In West Bank, Palestinians rescue Israeli occupiers

Press TV

"Palestinian villagers have rescued an Israeli settler woman in the West Bank after she got trapped in a car along with her infant child.

The incident took place on Tuesday when a car racing at high speed lost control on a main road in the town of Tiqua, southeast of Bethlehem, and rolled over. "The car flipped three times along the center of the road…The guys at the site immediately rushed in that direction and started rescuing the passengers," Palestinian citizen, Ahmad Allen, told Ma'an news agency.

They took out the four-month infant and his mother, who was in a shock, after breaking the window and immediately called an Israeli ambulance to transfer the wounded to the hospital.

The men said "our human feelings were much bigger at that moment than the feelings of enmity and hatred, which Israeli settlers provoke," stressing the Palestinians did not hesitate to offer help.

Israeli media covered the incident in the West Bank town of Tiqua where the Israelis have illegally annexed Palestinian land to erect Jewish settlements......."

Where the Victim is the Guilty Party

12 Arabs Indicted Over Jewish Gunman's Death

By JONATHAN COOK
CounterPunch

"The decision to prosecute 12 Israeli Arabs over what the local media have described as the “lynching” of an Israeli soldier on a bus shortly after he shot dead the driver and three passengers has been greeted with outrage from the country’s Arab minority.

The inhabitants of Shefa’amr, one of the largest Arab towns in the Galilee region and the location of the attack, are expected to stage a one-day strike today in protest against the indictments. Seven of the 12 face charges of attempted murder....

Several analysts have also noted that the faith of Israel’s Arab population in the justice system has been severely eroded, particularly by the failure to prosecute any of the Israeli policemen who shot dead 13 unarmed Arab citizens during demonstrations in October 2000....."

Obama in Egypt, by Khalil Bendib

(Click on cartoon to enlarge)

South African study: Israel practicing apartheid and colonialism

Report, Human Sciences Research Council, 9 June 2009

"The Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa (HSRC) has released a report confirming that Israel is practicing both colonialism and apartheid in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).

The HSRC commissioned an international team of scholars and practitioners of international public law from South Africa, the United Kingdom, Israel and the West Bank to conduct this study. The resulting 300-page report, titled "Occupation, Colonialism, Apartheid?: A re-assessment of Israel's practices in the occupied Palestinian territories under international law," represents 15 months of research and constitutes an exhaustive review of Israel's practices in the OPT according to definitions of colonialism and apartheid provided by international law. The project was suggested originally by the January 2007 report by eminent South African jurist John Dugard, in his capacity as Special Rapporteur to the United Nations Human Rights Council, when he indicated that Israeli practices had assumed characteristics of colonialism and apartheid......."

Download the full report [PDF - 3 MB]

Al-Jazeera Video: Palestinians urge action on Israeli 'land grab' - 09 Jun 09

"Israeli officials have said that settlement growth will continue in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, despite US calls for it to be halted.

The issue has raised tensions with its long-time and many Palestinians fear that the Obama administration's words will not be enough to secure concrete action to stop what they see as a land grab. "

Zionism is Racism: Israeli prosecutor drops charges against settler who was filmed firing at a Palestinian family

"The Israeli Prosecution stated Monday that it is dropping all charges against an extremist Israeli settler, who shot two Palestinians at close range during an evacuation of an illegal settlement outpost in December of 2008. The shooting was captured on tape.....

Israeli online daily, Haaretz, reported that the settler turned himself in to the Israeli police last week after he knew that he was caught on film by an activist of the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, B’Tselem.

He was caught on film opening fire at Palestinians at short range, wounding two.

He attacked the Palestinian family while the Israeli army was evacuating an illegal settlement outpost in Hebron; he shouted at the family to get in their homes and opened fire at them....

The prosecution admitted that Braude initiated the attack and attacked the house of Abul-Hai, and that he was acting violently, yet all charged against him were dropped for “security reasons”.

One of the relatives of the injured Palestinian man told Haaretz correspondent that the Israeli decision shows the extent of racism in Israel and its justice system......"

French company to walk out of controversial Jerusalem rail project

"The French company Veolia was supposed to operate the rail project that will connect the city center of Jerusalem with illegal settlements in the West Bank, but now wants to withdraw from the project that is deemed illegal under international law. Observers claim this is the achievement of the Global Boycot Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Campaign that has been mounted on Israel.

Veolia not only wants out of running the train project; it's also trying to sell its 5% stake in Citypass, the light rail consortium.

