RePortersNoteBook.com: Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines June 14, 2010 ~

Land theft and destruction/Ethnic cleansing
Minister Begin: We shall keep building in West Bank
"We shall fulfill out right of building in Judea and Samaria and keep sustaining the thriving Zionist enterprise in Jerusalem," Minister Benny Begin during the 5th World Likud Convention. World Likud Chairman Knesset Member Danny Danon said that the State of Israel must meet its commitments and cease the construction freeze in a few months
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3904601,00.html

Israel plans to expel 300 Palestinians
RAMALLAH: A senior Palestinian official on Sunday revealed that Israel plans to expel 300 Palestinian political figures from occupied Jerusalem. "The expulsion of political figures is the first step before the expulsion of Palestinian families from Jerusalem ... the plan is in accordance with the Israeli military order under which the Israeli occupation authorities will expel 70,000 Palestinian from Jerusalem and the West Bank to the Gaza Strip and other countries under the pretext that they do not have residency permits," said Khaled Abu Arafeh, a Jerusalem-based Hamas legislator.
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article65494.ece

Barkat: Municipality to carry out demolition of unlicensed homes in OJ
Nir Barkat, the mayor of Israeli-controlled Jerusalem municipality, has said that demolition of Palestinian homes in eastern Jerusalem should continue unabated.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7Kzq2l8H4E2l%2fSFtXN6i26MKibV4gsRR4hOARMPjcmvI6JWTJ%2ftN7bQlPtvYBeqLh5Uawi9i%2fBzDcgE9Zgqcg6hI17%2fkL0NfWLEY1CcDGYiE%3d

Secret Israeli Plans to Judaize Buraq Square
12/06/2010 Al-Quds newspaper revealed Friday secret documents indicating that the Israeli municipal council in occupied Jerusalem and the interior ministry's planning and construction committee assigned a committee to Judaize the whole Al-Buraq square (Jews called it wailing wall). The newspaper said that the committee was composed of head of the municipal council Nir Barakat, his deputy, the head of the planning and construction committee, the rabbi in charge of the Buraq wall, and representatives of Zionist companies.
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=141829&language=en

Activism/Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment
Al Jazeera: Voyage to Gaza
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td703p-kAwU&feature=youtube_gdata

Gaza residents protest no-go zone in Khan Younis
Gaza – Ma'an – Gaza's Popular Resistance Campaign against the buffer zone held a protest on Monday, marching dozens of locals and international activists toward the militarized area east of Khan Younis.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=291927

al-Ma'sara: IOF arrests and intimidates key activists
June 12th, 2010-- The Israeli occupation forces beat and arrested Hasan Brijiyeh, member of the popular committee against the Wall and the settlements and took him to an unknown location. At midnight before this protest, the IOF raided the home of the Stop the Wall coordinator in Bethlehem district, Muhammad Brijiyeh, once again.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2290.shtml

Ni'lin continues to demonstrate against the Apartheid Wall in the face of continued suppression
June 11th, 2010-- Occupation forces once again suppressed a weekly protest against the Apartheid Wall in Ni'lin, a village in the Ramallah District. To disperse the crowd of villagers and activists, the occupation forces drowned the area in tear gas, causing multiple cases of asphyxiation.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2295.shtml

Occupation erected military checkpoints to suppress the Bi'lin weekly protest which also commemorated the opening of the World Cup
June 11th, 2010-- Israeli Occupation forces erected military checkpoints at the entrances of Bi'lin, a village in the Ramallah District, in order to prevent people from joining the village's weekly protest against the Apartheid Wall.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2294.shtml

Wadi Rahal: settlers order Israeli military to stop Friday protest
June 12th, 2010-- Efrata settlers, who live on lands belonging to the village of Wadi Rahal, emerged from their houses, demanding that the occupation forces suppress the protest calling for the destruction of the Wall and the end to Israeli occupation. The settlers also ordered the occupation forces to stop the protest from reaching the confiscated lands.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2291.shtml

Gaza-bound ship seeks women volunteers
BEIRUT: A Lebanese ship bound for the Gaza Strip is now accepting applications from women volunteers, the initiative's preparation committee said on Sunday. The Women Preparation Committee for Launching the Safinat Mariam Ship, made the announcement at a meeting at the As-Safir Hotel in Beirut.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=115939

