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Obama's friend raising funds for new Gaza aid
ship--Haaretz
WASHINGTON - A fundraising campaign is currently underway in the
United States to finance the purchase of an American ship in an
effort to break the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip in
the early autumn. The ship is to be named after U.S. President
Barack Obama's book "The Audacity of Hope."...one of the
prominent figures to support the initiative is Columbia
University history professor Rashid Khalidi,...whose friendship
with the American president from their days together in Chicago
engendered criticism of Obama.
Read |
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Tax Exempt Funds Aid Settlements in West Bank--New
York Times--A New York Times examination of public
records in the United States and Israel identified at least 40
American groups that have collected more than $200 million in
tax-deductible gifts for Jewish settlement in the West Bank and
East Jerusalem over the last decade. In some ways, American tax
law is more lenient than Israel’s...click
to read. |
From Yahoo:
AFP/IDF-HO – A picture released by the Israeli
army shows Israeli navy troops boarding the Rachel Corrie aid
ship |
What does Israel really think about the
Flotilla Massacre--The Israeli government has
apologized for sending the press a link to an online video
parodying last week's deadly commando raid on a flotilla of
pro-Gaza activists.The video, which promptly went viral, has
stirred up further outrage about the fallout from the raid, with
some calling for the video's apparent creator, a Jerusalem Post
columnist, to be fired for spoofing the circumstances of an
attack claiming nine fatalities.
Click here
for video... |
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Must watch video clip: George Galloway invokes
General David Petraeus--In denouncing the recent Gaza
Flotilla Massacre and U.S. continued unilateral support of
Israel, George Galloway, who retired as a member of the British
Parliament several weeks ago after over 20 years of service
invokes General Petraeus' remarks in March 2010. As The Wonk
Room website related on March 25, 2010:
Gen. David Petraeus caused quite a stir last
week with his written statement to the Senate Armed Services
Committee, in which he included “insufficient progress toward a
comprehensive Middle East peace” as the first among “a number of
cross-cutting issues that serve as major drivers of instability,
inter-state tensions, and conflict” that “can serve as root
causes of instability or as obstacles to security.”
While none of this is really surprising to anyone who has spent
much time studying the Middle East, it does run afoul of one of
the most treasured articles of faith of the neocons, which is
the idea that the U.S.-Israel relationship exists in a sort of
hermetically sealed bubble, separated from the U.S.’s other
challenges in the region, generating no negative externalities
for U.S. interests.
View
Galloway's press conference
Read The Wonk Room article |
Associated Press |
Israel rejects international investigation of
flotilla raid--World
News Examiner--Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has
rejected a proposal by U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon for an
international commission to investigate Israel’s raid on a
Gaza-bound flotilla. Netanyahu said they will have their own
military experts examine what caused the naval raid.
Read more...
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Israel allows some banned products into Gaza--AP,
Diaa Hadid--Sugar, junk food and a few non-essentials: soda,
juice, jam, spices, shaving cream, potato chips, cookies and
candy. Diabetes is another way to attack. "The move also does
not include the most-sought items in Gaza, such as cement, steel
and other materials needed to rebuild the war-devastated strip."
Read
article... |
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USS liberty sunk by Israel 43 years ago--June
8, 2010--click here
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My heart wanted to ask her: What will it take
for Jews to say, Enough! by Tema Okun in Mondoweis--I
am a Jew who has spent four summers in Palestine witnessing the
toll that more than 40 years of Israeli occupation has taken on
a people and on a land. I am a Jew who has come to understand,
as the sign I was holding yesterday attests, that we are
forsaking Jewish values for the sake of a Jewish state....click
here to read |
Associated Press |
Israeli PM: Gaza blockade
prevents rocket attacks--AP--Mark
Lavie and Selcan Hacaoglu--Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
hotly rejected calls to lift a blockade on Hamas-ruled Gaza on
Wednesday, insisting the ban prevents missile attacks on Israel
and labeling worldwide criticism of his navy's bloody raid on a
pro-Palestinian flotilla as "hypocrisy."
