Israeli Raids Target Children

By Nora Barrows-Friedman

"SILWAN, EAST JERUSALEM, Mar 16, 2010 (IPS) - Three thousand heavily armed Israeli security service forces locked down large parts of the Old City of Jerusalem on Tuesday, as battalions of police fired rounds of tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets at Palestinian protesters in the occupied eastern part of the city. Nearly 40 Palestinians were wounded and treated at nearby hospitals, as 25 were arrested during intense clashes.....

Clashes took place in several areas of East Jerusalem, including Shu'afat refugee camp, Wadi Joz and Silwan. This comes on the heels of accelerated attacks by Israeli forces and Jewish settlers inside Silwan in particular, directed towards the community's youngest and most vulnerable population. Since January, at least 33 children from the area have been arrested, detained and interrogated by Israeli forces as home demolitions and settler takeovers continue apace.....

The Netanyahu administration, for its part, announced that it will not backpedal on its plans to continue settlement expansion in occupied East Jerusalem. "These policies of arresting and interrogating Palestinian children are meant to break the spirit of the child and their families," Hiyam Odeh says. "But we are a strong community. We will remain steadfast, and we will not leave our homes." "

WPost Blames Obama First, on Israel

By Robert Parry
March 16, 2010

"The U.S. government is in a clash with Israel over Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, housing construction that the Obama administration sees as a threat to renewed peace talks – and guess which side the Washington Post’s neoconservative editorial page is taking?

In a phrase that the neocons used in the 1980s to demonize Americans who criticized Ronald Reagan’s bloody policies in Central America, it could be said that the Post’s editorial writers are “blaming America first” – and largely taking the side of Israel......"

Yediot Ahronot exposes Israeli police lies

(Click the photo to enlarge)

Israeli police car runs over a youth in Jerusalem, arrest him for protesting and take him to interrogation. They later denied responsiblity for the youngsters injuries (a badly broken foot) accusing another car driven by an...ARAB!!. Sadly for them a photographer of the daily Yediot Ahronot was there. The paper published the photos exposing the congenital liars...

"Who really ran over the 14-year-old youth during the demonstrations that took place on Friday in Jerusalem’s Ras el-Amud neighborhood? The police contend that he was hit by a “white Subaru, evidently driven by an Arab,” but the photos shot by Yedioth Ahronoth photographer Atta Awisat expose the truth: the youth is lying underneath the tires of a police vehicle."
(Via Coteret)
-----------------
BTW, how many Israeli policemen does it take to arrest a child? Or change a bulb for that matter?

Rachel Corrie's Memory, Israel's Image

By Neve Gordon
Palestine Chronicle

"......When social justice activists like Rachel Corrie are branded terrorists and international human rights law becomes the enemy of the state--all in the name of winning the narrative battle--then it becomes absolutely clear that something is terribly wrong. As Jews around the world come together to celebrate Passover, the liberation of the Hebrews from slavery and the beginning of a life of freedom, they should keep in mind Rachel's last words to her mother: "I think freedom for Palestine could be an incredible source of hope to people struggling all over the world. I think it could also be an incredible inspiration to Arab people in the Middle East, who are struggling under undemocratic regimes which the US supports...." As Jews sit at the Passover table this year, they should take Rachel Corrie's words to heart. "

Zionism and Fascism...Brothers in arms!

British skinheads of the "English Defence League" display the Israeli flag at a rally in Birmingham, 5 Sep 2009,

Israel vs. America: Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

The Biden ambush

by Justin Raimondo, March 17, 2010

"The brouhaha over what Hillary Clinton said was Israel’s calculated "insult" to the United States is escalating into what many characterize as a "crisis" in US-Israeli relations, a turning point in which the terms of the "special relationship" are about to undergo a major change. When Joe Biden berated his hosts for making the settlements announcement as he arrived on Israeli soil, it was as if a light bulb went off over his head:

"This is starting to get dangerous for us," Biden is reported to have said. "What you’re doing here undermines the security of our troops who are fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. That endangers us and it endangers regional peace.".......

