Robert Fisk
Yet the Foreign Office – so keen to warn British citizens of the dangers they face in the Middle East – sat on their large behind and did bugger all. I'm sorry. If they had the details, they had a duty to UK citizens to speak up. If they hadn't got the details, they should have told us. But they were silent. Why? Was there a cold breeze coming beneath a closed door?
Next day Robert Fisk
Collusion is a word the Arabs understand. It speaks of the 1956 Suez War, when Britain and France cooperated with Israel to invade Egypt. Both London and Paris denied the plot. They were lying. But for an Arab Gulf country which suspects its former masters (the UK, by name) may have connived in the murder of a visiting Hamas official, this is apparently now too much. There is much more to come out of this story. We will wait to see if there are any replies in Europe.
Fake, says Britain, Ireland. Who do you trust?
Haaretz
Amira Hass
And then it was time for the second smile - hers this time. The father remembers her saying, "Right." But then she added: "That's the law." She reduced the amount of the deposit to NIS 200, along with a guarantee that his son would appear in court if and when a charge sheet is brought against him. As long as there is no indictment, no one will know what the soldiers who took in Bassam are claiming. It is their word against the word of a Palestinian boy.
Amira Hass
About eight of the 40 families from Dhaher al-Maleh have left their tiny village and have gone to live on the eastern side of the separation fence. They could no longer bear the Israeli ban on building houses.
Ma'an
Question: looking at the flimsy nature of the wall, why haven't Palestinians already pulled down slabs, and why don't they continue?
Possible answer: they value their lives.
We are constantly fed the lie that the east-european 'revolutions' of twenty years ago were spontaneous uprisings. The time was right, permission was in effect granted. Most importantly, on the other side of the wall were powerful armies ready to protect the 'revolutionaries'.
Another case springs to mind: what happened when Iraqis stood up to Sadaam Hussein following the first 'Gulf War'? Naively, they had thought Bush Sr. was going to support them in their uprising. Silly little people. They were massacred.
Israel's separation barrier is simply an other obstacle in the lives of the Palestinians who with or without the wall, have been trampled on, humiliated, murdered for decades. And no-one with any power will protect them against their agressor. Quite the contrary: the powerful armies continue to arm the agressor so it can carry on pounding.
IAEA
I am pleased; this is a positive development. I have always been of the view that the Iranian nuclear issue is an issue that can only be resolved through dialogue, through diplomacy. I have been saying for a number of years that we need transparency on the part of Iran, we need cooperation on the part of the international community. I feel that we are at a critical moment. I see that we are shifting gears, from confrontation into transparency and cooperation. I continue, of course, to call on Iran to be as transparent as possible. I indicated that because Iran has a comprehensive programme, has a fuel cycle, sensitive fuel cycle activities, it would help the Agency to have Iran subscribing, again, to our regulations that allow us to be informed of the construction of nuclear facilities as early as possible. It also would be of great help to us to have Iran reapply the Additional Protocol, which would give us the authority for more information, access to more locations. That would enable the Agency to start to provide assurances, not only about declared nuclear activities in Iran, but also about possible nuclear, undeclared activities in Iran. I believe we are on the right track. I believe that we have to continue to work together -- the Agency, Iran and the rest of the international community -- to move in the right direction, to assure the international community about Iran's nuclear programme, to open the dialogue about the broad range of issues that we need to address between Iran and the international community. As you have seen, there was a Six-Parties talk that has taken place in Geneva last week.
The reaction from both sides has been quite positive. President Obama said "This is a constructive beginning." President Ahmadinejad said that he expresses satisfaction with the initial results. So it is a critical moment; it is a moment when all of the parties should put their heads together, should start to build confidence and trust. This is the way we need to go both on the nuclear issue and on the broad range of issues that Iran and the international community need to work out, so that hopefully we reach a point when Iran is fully integrated with the international community.
