All 2010 Archives

December

12/29/2010 - Palestinian medic: Israel kills Gaza shepherd Adham Abu Salmia said the man was leading his goats in an open area near Gaza's Erez border crossing with Israel Thursday when he was shot. He died later in hospital. Another man with him was wounded.

12/29/2010 - Stealth Resolutions by Congress by Philip Giraldi Then comes the really interesting part. The mainstream media did not report on the passage of House Resolution 1765, as if it did not happen. Nothing appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, NBC, ABC, CBS, or PBS. Nada. Did some gatekeeper news editors decide that the story did not reflect well on Israel and its friends in Congress so it had to vanish down the memory hole? Congress again lining up and bending its knee before AIPAC was not news? Apparently not. ....You have created that evil, Frank, you and all your buddies in Congress who line up to do AIPAC’s bidding and pass shameful pieces of paper like House Resolution 1765, which do terrible damage to the United States and its interests on behalf of Israel. Dante’s Ninth Circle of Hell, the lowest level, was reserved for those who betray their own country. If God truly exists and will someday mete out justice, I expect to learn that you and many of your colleagues from the 111th Congress someday will be doing hard time there. Former CIA Philip Giraldi, hat's off to you, Sir.

12/29/2010 - Israeli forces kill two Gaza militants near border The Islamic Jihad militant group said two of its gunmen were killed by Israeli fire after they detonated an explosive device against a passing Israeli patrol.

12/29/2010 - New Gaza War 'Only a Question of Time' A senior Israeli army officer has told the BBC that as long as Hamas remains in control of the Gaza Strip, another war is "only a question of time".

12/29/2010 - Israeli Mayor Bans Christmas Trees Nazareth Illit is a suburb of Nazareth, which as the childhood home of Jesus Christ is an important center of Christian history and is about one-third Christian today. Journalist Nir Rosen wonders how Fox News, which has a tendency to defend Israel but also a love of fighting what it calls "the war on Christmas," would handle this story. Who are the intolerant ones here?

12/29/2010 - An Open Letter from Gaza: Two Years After the Massacre, a Demand for Justice

12/29/2010 - West has 3 years to rein in Iran: Israeli minister The United States and its allies have up to three years to curb Iran's nuclear programme, which has been set back by technical difficulties and sanctions, a senior Israeli official said on Wednesday. Somehow Israel's problems become OUR problems.

12/29/2010 - 'WikiLeaks to publish Israel cables on Second Lebanon War, Dubai assassination' In an interview with Al Jazeera, Assange said that only very few files related to Israel were published so far and that WikiLeaks intends on releasing many more documents over the next six months. Hmm?

12/29/2010 - Rabbis' wives urge Israeli women Stay away from Arab men A letter urging Jewish women not to date non-Jewish men has been published by a group of rabbis' wives. The letter comes on the heels of a rabbis' letter published earlier this month urging Jews not to sell or rent properties to non-Jews. The new letter, signed by 30 rabbis' wives, says, "For your sake, for the sake of future generations, and so you don't undergo horrible suffering, we turn to you with a request, a plea, a prayer. Don't date non-Jews, don't work at places that non-Jews frequent, and don't do national service with non-Jews." Who are the intolerant ones here?

12/29/2010 - Pope appeals for Israeli-Palestinian co-existence

12/29/2010 - Democrats up in arms over hints of reduced aid for Israel David Harris, president of the National Jewish Democratic Council, charged that “for America to remain engaged as a world leader, and for the sake of Israel’s security, Congress must fully fund foreign aid and aid to Israel together. As the pro-Israel community has said for decades, the two cannot be separated for a host of reasons.” Harris referred to Israel aid as the “centerpiece” of the pro- Israel community’s agenda. “To do any less would threaten the bipartisan support that has been the hallmark of this issue – and risk the future of foreign aid,” he said. Israel's shills on Capitol Hill are trying to find ways to spare Israel any cuts to its share of US foreign aid in the midst of cuts to others'. AIPACers are naturally behind it. How many services will be cut to AMERICANS as a result?

12/29/2010 - Congress: Still Opposed to a Palestinian Statehood Declaration Jewish groups had been pushing the White House for several months to make clear it will veto a resolution declaring a Palestinian state if it reaches the UN Security Council. Why was this a matter for the US Congress?