Indonesian parliament to conduct humanitarian mission to Gaza
JAKARTA, June 14 (Xinhua) -- All parties at the House of Representatives will have representatives in this month's humanitarian mission to Gaza, the Jakarta Post quoted a chairman as saying on Monday. "They will leave at the end of the month carrying financial aid worth 2 million U.S. dollars for hospitals in Gaza," said Al Muzzammil Yusuf, a member of House of Representatives and chairman of the House Caucus for Palestine.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-06/14/c_13349766.htm

Malaysia to send aid convoys to Gaza
Former Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohammad has disclosed a plan to send shipments of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip to break the Israeli blockade. Mahathir Mohammad, Head of Perdana Global Peace Organization (PGPO) has announced that the organization plans to send more aid convoys to take relief supplies to Gaza next month, Fars News Agency quoted Utusan, a Malaysian-based online newspaper, as reporting.
http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=130196&sectionid=351020202

Iranian NGO to send aid ship to Gaza
An Iranian non-governmental organization has announced plans to send an aid ship to the blockaded Gaza Strip, calling on activists around the world to join. In a Sunday statement, the Iranian Elite Research Center (IREC) condemned the May 31 attack by the Israeli navy on a Gaza-bound aid convoy in which 20 activists were killed.
http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=130262&sectionid=351020202

Announcement and Actions in Support of SF Resolution on, "Freedom Flotilla and Blockade on Gaza"
http://www.endtheblockade.org/

Stop Arming Israel - A Ride for Palestine
Motorbike ride Southport-London, delivering Petition to Stop Arming Israel, AUG 14 & 15
http://rideforpalestine.blogspot.com/

Solidarity with Palestinians expressed
LAHORE (PR) - An international conference was held here the other day in Geneva to demonstrate solidarity with the struggle of Palestinian people for their right of full independence and withdrawal of Israel from Arab occupied land.
The conference was held under the aegis of "Arab labour organisation" with International Arab Trade Union Confederation which was participated by many hundreds delegates representing governments including ministers, head of delegations and workers across the world.
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Regional/Lahore/14-Jun-2010/Solidarity-with-Palestinians-expressed

Greek delegation: Palestinian prisoners freedom fighters
A Greek delegation currently visiting the Gaza Strip has said that Palestinian prisoners in Israeli occupation jails were freedom fighters and not terrorists.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7X3%2bLSQcTNCjKbrc%2bf38PmHdqfZWF3DQBaQgHoeOxdBUR8I3dE%2fg0epiLwXCEVMBsupK4OJDqmGfp135kYjOdEMPXDZm4DQ6UYyh72fcYK14%3d

Violence and Aggression/Abuse
Israeli forces fire near Jabaliya, young man injured
Gaza – Ma'an – Israeli forces injured a 17-year-old Gaza worker collecting cement aggregate east of Jabaliya in the northern West Bank on Monday morning, medics confirmed. Adham Abu Salema, media coordinator of the de facto government's Military Medical Services, said the teen, Muhammad Jum'a Abu Wardeh, was lightly injured and transferred to the Kamal Udwan Hospital north of Gaza City for treatment.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=291877

My brother-in-law was going to pray when he was killed, by the Jilani family
We received a note from "the Jilani family" responding to Adam's post yesterday on the killing of Ziad Jilani, a 41-year-old tradesman and father, on Friday night.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/my-brother-in-law-was-going-to-pray-when-he-was-killed.html

B'Tselem: 83 Palestinians, Israeli Arabs killed in Gaza, West Bank since Cast Lead
Of the dead, 31 did not participate in hostilities, nine were killed by Palestinian security forces and two were executed for allegedly collaborating with Israel, the report said.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/b-tselem-83-palestinians-israeli-arabs-killed-in-gaza-west-bank-since-cast-lead-1.296032?localLinksEnabled=false

Amira Hass / Beatings, arrests, nighttime raids and dubious indictments
Israel detains Palestinian children in the middle of the night, holds them in conditions of fear and pain before their interrogations, and interrogates them without the presence of their parents or a lawyer.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/amira-hass-beatings-arrests-nighttime-raids-and-dubious-indictments-1.295998?localLinksEnabled=false

Ex-prisoner: Administrative detention – mental slaughter
Palestinian journalist Ali Jaradat, who spent 11 years behind bars, tells Ynet 'the uncertainty and wait are the most difficult things for the administrative detainee.' B'Tselem report says number of Palestinians held in administrative detention lowest since 2001, but 222 still jailed without being convicted.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3904696,00.html