General Petraeus is concerned with the safety of his troops, and so it was the military that took the lead in this instance. Unfortunately, this is one battle that the politicians are none too eager to fight, and my guess is that this crisis will pass – although of course it will continue to bubble underground, periodically coming to the surface at key junctures, reminding our "leaders" that reality always has the last word.

Military and strategic imperatives demand a rupture, or at least a radical divergence, between the US and Israel: political reality forbids it. As the old song puts it: something’s gotta give. "

Quote of the week

"A Nation... is a group of persons united by a common error about their ancestry and a common dislike of their neighbors".
- Karl Deutsch, Nationality and Its Alternatives, 1969 (cited by Shlomo Sand, The Invention of the Jewish People, page 1)

So yeah, Israel is a "nation" alright!

IslamOnline website in crisis as employees in Egypt stage sit-in

Future of one of the world's largest Islamic sites in doubt as row escalates between Qatari managers and workers in Egypt

Jack Shenker in Cairo
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 16 March 2010

"The future of one of the largest Islamic websites in the world was in doubt today after hundreds of staff walked out, accusing new managers of trying to hijack the site in order to promote a hardline, conservative agenda.

IslamOnline, which draws over 120,000 visitors a day and is one of the most popular internet destinations in the Middle East, was plunged into crisis following an attempt by the website's senior management in Qatar to wrest control of the site's content away from its editorial offices in Cairo.

Insiders claim that the move, which would involve many of the site's 350 Egypt-based staff losing their jobs, is part of a broader effort by conservative elements in the Gulf to reshape the identity of a media outlet long viewed as a bastion of liberal and reformist voices within the Islamic world......"

Al-Jazeera Cartoon

The "Arab League" Committee.....
To Follow Up on the "Arab Peace Initiative"!
Endless "Negotiations."

What Losers!

القدس تنتفض والضفة مكبلة

"رغم اندلاع المواجهات الشاملة في كافة مناطق القدس في ما وصف بانتفاضة ضد مخططات الاستيطان والتهويد التي توجت الاثنين بتدشين ما سمي "كنيس الخراب" اليهودي على بعد أمتار من المسجد الأقصى، تعيش الضفة الغربية حالة من الهدوء غير المعتاد.
....
منع وتخاذل
ورأى المحلل الفلسطيني عادل سمارة أن التحرك الشعبي بدأ فعلا في الضفة الغربية رغم ما وصفه "بقمع السلطة" عبر نشر أعداد هائلة من القوات الأمنية على مداخل المدن ومحاور المواجهة.


وأضاف سمارة للجزيرة نت أنه إلى جانب المنع الرسمي، هناك حالة تخاذل من الفصائل والقوى التي أصبحت تحت جناح السلطة ولم تعد لديها النية لتحريك الشارع.

وشدد سمارة على أن واجب الانتفاضة في وجه التهديدات الإسرائيلية لا يقع على الفلسطينيين فقط، وخاصة في ظرف يمنعون فيه من ذلك، بل يلقى على عاتق الجماهير العربية والإسلامية التي تشكل القدس والمسجد الأقصى جزءا من عقيدتها.

وأوضح أن نجاح أي انتفاضة يبدأ من قدرتها على الانطلاق وضمان الاستمرارية، وذلك بتكاتف القوى والقيادات الشعبية القادرة على تشجيع الناس وإخراجها من الضوابط المفروضة عليها.
"

It's not only land theft and ethnic cleansing. It's memoricide, urbicide and ultimately genocide

(Maqam (mausoleum) Abu Hurayra, described as "one of the finest domed mausoleums in Palestine", in Ybna now Yevnah. Since the 12th century, it has been known as a tomb of Abu Hurairah, a companion (sahaba) of the Prophet. Destroyed.)

