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May 27, 2010 |
Wall Writings | Will Bibi’s Return to Favor Help Obama in the
Mid-Term Elections? by the Rev. James M. Wall [an ordained
United Methodist clergy person]
At the moment, none of this
matters to Bibi. Goldstone, Israeli Arab NGOs, Gaza, check
points, home demolitions, are trees falling in the forest when
no one in the US hears their sounds of suffering.
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May 27, 2010 |
Gaza Freedom March | LATEST FLOTILLA NEWS & GPS LOCATION
Follow the Gaza flotilla.
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May 27, 2010 |
J Street | Senator Dianne Feinstein's Critical pro-Israel,
pro-peace letter
As steadfast
supporters of Israel and the U.S.-Israeli relationship, we
are writing to express our support for the start of
proximity talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority
on ending the Israeli-Palestinian dispute with the active
participation of U.S. Special Envoy George Mitchell. We
applaud the Obama administration’s commitment to re-start
the stalled peace process and play a lead role in securing
an agreement.
We strongly believe that a permanent peace agreement – with
two states, living side by side in peace and security– can
only be achieved with the United States bringing the parties
together and driving them to a settlement. We must commit
ourselves to offering ideas and solutions to bridge the gaps
on the most intractable issues....
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May 27, 2010 |
Le Monde diplomatique | Israel's Propoganda War: Blame the Grand
Mufti by Gilbert Achcar
Many Israelis and
Palestinians would like peaceful coexistence, but myths,
propaganda, and denial have a habit of getting in the way.
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May 27, 2010 |
Gush Shalom | Let the aid boats through to Gaza! End the Siege!
by Uri Avnery
The State of Israel has no interest in flooding television
screens all over the world with footage of its navy violently
assaulting against peace activists at sea. It is time to remove the
suffocating siege and allow residents of Gaza to have free contact
with the outside world, freely operate sea and air ports of their
own like any country in the world.
The Gush Shalom movement calls upon the government to allow
the eight-boat aid flotilla from all over the world to reach the
shores of Gaza, where they are scheduled to arrive next week, and
unload the humanitarian cargo which is urgently needed by the
residents of Gaza. In a letter to Defense Minister Barak, Gush
Shalom calls upon him to cancel immediately the instructions given
to Israeli Navy ships off the Gaza shore to intercept the aid
flotilla. |
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May 27, 2010 |
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs | GAZA BLOCKADE SUFFOCATING AGRICULTURE SECTOR, CREATING
FOOD INSECURITY
Humanitarian aid agencies call upon the
Government of Israel for full and unfettered access into and out of
the Gaza Strip for materials and exports necessary for the revival
of the agriculture and fishing sectors and for the lifting of
restrictions imposed on Palestinian access to farm land and fishing
areas. |
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May 27, 2010 |
World Council of Churches | Israel/Palestine
Israel and Palestine or
the OPT - Occupied Palestinian Territories (West Bank, with East
Jerusalem, and Gaza) - are located along the Mediterranean Sea
between Egypt in the south, Lebanon to the north and Jordan to
the east.
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May 27, 2010 |
Friends of Freedom and Justice - Bilin | Bil'in, A Day in the
Life: Live Fire, Tear Gas, Sound Bombs, Detentions, Torched
Olive Tree
This morning, as is their
wont, Israeli Occupation Forces intruded into the village of
Bilin, this time there were only three to the forefront with
backup behind them, when challenged they beat a retreat. This
afternoon, villagers rushed to quench a fire in an olive tree
sited close to the Apartheid-Annexation Wall which was
deliberately set on fire by the retreating IOF, but which was
unable to be saved due to the fire being set in a crevice in the
trunk which smouldered throughout the day and it was only in the
latter stages that the tell-tale smoke was detected.
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May 27, 2010 |
Churches for Middle East Peace | A Summer of Hope by Warren
Clark, Executive Director
Peace
talks led by Senator George Mitchell are underway again between
Israel and Palestinians. The Obama administration has shown it
will not tolerate actions by either side that would derail the
talks again. So far the administration has shown extraordinary
courage and cool, working to keep diversions in check and to
keep all parties focused on the job at hand.
