Hamas reiterates offer of long-term truce through Egypt

CAIRO (AFP) — Hamas has accepted an Egyptian-brokered 18-month truce with Israel in the Gaza Strip which Egypt will announce in 48 hours, state news agency MENA quoted a senior Hamas official as saying on Thursday.

Mussa Abu Marzuk, the Islamist movement's deputy leader, said after meeting with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman that Hamas had accepted the truce in return for the lifting of the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

(...)

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev told AFP in Jerusalem that he did not wish to comment.

Clinic shelled in northern Sri Lanka: 16 dead

ICRC

At least 16 people have been killed at a makeshift hospital in Sri Lanka's northern conflict zone after the facility was shelled, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has said.

The 16 victims - all believed to be patients - died in the clinic in Putumattalan on Monday, Red Cross officials said on Tuesday.

al-Quds 2009

Maan

Jerusalem – Ma’an – Events for the celebrations of “Al-Quds Capital of Arab Culture,” (QCAC) will be broadcast live on Palestinian and Egyptian Satellite television so they can reach all state-members of the Arab League.

The Israeli Dilemma

"People here think of this every day. It threatens them more than Hamas or Iran," said Uri Dromi, a former prime ministerial spokesman. "If it's one man, one vote, then Israel loses its Jewish character. If not, we become an apartheid state."

Israel's only escape from this dilemma would be to divest itself of four million Arabs by allowing a Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza.

That would be assuming Palestinian-Israelis would willingly or forcibly be transfered to the new palestinian state.

BBC ignores palestinian-israeli press

BBC

The Arabic press contains widespread scepticism that the general election in Israel will offer any impetus for change in regional relations, irrespective of the result.

Opinion polls suggest that there is little to choose between the incumbent Kadima party, headed by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, and the right-wing Likud, led by Binyamin Netanyahu. One commentator in the UAE expressed concern that this would provide the far-right Avigdor Lieberman, whose popularity has soared recently, with a decisive role in the formation of a government.

Commentaries in Jordan, Syria and the UAE feared that the election would see the appointment to power of Israeli "extremists". One Palestinian writer said that the victory of the Israeli right would "push Palestinians to stand by Hamas", while another questioned how the new US administration would handle the situation.

Basim Abu-Samiyyah in Palestinian daily Al-Hayat al-Jadidah

The Israeli right that is crawling to power will reveal the weakness and double standards of the international community. It will also push us Palestinians to stand by Hamas.

Rajab Abu-Surayyah in Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam

The Israeli elections might demonstrate the reality... that Israel is a right-wing state par excellence. This will form a challenge to the new US administration, made up of Democrats who dream of a global policy that starts by solving the thorny Middle East conflicts.

Id Abu-Sikkah in Syria's Al-Ba'th

It is expected that Israel's policy will go from bad to worse, because those who will control it are fiercer than [the previous administration] who snapped at the bodies of children, women and old men in Gaza.

Ali Qasim in Syria's Al-Thawrah

Extremism will be the winner and peace, which Israelis have not yet been able to accept, will remain the loser for quite some time.

Mazin Hammad in Qatar's Al-Watan

Regardless of who will win, the differences between the right, left and centre [of Israel's politics] are not clear for those who closely watch the election from outside. They all pounce on Palestinian blood.

Rashid Hasan in Jordan's Al-Dustur

The victory of extremists, with [Likud Party leader Binyamin] Netanyahu in the lead, would mean that the situation - i.e. the settlement and the so-called peace process - will return to square one... The Israeli state was built on massacres and genocides committed by Zionist gangs... Therefore, it is not strange if extremists win.

Abd-al-Wahab Badrakhan in the UAE's Al-Ittihad

The horrible Avigdor [Lieberman] will have a decisive role as he will be the one who decides and controls whoever will lead the government after elections. The emergence of the Lieberman phenomenon... represents an inclination to extremism in [Israeli] society.

BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaux abroad.