Obama has said, that 'patriotic Americans' (gays in the military) should not be punished, especially when two wars are being fought. My question is this : should unpatriotic Americans be punished in a time of a war? Are gays only important when they are a part of the military in a time of war?
Copyright J.M.M.
Arutz Sheva
(IsraelNN.com) Minister Silvan Shalom (Likud) sent a letter Tuesday to Government Secretary Tzvi Hauser and asked that the government session devote time to an “urgent” discussion of the riots in Jerusalem.
"The Palestinian takeover in Jerusalem must be blocked and we must act swiftly to restore Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem in general and on the Temple Mount in particular,” Shalom wrote. He claimed that the PA and the Islamic Movement are colluding to undermine Jewish sovereignty.
Haaretz
At present, the PA is not doing enough to ease tensions, while the Islamic Movement's northern faction is apparently working in concert with a number of Palestinian figures in an effort to spark an escalation of hostilities on the mount.
What is the PA expected to do? Crush palestinian protest against the occupation?
Headlines on DN!
Zelaya has remained in the Brazilian embassy since defiantly returning to Honduras one week ago. Coup leaders have now given Brazil a ten-day deadline to hand over Zelaya or face the embassy’s closure. Brazil has rejected the ultimatum and says Zelaya will stay as long as he needs. The coup regime issued the threat as its soldiers continued to surround the embassy and limit the delivery of supplies. On Friday, the UN Security Council passed a resolution condemning the embassy siege.
UN Ambassador Susan Rice: “They condemned acts of intimidation against the Brazilian embassy and called upon the de facto government of Honduras to cease harassing the Brazilian embassy and to provide all necessary utilities and services, including water, electricity, food and continuity of communications.”
(...)
The US is threatening to tighten sanctions on Iran over a newly disclosed uranium enrichment site near the Iranian holy cit of Qom. On Friday, Iran acknowledged the site’s existence but said no nuclear enrichment had taken place. The Iranian government says it hasn’t violated its international commitments because it’s only required to disclose a nuclear site six months before it becomes operational. The Obama administration has warned of “severe” sanctions unless Iran suspends work on the site and allows international inspectors. In his weekly radio address, President Obama said he remains open to dialogue with Iran but warned of punitive action.
President Obama: “This is a serious challenge to the global nonproliferation regime and continues a disturbing pattern of Iranian evasion… My offer of a serious, meaningful dialogue to resolve this issue remains open. But Iran must now cooperate fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency and take action to demonstrate its peaceful intentions.”
(...)
Israeli Troops Fire on Palestinian Protests
In Israel and the Occupied Territories, four Palestinians were wounded Sunday near the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem. Israeli police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades at Palestinians who were trying to block a group of militant Israeli settlers from entering the mosque compound. Another seven Palestinians were arrested. The attack comes two days after Israeli troops disrupted a series of protests against the West Bank separation wall. Israeli police fired tear gas at demonstrations near at least three Palestinian villages: Burin, Nil’in and Bil’in. The demonstrators had tried to remove barbed wire placed around the wall when Israeli troops fired the tear gas.
Report: Israel Conditions Palestinian Cellular Network on War Crimes Probe
In other news, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz is reporting Israel has threatened the Palestinian Authority with revoking a vital cell phone network unless the PA drops a request for an International Criminal Court probe of alleged Israeli war crimes. The PA submitted the request after a UN inquiry found Israel had committed war crimes in its attack on the Gaza Strip and recommended a potential ICC investigation. Israel has reportedly warned it could judge the PA’s request for a second cellular provider based on its willingness to withdraw the ICC demand.
(...)
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez: “We can say that we are beginning this mechanism, this mechanism that seems vital, which is the union of South America with Africa. Within this newly born structure, the twenty-first century won’t be a bipolar world, it won’t be unipolar. It will be multipolar. Africa will be an important geographic, economic and social pole. And South America will be, too. We will become real powers.”
