The Latest from Mondoweiss for 01/25/2011

 

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Date: January 25, 2011 7:06:50 AM EST
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Subject: The Latest from Mondoweiss for 01/25/2011
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Here are the headlines from Mondoweiss for 01/25/2011: Times' Kershner uses biased Turkel history to report on biased Turkel report When Livni spoke of ethnic transfer, Abu Alaa said only solution is 'binational state from sea to river' Palestine Papers: Obama rejects Bush commitment to Palestinian state on 1967 lines; opens door to expulsion of Palestinian citizens of Israel Palestine Papers: Obama didn't abandon all Bush policy – he maintains a firm disregard for Palestinian democracy Latest Palestine Papers: Plans to 'transfer' Palestinian citizens of Israel, Right of return for refugees, and the Obama administration An afternoon in the Jerusalem studio of GOD TV, the Christian Zionist ethnic cleansing network 'The Palestine Cables': WikiLeaks exposes Egypt, PA cooperation with Israel during Gaza assault 'Palestine Papers' fallout: Fatah protesters attack Al Jazeera while in Gaza 'anger and disbelief' More reax on Palestine papers Israel rejects "the biggest Yerushalayim" while Palestinian negotiators plead 'what more can I give?' Times' Kershner uses biased Turkel history to report on biased Turkel report Jan 24, 2011 07:11 pm | David Samel There have been many critical examinations of New York Times articles on this website, and I've had my share of such posts to the point where it has gotten tiresome. But there is literally an endless supply of material. A particularly irksome error appears in today's paper, in an article by Isabel Kershner on the shocking (!) finding of the Turkel Commission that Israel acted legally in killing nine passengers on the Mavi Marmara. While the Times article is worthy of more in-depth analysis, there is one whopper that stands out above all others: Israel imposed its maritime blockade on Gaza in January 2009 during its military offensive against Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza. The commission justified the blockade on security grounds, citing a need 'to prevent weapons, terrorists and money from entering the Gaza Strip, and the need to prevent the departure of terrorists.' Note how the first sentence is presented as objective fact, that the blockade was imposed in January 2009 during Israel's attack, thereby supporting the Commission's claim in the second sentence that the purposes of the blockade were solely military. Anyone paying minimal attention to the Gaza siege knows full well that Israel had been punishing the entire civilian population by severely curtailing the availability of basic goods since at least 2006, including by land or sea. Prior to 2009, there had been several attempts to bring in such civilian goods by sea, with mixed success; some ships were allowed to pass and others were stopped, or even rammed by the Israeli Navy, like the Dignity in late December, 2008.. Where did Kershner get her starting date for the naval blockade? From the Turkel Commission Report itself, which stated in par. 5 of its Summary: After the Hamas terrorist organization seized control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, the Government adopted various measures. On January 3, 2009, during Operation 'Cast Lead,' Israel imposed a naval blockade on the coastline of the Gaza Strip. . . the Government of Israel imposed the naval blockade on the Gaza Strip for military-security reasons, which mainly concerned the need to prevent weapons, terrorists, and money from entering the Gaza Strip, and the need to prevent the departure of terrorists and additional threats from the Gaza Strip by sea. The naval blockade was not imposed in order to restrict the transfer of humanitarian supplies to the Gaza Strip or to disrupt the commercial relations of the Gaza Strip. . . . The naval blockade was imposed on January 3, 2009? What was it called before that date? What transformed an existing "blockade" of land and sea into some other type of "naval blockade" or vice versa? How could Kershner buy the nonsense that the naval blockade was implemented as late as January, 2009, with the goal of keeping weapons out of Gaza? This is not a trivial mistake, but a truly profound one. Israel's long-standing policy of deliberately restricting a civilian population's access to food, water, medicines, fuel, books and toys is generally viewed by all but the most cold-hearted as sadistic and cruel, not to mention illegal. There is a vast difference in public perception between keeping out arms and keeping out such basic necessities. In the wake of the Mavi Marmara murders, there was a thoroughly dishonest but reasonably successful campaign to re-cast the blockade as one that was designed to keep out military supplies only. It's no surprise that the Turkel Commission continued in this effort, but how could Kershner forget what had been a continuing news story for three years before Cast Lead? Of course, if Kershner's amnesia could have been cured had she glanced at the Ha'aretz article on the Turkel Commission, which accurately records: "The Turkel Commission also determined that Israel's three-and-a-half year blockade of the Gaza Strip does not break international law." This is the way lies become history. This is why so many believe that there were thousands of rockets launched from Lebanon against Israel in 1982 and again in 2000-2006, prompting the two "wars"; that Arafat initiated the Second Intifada of terrorism to win with violence what he failed to win through negotiations; that Israel's siege of Gaza was to keep out weapons. Every time these factoids are repeated in the newspaper of record and similar MSM outlets, they become more ingrained in the collective memory. Even if Kershner did not deliberately lie, she was inexcusably lazy and careless in simply repeating a critical misrepresentation by the Turkel Commission, rather than accurately reporting an undisputed fact. Comment on this article > When Livni spoke of ethnic transfer, Abu Alaa said only solution is 'binational state from sea to river' Jan 24, 2011 07:00 pm | Philip Weiss The breaking news is that in negotiations in 2007-2009, the Israelis sought ethnic population swaps: Jewish settlements in the West Bank would become part of Israel, while Palestinian villages in Israel would become part of the new Palestinian state. And the same records of these talks (released by Al Jazeera) show that the Palestinian negotiators were trying to imagine the two peoples getting along in a single polity. In one of the discussions, Abu Alaa, a leading Palestinian figure and former prime minister, calls for a binational state. Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister, said she'd have to think about it. Read these documents, my fellow liberal Americans, and tell me whose side you're on in this conversation, the people who want to dump a minority out of their state or the people who speak earnestly of their willingness to live with a minority. And remember, these Israeli negotiators are from Kadima-- what is now the liberal party in Israeli politics. And remember that Tzipi Livni brought down the white phosphorus of Cast Lead on the people of Gaza just a few months later. Here's the record of an April2008 meeting. Livni brings up the villages whose Palestinian population she wants to get rid of. And note the response by Abu Alaa, let's try to live together: Livni: There are some Palestinian villages that are located on both sides of the 1967 line about which we need to have an answer, such as Beit Safafa, Barta'a, Baqa al-Sharqiyeh and Baqa al-Gharbiyyeh. Abu Alaa: This solution is not the two-state solution. It is the five-state solution: a state in Gaza, a state in Jerusalem, a state for settlers, a Palestinian state and an Israeli state. I do not think this will be the basis for any discussion... I agreed to listen to your propositions because I thought you would come with realistic propositions. In light of these circumstances and these unrealistic propositions, I see that the only solution is a bi-national state where Moslems, Christians and Jews live together. In Israel they do not realize our needs... Is our demand for 1967 borders too much for us? Livni: I did not say it is too much for you. Abu Alaa: Is it because settlers have come and settled in our land? Many countries occupied other countries and set up colonies but in then end they left them. The Soviet Union is the best example. They colonized many Islamic countries in Central Asia and left everything. There are many other examples from the world that shows this. Livni: What you are saying is that there are no settlements you can live with? Abu Alaa: For the sake of the Palestinian state I may be ready to swap for  small percentage... Livni: The gap is not big. It is about 350 – 450 square kilometers. Future generations will blame us and never forgive us if we lose this opportunity because of this gap. Abu Alaa: Then like what I said. The solution is a bi-national state from the sea to the river. Livni: I suggest that during next meeting you present your ideas about this subject. But in the next meeting, again it is Livni's side talking about ethnic population swaps, and the Palestinians speaking of people getting along. June 21st 2008, and Livni speaks of a visit she made to the Israeli Palestinian village of Wadi Ara, where "there are 12,000 Palestinian members of Kadima... Livni: I said from the beginning that it can be part of the swaps. Abu Alaa: Absolutely not. Livni: We have this problem with Raja in Lebanon. [Norwegian] Terje Larsen put the blue line to cut the village in two.  [This needs to be addressed.] We decided not to cut the village.  It was a mistake.  The problem now – those living on Lebanese soil are Israeli citizens.   Udi Dekel [Israeli negotiator]: Barka, Barta il Sharqiya, Barta il [Garbiya], Betil, Beit Safafa… Abu Alaa: This will be difficult. All Arabs in Israel will be against us.   Tal Becker: We will need to address it some how.  Divided. All Palestinian. All Israeli. Saeb Erekat:  Have you thought seriously about Jews becoming Palestinian citizens? Or is it just out of the question? Have you asked your team for 50 year projections? Have they thought about it? Livni:  Truly?  No. Erekat:  You are not willing? Becker: In previous meetings you thought about the security aspects [of having Israeli population in Palestine]. Livni:   But do you really think that this is possible? Erekat: Yes.  [Notes the long term positive impact of such integration.]  Think of all of the anti-discrimination laws we will have. It doesn't cost you anything to think about it.   [Livni and Erekat debate if the conflict is one of sectarian clashes or national movements.] Comment on this article > Palestine Papers: Obama rejects Bush commitment to Palestinian state on 1967 lines; opens door to expulsion of Palestinian citizens of Israel Jan 24, 2011 06:20 pm | Ali Abunimah Ali Abunimah writes on the Al Jazeera English website on how the Obama administration abandoned longstanding US policy to base the two-state solution on the 1967 border between Israel and the occupied territories, and the dangerous consequences of this decision: On 23 September 2009, Obama told the UN General Assembly that his goal was for "Two states living side by side in peace and security -- a Jewish state of Israel, with true security for all Israelis; and a viable, independent Palestinian state with contiguous territory that ends the occupation that began in 1967, and realizes the potential of the Palestinian people." But this did not satisfy the Palestinians. The next day during a meeting at the US Mission to the United Nations in New York, Erekat refused an American request to adopt Obama's speech as the terms of reference for negotiations. Erekat asked Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Hale why the Obama administration would not explicitly state that the intended outcome of negotiations would be a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with a third party security role and a staged Israeli withdrawal. Hale responded, "You ask why? How would it help you if we state something so specific and then not be able to deliver?" according to Palestinian minutes of the meeting. At the same meeting, which Mitchell himself later joined, Erekat challenged the US envoy on how Obama could publicly endorse Israel as a "Jewish state" but not commit to the 1967 borders. Mitchell, according to the minutes, told Erekat "You can't negotiate detailed ToRs [terms of reference for the negotiations]" so the Palestinians might as well be "positive" and proceed directly to negotiations. Erekat viewed Mitchell's position as a US abandonment of the Road Map. On 2 October 2009 Mitchell met with Erekat at the State Department and again attempted to persuade the Palestinian team to return to negotiations. Despite Erekat's entreaties that the US should stand by its earlier positions, Mitchell responded, "If you think Obama will force the option you've described, you are seriously misreading him. I am begging you to take this opportunity." Erekat replied, according to the minutes, "All I ask is to say two states on 67 border with agreed modifications. This protects me against Israeli greed and land grab – it allows Israel to keep some realities on the ground" (a reference to Palestinian willingness to allow Israel to annex some West Bank settlements as part of minor land swaps). Erekat argued that this position had been explicitly endorsed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice under the Bush administration. "Again I tell you that President Obama does not accept prior decisions by Bush. Don't use this because it can hurt you. Countries are bound by agreements – not discussions or statements," Mitchell reportedly said. The US envoy was firm that if the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not agree to language in the terms of reference the US would not try to force it. Yet Mitchell continued to pressure the Palestinian side to adopt formulas the Palestinians feared would give Israel leeway to annex large parts of the occupied West Bank without providing any compensation. At a critical 21 October 2009 meeting, Mitchell read out proposed language for terms of reference: "The US believes that through good faith negotiations the parties can mutually agree on an outcome that achieves both the Palestinian goal of an independent and viable state encompassing all the territory occupied in 1967 or its equivalent in value, and the Israeli goal of secure and recognized borders that reflect subsequent developments and meets Israeli security requirements." Erekat's response was blunt: "So no Road Map?" The implication of the words "or equivalent in value" is that the US would only commit to Palestinians receiving a specific amount of territory -- 6258 square kilometers, or the equivalent area of the West Bank and Gaza Strip -- but not to any specific borders. "Two states for two peoples" This is an earthquake. It not only up-ends the two-state solution as it is conventionally understood, but opens the door to possible future American acceptance of Israeli aspirations to create an ethnically-pure Jewish state by "exchanging" territories where many of Israel's 1.4 million Palestinian citizens are concentrated. This would be a violation of these Palestinians' most fundamental rights and a repudiation of the universally-accepted self-determination principles established at the Versailles Conference after World War I. It potentially replaces the two-state solution with what Israeli officials call the "two states for two peoples solution." Then Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni elaborated what this would look like during a November 13, 2007 negotiating session with Palestinian officials, confidential minutes of which were also revealed among The Palestine Papers: "Our idea is to refer to two states for two peoples. Or two nation states, Palestine and Israel living side by side in peace and security with each state constituting the homeland for its people and the fulfillment of their national aspirations and self determination." Livni stressed, "Israel [is] the state of the Jewish people -- and I would like to emphasize the meaning of 'its people' is the Jewish people -- with Jerusalem the united and undivided capital of Israel and of the Jewish people for 3007 years." Livni thus makes clear that only Jews are guaranteed citizenship in Israel and that Palestinian citizens do not really belong even though they are natives who have lived on the land since before Israel existed. It negates Palestinian refugee rights and raises the spectre of the expulsion or "exchange" of Palestinians already in the country. Yet Livni's troubling statement appears to reflect more than just her personal opinion. A 29 October 2008 internal Palestinian memorandum titled "Progress Report on Territory Negotiations" states that Palestinian negotiators rejected the notion that Palestinians could be included in land swaps. But, according to the document, "the Israelis continued to raise the prospect of including Palestinian citizens of Israel" in such swaps, during negotiations between Palestinian officials and the government of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. In September last year, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman presented a plan the UN General Assembly in which Israel would keep West Bank settlements and cede to a future Palestinian state some lands with highly concentrated populations of non-Jewish citizens. "A final agreement between Israel and the Palestinians,"Lieberman said, "has to be based on a program of exchange of territory and populations." While Lieberman heads the ultranationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, and Livni the Kadima opposition (often inaccurately perceived as more "moderate" than Israel's current government), the two politicians' views are symptomatic of increasingly overt racism within Israeli society. The Obama administration's failure to press Israel to accept the international consensus that the Palestinian state would be established on all the territories Israel occupied in 1967, except for minor adjustments, dooms the two-state solution. It may well be that a US administration that came to office promising unparalleled efforts to bring peace, ends up clearing the path for Lieberman's and Livni's abhorrent ideas to enter the mainstream. Read the entire article here. Comment on this article > Palestine Papers: Obama didn't abandon all Bush policy – he maintains a firm disregard for Palestinian democracy Jan 24, 2011 06:19 pm | Adam Horowitz Although the Palestine Papers are full of references from the Obama adminstration that "President Obama does not accept prior decisions by Bush" (in the words of George Mitchell), there are a few things that the current White House agrees with the last administration on. Seumas Milne and Ian Black report for the Guardian and on the US's repeated threats to cut off funding to the PA if there are any leadership changes: The Obama administration has privately made clear that it will not allow any change of Palestinian leadership in the West Bank, the leaked papers reveal, let alone any repetition of the Hamas election victory that briefly gave the Islamists control of the Palestinian Authority five years ago. That is despite the fact that the democratic legitimacy of both the Palestinian president and Fatah leader, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), and prime minister, Salam Fayyad, is strongly contested among Palestinians, and there are no plans for new elections in either the West Bank or Gaza. "The new US administration expects to see the same Palestinian faces(Abu Mazen and Salam Fayyad) if it is to continue funding the Palestinian Authority," the then assistant secretary of state David Welch is recorded as telling Fayyad in November 2008. Most of the PA's funding comes from the US and European Union. Almost a year later, the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, reacted angrily to news that Abbas had threatened to resign and call for new presidential elections. She told Palestinian negotiators: "Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] not running in the election is not an option – there is no alternative to him." The threat was withdrawn and no election was held. . . The US government's private determination to use its financial and military leverage to keep the existing regime in place — while publicly continuing to maintain that Palestinians are free to choose their own leaders — echoes the Bush administration's veto on attempts to create a Palestinian national unity administration after Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007. The story ends: The dependence of the existing PA and PLO leadership on US support is well understood by those leaders, as the documents underline. Referring to Obama's attempt to kickstart Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in 2009, US state department official David Hale told chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat: "We need the help of friends like you." Erekat replied that the US president's "success is my survival". Comment on this article > Latest Palestine Papers: Plans to 'transfer' Palestinian citizens of Israel, Right of return for refugees, and the Obama administration Jan 24, 2011 03:03 pm | Adam Horowitz Below are the Al Jazeera English and Guardian twitter feeds giving updates on the latest Palestine Papers. Al Jazeera has just released the latest papers. Some highlights from Al Jazeera English: Israel's plans to force Palestinian citizens out of the country. Selling out the refugees. Obama's failure.   Comment on this article > An afternoon in the Jerusalem studio of GOD TV, the Christian Zionist ethnic cleansing network Jan 24, 2011 02:19 pm | Max Blumenthal I spent a part of this afternoon in the green room of a Russian news bureau in Jerusalem. While waiting for my friend Joseph Dana to appear on Russia TV to discuss the Palestine Papers, I looked out the window at a panoramic view of Jerusalem. In the foreground was the Mamilla cemetery, once the home to the graves of prominent Palestinian families like the Khalidis, and now the desecrated future site of the Simon Wiesenthal Foudation's ironically named "Center for Human Dignity," which was approved by the Jerusalem municipality. Now Joseph was on. "What the papers provide us with is the ultimate confirmation that Israel is not a viable partner for peace and does not support an equitable two state solution," he said. "Israel is content with the status quo, which means a permanent state of war and the deadly reality of occupation it established in 1967." On our way out, I noticed that the studio of GOD TV, the evangelical End Times network, were right next door. GOD TV is the key funder of the Jewish National Fund's plan to plant a million trees directly over the site of the Bedouin village Al-Arakib, a scheme that has resulted in ten demolitions of the village and untold damage to its residents. I knocked on the door of GOD TV's studio and a tall, lanky producer appeared. He told me he was from the Netherlands and introduced himself as Klaas. I asked if his network was funding the JNF's plan to plant a forest that would permanently displace Al-Arakib, forcing its residents' transfer to the Indian reservation style development town of Rahat. He told me that while they are planting a million trees to beautify the land for the Second Coming of Christ, he knew nothing about Al-Arakib. "The JNF hasn't told us anything about that and we certainly wouldn't be a part of anything that would do what you described," he said. Then he demanded I support my claims with evidence. Klaas allowed me to go online on one of GOD TV's computers to show him my video of the demolition of Al-Arakib. Unfortunately, Google and YouTube were blocked by a search filter on all of the network's