They did it before.

For the benefit of the BBC and any one else who may be interested, here is a site which includes israeli newspapers (including arabic ones). There is also Al Ittihad and no doubt others not mentioned.

AP practises anti-semitism

AP

Rowan Laxton, the 47-year-old head of the Foreign Office's South Asia desk, was held on suspicion of inciting religious hatred — an offense that carries a maximum jail term of seven years.

He allegedly used foul language as he criticized Israel's conduct during the conflict in Gaza at a fitness center at the London Business School last month.

Laxton is also alleged to have made an offensive comment about the Jewish religion.

If it wasn't enough, the article then goes on to involve the ambassador of Israel, thus presumebly equating judaism and jews with the state of Israel. If that isn't anti-semitism, what is?

Israeli elections, the right, the 'left' and the colonisation of the land

Haaretz

Netanyahu's election is likely to bring the curtain down on the great fraud - the best show in town - the lie of "negotiations" and the injustice of the "peace process." Israel consistently claimed these acts proved the nation was focused on peace and the end of the occupation. All the while, it did everything it could to further entrench the occupation and distance any chance of a potential agreement.

For 16 years, we have been enamored with the peace process. We talk and talk, babble and prattle, and generally feel great about ourselves; meanwhile the settlements expand endlessly and Israel turns to the use of force at every possible opportunity, aside from a unilateral disengagement which did nothing to advance the cause of peace.

(...)

Netanyahu would offer something else. First, he is a faithful representative of an authentic "Israeli" view - an almost complete distrust of Arabs and the chance of reaching peace with them, mixed with condescension and dehumanization. Second, he will finally arouse the world's rage towards us, including that of the new U.S. administration. Sadly, this may be the only chance for the kind of dramatic change that is needed.

The Daily Star

As far as government support by active aid is concerned, Barak has only recently approved the construction of a new settlement in the Binyamin region in return for settlers' agreement to evacuate the unsanctioned outpost of Migron. Binyamin is located to the northeast and northwest of Occupied Jerusalem.

Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War

(Signed by Israel 08.12.1949. Ratified by Israel 06.07.1951)

The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.

ie: there are NO legal settlements.

For Your Information

If you are wondering what (not*) to buy, click here:

Made In China

*better still : recycle, re-use, freecycle

Take your pick

Musically, I choose the second!

What's in a flag? Qu'y a-t-il derrière un drapeau?

THIS IS NOT A JEWISH FLAG/CECI N'EST PAS UN DRAPEAU JUIF



THIS IS NOT A MUSLIM FLAG/CECI N'EST PAS UN DRAPEAU MUSULMAN


THIS IS NOT A REVOLUTIONARY FLAG/CECI N'EST PAS UN DRAPEAU RÉVOLUTIONNAIRE

UNRWA: 'From Grief to anger in Gaza'

Barney Frank on 'stimulus' and 'incentive'

13'47: "for some of my conservative friends, building a road, building a school,helping somebody get health care, that's wasteful spending, but that war in Iraq, which is gonna cost us over a trillion dollars before we're through..."

Who still believes Conservatism is 'common sense'?

5'10 "what's (the) incentive (of) a gas station to pump gas? ... "

Spanish government bends over and licks some arse

Democracy Now

Spain to Amend War Crimes Law

The Spanish government has announced plans to amend its laws to make it harder for Spanish judges to investigate torture and war crimes committed outside of Spain. In recent years, Spanish courts have investigated several prominent cases under the principle of universal jurisdiction. In 1998, former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was arrested in London under an international arrest warrant issued by Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon, who sought to extradite him to Spain for trial. The Spanish government’s decision comes days after a Spanish judge launched an investigation into seven current or former Israeli officials over a 2002 bombing in Gaza that killed a top Hamas leader, Salah Shehadeh, and fourteen other people, including nine children. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni praised Spain’s decision.

"What planet are these people on?"