When we know that 460 mosques and other places of worship were wiped out off the map or converted into facilities for other purposes since 1948, Palestinians have every reason to fear the worst for the Al Aqsa mosque..The Zionists' history in Palestine is not only about land theft and ethnic cleansing, it's also about memoricide, urbicide and ultimately genocide
Here is a non exhaustive list of 87 Mosques demolished or/and converted into other facilities( sheep enclosures, storehouses,museums, restaurants and bars, office blocks, gambling joints and also synagogues)
TGIA

How the Western press distorts the Mideast; Israel’s news management

A very important piece!
By James North-Mondoweiss

"The superb young Dutch journalist Joris Luyendijk was in for some big surprises when he left Egypt after several years and started covering Israel during the second intifada. His reports from the Arab world had not prompted much of a response from readers and viewers. But his new assignment was different. “If I made a factual error about Israel, five letters would arrive saying, ‘Your correspondent is anti-Semitic.’”
The second half of his valuable new book, People Like Us: Misrepresenting the Middle East, is an inside look at how the Israeli government and the Israel lobby try and manipulate news coverage overseas. He is astonished at his first visit to a plush Israeli government press center, set up in a 5-star hotel in Jerusalem: “Young Israeli men and women walked around in olive-green army uniforms handing out sheets of great quotes. In efficient, friendly, and fluent English, they told us about the forthcoming press conference and the briefing later that day to be given by a defense specialist.”
Everything was ready to help the pack of harried international journalists who show up in a crisis. “The world’s media were given everything they needed with practiced skill, and more,” he explains. “Rights-free archive material of Israeli soldiers giving first aid to Palestinians; the phone numbers of spokesmen who could explain the government’s perspective in any major language and in the required number of words. . .”
Luyendijk cannot hide his amazement: “A complete alphabet of ‘optimistic stories’ had been cooked up for the correspondents: Jewish, Christian, and Islamic children together in one school; olive branches from Israelis and Palestinians; joint musical performances. You had only to telephone the Palestinian or Israeli organizers of these hopeful projects. . . and the great quotes, checkable information, and striking visual details would be served to you on a plate.”
He exposes another Israeli news management tactic. “After enduring an attack that caused a high civilian death toll, the Israeli government would wait a standard twenty-four hours before retaliating. The world’s press was given time to pause and reflect on Israeli suffering because, as soon as Israel took revenge, that would dominate the headlines.”

مسؤول أميركي بليبيا قبل القمة

"أعرب جيفري فيلتمان مساعد وزيرة الخارجية الأميركية عن أمل بلاده في أن يقوم الزعماء العرب خلال قمتهم التي تستضيفها ليبيا أواخر مارس/آذار الجاري، بفعل كل ما يحقق التقدم باتجاه عملية السلام في منطقة الشرق الأوسط. كما قال إن التعاون العسكري مع ليبيا يتقدم.

وقال فيلتمان في مؤتمر صحفي عقده في منزل سفير بلاده بالعاصمة الليبية إن مباحثاته مع المسؤولين الليبيين شملت القضايا المتوقع مناقشتها خلال القمة العربية المقبلة. وأضاف "لقد رأينا من الضروري أن نوضح رؤانا بشأن مسار السلام في الشرق الأوسط والانتخابات في العراق".[Is the Zionist Feltman setting the agenda for the "summit"?? It seems that way!]

وقال المسؤول الأميركي "نود أن نشير هنا إلى أن أميركا والمجتمع الدولي سيرون أن المبادرة العربية مهمة جدا في عملية السلام فهي تدل على رؤية ثاقبة وقيادة حكيمة"، وشدد على أن أميركا حريصة على السلام في المنطقة باعتبار أنه يصب في مصلحة الجميع.

ودعا فيلتمان إسرائيل والفلسطينيين إلى اتخاذ خطوات إيجابية وواضحة لتحقيق عملية السلام، مذكرا في هذا الصدد بأن بلاده وجهت انتقادات إلى إسرائيل لقيامها ببناء المستوطنات.

وقال "لا نتردد في انتقاد أي تصرفات تبعدنا عن عملية السلام"، وأضاف أن "هدف أميركا أن ترى سلاما شاملا بين سوريا وإسرائيل.. ولو رأى الإسرائيليون والسوريون القبول بالوساطة التركية فنحن نؤيد ذلك".
...."

Israel's Titanic moment: Does Obama want Bibi's head?

JERUSALEM - Hamas has designated this day, in this place, its Day of Rage. Why, then, the smiles on the faces of Mahmoud Zahar and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?
Perhaps it's because after more than 22 years of costly trial and error, Hamas has finally come upon the secret of how to bring down the Jewish state:

Let the ship sink itself.