computers. Either a wave of porn watching and chronic masturbation has swept through GOD TV a la AIPAC in the Steve Rosen era, or they are restricted from accessing outside information like North Koreans. Or both. I left Klaas with an article by Neve Gordon about his network's collaboration with the JNF. As I was leaving, Klaas suddenly grew argumentative. "An Israeli friend who lives in the Negev told me the Bedouins have to be removed because they steal everything," he said. "That's their way of life — theft." I asked if he ever spoken to a Bedouin or gone to the Negev to see the situation for himself. He said he hadn't. I then asked if he had ever met a Palestinian Christian. While our conversation took place, GOD TV was broadcasting a "report" on the Hebron massacre of 1929 which featured black and white footage of Arab men jumping around with swords in a frenzied manner interspersed with interviews with settlers. "I noticed in Holland a lot of people said they were Christian but they didn't even go to church, so I realized that they were not really Christians. I mean, what kind of Christians are these Palestinians?" Klaas said. He seemed to be suggesting that anyone who was not born-again was not an authentic Christian. I told him that most of the Palestinian Christians are Orthodox, and that some are direct descendants of the Apostles. I explained that the Christians of Bethlehem have been physically assaulted by Israeli troops for attempting to celebrate Palm Sunday in Jerusalem, that Christians in Gaza are blocked by Israel from celebrating Christmas in Bethlehem, and that the mayor of Nazareth Illit banned the public display of Christmas trees this year because he considered them "provocative." "You can freely walk where Jesus walked because you're an international," I told Klaas, "but what if you were a Palestinian?" He seemed disturbed by what I had just told him. "They really banned Christmas trees in Nazareth?" he asked. "Yeah, it was widely reported," I replied. He paused, then came back at me: "Well, I'm not going to just stand here and believe what you say. If you approach the situation in one way, then you can fit everything into your point of view." I responded that that was exactly what GOD TV was doing with its broadcasts. He said, "Yeah, well you have to remember that we are a pro-Zionist network." Then he added, "I'm happy to talk to you, but you're not going to convince me." A Day In Kangaroo Court Youth from Al-Arakib and Rahat demonstrate outside the Beersheva courthouse Yesterday, I took a bus to Beersheva with a group of Israeli activists and the Bedouin residents of Al-Arakib and Rahat. The city's courthouse was our destination. Inside, lawyers for Al-Arakib were contesting the JNF's plan to plant a forest on their land. Deeds of ownership were presented proving the rights of the residents to remain in Al-Arakib. "This is our land and our grandfather's land," a 24-year-old resident of Rahat named Mohammed Abu Hamid, told me. "They have already taken so much from us. If they take everything, where else can we be?" Gadi Algazi, a professor and activist who was arrested during the 10th demolition of the village, an episode in which Israeli police fired rubber bullets, told me that the plaintiffs are expected to lose. "We have a supposedly independent judge but the court system is completely stacked against the Bedouins," Algazi said. "They almost always lose these cases. But this is one of the last chances to stop the JNF so they invested heavily in the case." Were it not for the wave of sustained activism against the JNF's plans, the people of Al Arakib would have already been swept away like dust — like so many of the Bedouin tribes who were expelled to Gaza in '48 and after. The court cases and demonstrations have at least postponed their cruel fate. But the demolitions and attendant violence have taken their toll. Samia Al-Touri, a resident of Al-Arakib who has served as a key link to international and Jewish Israeli activists, told me that many of Al-Arakib's children are suffering from bedwetting, nightmares and general trauma. I heard rumors that some fear returning to their village so much they have already been resettled in Rahat — a quiet transfer. Today I learned that Al-Arakib has lost its case in the Beersheva court. The JNF and GOD TV's plans will move ahead. In a few minutes, Al Jazeera will air a special report on Palestine Papers detailing Israeli proposals to transfer large numbers of Palestinian Israelis into the West Bank, showing how the state uses its own non-Jewish citizens as bargaining chips. To anyone who has visited an unrecognized village like Al-Arakib, this revelation would not come as a surprise. The post originally appeared on Max Blumenthal's blog. Comment on this article > 'The Palestine Cables': WikiLeaks exposes Egypt, PA cooperation with Israel during Gaza assault Jan 24, 2011 01:48 pm | Alex Kane The left-wing publication Counterpunch has obtained eleven U.S.-authored cables "accessed" from WikiLeaks that deal solely with "Operation Cast Lead," the 2008-09 Israeli assault on Gaza.  Kathleen Christison, a former CIA analyst and co-author of Palestine in Pieces, has the scoop: Though the cables often simply rehash Israeli press reporting, providing little new insight into Israel's attack or the planning behind it, they show with pitiless clarity the U.S. government to be little more than a handmaiden and amanuensis of the Israeli military machine. The State Department cables also reveal for the first time that while Israel waged a devastating assault on the Gaza Strip, eventually killing an estimated 1,400 Palestinians, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority (PA) were actively working with Israel.  Previous cables from WikiLeaks revealed that Israel had "consulted" with Egypt and the PA prior to the beginning of "Cast Lead."  The PA denied the allegations then. A December 29, 2008 cable from the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv reports (in bold on the Counterpunch page on the leaks): At 16:00 on December 28, the IDF bombed the Phiadelphi corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, destroying 39-40 smuggling tunnels. No Egyptian border guards were harmed. IDF contacts have repeatedly told DATT that the targeting of the tunnels was coordinated with Egypt, and that they had passed the coordinates of the attack points to the Egyptians to enable them to ensure the safety of their border forces. A January 4, 2009 cable from Cairo notes: As of 1500 hrs. local on January 4, Egyptian military contacts said Egypt closed the Rafah border crossing on January 4 after the Israelis gave advanced warning of their ground invasion and additional air strikes on the smuggling tunnels along the Gaza-Rafah border One December 30, 2008 cable from Jerusalem details the contacts made between the PA and Israel regarding protests against the assault in the West Bank: PA commanders complained about IDF use of live ammunition, responsible for three Palestinian fatalities in December 27-28 protests. MG [Thiab Mustafa] Ali [the commander of the Palestinian security forces] said IDF commanders told them live ammunition is the last resort when dealing with Palestinian demonstrators, and IDF rules of engagement only authorize it when the lives of IDF soldiers or Israeli citizens are at immediate risk Despite the "complaints," the next section of the Dec. 30 cable notes that "both sides" agreed to "increase coordination": PA commanders said they told IDF officers that President Abbas and PM Fayyad both directed them to avoid situations that could develop into confrontations with the IDF. The security chiefs said Abbas and Fayyad passed a message to all Palestinian factions, at a PLO Executive Committee meeting on December 29, that only peaceful marches away from flashpoints would be permitted. PA commanders noted they have no control on over B/C areas such as Qalandiya and Nil'in, and would need IDF approval to move PA forces to those areas to prevent clashes between protesters and the IDF... PA commanders said their IDF counterparts agreed to expedite coordination and movement requests and exchange information on possible disturbances, as both sides have an interest in preventing West Bank violence. They said both sides also agreed not to leak substantive discussions about the meeting to the press, given the sensitivity of security coordination in a time of Palestinian outrage over events in Gaza. The new leak of what Al Jazeera is calling the "Palestine Papers" are likely to confirm the WikiLeaks revelations by publishing "details of the PA's security cooperation with Israel" over the next few days. Alex Kane is a freelance journalist and blogger based in New York City. You can read all of 'The Palestine Cables' reports here and he blogs on Israel/Palestine and Islamophobia in the United States at alexbkane.wordpress.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexbkane. Comment on this article > 'Palestine Papers' fallout: Fatah protesters attack Al Jazeera while in Gaza 'anger and disbelief' Jan 24, 2011 11:49 am | Adam Horowitz The video above shows protesters breaking into al-Jazeera's offices in Ramallah earlier today. They are chanting "Al Jazeera are traitors" and "don't film." Alan Fisher, an Al Jazeera English correspondent, tweeted the following earlier this morning: Angry crowd has appeared in front of the Al Jazeera office in Ramallah. There is some shouting but no violence The crowd has managed to get into the office in Ramaallah. #aljazeera's staff is ok. Some walls have graffiti Just spoken to the team in Ramallah. Everyone is fine - crowd have gone. Police protecting building. #palestine papers Sources say the protesters are PA-loyalists affiliated with Fatah. Here are two reports from Al Jazeera English on responses to the Palestine Papers in Jerusalem and Ramallah: Meanwhile, The Guardian is reporting on some earlier responses to the leak in Gaza ("anger and disbelief") According to reporter Hazem Balousha: Tailor Maher Mohammad, 50, said the revelations were incredible. "I couldn't believe my eyes when I watched it, this is cheating to Palestinian people. Jerusalem is a holy land, nobody can make concessions regarding it because it's not for Palestinians only but for all Muslims." Mahmoud Ismael, 58, a shopkeeper, questioned the motives of the person who leaked the documents. Palestinians, he added, expected little from their leaders whether Fatah or Hamas. "Both of them don't care about Palestine, they care only about their benefits," he said. Salah Bardaweel, a senior Hamas leader, said the organisation was studying the document. "We are asking the president Mahmoud Abbas to go to the public and announce his position on what was leaked by Al Jazeera, and make it clear we don't accept that and assure the Palestinian principles on the key issues." The main problem now, he added, was "not between Hamas and Fatah, it's now between the Palestinian people and the Palestinian negotiator". Comment on this article > More reax on Palestine papers Jan 24, 2011 11:28 am | Philip Weiss Live updates on the Palestine papers at War in Context. Tariq Ali incredulous, Akiva Eldar-- our leaders lied when they said there is no partner for peace, Clayton Swisher-- this land swap is like desert lots in Arizona for Manhattan real estate (as Paul Woodward puts it). Rashid Khalidi is on Democracy Now today talking about the papers proving the Israelis are rejectionists, and showing the depths of the lobby. For the papers reveal: the degree to which the United States is twisting the arm of the Palestinians, the degree to which American diplomats, whether Hillary Rodham Clinton or Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during the previous administration, are unsympathetic to the Palestinians and are in cahoots, in Aaron David Miller's words, our lawyers for Israel—it's actually worse than Miller, who was involved in the negotiations for many years, says, from these documents. Noam Sheizaf: For years, Israel has used