Read article.
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Israel's 'gunboat diplomacy' provokes global
outrage--The
Indpendent World--Israel was struggling to contain a rapidly
mounting diplomatic crisis last night after naval commandos
killed at least nine pro-Palestinian activists in international
waters after storming their Turkish passenger ship as it
attempted to reach the coast of the besieged Gaza strip.
International calls for a full investigation...read
more
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Mearsheimer: Two State Solution Dead--Palestine
Center
The story I will tell
is straightforward. Contrary to the wishes of the Obama
administration and most Americans – to include many American
Jews – Israel is not going to allow the Palestinians to have a
viable state of their own in Gaza and the West Bank.
Regrettably, the two-state solution is now a fantasy. Instead,
those territories will be incorporated into a “Greater Israel,”
which will be an apartheid state bearing a marked resemblance to
white-ruled South Africa...a Jewish apartheid state is not
politically viable over the long term. Click
to read. |
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Israel Threat Against
Iran A Diversion--Uri Avnery's
sobering reflection--"...an Israeli attack on Iran would cause a
military, political and economic disaster for the United States
of America...The results would shake the international economy,
from the US and Europe to China and Japan...The countries that
had just begun to recover from the world economic crisis would
sink to the depths of misery and unemployment, riots and
bankruptcies...[They] pretend that we are going to attack Iran
at any moment and shout to the entire world: “Hold us back or…”
Click to read. |
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Congress Welcomes Netanyahu--AP--The
bipartisan welcome underscored the breadth of congressional
support for Israel
even when a U.S. president wants to keep his distance. And it
pointed to the limited options, beyond verbal rebukes, that the
Obama administration faces in pressuring the Jewish state.
Click to read. |
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U.S. Talks Tough to Israel--Haaretz--A
widely predicted crisis between Israel and the United States
upon Benjamin Netanyahu taking office as prime minister finally
erupted this weekend. U.S. President Barack Obama did not hold
back in condemning the humiliation caused to Joe Biden with the
Israeli announcement of 1,600 new housing units in East
Jerusalem during what was supposed to be the vice president's
friendly visit to Israel.
Click to
read. |
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Israelis Against Israeli Settlements--NY
Times--The strength of feeling among Israelis who oppose moving
more Israelis into Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem was
demonstrated just last Saturday, when a large protest took place
against the eviction of Palestinian families from homes in the
city’s Sheikh Jarrah district.
Click to read.
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Israel OKs 1600 New Homes in East Jerusalem--AP--The
Interior Ministry announced the construction plans just as U.S.
Vice President Joe Biden was wrapping up a series of warm
meetings with Israeli leaders. "The United States will always
stand with those who take risks for peace," Biden said to
Netanyahu.
Click here. |
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Gaza A Year Later--NY Times,
Micheal Martin--From my arrival in Gaza, the deprivations and
hardships resulting from the blockade were all too evident...I
could see for myself the despair and suffering etched in the
faces of those who queued for the most basic rations of rice,
milk powder and sunflower oil...people basically do not have
enough food, even with their meager food allocations, to live.
Click here to read.
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Netanyahu Persuades Jerusalem to Put
Demolitions on Hold--Reuters--Citing concern over
Israel's international image, Netanyahu persuaded
Jerusalem's mayor to put on hold any demolition of
Palestinian homes in a municipal tourism project. The plan had
stoked Palestinian anger and any demolitions would have
certainly raised international concern.
Click here to read. |
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Jerusalem Plan Would Demolish Palestinian
Homes
Steven Gutkin, AP--Jerusalem's mayor unveiled a plan
Tuesday to demolish dozens of Palestinian homes to make room for
a tourist center in one of the disputed city's most volatile
neighborhoods, drawing criticism from Palestinians and the
United Nations. "There is no way the Palestinians can accept the
demolishing of houses in Jerusalem and the continuation of
building settlements for the Jewish settlers, while the United
States is trying to bring the parties together," Palestinian
Cabinet minister Mohammed Ishtayeh told The Associated Press.