This month, down here in the engine room of the Titanic, a single coherent order continues to sound from the officers shrouded in fog on the bridge: "More power!"
To the delight of Mahmoud Zahar and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Israel's homemade weapons of mass destruction - pro-settlement bureaucrats with conflicts of financial and ideological interest - have done in one meeting what Israel's foes have sought for generations: driving a stake through the heart of Israel's relationship with the White House.

Israelis woke on Tuesday to an Army Radio report that George Mitchell had abruptly cancelled his scheduled visit to Israel, and that the U.S. Mideast envoy would not resume his discussions with Jerusalem until Israeli leaders agreed to three conditions set by Washington - an uncomfortably familiar echo of the U.S. position on contacts with Hamas.
Haaretz

Iraqi election rigged by security forces, poll monitors find

BAGHDAD: Election monitors in Iraq have raised significant concerns over the conduct of last week's national poll.

A report details violations across the country and has evidence of the army and police interfering with voting on March 7.

The report says the security forces were urging people to vote for a list of candidates in some provinces. Election monitors saw "a number of security forces even within the voting hall".

Party leaders have alleged widespread fraud, although Western diplomats say at least some of these are attempts to discredit the poll.

The independent report detailing widespread irregularities was compiled by the Tammuz Organisation for Social Development, the Election Integrity Monitoring Team and the Shams Network for Monitoring Elections - all Iraqi institutions with Western backing. They posted observers at 41,652 of the 52,000 polling stations.

Observers reported the names of thousands of voters were missing, despite the fact a large number were registered in the previous elections.

Supporters of former prime minister Iyad Allawi claimed up to 250,000 members of the armed forces were unable to vote.

U.S.-Israel rift undermining some long-standing taboos

Foreign Policy's Mark Perry reports that both Adm. Mike Mullen and Gen. David Petraeus within the last couple of months stressed the same causal connection to Obama officials: "Israel's intransigence could cost American lives." It's rather difficult to maintain the fiction that only fringe Israel-haters see the connection between our support for Israel and Muslim hatred toward the U.S. when two of America's most respected military officials (responsible for U.S. troops in the region) are making that case explicitly. Moreover, the Mullen/Petraeus alarm is almost certainly what accounts for the Obama administration's sudden (and commendable) willingness to so publicly oppose Israel. As Perry says: "There are important and powerful lobbies in America: the NRA, the American Medical Association, the lawyers -- and the Israeli lobby. But no lobby is as important, or as powerful, as the U.S. military."

Letter from Cindy Corrie

This month, a civil lawsuit in Israel in the case of our daughter Rachel Corrie will converge with the seven-year anniversary of her killing in Gaza. A human rights observer and activist, Rachel, 23, was crushed to death by an Israel Defense Force (IDF) Caterpillar D9R bulldozer as she tried nonviolently to offer protection for a Palestinian family whose home was threatened with demolition. This lawsuit is one piece of our family's seven-year effort to pursue accountability for Rachel while, also, challenging the Occupation that claimed her life.

On this day, when Rachel's presence is powerful for many of us, we're asking all of our friends to support Rachel's vision of freedom for Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip by participating in what we are calling the International Day of Conscience. Please join her struggle by calling the White House today - this link has all the information you need:

http://tinyurl.com/Corrie4Gaza

Seven years later, Rachel's memory is still vibrant. I'm writing to you from Israel where we are plaintiffs in a civil case against the state of Israel for its responsibility in her death. In addition to seeking accountability through the Israeli court system, we're asking all of our friends to support Rachel's vision of freedom for Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip by participating in a national call-in day to the White House.

I hope I can count on you to:

-Call the White House at 202-456-1111

-Urge Special Envoy for Middle East Peace George Mitchell to visit Gaza and demand that the United States break the blockade of Gaza by providing immediate humanitarian aid and building materials.

-Tell us about your call. Tracking your calls makes a difference.

You can also make the call tomorrow. Please forward this email to help spread the word.

Thank you,

Cindy Corrie

انتفاضة القدس: استمرار المواجهات وعشرات الإعتقالات والإصابات (فيديو)

Photos of the Start of the Third Intifada!