the peace process as a way to hold back international pressure on the Palestinian issue. It will be harder to do so from now on. This will be Netanyahu's greatest problem. Nadia Hijab (FT, but linked by War in Context) these new leaks reveal that it is the PLO/PA that has been making the generous offers, and Israel has been rejecting them. If the documents are to be believed, almost all of East Jerusalem has been on the table. Perhaps this time we should be grateful Israel hasn't signed. Jerry Haber: Israel thinks it holds all the cards and knows that it is under no pressure to give an inch. Abu Ala' in effect gave Tzipi Livni and Ehud Olmert Yerushalayim on a silver platter. And according to these documents, anyway, the Israelis did not even make a counter-offer. What also strikes me is the complete absence of Israeli give-and-take at all. MJ Rosenberg echoes the point: On no major issue did the PA hold the line. None. The Palestinians offered Israel everything Israel wants and Israel still said "no" with the backing of the United States. Dimi Reider says: 1. Israeli media reported over the last hour that a small Palestinian crowd attemped to storm the Ramallah offices of Al Jazeera, but was rebuffed by PA police 2. Erekat just released the statement [below]. He describes the choice to term the release of entire documents as "out of context": Erekat statement: For Immediate Release January 24, 2011 Palestine Liberation Organization Negotiations Affairs Department Dr. Erakat: Statement on the Al Jazeera "Palestine Papers"   In the past few hours, a number of reports have surfaced regarding our positions in our negotiations with Israel, many of which have misrepresented our positions, taking statements and facts out of context. Other allegations circulated in the media have been patently false. But any accurate representation of our positions will show that we have consistently stood by our people's basic rights and international legal principles. Indeed, our position has been the same for the past 19 years of negotiations: we seek to establish a sovereign and independent Palestinian State along the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital and to reach a just solution to the refugee issue based on their international legal rights, including those set out in UNGA 194.  What an accurate record will show is that we have insisted that any solution be grounded in principles of international law, which Israel has consistently refused to accept or recognize. Even though many ideas have been discussed by the two sides as part of the normal negotiations process, including some we could never agree to, we have consistently said any proposed agreement would have to gain popular support through a national referendum. No agreement will be signed without the approval of the Palestinian people. The main issue remains that Israel continues to colonize our land, denying the rights of the Palestinian people, and in particular our refugees. These issues must be addressed and our rights must be respected. That can only happen with genuine commitment on the part of Israel, first and foremost, but also that of the international community which must help us achieve a regional peace based on principles of international law. Comment on this article > Israel rejects "the biggest Yerushalayim" while Palestinian negotiators plead 'what more can I give?' Jan 24, 2011 10:56 am | Seham A roundup of Day One of the Palestine Papers from Today in Palestine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbsI2DVqTPM&feature=youtube_gdata English Al Jazeera Video:  Discussing the Palestine Papers Pt 2 Shlomo Ben Ami, former Israeli Forign Minister, Daud Abdullah, director of Middle east monitor UK and Ali Abunimah, co-founder of Electronic Intifada make up the panel of analysts who discuss the Palestine Papers. This is Part two. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIoPJRX18T0&feature=youtube_gdata English Al Jazeera Video:  Discussing the Palestine Papers Pt 3 Shlomo Ben Ami, former Israeli Forign Minister, Daud Abdullah, director of Middle east monitor UK and Ali Abunimah, co-founder of Electronic Intifada make up the panel of analysts who discuss the Palestine Papers. This is Part three. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhT80hXf2f8&feature=youtube_gdata English Al Jazeera Video:  Creativity on the Haram http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo3hHB0yxqs&feature=youtube_gdata English Al Jazeera Video:  "The biggest Yerushalayim in Jewish history" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSE4rY1DFPo&feature=youtube_gdata "Risks for peace" The overwhelming conclusion one draws from this record is that the process for a two-state solution is essentially over. http://english.aljazeera.net/palestinepapers/2011/01/2011123135633144648.html US embassy cables: Israel discusses Gaza and West Bank with US http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/81613 Meeting Minutes: Trilateral - United States, Israel and Palestine: Summary Minutes of meeting among US, Palestinian and Israeli delegation in Jerusalem for Annapolis negotiations. The sides discuss reaching an agreement before the end of 2008, but identify many issues that must still be resolved. http://transparency.aljazeera.net/document/2825 Meeting Minutes: 8th Meeting on Territory: Summary The Palestinians affirmed their position that negotiations are based on UNSCR 242 and 338, while the Israelis continued to assert their claims to land within the 1967 line and stressed they are not "giving" anything back. The Israelis backtracked on swaps and would not discuss swaps unless Ma'ale Adumim, Givat ze'ev and Ariel are discussed. http://transparency.aljazeera.net/document/2681 Meeting Minutes: Borders with Erekat, Qurei and Livni: Summary Palestinians presented their position regarding borders: 1967 borders along with all areas occupied by Israel in the 1967 area, West Bank with No Man's Land and East Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley, Gaza Strip and the Dead Sea. Palestinians also presented maps for land swaps - swaps by the ratio of 1:1 (same size and value). http://transparency.aljazeera.net/document/2648 Meeting Minutes: Post-Annapolis Plenary Session on Territory: Summary Minutes of a plenary session on Territory, Post-Annapolis. Both sides discussed news reports regarding Israel's decision to negotiate with Syria over the return of the Golan Heights. The Israeli side presented their assessment of the Palestinian land swap proposal. http://transparency.aljazeera.net/document/2618 Summary of Ehud Olmert's "Package" Offer to Mahmoud Abbas - August 31, 2008: Summary Summary on Israel's package offer to the Palestinians, includes detailed maps of land swaps in Israel and Jerusalem.  The summary includes offers on territory, Jerusalem, refugees and security.  Israel would annex 6.8% of the West Bank, and safe passage between Gaza and West Bank would be under Israeli sovereignty.  Sovereignty over the Holy Basin would be delayed to a later stage. On refugees, Israel would acknowledge the suffering of – but not responsibility for – Palestinian refugees.  No mention is made of security. http://transparency.aljazeera.net/document/4736 Palestine papers: Editor's note The background to how the Guardian came to publish the documents revealing details of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.  The 1,600 or so documents in the Palestine papers were obtained by al-Jazeera and shared in advance of publication with the Guardian in an effort to ensure the wider availability of their content.  The Guardian has authenticated the bulk of the papers independently, but we have not sought or been given access to the sources of the documents.  Al-Jazeera, who are publishing the papers in full on their website, aljazeera.net, has redacted minimal parts of the papers in order to protect their sources' identity.  As part of the agreement we are publishing up to eight documents a day in full on guardian.co.uk.  In the course of working with the documents over several weeks, the Guardian has formed its own judgments about specific stories and retained full editorial control of its coverage.  Co-operation between us and al-Jazeera has been restricted to discussions of the stories and agreeing dates on which we would release the information contained in specific documents. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/23/palestine-papers-editors-note Secret papers reveal slow death of Middle East peace process • Massive new leak lifts lid on negotiations • PLO offered up key settlements in East Jerusalem • Concessions made on refugees and Holy sites http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/23/palestine-papers-expose-peace-concession     Al Jazeera English Video: Swapping land in East Jerusalem Al Jazeera's Clayton Swisher explains the Palestinian Authority's offer to concede most of Israel's illegal settlements in East Jerusalem. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xM8mA25Cwo&feature=youtube_gdata 'Palestinians agreed to cede nearly all Jewish areas of East Jerusalem' Newly leaked documents reveal series of concessions made to Israel by PA negotiators; East Jerusalem offer was rejected as it didn't include settlements deeper in West Bank. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/palestinians-agreed-to-cede-nearly-all-jewish-areas-of-east-jerusalem-1.338785?localLinksEnabled=false Palestine papers: Ahmed Qureia Acquaintances describe Qureia as tolerant and good-humoured, and the Palestine papers often reveal him relieving the tension of negotiating sessions with light-hearted banter, though a joke that Palestinians should kidnap an Israeli soldier as a bargaining chip in the negotiations was met with stony silence.  He exhibits great personal charm, and at one point told his Israeli counterpart, the foreign minister Tzipi Livni, that he would vote for her. He also greeted the then US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, with the words: "You bring life to the region when you come." http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/23/palestine-papers-ahmed-qurei-abu-ala Palestine papers: live updates http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/jan/24/palestine-papers-live-updates Aljazeera Leaks, As`ad Abukhalil Forget about PA's denials. Those buffoons are not believed even if they tell the truth (as it is said in the Babylonian Talmud). But reading through the documents, my 1st impression: somebody high up has leaked them and I suspect that Dahlan is fighting back against his PA rivals in light of the recent investigations. And I noticed that the documents--if I am not mistaken (I never am, damn it)--cover the period when Dahlan was not involved (marginalized). 2) that the PA buffoons are, well, buffoons. Nothing new there. 3) like every occasion when the occupiers speak to his/her puppets, Livni speak to the PA buffoons like they are animals. But they deserve it of course. Sit down, Sa'ib. Sit down. Good boy. Good boy. Give him a treat, Tal. http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/01/aljazeera-leaks.html This seemingly endless and ugly game of the peace process is now finally over | Karma Nabulsi The peace process is a sham. Palestinians must reject their officials and rebuild their movement. It's over. Given the shocking nature, extent and detail of these ghastly revelations from behind the closed doors of the Middle East peace process, the seemingly endless and ugly game is now, finally, over. Not one of the villains on the Palestinian side can survive it. With any luck the sheer horror of this account of how the US and Britain covertly facilitated and even implemented Israeli military expansion – while creating an oligarchy to manage it – might overcome the entrenched interests and venality that have kept the peace process going. A small group of men who have polluted the Palestinian public sphere with their private activities are now exposed. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jan/23/middle-east-peace-process-over-palestinians Palestine papers: Now we know. Israel had a peace partner The classified documents show Palestinians willing to go to extreme lengths and Israel holding a firm line on any peace deal.  Who will be most damaged by this extraordinary glimpse into the reality of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process? Perhaps the first casualty will be Palestinian national pride, their collective sense of dignity in adversity badly wounded by the papers revealed today.  Many on the Palestinian streets will recoil to read not just the concessions offered by their representatives – starting with the yielding of those parts of East Jerusalem settled by Israeli Jews – but the language in which those concessions were made. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jan/23/palestine-papers-israel-peace-partner The Palestinian papers: Pleading for a fig leaf | Editorial The secret notes suggest one requires Panglossian optimism to believe that these negotiations can one day be resurrected.  Gerald Kaufman once described Labour's 1983 manifesto as the longest suicide note in history. If ever a set of documents merits this epithet, it is surely the one we publish today. Written by Palestinian officials, obtained by al-Jazeera and shared with the Guardian, the papers are the confidential record of 10 years of efforts to seek a peace agreement with Israel. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jan/23/palestinian-papers-fig-leaf-editorial Al Jazeera publishes bombshell leak concerning the peace process; ex-CIA official 'The overwhelming conclusion one draws from this record is that the process for a two-state solution is essentially over', Henry Norr and Adam Horowitz Today, al-Jazeera has obtained a cache of nearly 1,700 confidential  files – memos, e-mails, maps, minutes from private meetings, accounts of high level exchanges, strategy papers and even power point presentations – dealing with the so-called peace process from 1999 to 2010. Al Jazeera has shared them with the Guardian (UK), and both organizations today began posting and and analyzing them. http://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/al-jazeera-publishes-bombshell-leak-concerning-the-peace-process-ex-cia-official-the-overwhelming-conclusion-one-draws-from-this-record-is-that-the-process-for-a-two-state-solution-is-essentially-o.html Olmer's solution to the "refugee problem" "Israel would acknowledge the suffering of – but not responsibility for – Palestinian refugees (language is in the preamble). In parallel, there must also be a mention of Israeli (or Jewish) suffering. Israel would take in 1,000 refugees per year for a period of 5 years on "humanitarian" grounds. In addition, programs of "family reunification" would continue." http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/01/olmers-solution-to-refugee-problem.html Two decades of secret Israeli-Palestinian accords leaked to media worldwide Al-Jazeera TV begins leaking 1,600 secret documents: PA agreed to concede almost all of East Jerusalem to Israel, accept Israeli demand to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/two-decades-of-secret-israeli-palestinian-accords-leaked-to-media-worldwide-1.338768?localLinksEnabled=false Abu `Ala' on Nayif Hawatimah *It seems that Nayef Hawatmeh, of the DFLP, knows more about the Israeli position than us. He is saying the Israelis are proposing to keep the Jordan Valley and all of Jerusalem… How does he know this?" http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/01/abu-ala-on-nayif-hawatimah.html Leaked document shows what the Palestinian Authority really thinks of Netanyahu In meet between Saeb Erekat and U.S. diplomat David Hale, Erekat describes difficulty arranging a phone call with Netanyahu, says Israelis want a two state solution 'sometimes more than Palestinians.' http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/leaked-document-shows-what-the-palestinian-authority-really-thinks-of-netanyahu-1.338776?localLinksEnabled=false Al Jazeera interviews Abdel Bari Atwan, Editor Al-Quds Al-Arabi In the largest leak in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Al Jazeera has obtained 1,676 classified documents in total. The documents are derived from a decade of meetings, internal emails, reports and studies, notes, maps and draft agreements. They detail talks between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority, along with the United States. However, the most controversial revelation so far is the apparent willingness of the Palestinian Authority to give concessions on disputed areas of Jerusalem. Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) executive committee, said in his reaction to the revelations, "They want to compete with WikiLeaks and come up with parallel stories. But WikiLeaks doesn't bring those presenters or people such as Atwan in order to sensationalise and provoke and serve a preordained position." Al Jazeera's Teymoor Nabili interviewed Adbel Bari Atwan, editor of the Al-Quds Al Arabi newspaper, the man in question named in Rabbo's reaction to the leaked documents. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDBJunr0yF4&feature=youtube_gdata Rashid Khalidi: Leaked "Palestine Papers" Underscore Weakness of Palestinian Authority, Rejectionism of Israel and U.S. Newly-released documents show Palestinian negotiators agreed to give up large tracts of West Bank land, and nearly all of East Jerusalem, in peace talks with the Israeli government. The disclosure is among many contained in what is being called the "Palestine Papers"—over 1,700 files from inside Israeli-Palestinian negotiations dating from 1999 to 2010. The news network Al Jazeera began publishing details of the documents on Sunday. We speak with Columbia University professor, Rashid Khalidi. http://www.democracynow.org/2011/1/24/rashid_khalidi_leaked_palestine_papers_underscore Palestine papers: Will a big scoop change business as usual? A roundup of opinion so far. http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/sE8dqzmfgfs/Palestine-papers-Will-a-big-scoop-change-business-as-usual Palestine Papers Reveal more than just Scandal, Joharah Baker for MIFTAH If this were the '50s, newspapers would be flying off stands like hotcakes. The "Read All About It" would refer to the newly released "Palestine Papers" a series of revealing documents (much like the equally scandalous Wikileaks) covering years of Palestinian-Israeli meetings and negotiations. http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=23077&CategoryId=3 MJ Rosenberg: Palestinian Papers: What the Al Jazeera Blockbuster Means Recently released documents show that the Palestinian Authority understands that with the United States solidly backing every Israeli position, no matter how extreme, the only thing it can do is negotiate for crumbs. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mj-rosenberg/what-the-al-jazeera-block_b_812951.html The stark reality of the 'Palestine Papers' points the way forward, Ahmed Moor I sat around last night thinking of ways to punish Erekat, Abbas and Qurei for treason. It was an exercise in pure fantasy but it had an ameliorative psychological effect.  George Bush made the noose unsexy, and it's too barbaric besides. But what if Israeli surgeons were contracted to surgically remove every vertebral bone belonging to the three sludges? http://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/the-stark-reality-of-the-palestine-papers-points-the-way-forward.html American intifadah: We shake off the neocons, Philip Weiss Everything's falling apart this morning. What a beautiful day, we're going to try and pick up the pieces all this week. The Palestine Papers are transforming the landscape, and showing that realists and leftists have had far greater insight into the region than the neocons and liberal hawks-- for years now. http://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/american-intifadah-we-shake-off-the-neocons-at-last.html Aljazeerah's Leaks Reveal Sham 'Peace Process,' Israeli Stonewalling, Juan Cole The Qatar satellite channel Aljazeera has gotten hold of some 1600 documents from the Palestine Authority regarding negotiations with Israel, which cast the Israelis, the Americans and the Fatah faction of Palestinians in the worst possible light. The leaked documents were shared exclusively with The Guardian newspaper.  The documents could well destroy the Palestine Liberation Organization, a coalition of parties that includes Fatah, which is led by Palestine Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Among the politicians who comes off the worst in these documents is Saeb Erekat. The Palestinian Authority is revealed as feeble as a kitten. Like a a spurned suitor, Erekat kept offering the Israelis more and more, and they kept rejecting his overtures. http://www.juancole.com/2011/01/aljazeerahs-leaks-reveal-sham-peace-process-israeli-stonewalling.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+juancole%2Fymbn+%28Informed+Comment%29 Jerusalem and the Unraveling of "the Peace Process Industry", Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh Al-Jazeera just announced the release of 1600 internal and classified documents that reveal devastating information on the nature and scale of concessions offered by Palestinian negotiators.   The Guardian reported that " The overwhelming impression that emerges from the confidential records of a decade of Middle East peace talks is of the weakness and desperation of Palestinian leaders, the unyielding correctness of Israeli negotiators and the often contemptuous attitude towards the Palestinian side shown by US politicians and officials. " I think that it spells the end of the peace process industry an 18 year sham that facilitated colonization and enriched a few individuals while destroying our lives. http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9448&Itemid=58 Palestinian Zionist's Laughable Response Abbas: Concessions in Palestine papers came from Israel, not us PA president says that the documents leaked by Al-Jazeera purposely reverse the Israeli and Palestinian positions. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/abbas-concessions-in-palestine-papers-came-from-israel-not-us-1.338882?localLinksEnabled=false Abed Rabbo blasts Emir of Qatar RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- PLO executive committee member Yasser Abed Rabbo on Monday blasted the Emir of Qatar over documents leaked by the Doha-based Al-Jazeera TV network covering a decade of Israel-Palestinian negotiations.  According to documents released Sunday, chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erakat offered Israel huge concessions, including "the biggest Yerushalayim [Jerusalem] in history" during 2008 negotiations. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=353750 PA negotiators reject leaked report The Palestinian chief negotiator labels leaked documents as "pack of lies". http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/01/2011123234940952149.html PA: Al-Jazeera has declared war on Palestinians Erekat: This is part of campaign targeting PA, Abbas refused to make far-reaching concessions on Jerusalem; Abbas: We have nothing to hide. http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=204916&R=R3 PLO: Al Jazeera hurting Abbas like Israel hurt Arafat PLO Secretary-General Yasser Abd Rabbo fiercely slams Qatari network for exposing papers documenting negotiations between PA, Israel. 'Quotes said in ironic tone were presented as Palestinian answers,' he says; calls for independent Palestinian body to investigate leak. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4018118,00.html Palestinian Protesters attack Al Jezeera office in Ramallah Ramallah – PNN – On Monday afternoon, dozens of Palestinian protesters attacked the office of Al Jazeera TV in the central West Bank city of Ramallah in protest of recently leaked documents regarding the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.  