"Is eight times the median household income in the United States of America : 400,000 Dollars a year (so unreasonable)"

Lucky idiots.

Exodus

EI

"There were bombings during that time. I used to look outside the window and see explosions coming from all directions. My daughters, one four years old, the other two years old, were very scared."

"On our way to Baghdad we saw many pick up trucks with Palestinian refugees in the back. They were coming from villages that had been massacred or destroyed, taken by Iraqi troops to Baghdad. They traveled all that way under the hot sun, with nothing above them to provide shade. I would see them throwing up out of the back of the trucks, getting sick from the heat. They were taken to 'Tobchee,' a neighborhood with government housing, and received assistance from the Iraqi government." Tata explained that these refugees, the ones that were able to resettle in Iraq, were the lucky ones.

Many Palestinians ended up in refugee camps in squalid circumstances, both "internally" in what came to be known as the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and externally in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. Many Palestinian refugees faced hostility from their government hosts, but in some countries such as Lebanon, they held and still hold practically no rights amid systematic policies of discrimination towards refugees.

Naeim Giladi

Later I made my way to the new state of Israel, arriving in May, 1950. My passport had my name in Arabic and English, but the English couldn't capture the "kh" sound, so it was rendered simply as Klaski. At the border, the immigration people applied the English version, which had an Eastern European, Ashkenazi ring to it. In one way, this "mistake" was my key to discovering very soon just how the Israeli caste system worked.

They asked me where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do. I was the son of a farmer; I knew all the problems of the farm, so I volunteered to go to Dafnah, a farming kibbutz in the high Galilee. I only lasted a few weeks. The new immigrants were given the worst of everything. The food was the same, but that was the only thing that everyone had in common. For the immigrants, bad cigarettes, even bad toothpaste. Everything. I left.

World Social Forum, Belem, Amazonia

CLICK HERE

The new face of US imperialism

Obama has got the Israel-Palestine the wrong way round. Someone needs to remind him, that an Israel exists, and doesn't need it's right to be recognised. There is no palestinian state. The core of the 'conflict' is israeli occupation and settlement of territories occupied during the course of war, which is illegal according to international law. If there is violence on both sides, unnacceptable violence, an end of violence must be called for from both sides equally. However, the end to israeli occupation and the creation of a palestinian state is not a present to Hamas to be given in return for an end to violence. It is Israel's responsibility and duty according to international law. There can be no conditions for an end to israeli occupation in the West Bank and the strangling of the gazan population, a blockade which is the reason for tunnels and smuggling of weapons and necessities. The demand for recognition of Israel by Hamas or the so-called 'arab' states is ridiculous. Nobody says what Israel they should recognise: Eretz Israel? 1948 Israel? 1967 Israel? Today's Israel with pockets in the midst of a palestinian state (if it ever happens)? What palestinian state does Israel actually recognise and has it committed its self to? Obama has said nothing that even hints at a change in US-israeli relations or on the oppression of the Palestinians.

Pipeline accross the Caspian

Teheran Times

Commenting on the proposal to build a 700-kilometer trans-Caspian oil pipeline from the Kazakh port of Aktau to Baku, Azerbaijan, he said the construction of an oil pipeline under the Caspian Sea could lead to environmental pollution. Moscow may have agreed to the plan at some point under pressure from certain Western countries, but Russia is in fact opposed to it and at the end of the day will not approve of implementation of the plan, Noqrekar Shirazi noted.

News which didn't make it into MSM during the massacre of Gaza

Epoch Times

Her aim was to create a space where both sides can speak of the confusion, fear and frustration they experience during the war. Kna’an stood against the bombing of the South-Israeli town of Sderot, and before this war began, she went with other women to express their identification with the people of Sderot.

Reuters AlertNet

'The amazing thing was that many of our demonstrators were from the southern areas of Israel that have been worst affected by the rockets from Gaza. They were really taking the lead in discussions with the police. 'They were saying "I am from Sderot and I do not believe that this operation improves my safety". Joining together with them was a really great feeling, they were really amazing. It was also good, as they know all the regulations and were able to talk to the police as equals about the legality of demonstrations and public gatherings,' says Ms Weingarten.