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May 27, 2010 |
Ecumenical Accompaniment Program | Settlers invade Jordan valley
Bedouin camp
At the bottom of
a desiccated valley not far from the river Jordan, two
encampments sit side by side. At the edge of one,
several Palestinian flags flutter in the wind over a large brown
tent belonging to Palestinian Bedouins. Only ten meters to
the right sits a new, bright blue tent flying the Israeli flag.
It was erected last week by Israeli settlers apparently
determined to push the Bedouins here off their land.
See also
A Time to Speak blog | Yanoun Revisited … searching for a
glimmer of hope
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May 27, 2010 |
Christian Peace Team | Issue for May 2010: Israeli Imprisonment
of Palestinian Children
It’s a difficult task I’ve taken upon myself to summarize the plight
of Palestinian children who are accused, tortured, detained,
arrested, prosecuted, sentenced to Israeli prisons or detention
centers. Relative to this topic, however, the waters are not so
muddy. Rather, conclusive studies like those done by the Defense
for Children International (DCI) Palestine Section have
researched and reported on the systematic and institutionalized
ill-treatment and torture of Palestinian children by Israeli
authorities. From their research I take much of my information. |
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May 27, 2010 |
Rabbis for Human Rights | Human Rights in the Occupied
Territories: Ezra Nawi entered prison
Ezra is responsible for
most of the Israeli organizations & RHR activities in South
Hebron Hills, including RHR's. Ezra knows many of the
Palestinian families in the area and tries to find solutions to
problems and helps them on daily basis including mediation
between them and help organizations. Many in Israel and in the
world protested against his conviction, but he was sentenced to
a month in prison starting Sunday May 23rd. RHR lawyers visited
him on Tuesday in the detention center and talked with the
commander there so he will receive all his rights including
books, medication, writing implement etc.
We would like to point out that Ezra's verdict is unusual in its
severity, especially when we see that the law is constantly not
enforced on violent settlers who daily harass and attack
Palestinians and even the security forces and are not punished.
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May 8, 2010 |
USAToday | Latest Israel-Palestinian talks hold little hope by
Mustafa Barghouthi
After 18 months with no
direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, so-called proximity
talks between intermediaries, rather than face-to-face meetings
between the direct parties, are scheduled to begin this week. An
announcement is anticipated shortly. These shuttle deliberations
are expected to continue for four months with
Arab League backing. They hold little hope.
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May 7, 2010 |
Christian Peace Team | Al Khalil/Hebron Update 17 – 30 April
2010
A new battalion of Israeli
military – Nahal - has taken up duties in Hebron. Many of the
soldiers have undertaken a year of community service prior to
their national service and this is noticeable in their
attitudes. They are still, of course, part of an occupation
army, but some at least appear to be more sensitive to the
Palestinian community.
There is growing concern
about the implications of the new Military Order 1650, which was
effective from 13th April 2010. One 19 year-old
Hebron man has been deported to Gaza, and many Hebronites who do
not have the necessary permanent residency papers will now fear
deportation. |
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May 7, 2010 |
Gush Shalom | The height of Chutzpah by Uri Avnery
The height of Chutzpah:
The Israeli government
Has lodged an
Official complaint
Against the
Palestinian Authority.
What about?
About its decision
To boycott
The products
Of the settlements
Built on stolen
Palestinian lands. |
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May 7, 2010 |
Mazin Qumsiyeh Human Rights | Our arrests in Al-Walaja
For many years,
Palestinians have engaged in nonviolent actions aimed at
resisting the Israeli military occupation and its violent and
humiliating policies aimed at suppressing the will of the
Palestinians in seeking to achieve their legitimate aspirations. |
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May 6, 2010 |
Sojourners | Palestine’s True Leaders by Sami Awad
For many years,
Palestinians have engaged in nonviolent actions aimed at
resisting the Israeli military occupation and its violent and
humiliating policies aimed at suppressing the will of the
Palestinians in seeking to achieve their legitimate aspirations. |
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May 6, 2010 |
Mazin Qumsiyeh, Human Rights | Opinion article: The savior in
each of us
We live in an era of
psychological warfare and mass hysteria generated by mass
communication that already led us to the catastrophic first and
second world wars. And after the US dropped nuclear bombs on
civilian cities in Japan, all gloves were off instead of people
being horrified enough to forsake war all together. Over 100
major conflicts in the last 60 years costing tens of millions
of lives. It is even getting worse as wars are started by a few
special interest groups, a few rich media owners can push for
them, and a few soldiers can execute them via remote control and
pilot-less planes that butcher thousands at the push of a
button. The maddening era where sanctions on Iraq were
introduced to satisfy a special lobby caused the death of over a
million Iraqi civilians and then a war and occupation in which a
million more have been killed. Many claim a clash of religions
or of ‘civilizations’ to justify these abominations when excess
greed can explain it better. But humans also fail to learn the
lessons of history or to reexamine our own dogmatic beliefs that
allow greedy people to exploit us and take us into wars in the
name of ‘nation’ or ‘religion’ or ‘ideology’. Here in
Palestine, at every turn we are inundated with messages about
conflicting religious and/or political beliefs; group think that
seems hard to dispel. |
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May 6, 2010 |
Mazin Qumsiyeh, Human Rights | Three inspiring Palestinian
stories and more...