Retaliation
Israeli policeman killed in ambush
Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claims responsibility for attack on police car in Hebron.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/06/201061493312460231.html

Siege/Human Rights/Humanitarian Issues/Restriction of Movement
Israel's Gaza blockade breaks law, says ICRC (Reuters)
Reuters - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Monday Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip violates the Geneva Conventions and called for its lifting.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100614/wl_nm/us_israel_blockade_icrc

Less of more: Single Gaza crossing open
Gaza – Ma'an – Wood, metals and plastics will enter Gaza via a single open crossing on Monday, destined for UNRWA reconstruction projects including the rehabilitation of a sewage water treatment plant in the northern Strip.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=291821

400 Egyptians turned away from Gaza border
Bethlehem - Ma'an/Agencies - Hundreds of Egyptian activists ended a sit-in along the Rafah border crossing on Sunday, Egypt's state-run Daily News reported, after being denied entry into Gaza. Demonstration organizer Omar Abdullah told the Daily News that some 400 opposition group and union members headed to the newly opened crossing on Friday in five buses loaded with food and aid, to protest what he said was a government ban on the group, preventing them from entering Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=291835

Siege takes toll on Gaza children
International pressure has been mounting on Israel to lift its blockade of Gaza since the deadly raid on an aid flotilla bound for the Palestinian territory. The UN has said 80 per cent of people there depend on food hand-outs. But Israeli officials insist that there is no humanitarian crisis in the enclave. UN aid workers inside Gaza, however, see a different reality. Al Jazeera's Nicole Johnston reports from Gaza, where it has been reported that about 14 per cent of children suffer from stunted growth due to malnutrition. [June 13, 2010]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BTGT8tzWbY&feature=youtube_gdata

Gaza's deadly power shortage
Most people in Gaza have to rely on generators because electricity is unavailable for up to 12 hours everyday. The daily blackouts are largely due to Israel's blockade that impedes adequate supply of fuel to the power plants. But many Gazans do not know how to use the generators properly and that often leads to fatal accidents. More than 100 people have died since last year. The deaths have prompted Oxfam to launch an initiative to educate people on how to use the equipment. Al Jazeera's Nicole Johnston reports from Gaza. [June 14, 2010]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZw1xlHnLQI&feature=youtube_gdata

Gaza plight a crisis with a difference
"Look, it's not like sub-Saharan Africa," said Chris Gunness, spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which assists Palestinian refugees. "We are not talking about a natural disaster or famine caused by failed rains. But Gaza is a political crisis with grave human consequences." So although some can argue that Gaza's mortality rates are steadily improving, others could note that more Gazans died during Israel's 22-day military assault 18 months ago than civilians were killed in Darfur during all of 2009.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-gaza-crisis-20100613,0,7717245.story

Friends of humanity urges the world to stand against Israel's apartheid
Friends of Humanity called on the world to be inspired by the victory achieved against the defunct apartheid system in South Africa and stand firm against Israel's apartheid in Palestine.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7OIgP%2bnDPyug8iBVjOf7kFyCs%2fXBp2E1kE0oicDmujh7VgL3h7g7eYzmGbFXss4xkyYH13uO%2bOfzWWrFvVRztksmdwdU0AtpWZXuP5L4Lbcc%3d

Separate roads push West Bank Arabs to the byways
For the thousands of Palestinians who travel daily between the north and south West Bank, there is only one route: a steep and narrow track up and down a canyon with 15 hairpin turns and the scars of frequent accidents. Wadi Nar means "the Valley of Fire," a place where brakes fail, clutches burn up, engines stall and people die.
http://sify.com/finance/separate-roads-push-west-bank-arabs-to-the-byways-news-international-kgobudibggh.html

Flotilla Fallout
Footage proves indiscriminate Israeli live fire at Mavi Marmara passengers in Gaza Flotilla
The one hour long raw footage released by the Cultures of Resistance Foundation (CoR) of the 31 May Israeli attack aboard the Mavi Marmara shows clear evidence of indiscriminate Israeli fire aboard the ship. Nine people were killed and dozens injured when Israeli forces boarded and seized what was the largest passenger vessel in the six-ship Gaza Freedom Flotilla in the international waters of the Mediterranean Sea about 80 miles west of the coast of Israel.
http://aliabunimah.posterous.com/20299014