On Sunday, the Qatari-based Al Jazeera TV released documents including maps proposed by both Israeli and Palestinian negotiators with land swaps and settlements in Jerusalem.  Al Jazeera TV said that the 1600 documents also included minutes of meetings that took place between Palestinian, Israeli, and American officials during 20 years of talks. Al Jazeera and the Guardian will be publish more documents during this week.  According to Al Jazeera, the protesters destroyed security cameras and the front door of the office using batons and stones before the Palestinian police arrived and stopped the attack. http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9451&Itemid=61 Reaction to the leaked Palestine papers Palestinian negotiators have angrily dismissed accounts as lies, fabrications and half truths.  As Palestinian negotiators named in the secret accounts of negotiations with Israel angrily dismissed them as lies, fabrications and half truths, there was an equally hostile backlash over their offer to let the Jewish state keep its settlements in occupied East Jerusalem and other concessions.  The two leading Palestinian negotiators named in the documents, Saeb Erekat and Ahmed Qureia, reacted furiously to the leaks. Erekat called them a "bunch of lies". Qureia claimed that "many parts of the documents were fabricated, as part of the incitement against the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian leadership".  But a former colleague of the two men on the negotiations team, Diana Buttu, called their secret proposal in 2008 to let Israel keep all but one of the Jewish settlements within Jerusalem shocking and "out of touch" with the wishes of the Palestinian people. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/24/reaction-leaked-palestine-papers Settlers/ Land, Property, Resource Theft & Destruction/Ethnic Cleansing New Jewish neighborhood to be erected in occupied Golan Heights A Jewish settler organization announced it will erect a new neighborhood in Golan Heights, Syria occupied by Israel. http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46 Israel builds new road connecting settlements in east with west J'lem The Israeli building and planning committee in Jerusalem approved a plan to establish a new road connecting the settlements of Pisgat Ze'ev and Neve Yaakov with the western part of Jerusalem. http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46 Israel Seizes West Bank Land For Airbase RAMALLAH, Jan 24 (Bernama) -- The Israeli army seized the Palestinian land in the West Bank to build an airbase despite a Palestinian complaint filed to Israeli courts, a Palestinian researcher said Monday.  The land is located to the south of Hebron city in southern West Bank and its space is about 2,580 square meters, Abdul-Hadi Hantash, researcher of issues related to settlements, told China's Xinhua news agency. http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v5/newsworld.php?id=558952 Elad guards tighten control over Silwan Spring Elad-hired settlement guards prevented foreign tourists from entering the Ein Silwan area of Wadi Hilweh today, say witnesses. In what is becoming a reoccuring incident, visiting sightseers were refused entry to Ein Silwan (Silwan Spring) through the southern entrance, owned by the Islamic Waqf (public religious foundation), of the adjoining mosque on the grounds that the area was under the guards' control. Elad monopolizes control of all tourist sites in the Palestinian neighborhood of Wadi Hilweh, including the northern entrance and tunnel leading to Silwan Pool. The vast majority of tourist attractions are exploited for political gain by Elad, using sites such as City of David archaeological excavations to further their own ideological clout within the region. Arab and Islamic heritage is carefully airbrushed away to present a vision of purely biblical Jewish history of Silwan to the public, despite its long Palestinian history and over 50,000 Palestinians who call the village home today.     http://silwanic.net/?p=11063 Settlers Attack Internationals Escorting Palestinians in South Hebron Hills On Sunday, settlers assaulted internationals while they were escorting Palestinians to their pasture to graze their herds in Um al Hir , in South Hebron Hills. http://www.imemc.org/article/60492 Farmers say attacked by settlers HEBRON (Ma'an) -- A group of farmers said they were attacked on Saturday by around 25 settlers in the southern West Bank.  The farmers said they were working on their land in Tuwani village east of Yatta, near Hebron, when settlers raided the area, protected by Israeli soldiers.  The soldiers declared the area a closed military zone and ordered the farmers to leave, they said. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=353289 Shepherd says settler killed animals HEBRON (Ma'an) -- A Palestinian shepherd said Sunday that an Israeli settler killed his dog and a goat in the West Bank city of Hebron.  Hani Salamh Makhamrehm said his herd was drinking water when a settler fired four bullets into his dog at close range.  Makhamrehm said he ran away, afraid the settler would shoot him.  The man, from an illegal outpost south of Hebron, also kicked one of his goats to death, the shepherd said. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=353625 Video from Mazin Qumsiyeh This youtube from a recent visit gives you a glimpse. I was both saddened and yet strangely energized by the visit. The relentless effort to transform the city to make it "Jewish" (whatever that means) involved relentless efforts at ethnic cleansing. Just in the past two years, over 10,000 Palestinians from East Jerusalem had their residency rights revoked. This is done under 101 pretexts ranging from marrying someone from outside the city to getting a job in another city or renting or buying a peace of real estate outside the city... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RbhpyDGIac Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions Tear gas inhalation has contributed to four Palestinian deaths (and that's not counting those maimed/killed by high-velocity canisters), Philip Weiss In the wake of the death of Jawaher Abu Rahmah in Bil'in on New Year's Day after she inhaled tear gas, Adalah-NY is mobilizing against two American companies that have provided tear gas to Israeli soldiers and policemen (CSI in Pennsylvania, Defense Technology in Wyoming). http://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/tear-gas-inhalation-has-contributed-to-four-palestinian-deaths-and-thats-not-counting-those-maimedkilled-by-high-velocity-canisters.html The army never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity, Joseph Dana Right wing pundits have often said that Palestinians, when in talks with Israel, never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. The more time that I spend in the West Bank and watch the behavior of the Israeli army towards Palestinians, the more I feel that the statement should be said about the army. The weekly demonstration in Bil'in last Friday is a perfect example. http://josephdana.com/2011/01/the-army-never-misses-an-opportunity-to-miss-an-opportunity/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-army-never-misses-an-opportunity-to-miss-an-opportunity Bil'in Marches for Jailed Jonathan Pollak [Popular Struggle] Roughly one hundred demonstrators marched to the barrier in Bil'in in honor of Jonathan Pollak. Demonstrators carried images of Pollak and formed a peace sign of people in front of the soldiers. The demonstration was attacked with tear gas, sound bombs and the petrochemical known as the "skunk." http://www.bilin-village.org/english/articles/testimonies/Bilin-Marches-for-Jailed-Jonathan-Pollak AMARC: World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters Joins BDS Movement As the world remembers the Israeli bombardment of Gaza at the turn of 2009, the Palestine solidarity movement continues to build the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israeli apartheid. Social justice networks globally are moving in unprecedented ways to back the growing BDS campaign, launched in occupied Palestine by civil society organizations in 2005. http://www.tadamon.ca/post/8528 Vigil in Dublin for Palestinian Prisoners The vigil, organized by the Irish socialist republican party éirígí, was held to highlight an ongoing hunger strike in Israel's Nafha prison, organized by Palestinian prisoners Ahmad Sa'adat, the general secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Jamal Abu Al-Haija, a leader of Hamas in the West Bank. http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/news/3212-vigil-in-dublin-for-palestinian-prisoners Mohammed Khatib: Palestinian Nonviolent Movement Continues Despite Crackdown The January 1st death of Palestinian protester Jawaher Abu Rahmah from Israeli tear gas, and efforts to imprison people like us illustrate the Israeli government's intensifying crackdown on the unarmed Palestinian protest movement. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mohammed-khatib/post_1615_b_812459.html Two more Gaza-bound flotillas to set sail in spring Groups responsible for sending last aid flotilla, on which nine activists were killed, have organized more maritime convoys; Turkish pro-Palestinian group linked to Hamas is one of the organizers. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/two-more-gaza-bound-flotillas-to-set-sail-in-spring-1.338780?localLinksEnabled=false Israelis target Macy Gray with racist diatribes after she agrees to play Tel Aviv (and who are the "assholes?"), Max Blumenthal The Israeli media is filled with reports about Macy Gray confirming her plans to perform in Tel Aviv in March. This should have been an occasion for Israelis to celebrate their continuing ability to behave as a normal society despite occupying millions of people, holding Gaza under siege, maintaining an apparatus of racism against its non-Jewish citizens. But in a poorly calculated stunt designed to wash her hands of human rights concerns, Gray had first asked her "fans" if she should perform despite what she called Israel's "disgusting" treatment of the Palestinians. Within hours, thousands of people who had no prior interest in Gray or her music flocked to her Facebook page (they only had to "like" her page in order to post) to register their opinions. Gray, who appeared to have every intention of performing anyway, remarked after announcing her plan to go to Tel Aviv, that some of those urging her to boycott were "assholes." http://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/israelis-target-macy-gray-with-racist-diatribes-after-she-agrees-to-play-tel-aviv-and-who-are-the-%e2%80%9cassholes%e2%80%9d.html Racists insult Macy Gray, Macy Gray insults anti-racists This is rather sad.  I posted Macy Gray's apparently earnest attempt to sound out her fans as to whether she should boycott Israel or not.  She had already agreed to two dates there in February so I assume there was money on the table.  By the time I looked at her facebook page there were well over 7,000 comments, most of which seemed to be imploring her to support the boycott.  Well, according to YNET, Macy Gray made up her mind a few days ago to commit to performing for racist war criminals and to insult those people trying to persuade her to support the boycott. http://jewssansfrontieres.blogspot.com/2011/01/racists-insult-macy-gray-macy-gray.html #BDS: Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employee: Statement of Position "The Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees (PFUUPE) wishes to reiterate its firm opposition to any bilateral or multilateral relationships between Palestinian and Israeli academic institutions. In reference to the decision by the University of Johannesburg Senate in September 2010 to review the University's Memorandum of Understanding with Ben-Gurion University, and particularly regarding the condition of partnering with a Palestinian university, PFUUPE, representing Palestinian academics at virtually all Palestinian universities in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip stands firmly behind the position of the Palestinian Council for Higher Education (CHE) rejecting cooperation with Israeli universities.  