عــ48ـرب

اتهام السلطة بمنع التضامن مع الأقصى

Contributed by Abdul

"اتهم القيادي في حركة التحرير الوطني الفلسطيني (فتح) حاتم عبد القادر الحكومة الفلسطينية في الضفة الغربية بمنع مظاهر الاحتجاج دعما للقدس واستنكارا للإجراءات الإسرائيلية فيها، وآخرها افتتاح كنيس الخراب قرب أسوار الحرم القدسي.

وقال عبد القادر للجزيرة نت في اتصال هاتفي إن "الحكومة الفلسطينية هي التي تمنع بشكل واضح القيام بمظاهرات دعما للقدس، واستنكارا للإجراءات الإسرائيلية"، مضيفا أن الحكومة "لو أطلقت أيدي الشعب لشهدنا وضعا مختلفا عما نشهده على الأرض الآن".

وأضاف أن "هناك حظرا لأعمال الاحتجاجات في أراضي السلطة والاكتفاء ببعض المظاهر والتصريحات، وهذا بالتأكيد لا يكفي لمواجهة ما يجري في القدس، وينعكس بالإحباط لدى المقدسيين الذين يواجهون الاحتلال والمستوطنين بصدورهم العارية".

وشدد على ضرورة أن تكون في الضفة حركة تضامن قوية وفاعلة، وأن تعمل السلطة على إطلاق أيدي المواطنين للتعبير عن مشاعرهم وعما يحتقن في صدورهم من سخط على إجراءات الاحتلال، ولتأييد إخوانهم في القدس.

وأكد عضو فتح أن نقطة ضعف الفلسطينيين هي الانقسام، موضحا أن هذه الهبة لو جاءت في ظرف موات بعيدا الانقسام وفي ظل الوحدة "لأخذت أبعادا أفقية وعمودية أكبر، لكن الانقسام يحول دون تحولها إلى هبة ومقاومة شعبية وانتفاضة".

وقال إن الوضع مرشح لمزيد من التصعيد والحصار وفق إجراءات الاحتلال على الأرض، موضحا أن سلطات الاحتلال أعلنت القدس كلها منطقة عسكرية مغلقة، بما فيها البلدة القديمة ومحيطها.

وأشار إلى وقوع إصابات واعتقالات خلال مواجهات اليوم في مختلف مناطق القدس، "وهو رد طبيعي على التصعيد الخطير من سلطات الاحتلال، سواء فيما يتعلق بالمخططات الاستيطانية أو تهويد القدس والمقدسات الإسلامية".
.....
السلطة ترد [Dayton's Response!]
من جهته اعتبر الناطق الرسمي باسم الشرطة الفلسطينية عدنان الضميري أن "المعركة موجودة في القدس"، في إشارة إلى أن من يريد انتقاد الوضع عليه فعل ذلك هناك، مؤكدا أن "السلطة لا تمنع أحدا من حقه في التعبير".

وقال إنه "في مناطق السلطة لا توجد قوى للاحتلال"، مشددا على أنه "يجب أن يكون هناك تقديم طلب لتنظيم المسيرات" منعا للفوضى. "


COMMENT by ABDUL:

"...Look at what this PA police spokesman says, As if palestine is completely liberated and there is only an occupation in jerusalem:

من جهته اعتبر الناطق الرسمي باسم الشرطة الفلسطينية عدنان الضميري أن "المعركة موجودة في القدس"، في إشارة إلى أن من يريد انتقاد الوضع عليه فعل ذلك هناك، مؤكدا أن "السلطة لا تمنع أحدا من حقه في التعبير". وقال إنه "في مناطق السلطة لا توجد قوى للاحتلال"، مشددا على أنه "يجب أن يكون هناك تقديم طلب لتنظيم المسيرات" منعا للفوضى.
I am not sure they realize the meaning of the words they speak anymore !"

Video: Rachel Corrie - Interview (From March 14, 2003)

"Footage from Rachel's interview conducted by Middle East Broadcasting Company on March 14th, 2003, two days before she was murdered by the IOF."