Turkey: We'll review Israel ties unless international Gaza flotilla probe held
Turkish FM Davutoglu says Israel's inquiry into the IDF's raid on a Gaza-bound ship which resulted in the death of nine Turks will not suffice.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/turkey-we-ll-review-israel-ties-unless-international-gaza-flotilla-probe-held-1.296137?localLinksEnabled=false

Israel appoints Gaza flotilla probe
PM's office rejects UN calls for international investigation into aid flotilla raid.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2010/06/201061321535573808.html

Israel names retired judge to whitewash aid flotilla seizure
Israel will appoint retired Supreme Court Judge Yakov Tirkel to head a commission of inquiry into the seizure of six ships carrying aid and pro-Palestinian activists to the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1562868.php/Israel-names-retired-judge-to-probe-aid-flotilla-seizure-Roundup

Obama backs Israel's inquiry into flotilla raid (AP)
AP - The White House backs Israel's inquiry into its deadly raid last month on a flotilla trying to break a blockade against Gaza, saying the independent public commission is "an important step forward."
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100613/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_gaza_blockade_obama

IDF Chief: We're probing Gaza flotilla raid to glean lessons for next time
Turkish educators and officials pull out of international Holocaust conference in Jerusalem to protest deadly May 31 raid.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/idf-chief-we-re-probing-gaza-flotilla-raid-to-glean-lessons-for-next-time-1.295949?localLinksEnabled=false

Gul: Israel Has Isolated Itself; Impossible to Forget Bloodshed
09/06/2010 Asian and Middle Eastern leaders united in condemning an Israeli deadly raid on Gaza-bound aid ships at a security summit Tuesday, as host nation Turkey warned Israel was "isolated" in the region. Twenty-one states -- all the members of the CICA Asia security forum except Israel -- backed the text issued in Istanbul denouncing the May 31 Israeli assault on a flotilla in international waters in the Mediterranean. The flotilla was carrying aids and supplies to help the besieged people of Gaza survive an unsustainable three-year blockade imposed by Israel.
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=141282&language=en

Ayalon to CNN: We won't apologize for flotilla raid
Deputy FM says Gaza-bound Turkish ship carried 75 mercenaries with links to al-Qaeda, other terror groups. 'They were well equipped and ambushed our soldiers,' he says, 'We found the money on their bodies, $10,000 apiece'.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3904526,00.html

Jonathan Turley: Hoax
Video Showing Heavy Weapons Discovered on Mavi Marmara is a Fraud.
http://jonathanturley.org/2010/06/08/hoax-video-showing-heavy-weapons-discovered-on-mavi-marmara-is-a-fraud/

Tag Turkish aid group as terrorist, groups ask State Dept
American Jewish groups are calling on the State Department to designate a Turkish relief group, a main organizer of last month's Gaza flotilla, as a terrorist organization.
http://www.jta.org/news/article/2010/06/10/2739547/designate-ihh-as-terrorist-groups-ask-state

Let's get the facts straight on Hamas, Alex Kane
The Jewish Community Relations Council of New York and five NY Congressional representatives have called a press conference for this morning to press the State Dept. "to investigate any and all passengers on the Mavi Marmara and other ships from Turkey's IHH flotilla who apply for visas to enter the United States."
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/lets-get-the-facts-straight-on-hamas.html

Political Developments
In boost for Hamas, top Arab diplomat visits Gaza (AP)
AP - The Arab world's top diplomat declared support Sunday for the people of blockaded Gaza in his first visit to the Palestinian territory since Hamas violently seized control of it three years ago.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100614/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_gaza_blockade

Mousa declines to speak to reporters after meeting Haneya
GAZA, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Arab League (AL) Chief Amr Mousa Sunday refused to speak to reporters after meeting with Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haneya in his house in western Gaza. After the three-hour meeting with Haneya joined by other senior Hamas leaders, Mousa went directly to his vehicle, ignoring reporters and Haneya, who said to him "Mr. Secretary General, we have a news conference".
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-06/13/c_13349168.htm

Haniyeh tells Moussa siege, unity 'separate files'
Gaza – Ma'an – Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh told Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa that Palestinian reconciliation and an end to the Israeli-led siege of Gaza were separate issues, Interior Minister Fathi Hammad said Monday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=291972