The CHE, representing all higher education institutions and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE), has rejected, since the early 1990s, any form of cooperation by Palestinian institutions of higher education with Israeli academic institutions until the Israeli occupation ends.[1] This position was reiterated again with particular reference to the Memorandum of Understanding between Ben-Gurion and Johannesburg Universities during one of its meetings  in October 2010. Members of the CHE reaffirmed their rejection to any form of cooperation with Israeli universities, be it direct cooperation, or through third parties.   http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2011/01/bds-palestinian-federation-of-unions-of.html Human Rights/Humanitarian Issues/Siege/Repression Israel Denies Food to Gaza Israeli apartheid policies against the innocent population of Gaza continues. Not different from the Nazi regime against the Jews in the 2nd world war, Israel adopts similar policies against civilians in Gaza estimated of 1.7 million. http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/gaza-strip/8280-israel-denies-food-to-gaza.html Egypt to close Rafah crossing Tuesday GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Egypt will close the Rafah crossing on its border with Gaza on Tuesday, officials said.  Gaza police director Ayoub Abu Sha'ar said the one-day closure was due to a national police holiday in Egypt http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=353771 Violence/Aggression Gazan dies in Israeli shelling One killed and two injured in Israeli tank shelling in the Gaza strip. http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2011/01/2011122112647456348.html Detainees 14 year old child arrested in night raid in Nabi Saleh, Joseph Dana The repression of Nabi Saleh continued last night as the army raided the village for the third time in two weeks. Last week, the army raided over twenty Nabi Saleh homes, photographed youth and collected their ID information. Last night, between the hours of two and three in the morning, soldiers raided homes and arrested one 14 year old child, Islam Tamimi. Soldiers attacked the child in his bed and attempted to arrest his older brother. One Palestinian working with Btselem tried to photograph the soldiers but were threatened with violence. However, family members and other villagers were able to prevent the older brother from being arrested. http://josephdana.com/2011/01/14-year-old-child-arrested-in-night-raid-in-nabi-saleh/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=14-year-old-child-arrested-in-night-raid-in-nabi-saleh 7 children seized by Israeli military in Silwan 7 Palestinian children were arrested by Israeli troops in Silwan today. The children, aging from 11 to 18 years, were accused of throwing stones at settlers or military vehicles. http://silwanic.net/?p=11089 Political Developments US embassy cables: US reviews progress with Palestinian leaders http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/160682 US backs Mideast talks despite Al-Jazeera report (AFP) AFP - The US State Department said it would continue pressing for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict despite the release of purportedly secret documents by Al-Jazeera. http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110124/ts_alt_afp/israelpalestinianspeacejazeeraus Netanyahu mulls interim agreement with Palestinians Part of deal would include establishment of Palestinian state in provisional borders; Netanyahu hesitating to alter declared policy of permanent settlement agreement within a year. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/netanyahu-mulls-interim-agreement-with-palestinians-1.338783?localLinksEnabled=false The latest on the Palestinian U.N. resolution on settlements The Palestine Liberation Organization, no longer willing to follow the Obama administration's diplomatic lead, is gambling that its latest drive for a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements will put more pressure on both the Israeli government and the Obama administration.  The U.S. administration, caught between its desire to bring the Palestinians back to the negotiating table and its reluctance to abandon Israel at the United Nations, has not officially decided what it will do if and when the Palestinian resolution ever comes up for a Security Council vote. http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/01/21/the_latest_on_the_palestinian_un_resolution_on_settlements Israeli tribute to Palestinian Authority security support "confirms threat to West Bank Palestinians" Islamic Resistance MovementThe Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) has called the tribute paid by the Israeli Defence Minister and the Director of Israel's intelligence service to the Palestinian Authority for its security cooperation with the occupying power "a threat to the people of the occupied West Bank". In a press statement, Hamas said, "The blessings given by Ehud Barak and Yuval Diskin confirm the growing and widespread belief that the main concern of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah is the security of the Zionist state and not the defence of citizen's rights as they struggle under Israel's military occupation. http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/1979-israeli-tribute-to-palestinian-authority-security-support-qconfirms-threat-to-west-bank-palestiniansq Other News Youth activists respond to authoritarian PA crackdown on Tunisia solidarity rally, Adam Horowitz The following is a statement released by organizers of a rally that was to be held in Ramallah last week in solidarity with the ongoing protests in Tunisia. The rally was shut down by the Palestinian Authority.Omar Barghouti, who attended the rally, was quoted by a French newspaper saying, "It's unbelievable. … The police are in the process of confirming the charge that the Palestinian Authority is on the side of Ben Ali and that it also fears the people and the street." http://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/youth-activists-respond-to-authoritarian-pa-crackdown-on-tunisia-solidarity-rally.html Poll: Religious sector thinks Knesset not Jewish enough Survey reveals that most religious Israelis believe Knesset too democratic, but not Jewish enough, while seculars think opposite. All sectors consider human rights a Jewish value. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4016672,00.html Analysis/Op-ed OPT: Gaza's blogging boom GAZA CITY, 24 January 2011 (IRIN) - Sharif Al Sharif, 27, launched his blog in 2006 when there were only a handful of bloggers in the Gaza Strip. Now, he says, there are more than 50. The past year has seen a boom in social media in Gaza as young women, and men like Sharif, take to the web to join a global community they are otherwise unable to access. A growing international audience is logging on to read them.  Sharif has always been interested in politics but never enjoyed talking about his political opinions publicly. When he started his blog, it was not with a political agenda: "I just wanted to be heard. When I started to blog I felt like I had a presence in this life, even if it was just a digital presence. I wrote to be recognized." http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=91712 If Obama saw what white phosphorus did to the kids' rehab room at Al Quds Hospital in Gaza, maybe he would become a decider?, Philip Weiss We're promoting our new Goldstone book. It's the abridged report with a number of fabulous essays accompanying it. Today I want to highlight the fine piece about the Goldstone Report and Congress by the former Washington state congressman Brian Baird. http://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/if-obama-saw-what-white-phosphorus-did-to-the-kids-rehab-room-at-al-quds-hospital-in-gaza-maybe-he-would-become-a-decider.html Unbounded joy, Yasmeen El Khoudary Despite the unprecedented media coverage and growing audience that the Palestinian cause, most specifically Gaza during the siege (2007 and ongoing) and the war (2008) have been given, there is still a lot that people do not know about Gaza. The media portrays Gaza the way it wants the world to see it- a tiny spot on the map, plagued with poverty and hunger, governed by yet another 'Islamic' group, and besieged by Israel. The image created by media agencies, regardless of how different their views are, is always the same: a bleak image of a city you would not want to spend more than a few days in, and also a city whose residents you should definitely feel sorry for. http://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/the-beautiful-life-in-gaza.html Is Israel an Apartheid State? South African Study Says Yes International law defines the crime of apartheid as acts against humanity "committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime." The Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa commissioned a study in 2009 to test the hypothesis that Israel`s occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem constitutes apartheid. http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2011/1/21/937891/-Is-Israel-an-Apartheid-State-South-African-Study-Says-Yes Cyberspace Bedouin's Hope for End of Repression, Iqbal Jassat – Pretoria Mazin Qumsiyeh calls himself a 'Bedouin in Cyberspace' while a villager at home in Occupied Palestine. And it is from having his feet firmly planted on earth that this human rights activist regularly alerts the world via cyberspace about the relentless assault on him and his neighbourhood.  In his most recent posting, Qumsiyeh reminds his audience about how the Israeli assault extends to their land, truth, decency, nature, dignity and daringly suggests on God too. http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16570 Hamas Charter: Vision, Fact and Fiction, Dr. Ahmed Yousef - Gaza The Israeli occupation has never missed an opportunity to brand Hamas a fundamentalist, terrorist, racist, anti-Semitic organization. True to the Mossad motto which states 'By way of deception, though shall do war,' it has excelled at taking select articles from the Islamic party's charter and using them, out of context, to justify its claims. http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16576 Israel has taken over from Northern Ireland as a factory of grievances, Ed Moloney It is without doubt one of the most beautiful places in Ireland. Situated on the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, County Fermanagh is famous for two things. Its two picturesque lakes, Upper and Lower Lough Erne, abundant with fish and a mecca for anglers from throughout Europe are one. The other is its tough politics. The place is evenly divided between Protestants and Catholics, or Unionists and Nationalists as the Irish prefer to call them. Elections, which are always about whether Northern Ireland should stay in the union with Britain or join the rest of Nationalist Ireland in an independent republic, are bitterly contested affairs and turnouts can sometimes hit the 90 per cent mark. http://mondoweiss.net/2011/01/israel-has-taken-over-from-northern-ireland-as-a-factory-of-grievances.html Nir Rosen: his book Aftermath, As`ad Abukhalil I had trashed Nir's first book on Iraq.  I said it sucked big time.  I did not know what to expect: I was teasing him on Facebook that I am relishing the opportunity to trash another book of his.  Unfortunately for me, I really really liked this book.  I highly recommend it and it is probably if not certainly the first book on Iraq and Afghanistan in which the natives come out as full human being with blood in their veins.  It is the best attempt by a Western reporter to carry the vies, pains, wishes, aspirations, and suffering of the occupied.  His treatment of the US military occupiers was refreshingly non-worshipful.  