There were many BDS victories recently and it is hard to keep up. But a
notable acceleration of the cultural boycott is inevitable now that both Gil
Scott Heron and Carlos Santana have canceled their appearances in Israel.
The deputy of the Israeli ambassador in London was also reminded of the
state's apartheid policies and had to escape from the challenge with help of
British police agents. Hundreds of such inspiring actions occur every day
thanks to hundreds of thousands of people who act (silence is complicity and
action is an antidote to despair).
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May 5, 2010 |
True Torah Jews against Zionism | Jews Against Zionism Kicks Off
Ad Campaign in Washington Post
Jews Against Zionism
placed an ad in the Sunday, May 2 edition of the Washington
Post, in the Political Outlook section, expressing their
position regarding American policies on the Middle East
conflict. |
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May 4, 2010 |
Zenit | Ecumenism, Collaboration Key for Middle East
The pre-synodal council
for the Special Assembly for the Middle East is underlining the
urgency of a convinced ecumenical commitment and respectful
collaboration with Jews and Muslims. |
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May 3, 2010 |
MIFTAH | The Big Bad (Israeli) Wolf is Nothing But a Coward
by Joharah Baker
He is only 10. In any
other corner of the civilized world (of which Israel claims to
be part), he is a child. He should be preoccupied with school,
playing soccer and learning the newest car game on his computer.
As his mother, these (especially the first) should be my
concerns as well, along with keeping him healthy and happy. But
like every other Palestinian mother living in the occupied
territories, one nagging and omnipresent fear is not be able to
protect them. Israel has no right to strip our children of their
childhood. Arresting and beating children does not contribute to
the security of Israel. This is the behavior of cowards.
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May 1, 2010 |
The Reverend Roy Hayes, Episcopal, writes:
Chris' father is a Presbyterian Pastor. Chris has a
Masters of Divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School.
Chris is an American journalist, author and war
correspondent specializing in American and Middle Eastern
politics and societies. He has reported from more than
fifty countries, and has worked for The Christian
Science Monitor, National Public Radio, the Dallas Morning
News and The New York Times where he was a
foreign correspondent for fifteen years. In 2002, Hedges
was part of the team of reporters at The New York Times
awarded the Pulitzer Prize for the paper's coverage of
global terrorism. He also received in 2002 the Amnesty
International Global Award for Human Rights Journalism. He
has taught at Columbia University, New York University and
Princeton University. He currently writes a column for
Truthdig.
(Wikipedia)
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May 1, 2010 |
Churches for Middle East Peace | A Turning Point by Warren Clark
Conflict in
the Holy Land must end because it is costly in lives and
American interests. According to General David H. Petraeus,
Commander of U.S. Central Command, on-going conflict in the Holy
Land undermines U.S. security interests in the Middle East and
Central Asia and strengthens groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.
Resumption of meaningful negotiations must start immediately and
a negotiated resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict must
be achieved because if we don’t move forward we risk undermining
American and Israeli security.
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May 1, 2010 |
Churches for Middle East Peace | Tell your Representative to
sign the Kind, Delahunt, Price, and Snyder letter to President
Obama
In recent days there have
been significant developments in efforts to re-launch
Israel-Palestinian peace talks that have been suspended since
late 2008. |
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