security forces at the entrances to East Jerusalem in a bid to prevent thousands of Palestinian worshipers from reaching the vicinity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque to perform the third Friday prayer of Ramadan.
http://www.themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=26543

Akiva Eldar / A summit can be a very dangerous thing
The all-too-long history of the "peace process" has taught us that a summit can be a desirable goal, but also a place of unsurpassable danger. When participants come with insufficient preparation, and without a safety net, the depth of the fall can be as high as the summit itself. There is a great difference between a fruitless round of shuttle diplomacy between Jerusalem and Ramallah on the part of a presidential envoy and a failed summit called by U.S. President Barack Obama with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1115762.html

Israeli left, dead in J’lem, makes aliyah to White House
Fascinating piece by the Nightflower himself, Steven Rosen, at Foreign Policy, saying that now that Israel has gone far right, the Israeli left has decamped to the U.S. and is at Obama’s elbow. And still: Dennis Ross is king.
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/09/rosen-depicts-a-war-within-the-lobby-for-obama.html

Irving Kristol’s Alliance With Anti-Semites
By the time Irving Kristol died on September 18 at the age of 89, he had transformed the Republican Party through the neoconservative philosophy he helped pioneer. A former Trotskyist, Kristol authored the supply-side economic theories that formed the foundation of the Reagan administration’s domestic agenda. At the same time, he tapped industry trade groups and right-wing sugardaddies for massive donations, enabling the birth of an apparatus of conservative think tanks that would provide the future Republican Congress of Gingrich and DeLay, and the George W. Bush White House, with their policy blueprint.
http://maxblumenthal.com/2009/09/irving-kristols-alliance-with-anti-semites/

Huffpep, by Philip Weiss

The American Jewish Committee announced that its executive director David Harris, who has run away from his own challenge to debate Walt and Mearsheimer, was "invited" by Huffington Post to start offering his views there. Harris already blogs for the Jerusalem Post. His latest is on the Goldstone report. I wonder where he comes down!
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/09/david-harris-now-at-huffpo.html