Click here to read. |
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Assassinated Hamas Leader Smuggled Weapons--Associated
Press--The right-hand man of the Hamas leader assassinated in
Dubai confirmed Israeli claims that his boss supplied weapons to
Palestinian militants, according to an interview transcript
released Tuesday. The aide, Mohammed Nassar, spoke to
Hamas'
Al Aqsa radio in
Gaza.
Click here to read. |
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Netanyahu Derailing Peace Effort Using
Heritage Sites--Ira Chernus, truthout--It's the same
old tragic story. Just when there is a glimmer of hope that
Israel and Palestine might take a step toward peace, the Israeli
government swoops in to sabotage it. At least this time the
Israelis are not killing anyone - yet. In fact, now they've
found a way to set back the chance for peace that seems, on the
face of it, wholly benign. They simply want to renovate and
restore "national heritage sites." Who could object to that?
Don't progressives in the US often fight to protect cherished
historical sites from the developer's wrecking ball?
Click here to read. |
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What Would Jesus Do in Gaza?--Newsweek--What
would Jesus do in the Holy Land today. The narrow confines of
Gaza, Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria are places where God's love
was long ago supplanted by war for land and ill will among men.
It has been a year now since the bloody and fruitless Israeli
effort to crush Hamas in what amounts to
a massive prison for a million people.
Peacemakers in the Middle East are rarely blessed, and often
reviled; just ask special envoy George Mitchell. And the truth
rarely sets anyone free, as proved most recently by the
fact-filled
United Nations report by South African
Judge Richard Goldstone, which was dissed by
Washington and dismissed by Israel.
Click here. |
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Egyptian Authorities Bar Gaza Freedom March
Using the pretext of escalating tensions on the Gaza-Egypt
border, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry has informed organizers of
the Gaza Freedom March that the Rafah border will be closed over
the coming weeks, into January. Organizers are calling for
pressure on the Egyptian government to let the march pass into
Gaza. Click here. |
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The Next War on Gaza--Haaretz
Prime Minister Netanyahu's brother-in-law, Hagai Ben Artzi,
confronted the father of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit
as he awaited a decision by senior ministers on a deal to secure
the release of his son. "I hope that we will be able to release
Gilad during the next war in Gaza," he said. Noam Shalit asked
him when: "Either in two months, or in six months."
Click
here. |
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Gaza March Spotlight on Civilian Suffering--IPS.com
More than 50,000 people are expected to
take to the streets of Gaza on Dec. 31 for a mass march designed
to send a message to the United States, a key supporter of
Israel's army, that the situation in Gaza violates international
human rights laws. Organisers say the main catalyst for the
mobilisation was the Goldstone Report.
Click
here. |
Gazan families living in tents |
Politics Hamper Gaza Recon- struction--Al-Jazeera--At
the Sharm El Sheikh conference on reconstruction in March,
international donors pledged almost $4.5bn in aid, chiefly to
rebuild Gaza....control over these funds immediately sparked
disputes between Hamas and Fatah...The disputes have delayed
delivery of the funds.
Click here. |
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Footnotes in Gaza
Adam Horowitz in
Mondoweiss--As we approach the one year anniversary of Israel’s
attack on Gaza, we are proud to be able to share with you an
exclusive peek at Joe Sacco’s new book
Footnotes in Gaza .
Rather than focus on the current phase of the conflict, the book
deals with an often forgotten, or unknown, event – the massacre
of 111 Palestinians by Israeli forces in the Gaza towns of Rafah
and Khan Younis in 1956. While these southern Gazan towns are
currently in the news as the Gaza Freedom March and Viva
Palestina convoy try to enter Rafah from Egypt, Sacco’s book
takes us back to 1948 and 1956 to show us how we arrived at the
point we are today.... as we turn our eyes towards Gaza on
this solemn anniversary, let us remember everything that came
before it. Click here.
