Elections under siege

Abbas’s acceptance of the Egyptian-mediated reconciliation deal with Hamas is only because that deal presents new ways for him to destroy his opponents, writes Azmi Bishara, source If the Palestinian resistance factions are to agree to the Egyptian-brokered reconciliation agreement, the Quartet (the US, Russia, EU and UN) must pledge to respect the results of [...]

Palestinians File Lawsuits Over Gaza War

By Mel Frykberg RAMALLAH, Oct 30 (IPS) – As the legal and moral implications of the UN Goldstone report on Israel’s military assault on Gaza continue to mount, Gazans are taking matters into their own hands and preparing civil lawsuits. The Israeli defence ministry’s prosecution department has received about 1,500 notices of future civil lawsuits [...]

“Israel” Envoy to UN: Human Rights Council Betrayed its Own Values

For a second there you don’t know if the Israelis are delusional and live in an alternate universe where right is wrong and wrong is right or they are such psychopathic liars that they are incapable of speaking the truth. How the heck is standing to war crimes and crimes against humanity against the values [...]

Report: 4,524 Palestinians detained by “Israel” since the start of this year

October 31, 2009 GAZA, (PIC)– Researcher in prisoners’ affairs Abdelnasser Farwana reported Friday that he documented 4,524 Israeli arrests of Palestinian citizens since the start of 2009, 412 of them took place in October. Farwana said that the West Bank and Jerusalem witnessed the kidnapping of 3,456 citizens, while 1,068 others were kidnapped in Gaza, [...]

Whitewashing war crimes with stale lies

By Khalid Amayreh, October 30, 2009, PIC “I fear very much that the Jews are like all underdogs. When they get on the top they are just as intolerant and cruel as the people were to them when they were underneath. I regret this situation very much because my sympathy has always been on their [...]

America’s Media? A Colonial Force for “Israel’s” Infallibility

by Mohamed Khodr, Palestinian think tank Zimbabwe expels U.N. rights investigator (Washington Post, October 29, 2009) Zimbabwe Deports U.N. Investigator (New York Times, October 29, 2009) Zimbabwe Deports U.N. Investigator (Wall Street Journal, October 29, 2009) BUT: This headline is Absent. Israel denied entry to Richard Falk, UN Human Rights special rapporteur and deported him [...]

Harvesting in Death Zone, With a Song

By Eva Bartlett BEIT HANOUN, Gaza, Oct 30 (IPS) – On a quiet October morning, Fida Zaneen, 19, sings a traditional love song as she pulls olives from trees in Beit Hanoun’s border region during the annual olive harvest. “My grandmother taught me the folk songs. They were popular all over Palestine many decades ago.” [...]

Israeli settlers shoot, stab Palestinians in two Jerusalem attacks

October 30, 2009 Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies – Aggressive settlers made a grab for a Palestinian home and unknown Jewish attackers stabbed two Palestinians in the Old City as tension in Jerusalem increases. In the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Safafa, orthodox Israeli settlers attacked a family in a bit to take over their home in [...]

Hamas official to lodge lawsuit against Cairo

Fri, 30 Oct 2009, Press TV Hamas spokesperson, Sami Abu Zuhri, says he will pursue legal action in international courts against Cairo over desecrating the remains of his brother who was tortured to death in an Egyptian jail. Zuhri claims that the body of his brother, Yousef Abu Zuhri, was not intact when it was [...]

Israeli spy in US wanted $2 million for his secrets

Israeli spy in US wanted $2 million for his secrets Thu, 29 Oct 2009, Press TV The celebrated American scientist charged with spying for Israel had asked for $2 million for his secrets, federal prosecutors has revealed. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Stewart D. Nozette on Oct. 19 as he attempted to deliver [...]

Pope Praises Iranians for ‘Religious Sensibility’

In a word: Interesting… Al Manar 30/10/2009 The leader of the Catholics of the world, Pope Benedict XVI has praised the Iranian nation for having ‘deep religious sensibility’. “Iran is a great nation… and its people have a deep religious sensibility,” the Pope said in a meeting with Tehran’s new Ambassador to the Vatican Ali-Akbar [...]

Jordan could do more to protect al-Aqsa Mosque from “Israel’s” evil designs

By Khalid Amayreh in occupied Palestine, PIC So far, the Jordanian reactions to the scandalous Israeli provocations at al Masjidul Aqsa (Aqsa Mosque) have been minimal, inadequate and strikingly weak. Jordan, which signed the inauspicious Wadi Araba treaty with Israel fifteen years ago, is legally and morally responsible for the Islamic and Christian holy places [...]

Palestine: Elections Doomed to Fail Under Division

Futility Much Anticipated With Israel’s Occupation By Khalid Amayreh, IOL, October 28, 2009 In a measure that has already vexed the internal Palestinian political arena, Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmud Abbas has called for “presidential and legislative elections” to be held in the Occupied Territories of the West Bank, East Al-Quds and the Gaza Strip [...]

“CIA prevented prisoner deaths to prolong torture”

By RussiaToday The CIA took measures to make sure their tortured prisoners did not die – in order to continue further torturing, according to human rights lawyer John Sifton. President Obama has cut a swathe through the Bush-era National Security Program, forcing the CIA to close its secret overseas prisons and banning harsh interrogation methods. [...]

Divide and Rule: The Key Strategy of the US and Its Western Allies

By S. Hewage, October 28, 2009, source The latest attacks on Indian embassy in Afghanistan and the Pakistan’s military headquarters would trigger a new wave of accusations and counteraccusations by India and Pakistan. It seems that the United States is achieving its military strategy to keep regional conflicts going, so that the United States is [...]