12/29/2010 - Israel prepares ground for military operation in Gaza: PLO official

12/29/2010 - Abbas heads to Brazil to found Palestinian embassy Brazil's outgoing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on December 3 that his country would recognise a Palestinian state following a personal request from Abbas. "The demand presented by his excellency (Abbas) is just and consistent with the principles upheld by Brazil with regard to the Palestinian issue," Brazil's foreign ministry said.

12/29/2010 - Palestinian delegate to U.S.: Congress shouldn't interfere in Mideast peace process

12/29/2010 - U.S. declined to cooperate in Dubai probe of Mabhouh killing, WikiLeaks shows A cable sent from the embassy in Dubai less than a month after the assassination reveals that senior U.A.E. officials asked the American ambassador and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to probe urgently "cardholder details and related information for credit cards reportedly issued by a U.S. bank to several suspects" in the murder. The WikiLeaks cable not only proved that the request was indeed made but that it was recorded in a secret State Department cable. By not accepting the request, the Obama administration harmed the Dubai investigation efforts and assisted Israel instead. Now there's a real shocker.

12/29/2010 - Palestinians slam U.S. for not recognizing a state, say no talks with Israel yet Palestinian officials have on Saturday slammed the United States for refusing to recognize the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the territories occupied by Israel in 1967 and for saying that it is still premature to recognize the Palestinian state.

12/29/2010 - Jewish Activist Faces Jail for West Bank Resistance

12/29/2010 - Police mum on hiker death investigation The media blackout on this case and the arrests Israel made on December 22 continues.

12/29/2010 - IDF soldier charged with killing Gaza civilian: My commander told me I was 'cold-blooded murderer' The day after ground troops entered the Gaza Strip during Operation Cast Lead two years ago, S., a soldier in the Givati Brigade, allegedly shot a woman in her upper body while she was carrying a white flag. About half an hour later, S. subsequently told the Military Police, the company commander arrived and S. was stunned by his response. "He told me, in front of everyone, 'You're a cold-blooded murderer, you'll go to hell,'" S. said. "When I tried to tell him, 'But those were your orders,' he told me, 'Shut up. You won't remain in my company.'" "But that was it. From then on, until the end of the fighting, it was if nothing had happened," S. related.

12/29/2010 - Crowds pack Bethlehem to hear message of peace

12/29/2010 - Xmas joy mixed with threats for Mideast Christians

12/29/2010 - Wave of ethnic rage worries Israeli PM, activists A wave of protests and discriminatory acts by Jewish Israelis against Arabs and Africans is worrying rights activists and has prompted an unprecedented appeal for calm from Israel's prime minister. Who are the intolerant ones here?

12/29/2010 - Israeli foreign minister: peace is 'impossible' "It's not only that it is impossible" to reach an overall agreement, he said. "It is simply forbidden." Israel = Israel's own worst enemy.

12/29/2010 - Palestinians to take settlement battle to U.N. The Palestinians will ask the U.N. Security Council in the coming days to condemn Israeli settlement construction, a senior Palestinian official said Wednesday, part of a growing Palestinian campaign to rally international pressure against Israel with peace efforts deadlocked.

12/29/2010 - Bethlehem celebrates merriest Christmas in years "Because of the hard situation and the pressure we are living in, we take advantage of any joyful moment and bring our children to play," said Khitam Harazallah, a veiled Muslim housewife from the nearby Deheishe refugee camp who came with her two young children.

12/29/2010 - Hamas abiding by Israel truce but ready for war Overnight Saturday, Israeli warplanes hit four targets in the Gaza Strip, wounding at least two people and knocking out power in a large swathe of the strip. The strikes came after militants fired a mortar and rocket into Israel on Friday, according to the army, which called the target a "terror centre."

12/29/2010 - Britain forms plan for Gulf evacuation in event of war with Iran The British armed forces are drawing up contingency plans to evacuate hundreds of thousands of British residents and tourists from Dubai and other Gulf cities in the event of war with Iran.

12/29/2010 - Ecuador recognizes Palestine state Ecuador's decision, the ministry statement said, "vindicates the valid and legitimate desire of the Palestinian people for a free and independent state" and will be a key contribution to a negotiated peaceful coexistence in the Middle East.

12/29/2010 - Peace Talks Stall, But Palestinians' Fayyad Conjures a State "This is not about state declaration; this is about building a state," says Fayyad, in what has become a mantra since he announced a two–year plan to create the institutions of a state by August 2011. The timetable puts the effort in "the home stretch to freedom,"

12/29/2010 - Israeli authorities deny Palestinian prisoners access to lawyers Palestinian detainees are systematically denied the right to meet a lawyer during interrogations by Shin Bet, the Israeli internal security service, according to a report published today by an Israeli and a Palestinian rights group.