He also is not lazy: in covering Lebanon, Iraq, or Afghanistan, he travels around.  He rightly observes that Western reporting on Lebanon is deficient--highly deficient--because they don't travel beyond the narrow "green zone" (whether in Beirut or Kabul or Baghdad).  In each of those countries, the Westerners develop and reside in a "green zone." Nir does not shy away from writing about the destructive and (war) criminal role of the occupiers: and how they treat the natives. You don't read about that in the Western press.  I would only suggest that in the paperback edition, Nir ads another chapter to his 600 page volume: a conclusion. http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/01/nir-rosen-his-book-aftermath.html Lebanon Hezbollah picks Mikati for PM post Lebanon Shia party selects billionaire Sunni businessman as its candidate. http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2011/01/2011124135831876987.html Hezbollah pledges unity government Hassan Nasrallah seeks to calm tensions in Lebanon day before Lebanon begins talks to decide on next prime minister. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/01/2011123201247177360.html Nasrallah: Mixed cabinet if March 8 candidate named BEIRUT: The March 8 coalition would call for the formation of a national partnership government if its candidate for the prime minister's post is nominated, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in his address to the Lebanese via video link on the eve of binding parliamentary consultations to nominate a new prime minister. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=124059 Cooperation with Hariri leadership not possible, Aoun says BEIRUT: The leader of the Free Patriotic Movement reiterated Sunday the "impossibility" of cooperating with any government headed by caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri. March 8 will name their final candidate for prime minister by Monday morning at the latest, the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc leader told BBC Arabic. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=124064 Jumblatt Decides, Meets Sayyed Nasrallah 22/01/2011 After he announced on Friday his stance aside of Syria and the resistance, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt, met later at night Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.  "The meeting discussed the stance that Jumblatt took earlier in the day and the horizons for the upcoming stage," Hezbollah's media relations said in a statement. The meeting was also attended by Minister of Public Works Ghazi Aridi and Hezbollah official Wafiq Safa," the statement added.  At a press conference, Jumblatt declared that the Progressive Socialist Party will stand at the side of Syria and the Resistance.  The Democratic Gathering is Jumblatt's parliamentary bloc while the PSP is his political party.  However Jumblatt did not say how many of his MPs would vote for the opposition's candidate for the prime minister's post in the parliamentary consultations. http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=171044&language=en Competition Toughens: Jumblatt Says He Will Stand at Side of Syria, Resistance 21/01/2011 It still unknown whether the parliamentary consultations will be held next Monday or not, but the political camps are looking now to Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt as the decisive factor in the nomination "game" of the coming prime minister. Jumblatt held a press conference Friday following his Democratic Gathering meeting. He declared that the Progressive Socialist Party will stand, as always, at the side of Syria and the Resistance. http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=170979&language=en Berri to Al-Manar: Jumblatt Made All Efforts to Reach Settlement 21/01/2011 Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said that the head of the Democratic Gathering MP Walid Jumblatt sought to make use of all opportunities to reach solution until the last moment before the submission of the final indictment over the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri by Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare.  In an exclusive interview with Al-Manar Television, Berri said that Lebanese were nowadays witnessing a constitutional process that should be completed.  In his interview with Al-Manar, Berri didn't seem surprised by Jumblatt's press conference, in which the Progressive Socialist Party leader declared his party would stand at the side of Syria and the Resistance. "He didn't change and this is his conviction since the crisis has started," Berri emphasized. http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=171029&language=en Lebanon's Hariri refuses to join Hezbollah-led govt (AFP) AFP - Lebanon's acting Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Monday ruled out joining a government led by a Hezbollah-appointed candidate, his office said, as consultations on nominating a new premier were under way. http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110124/wl_mideast_afp/lebanonpoliticstribunalhariri Truth and Hariri, As`ad Abukhalil As-Safir published the terms of the Syrian-Saudi agreement that Mini-Hariri agreed to.  It turns out he was willing to sell the truth and to scrap the Hariri tribunal (and perhaps to re-haul his father's tomb outside of Lebanon) in return for the ability to continue in Hariri style corruption, to continue to control the Internal Security Forces without questions, to halt the parliamentary investigation into the plight of the missing $11 billion from the Lebanese budget, to prevent the other side from criticizing his cronies, and to put an end to any attempt by the 4 generals from seeking justice from the tribunal.  I won't be surprised if mini-Hariri starts selling the teeth of his dead daddy as souvenirs.  http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/01/truth-and-hariri.html As'ad Abukhalil on Washington Post's editorial on Hariri tribunal http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/01/washington-posts-editorial-on-hariri.html Uruguayan lawmakers visit town of Koura KOURA: A delegation of Uruguayan lawmakers headed by Ivonne Passada visited the Koura town of Qalhat over the weekend. The visit aimed to explore the town, from where Uruguayan lawmaker Pablo Abdallah's family hails. Abdallah accompanied the delegation to Qalhat where residents had readied banners that welcomed him to his parents' birthplace. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=124057 Iraq Blasts strike pilgrims in Karbala Two separate bomb attacks targeting Shia pilgrims in the Iraqi city of Karbala have killed 25 people and injured almost 70, officials say. http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-middle-east-12264386 Iraqi government to purchase armored limousines worth $75 million for members of parliament The Iraqi government has decided to spend nearly $75 million from the country's oil revenues to purchase armored limousines, one for each of the 325 members of parliament.  The government says the vehicles are needed because the parliamentarians are targets of attack by insurgents and 'terrorists.'  The high salaries and perks senior Iraqi officials get are fueling anger in Iraq and there has been a storm of protest from local media. http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2011-01-21\kurd.htm Making home in the garbage and squalor At least a million Iraqis have sought refuge outside the country and another million and a half remain displaced within its borders. http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-middle-east-12266372 Quiet desperation Hundreds of thousands still live in Iraqi squatter camps. http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-middle-east-12266900 What Arbain in Iraq is like A story on the 'Iraqi block party on steroids' from our archives. http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/HutsCMb7bXg/What-Arbain-in-Iraq-is-like Tunisia Inside Story - Tunisia and power The Western reaction to the Tunisian uprising has been described as hesitant and unwilling, making people in the Middle East wonder whether democracy in Tunisia will be allowed to run its full course. Would Western powers try to influence the outcome of the Tunisian uprising if it does not serve their interests or indeed threatens them? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Nmw-zSxE_g&feature=youtube_gdata Anti-govt clashes erupt in Tunis Police fire tear gas at protesters who rallied at state buildings, demanding the ouster of interim 'unity government'. http://english.aljazeera.net//news/africa/2011/01/20111247514476815.html Tunisia police joint anti-government protests Tunisian police are out in the streets, but this time it's not to break up the crowd but to join in the anti-government protest. Accused of using excessive force to clampdown on civilians, some Tunisian police officers now say they are also victims of the former government. Hashem Ahelbarra reports from Tunis. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XT83Ct9-jo&feature=youtube_gdata Tunisia's ex-president's homes looted After Tunisia's former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his family members fled the country, looters ransacked many of the villas they owned in Tunis, the capital. Al Jazeera's Nazanine Moshiri reports on the anger of the Tunisian people towards their former rulers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAg-vhb0iIY&feature=youtube_gdata Iraqi poets praise, warn Tunisians (AFP) AFP - The society of Iraqi poets hosted a raucous gathering on Friday in central Baghdad to express solidarity with Tunisians, and bitterness at the turn of events in their own country. http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110121/wl_mideast_afp/tunisiapoliticsunrestiraqculture Wither Twitter in Tunisia? One of the questions many are now asking is what role social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter played in helping Tunisian activists during the uprising in that country. Activists have said that while the fuel for the revolution came from popular sentiment, new technologies made it easier to organise and to create a sense of solidarity. Al Jazeera's Nazanine Moshiri reports from the Tunisian capital, Tunis. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFIQxIdlgaU&feature=youtube_gdata Tunis Blowback Saudi man sets himself on fire, copying Tunisian scenario A Saudi man died after setting himself on fire in the southwestern town of Samta, local media said Saturday, in what could be the latest example of a rash of self-immolations sweeping the region following events in Tunisia. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jkIkipK_5HFs7LK0d03Xm-H-3NJA?docId=11b0bcda91f1443b8e48eab1183c03c1 Algeria democracy rally broken up Several injured as police disperse 300 people who defied a ban and attempted to demonstrate in the capital, Algiers. http://english.aljazeera.net//news/africa/2011/01/2011122151327639308.html Yemeni president promises to step down in 2013 amid protests: state TV SANAA, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced Sunday on the state TV that he will step down after his second presidential term expires in 2013, following eight days of popular protests demanded his ouster from power. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-01/24/c_13703817.htm www.TheHeadlines.org Comment on this article > Your donation to Mondoweiss ensures we will continue to cover the most important issues surrounding Israel/Palestine and US foreign policy. Please donate today.   Follow Mondoweiss on Twitter and Facebook   Buy our book The Goldstone Report: The Legacy of the Landmark Investigation of the Gaza Conflict, includes an abridged copy of the UN report accompanied by a dozen essays, exploring the political, legal and social legacy of the report and the Israeli attack on Gaza in the winter of 2008-2009. Learn more and buy it at goldstonereportbook.com.

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