Other News
Apartheid-era minister carried 'nuclear trigger' in hand luggage to South Africa
Eschel Rhoodie transported device used to detonate atomic bombs on flight from Israel in mid-70s, say journalists.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/03/south-africa-nuclear-trigger-israel

Poland to rule on extraditing suspected Israeli spy within a month
Polish authorities confirm arrest of suspected Mossad man, Uri Brodsky, who is wanted by Germany in connection with the killing of a Hamas leader in Dubai.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/poland-to-rule-on-extraditing-suspected-israeli-spy-within-a-month-1.296122?localLinksEnabled=false

Germany may have intentionally leaked alleged Mossad man's arrest
Germany issued an international arrest warrant for Uri Brodsky on suspicion that he was involved in fraudulently obtaining a German passport.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/germany-may-have-intentionally-leaked-alleged-mossad-man-s-arrest-1.295977?localLinksEnabled=false

US to Israel: Tel-Aviv hotel development endangers Embassy security, violates Vienna convention
As if Israel did not have enough tension with the United States, a new front has opened. Recently, the Americans asked the Foreign Ministry to cancel the expansion of a hotel that is located near the US embassy in Tel Aviv, but the Foreign Ministry has announced that it will not act on the matter.
http://coteret.com/2010/06/14/us-to-israel-tel-aviv-hotel-development-endangers-embassy-security-violates-vienna-convention/

IDF orders probe of officers condoning violent behavior
IDF to probe officer who said the use of violence is not only allowed, but sometimes necessary to prevent escalation of a situation.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/idf-orders-probe-of-officers-condoning-violent-behavior-1.295955?localLinksEnabled=false

Major Israeli supermarket chains boycott Turkish goods
'For reasons of ideology and conscience, it would be unacceptable for us to do nothing when the Turkish people behave this way.'
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/major-israeli-supermarket-chains-boycott-turkish-goods-1.295970?localLinksEnabled=false

Analysis/Opinion
Time to end, not 'ease' the siege, Lamis Andoni
The visit by Amr Moussa, the secretary-general of the Arab League, to Gaza is the first serious attempt by an Arab official to break the Israeli-imposed siege on the tiny Strip. It took a war, the lives of 1,400 Palestinians, and nine Turks, killed during a lethal Israeli interception of an aid flotilla, for Arab states to finally move against the blockade. There is no doubt that the visit will send an important message to the international community that the siege can no longer be tolerated.
http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/06/20106138105088744.html

Schumer's Sippenhaftung and the Children of Gaza
Schumer accuses the Gazans of not 'recognizing' Israel, which is sort of like accusing the pelicans in the Gulf of Mexico of not 'recognizing' BP. If Schumer wants the recognition and good will of the Gazans, he should arrange for them to be paid for the homes and farms out of which they were chased by the Israelis, who made them homeless refugees in a kind of vast concentration camp in Gaza, and are now half-starving them.
http://www.juancole.com/2010/06/schumers-sippenhaftung-and-the-children-of-gaza.html

Mike Green: Jon Stewart deserves Pulitzer for defense of Helen Thomas
Stewart skewered the White House Press Corps for its response to the untimely resignation of the venerable media matron Helen Thomas by roasting them over the flames of their own inadequacies. Brilliantly so.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-green/jon-stewart-deserves-puli_b_610340.html

MJ Rosenberg: In Retrospect: Helen Thomas Still Just Anti-Israel, Not Anti-Semitic
If one good thing can come out of the Helen Thomas brouhaha, it would be questioning the meaning of the term "anti-semitism." I have gone back and forth on the whole Thomas affair. One point that has always been clear to me is that her statement was "anti-Israel." A second is that she should not have been be fired for shooting off her mouth (being "pro-Israel" should not be a requirement to hold a job in media or anywhere else). And, third, is that her statement, while anti-Israel was not anti-Semitic.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mj-rosenberg/helen-thomas-is-anti-isra_b_611017.html

Disinformation about the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, Ron Forthofer
The Israeli propaganda effort has been really active in spreading disinformation about Israel's attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. Deflection, distraction and disinformation are used to obfuscate about something that should be straightforward.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16055