12/29/2010 - Israeli FM vows no apology to Turkey on raid Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman vowed on Sunday that Israel would not apologise to Turkey for a commando raid on a Gaza–bound aid ship that killed nine Turkish activists.

12/29/2010 - Paraguay to recognize Palestinian state in 2011

12/29/2010 - seattle Anti-Israel ad campaign rejected by city officials On Wednesday, Seattle Jewish community leaders held a meeting with senior officials from the King County Executive's office and Metro Transit management about the "potential threat to the Seattle-area Jewish community" after over 2,000 emails, and numerous organizations announced that counter advertisements would be initiated to promote Israel. Who are the intolerant ones here?

12/29/2010 - It's not anti-Semitic to say that Hasidic Jews are intolerant of goyim Labelling Patterson as an anti-Semite is manifesting far more intolerance than anything she ever wrote. Yes, calling for Jews to be burned to death is anti-Semitic, but asking Hasidic Jews in Stamford Hill to be a little more polite is not. Victimhood status should never confer an automatic exemption from criticism. Helen Thomas' comments (also taken out of context) made this top ten list as well.

12/29/2010 - African migrants protest Israeli detention center many in Israel think the migrants are overwhelming the small state and threatening the country's Jewish character. Supremacism and the irony - Jews in the US are behind the immigration 'reform' here in the US.

12/29/2010 - Turkey's apology demand is "chutzpah": Israeli Finance Minister Israel's ultranationalist foreign minister on Sunday dismissed as "chutzpah" a Turkish offer to restore ties if Israel apologizes for a deadly raid on a Gaza–bound ship, saying it was up to Ankara to make amends.

12/29/2010 - Gallery Patrons Ejected Over T-Shirts

12/29/2010 - Haredim threaten to boycott Mamilla Mall The ultra-Orthodox community is threatening to boycott Jerusalem's luxurious Mamilla shopping complex due to electric ornaments resembling Christmas lights, which have been placed along the boulevard. ....The ads – titled "Is Jerusalem becoming Christian?" – were signed by the Rabbis' Committee for the Sanctity of Jerusalem. They stated that "if this idol worship is not removed immediately, we will declare a consumer boycott against the mall and the Mamilla Hotel, owned by businessman Alfred Akirov." Who are the intolerant ones here?

12/29/2010 - New Mossad chief to apologise for use of UK passports in Dubai killing Mr Pardo's apology and pledge during a visit to London that is expected early in January would be the first official acknowledgement by Israel that it was behind the assassination of the Hamas leader in Dubai.

12/29/2010 - Israel won't attend racism conference fete Israel says it won't participate in the 10th anniversary commemoration of a U.N. conference on racism that singled out Israel for criticism and likened Zionism to racism. The truth hurts.

12/29/2010 - Progress Seen in P.A. Crackdown On Incitement by West Bank Imams When will see a crackdown on incitement by fiercely anti-Arab rhetoric by Israeli rabbis, as one example? Google Ovadia Yosef for more. Who are the intolerant ones here?

12/29/2010 - YouTube Removes Pro-Palestinian-Anti-Motorola Video - St. Louis News Two weeks ago, we told you about the local activists who busted out an anti-Motorola song-and-dance routine at the Best Buy and AT&T stores in suburban Brentwood -- and we posted a video of the performance. That video quickly drew more than 35,000 hits. Last week, however, YouTube unceremoniously removed the video in question, saying it was subject to a copyright challenge by WMG (apparently, the Warner Music Group). See this link for the brief message from YouTube.

12/29/2010 - WikiLeaks to Release Israel Documents in Six Months WikiLeaks will release top secret American files concerning Israel in the next six months, its founder Julian Assange disclosed yesterday. In an excusive interview with Al Jazeera, Assange said only a meagre number of files related to Israel had been published so far, because the newspapers in the West that were given exclusive rights to publish the secret documents were reluctant to publish many sensitive information about Israel. ....“The Guardian, El-Pais and Le Monde have published only two percent of the files related to Israel due to the sensitive relations between Germany, France and Israel. Even New York Times could not publish more due to the sensitivities related to the Jewish community in the US,” he added. Really now?