Daily Kos

Sderot War Diary

Nomika Zion, Sderot, 8.1.09

"I talk with Sderot people and everyone's cheeks are rosy again", boasted Fuad on the war's second day [Fuad is Benjamin Ben Eliezer, a long-time centrist Labor minister - Assaf]. "The heavier the blow we deliver - the wider the hearts get".

Hey Fuad, not everyone. Even if I was the only one around Sderot feeling differently - and I am not - my voice should be heard.

Kol Aher (Another Voice)

Up until now we have cried, called, demonstrated, and asked our leaders to do something about this insane reality in which we live. The leaders have tried every possible idea that involves violence and military force – with no success at all.

We shoot at them and they shoot at us.

We retaliate and they strike back.

This is an endless and vicious cycle.

Today we say: ENOUGH! It is our turn to take our destiny into our own hands and to ACT to stop the cycle of bloodshed.

Khalid Amayreh, Hebron-based journalist, and repression by the PA

Khalid Amayreh

And now, the six-decade reign of terror and death is being culminated with an aerial holocaust, all for the purpose of displaying “Jewish power” and “heroism.”!!! Well, what heroism is there in having the state-of-the-art of the American machine of death rain missiles and bombs, including Bunker Busters, on unprotected apartment buildings, mosques, streets, pharmacies, college dormitories? This is not heroism; it is a sheer act of cowardice.

Khalid Amayreh

This is not to say that Fatah has lost the hope that the devastation and havoc wreaked on Gaza by the Israeli army will make the group's task of "liberating" the coastal enclave from Hamas drastically more achievable. Earlier this week, the right-wing Israeli daily, The Jerusalem Post, quoted an unnamed Fatah official in Ramallah as warning that "failure to crush Hamas completely would undermine Fatah and pave the way for the collapse of moderate Arab regimes."

Desertpeace

You may have noticed that my Associate, Khalid Amayreh, has not posted on this Blog for the last few days. The following report will tell you why.

In collaboration with the occupational forces operating in the Palestinian territories, he has been arrested. His crime? Speaking out against injustice and corruption.

The following was just sent to me by one of my readers in Palestine….. I will report updates on this situation as they become available.

I am very disturbed by this news. We need an open, unequivocal condemnation of this Zio-imperial vomit called the PA. I cannot express enough the rage I feel. This truly courageous Palestinian journalist/ patriotic voice is being abused and tortured in an attempt to silence him no doubt by the US-paid, US-armed, US-Arab stooge-trained Palestinian Security Apparatus/goons/ ‘Contras’ , under President Falafel/Abbas his Mafia crew and the unelected Fayyad-led Junta of collaborators, thieves and scum that have established a brutal police state with all that this means, without even the need of a state, not even a Falafel State/Bantustan/ ethnic people’s reserve or “warehouse for excess Arabs”. The PA is a Palestinian Judenrat in the service of Empire and the Zionist occupation of Palestine. It is composed of quisling, stooge Palestinians, implementing anti-Palestinian policy on behalf of the Zio-Nazi occupation and this occupation’s Master and regional partners. Palestinians
are made to disappear wholesale but in practice, it is done, one at a time. This is a Palestinian that Palestine cannot afford to lose. Please advise as to what can be done to secure the release of this noble voice.

*****************************

Good news received minutes ago. A call back from outstanding NY CPJ rep who took my request for help on behalf of Prof Khalid Amayreh who was held in detention. Minutes ago Muhamed called to inform us that Khalid had been released.

All details pending. Khalid may release a report on this latest experience with PA “security/justice” system.

Apparently journalists continue being arrested, detained, and tortured for speaking about ‘forbidden’ issues by PA goon squad who work indirectly for the occupiers.