The Case for an Impartial Turkish Inquiry, Ahmad Amr
By now, anyone paying attention understands the broad outlines of Israel's notion of what constitutes an 'impartial' inquiry into the murder of nine activists on the Free Gaza Flotilla. Except for Netanyahu and the cabinet ministers who ordered the armed assault on the humanitarian convoy, no other witnesses will be called. The Israelis now say their inquiry will not even take testimony from the IDF commanders who planned and executed the assault or the seven hundred first hand witnesses who survived the carnage. Besides, the activists have already been deported.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16058

Adventures In Wild Palestine
"To go on a sarha was to roam freely, at will, without restraint. The verb form of the word means to let the cattle out to pasture early in the morning, leaving them to wander and graze in liberty. The commonly used noun sarha is a colloquial corruption of the classical word. A man going on a sarha wanders aimlessly, not restricted by time and place, going where his spirit takes him to nourish his soul and rejuvenate himself. But not any excursion would qualify as a sarha. Going on a sarha implies letting go. It is a drug-free high, Palestinian-style." Raja Shehadeh 'Palestinian Walk – Notes on a Vanishing Landscape'
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1448

Gaza: Graffiti Is Watching You
Mia Grondahl's exhibit entitled "Gaza Graffiti: Messages of Love and Politics" toured the West bank in the last few months. Mia spent seven years – most of the Second Intifada - documenting graffiti and murals in the Strip. Her photos tell us about the many roles of graffiti in Gaza.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1447

Lebanon
Most Palestinians in Lebanon Stay Unemployed
BEIRUT, Jun 14, 2010 (IPS) - Lebanon's record of segregating Palestinians is not much better than that of Israel. Since their exodus here, after the establishment of Israel in 1948, Palestinians have been systemically denied equal employment and social rights.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51811

Iraq
26 die as insurgents storm Iraq's central bank (AP)
AP - Insurgents wearing military uniforms stormed Iraq's central bank Sunday during an apparent robbery attempt, battling security forces in a three-hour standoff after bombs exploded nearby in a coordinated daylight attack that left as many as 26 people dead.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100614/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq

At least 12 killed in Baghdad attack (AFP)
AFP - At least 12 people were killed and 40 wounded when gunmen attacked the Iraq Central Bank in Baghdad on Sunday, triggering a series of explosions, a defence ministry official told AFP.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16055

Iraqis face another scorching summer without electricity
Another Iraqi summer ushers in with its scorching heat. Iraqi summer months are among the hottest in the world. Private generators, small and large, are no use in a country where temperatures in the shade may hover at 50 degrees centigrade. As heat takes its toll, millions of Iraqis wonder why is it that the supply of electricity in the years since the 2003-U.S. invasion is still at levels reported before the fall of the former regime while needs have mushroomed.
http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2010-06-12\kurd.htm

Iraq's thirst for safe drinking water grows as painful shortages persist
BAGHDAD: On a scorching summer day in Baghdad, Qassim Dakheel squats in his yard and looks anxiously at his water hose, waiting for the water to flow. In Dakheel's poor neighborhood, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delivers some 140,000 liters of water a day by truck, without which 7,500 families would have no water.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=115915

IRAQ: Finding hope for former child fighters
BAGHDAD Monday, June 14, 2010 (IRIN) - Sheikh HM's message to the teenagers gathered around him after Friday prayers at a Baghdad mosque was straightforward: "Islam is simple. Be a moderate Muslim and not an extremist one to win the love of God."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=89468

Other World News
Inside Story - Another round of sanctions on Iran
The UN Security Council indorses yet another round of sanctions on Iran with the support of both Russia and China. Will these sanctions be any more effective than those in the past and can they help resolve the diplomatic grid lock. This is Inside Story.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYoHIhb3j3Q&feature=youtube_gdata

Amnesty International: Egypt must investigate brutal killing of young man
Khaled Mohammed Said was beaten to death by two plain-clothes police officers at an internet cafe in the city of Alexandria. Amnesty International has called for an immediate, full and independent investigation into the brutal killing of a 28-year-old Egyptian man, Khaled Mohammed Said, while in the hands of Egyptian security forces in the city of Alexandria on Sunday 6 June.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/egypt-must-investigate-brutal-killing-young-man-2010-06-14

Mideast aims to break old habit with new anti-smoking laws (AFP)
AFP - The Middle East, long associated with the ubiquitous waterpipe, is intensifying an anti-smoking drive as several Arab countries ban the practice in public places, even if success looks difficult.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100613/lf_afp/mideasthealthsmoking

www.TheHeadlines.org