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Carter helps rebuild homes in Thailand |
Gaza Must Be Rebuilt
Now Jimmy Carter in the UK Guardian--It is
generally recognised that the Middle East peace process is in
the doldrums, almost moribund. Israeli settlement expansion
within Palestine continues, and PLO leaders refuse to join in
renewed peace talks without a settlement freeze, knowing that no
Arab or Islamic nation will accept any comprehensive agreement
while Israel retains control of East Jerusalem.
Click to read. |
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Six Palestinians Killed in Nablus--BBC
News--The Israeli raid began in the early hours of the morning
and lasted for several hours....there had not been a raid like
this in Nablus for about 18 months...The violence came a day
before the first anniversary of the Gaza war that killed some
1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.
Click here to read. |
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Palestinians Kill Israeli Civilian in Nablus--B'Tselem--Over
the past nine years, Palestinian terror attacks perpetrated in
Israel and in the Occupied Territories have killed hundreds and
injured thousands of Israeli civilians...Attacks aimed at
civilians are immoral, inhuman, and illegal. Intentional killing
of civilians is a grave breach of international humanitarian law
and is considered a war crime that can never be justified,
whatever the circumstances may be.
Click here. |
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Local Activists Targeted in Occupied
Territories--Amnesty International--Scores
of activists, (Israeli, Palestinian and
international) involved in peaceful protests have been picked up
by Israeli authorities in the past several months. Many are
held at length with no charge being made while still being
interrogated, others have been
put under
administrative detention and
others are brought up on
charges. Click
to read. |
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Who Are the Settlers and What Do They Want?--Israeli
Policy Forum--The settlements, as a whole, have been sponsored
and constructed by various Israeli governments. Almost all of
the settlements have an extensive infrastructure of roads and
electricity that can only have been accomplished by numerous
Israeli governments. Click
to read. |
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America Stop Sucking Up to Israel--Haaretz--Before
no other country on the planet does the United States kneel and
plead like this. In other trouble spots, America takes a
different tone. It bombs in Afghanistan, invades Iraq and
threatens sanctions against Iran and North Korea. Did anyone in
Washington consider begging Saddam Hussein to withdraw from
occupied territory in Kuwait? But Israel the occupier, the
stubborn contrarian that continues to mock America and the world
by building settlements and abusing the Palestinians, receives
different treatment.
Click
here to read. |
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Israel Planning Seven Settlement Neighborhoods
in Jerusalem--IMEMC News--The plan was put forth
regardless of the stances of the American government regarding
settlement activities and their negative impacts on the peace
process. The seven plans for settlement construction are:
Click here |
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Beat the War Drum Again: Israel Wants Iran
Next--"Same Song, Different Verse" by Philip Giraldi
The American people, barely coping with nearly 20% in actual as
opposed to statistical unemployment, a broken health care
system, a skyrocketing federal deficit, and a collapse in home
values really don’t need another war, but another war is what
they are going to get. Blame the usual players in Congress and
the mainstream media for a lot of it, but the case being made
that Iran is a threat to the remainder of the world is largely
being cranked up by Israel and its yapping poodles loosely
described as the Israel lobby.
Click here to read. |
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World's Least Powerful Man--Paul
Craig Roberts--It didn't take the Israel Lobby very long to
bring President Obama to heel regarding his prohibition against
further illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian
land. Obama discovered that a mere American president is
powerless when confronted by the Israel Lobby...the United
States simply is not allowed a Middle East policy separate from
Israel's...click here. |
The doyen of international justice |
The U.S. Does Not Have to Blindly Protect
Israel--Justice Richard Goldstone--When Shimon Peres
accused Justice Goldstone of being "a small
man, devoid of any sense of justice", he responded with " no one
likes to be accused of committing serious war crimes". Justice
Goldstone asked that, rather than blindly support Israel, the
U.S. "furnish reasons" for its criticisms."...The time has come
for Israel to look at the allegations not only of the killing
and injuring of so many civilians but also the collective
punishment meted out to the people of Gaza by the substantial
destruction of the infrastructure."