The BDS Campaign against Israel has welcomed the move of Veolia and reports it as a victory for its campaign. According to Omar Barghouti of the BDS movement the withdrawal is the result of years of hard work, causing Veolia to lose around 7 billion US dollars in contracts in Europe. The biggest loss came in Sweden where peace groups and church organizations successfully prevented Veolia to operate the Stockholm metro, a deal which involved 4.5 billion dollars.

Veolia also had to deal with a French lawsuit, filed by a pro-Palestinian group that demanded that the court annulled the business agreement as it violated international law."

Video: USS Liberty Survivors Demand Justice

Press TV

Watch the Video: USS Liberty Survivors Demand Justice

US ship survivors tell Press TV of Israeli attack

"A deadly Israeli attack on a US ship -- an incident largely kept in the dark by Washington -- receives new attention with survivors reliving the painful memory.

USS Liberty survivors gathered in Washington on Monday to commemorate the 42nd anniversary of the incident and expound on how they were sprayed with bullets by America's "closest ally and beneficiary".

On June 8, 1967, the unarmed spy ship USS Liberty was on duty in international waters off the Sinai Peninsula when it was bombarded by Israeli fighter jets and torpedo boats. The two-hour-long attacks killed at least 34 sailors, wounded 173 others and nearly sunk the ship.

The attack on the Liberty came at a time when Israel had engaged in a brief but intense war with Egypt and its Arab allies, which coincided with the US war on Vietnam.

Although the ship was clearly marked as an American vessel, Israelis declared the attack on Liberty as a simple case of "friendly fire" and "mistaken identity".

Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, former US president Lyndon Johnson accepted the Israeli claim and cancelled all investigations into the incident......."

Bound, blindfolded and beaten – by Israeli troops

Children among Palestinian detainees abused during West Bank operation, according to soldiers' confessions

By Ben Lynfield in Hares, West Bank
The Independent

"Two Israeli officers have testified that troops in the West Bank beat, bound and blindfolded Palestinian civilians as young as 14. The damaging disclosures by two sergeants of the Kfir Brigade include descriptions of abuses they say they witnessed during a search-and-detain operation involving hundreds of troops in Hares village on 26 March. The testimonies have been seen by The Independent and are expected to add fuel to the controversy over recent remarks by Colonel Itai Virob, commander of Kfir Brigade, in which he said violence against detained Palestinians was justified in order to accomplish missions......"

Dialog....Dialog.....More Dialog....Some More Dialog! The Hapless Marzouk: Qalqilia massacre would be discussed on the dialog table.

"DAMASCUS, (PIC)-- Dr. Mousa Abu Marzouk, the deputy-head of Hamas's political bureau, has confirmed that the Movement's delegation headed by Khaled Mishaal, the Movement's top political official, would discuss the recent events in the West Bank with the Egyptian officials in Cairo.

In an interview with the PIC on Monday, Abu Marzouk described what had happened in Qalqilia city as "plain crime" that enhances the Zionist dominance, and fulfills the program of US General Keith Dayton who built the PA security forces in the West Bank and called its elements the "neo-Palestinians". [Dr. Abu Marzouk has finally figured that one out; that is progress. But still he wants to "reform" the Dayton forces. Go figure!]

"This term is strange for the Palestinian people, and thus the incident in Qalqilia would indeed have its ramifications, and would affect the ongoing Palestinian national dialog in Cairo", Abu Marzouk pointed out.

He stressed that being the sponsor of the dialog, Egypt should have some obligations towards the wrongdoings committed by those forces in the West Bank, adding that the issue would be opened and discussed at the dialogue table......"

Déjà Vu All Over Again: Pathetic Hamas on the Same Path Arafat Traveled Until He Signed the Oslo Agreements. Oslo II for Hamas?? Stay Tuned!

Hamas requests direct talks with Obama

Press TV

"Hamas calls on US President Barack Obama to hold direct talks with the movement, describing respect for democracy as essential for the Middle East peace process.

Mousa Abu Marzouk, the deputy chief of the Hamas political bureau, said on Monday that the Obama administration should respect that there will be no solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without Hamas.

Referring to Fatah movement led by the pro-Western Palestinian echelon Mahmoud Abbas, Marzouk said, "Dealing with Hamas is vital because he (Obama) cannot deal with people who don't represent the Palestinian people."......"

Feeling the Hate In Jerusalem on Eve of Obama's Cairo Address

Youtube video of Israeli youth showing how tolerant they are.

Natural Growth in Palestine, by Khalil Bendib

(Click on cartoon to enlarge)

Fooled by Obama, by Carlos Latuff

(Click on cartoon to enlarge)

The Caption of This Poster Being Hung in Jordan is: All Allegiance to the Leader!

Here is the Intrepid Leader Inspecting Jordan's Strategic Production of....Cookies!

Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll

This poll asks:

Do you agree with continuing the dialog between Hamas and Fatah in Cairo?

With over 1,700 responding so far, 57% said no.

While the Pathetic Hamas is Being Slaughtered by the Dayton Forces in the West Bank: Hamas delegation led by Mishaal in Cairo

"GAZA, (PIC)-- Hamas has said that a delegation of the Movement led by its bureau chairman Khaled Mishaal is heading to Cairo on Monday in response to an official Egyptian invitation to discuss resuming the inter-Palestinian dialog [Keep the stupid charade going as the Pharaoh has learned from USrael. You have got to give the Pharaoh credit where credit is due.] ......

He said that the delegates are to meet with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman on Tuesday to discuss the latest series of assassinations by former PA chief Mahmoud Abbas's security forces against resistance fighters in the West Bank in addition to the escalating political arrests in violation of agreements reached in earlier dialog sessions.

Taha said that the delegation will include two political bureau members from Gaza Strip along with Mishaal, Dr. Mousa Abu Marzouk and Mohammed Nasr.

He asserted that the dialog was still faltering and would eventually collapse [No Kidding! The dialog will go on until Dayton gets the last fighter in the West Bank; on that you can count.] if the Abbas's security apparatuses continued to attack resistance elements."

Lebanon's Elections

Return to the Status Quo

By FRANKLIN LAMB
CounterPunch

".....The votes have been tallied and the election results show pretty much a status quo ante with the Majority picking up a net four seats (a new total of 71 with 57 for the Opposition) at the expense of the Christian Maronite leader and Opposition ally, former General Aoun and the Free Patriotic Movement....

Hezbollah, which won all 11 districts in which it fielded its 11 candidates, and along with its allies won 21 seats in southern Lebanon succeeded in raising its vote tallies, despite a Saudi-funded rival Shai party, Lebanon Option Movement. Hezbollah’s and its allies also won 10 seats in the eastern Baalbek region....

The US administration is reportedly disappointed that their ‘Team’ did not achieve a stronger victory. Just before the voting, the Obama administration allowed Jeffrey Feltman, Deputy Secretary of State for Near East Affairs, in clear violation of Lebanon voting laws, which required no campaigning after midnight on Friday, to blitz the media through carefully timed interviews with pro-Majority An-Nahar and al-Hayat newspapers, with his personal calls for the Lebanese to have enough intelligence to vote as Feltman saw fit. Many Lebanese resented the additional interference in which Feltman announced: "The election's outcome will naturally affect the world's stance towards the new Lebanese government and the manner in which the United States and Congress deal with Lebanon. I believe the Lebanese are smart enough to understand that there will be an effect.”......"

Obama’s Pick to Lead Afghan War Linked to Abuse of Prisoners & Secret Assassination Unit

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman

"Lieutenant General Stanley McChrystal formerly served as commander of the Joint Special Operations Command from 2003 to 2008. During that time, he oversaw a secretive program to hunt down and assassinate suspected terrorists around the globe. Last year, lawmakers delayed Stanley McChrystal’s nomination for a key position because of questions about prisoner abuse by forces under his command. Many of the reports of abuse center on Camp Nama, a US base near Baghdad’s airport where Special Operations troops ran an interrogation and detention center.....

For more we are joined on the telephone by Marc Garlasco. He"s a former intelligence and targeting analyst at the Pentagon and now the senior military analyst at Human Rights Watch. He co-wrote a report in July 2006 titled “No Blood, No Foul” that documented abuses at Camp Nama. In that report, a U.S. military interrogator is quoted as saying that he had seen McChrystal visit the center “a couple of times.” The interrogator, given the pseudonym “Jeff” in the report, also said he was told by the colonel in charge that he knew “directly from General McChrystal and the Pentagon” that the Red Cross would not be allowed to inspect the center.....

We’re also joined here in the firehouse studio by Tom Engelhardt. He’s the creator and editor of Tomdispatch.com, a project of the Nation Institute, where he is a fellow....."

‘Loyalty oath’ to keep Arabs out of Galilee town

By Jonathan Cook

"MISGAV, ISRAEL // A community in northern Israel has changed its bylaws to demand that new residents pledge support for “Zionism, Jewish heritage and settlement of the land” in a thinly veiled attempt to block Arab applicants from gaining admission.

Critics are calling the bylaw, adopted by Manof, home to 170 Jewish families in Galilee, a local “loyalty oath” similar to a national scheme recently proposed by the far-Right party of the government minister Avigdor Lieberman.

Other Jewish communities in the central Galilee – falling under the umbrella of a regional council known as Misgav – are preparing similar bylaws in response to a court petition filed by an Arab couple hoping to build a home in Misgav......"