Click
to read. |
Harvard professor Stephen Walt |
Why the U.S. Will Not Cut Aid to Israel--Stephen
M. Walt
Harvard professor and co-author of the "Israel Lobby" opines
that Israel will get what it wants: control of the West Bank and
de-facto control of the Gaza Strip. "The sun is now setting on
the "two-state solution" -- if it is not already well below the
horizon -- and pretty soon everyone will have to admit that they
are sitting around in the dark and pretending they see
daylight." Netanyahu and his gang are intransigent, Obama is
powerless against the Congress, and legislators are caught in
the vice-grip of the Israel Lobby. Don't look for a J-Street
turnaround too soon.
Click here to read.
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Two courageous men: Goldstone & Moyers |
Goldstone-Moyers: Being Jewish No Reason to
Treat Israel Exceptionally--James M. Wall
An absolutely brilliant interview. Anyone who saw it or reads it
will have to take pause if they refused to admit the outrageous
injustices perpetrated upon a people who are kept in open-air
kennel. There is bad karma coming to all who support this
oppression.
Click here to read or
Click here to view interview |
Uri Avnery |
Israel's Options to Goldstone
Uri Avnery--3 term Knesset member
"The Goldstone report has an impact on the world because it
is precise and targeted: a specific operation, for which
specific persons are responsible...
According to a Chinese saying, if someone in the street
tells you that you are drunk, you can laugh. If a second person
tells you that you are drunk, start to think about it. If a
third one tells you the same, go home and sleep it off.
Our political and military leadership has already encountered
the third, fourth and fifth person. All of them say that they
must investigate what happened in the “Molten Lead” operation."
Click here to read |
Now Bibi, shake hands with Mahmoud--and come out
fighting! |
Netanyahu: Goldstone Report Distorted--Josef
Friedman AP
Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday vowed never to allow Israeli
leaders or soldiers to stand trial on
war crimes charges
over their actions during last winter's military offensive in
the Gaza Strip,
furiously denouncing a U.N. report in a
keynote address
to parliament.
Click here to read. |
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Boycott's and Divestments-The Link
Americans for Middle East Understanding have focused on a few
companies in their treatise of Boycotts and Divestment including
Motorola, Caterpillar, Burger King, Ahava Cosmetics and Veolia
Transport. There is also additional discussion and information
on B&D that is interesting and useful.
Click here to read. |
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Gaza Water Supply Near Collapse--Mel
Frykberg--IPS
The International Committee of the Red Cross has warned that
Gaza's access to safe supply of drinking water could cease at
any time. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says outbreaks of
disease could be triggered as a consequence..."Gaza's
underground water system is in danger of collapse after recent
conflict compounded by years of overuse and contamination. An
outbreak of Hepatitis A and parasitic infections could occur at
any time," Mahmoed Daher from WHO in Gaza told IPS. "Already the
number of people, especially children, suffering from diarrhoea
has risen dramaticall. We have noticed an increase in people
suffering from kidney diseases from water contaminated with
toxins, as well as babies born with an unnatural blue tinge."
Click here to
read. |
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Dismantling the Matrix of Control--Jeff
Halper--Middle East Online Report--A MUST READ ARTICLE
"Now, at this critical juncture, as the two-state solution for
the Israeli-Palestinian impasse disappears under the weight of
Israeli settlements, there is a great imponderable: Is President
Barack Obama genuinely serious about reaching such a solution or
is he merely going through the motions familiar from previous
administrations...Obama’s only hope of breaking through the wall
of Israeli and Democratic Party resistance is to articulate an
approach to peace based on clear and accepted principles
anchored in human rights and justice and then framed in terms of
US interests. "
Click here
to read. |