12/29/2010 - Mideast Peace: What If the Palestinians Turn to the U.N.? Israel is worried, according to press reports in the country, that the United States will not "rush to veto" a planned U.N. Security Council resolution condemning ongoing Israeli settlement construction. Oh dear. How could the US not ask 'how high?' when Israel says 'Jump!'?

12/29/2010 - 2010: What Came, What Went, What’s Next You wouldn’t know it from listening to Jewish liberals, but November 2 was a great day for our people. Finally, there will be a Jew in the top leadership ranks of the House of Representatives. After Pelosi, Hoyer and Clyburn, we can take pride in the ascension of Eric Cantor! More seriously, the election is great for Jews on almost every issue we care about: Israel (more support), Iran (more pressure), education (more choice), national security (more serious), immigration (more reform) and the peace process (more realistic). In addition, like all Americans, we can hope the fiscal mess made by previous Congresses will now be addressed. Read more: http://www.forward.com/articles/134149/#ixzz1A74d2n79

12/29/2010 - Commies Are At It Again by Philip Giraldi What this is really all about is the hidden message, conveyed by Clinton’s reference to selective. Khodorovsky is Jewish, as are most of the oligarchs who stripped Russia of its wealth in the 1990s, and he has his own claque of supporters who regard his conviction as anti-Semitism. The fact is that anyone who has looked into the looting of Russia knows very well that Khodorovsky is guilty as hell on all charges. This case is demonstrative of the ever-increasing philosemitism of the American government. The spread of philosemitism, not democracy, has become their mission. Conversely, the demonization of those that do not subscribe to this supremacism is also taking place by this same institution.

12/29/2010 - Counter-terror ‘Expert’ Tells Cops: Kill Militant Muslims, ‘Including Children’ A counter-terrorism consultant told a meeting of law enforcement officials that the way to combat militant Muslims is to "kill them ... including the children," says a news report. Walid Shoebat, a self-described "former PLO terrorist" who "now speaks out for USA and Israel," reportedly made the comment at a speech during a conference of the International Counter-Terrorism Officers Association in Las Vegas this past October, according to the Huffington Post's Chip Berlet.

12/29/2010 - Report: Accused Egyptian spy says Israel paid Syrian agent for nuclear plan details An Egyptian charged with spying for Israel told authorities that his Syrian counterpart was paid 1.5 million dollars to provide Israel with information on Syrian nuclear activities, Egyptian media reported Wednesday.

12/29/2010 - UAE 'held back full story of hotel assassination'

12/29/2010 - IF Obama could put America’s own real interests first…

12/29/2010 - Mossad agent 'brought down Egypt's internet' Severe disruptions to Egypt's internet service in December 2008 were blamed at the time on damage to underwater data cables caused by a ship's anchor. But Hassan told police that the incident was, in fact, the work of Israel's foreign intelligence agency, according to interrogation records leaked to an independent Egyptian newspaper.

12/29/2010 - Egyptian has 'revealed three Israeli spy cells' The aim of the missions was to deliver sums of money to a Syrian holding a "sensitive" post with the security services. Al–Shuruk daily said Abdul Razzak has provided investigators with copies of reports he had passed on to Israeli intelligence from a Syrian chemist working for the security services in connection with a Syrian nuclear programme. The Syrian expert had been spying for Israel for 13 years, according to the confessions. He was executed in Syria last month, said Al–Shuruk, which did not give sources for its report.

12/29/2010 - Israel Represses Israelis and Congress Approves A resolution -- sponsored by House Foreign Relations Committee Chair Howard Berman (D-CA), Middle East Subcommittee Chair Gary Ackerman (D-NY), and soon-to-be House Foreign Relations Committee Chair Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) -- condemned the findings of the UN Human Rights Council report for documenting such infringements on civil liberties and other human rights violations by the Israeli government.

12/29/2010 - Why Anti-Semitism Is Growing in Germany Taken at face value, opposition to Israel need not be assumed to be anti-Semitic. But the majority who tell pollsters they view Israel’s actions toward the Palestinians as a “war of annihilation” and “principally not different than what the Nazis did with the Jews during the Third Reich” reflect a country in which there are blurred lines between opposition to Israeli actions and policies and anti-Semitism. to be highly critical of Israel is the new definition of anti-Semitism. Even some Holocaust survivors themselves (or their children) liken what Israel is doing in Gaza to the Holocaust. I suppose they are anti-Semites too?

12/29/2010 - Israeli activist imprisoned for protest against Gaza blockade The Association for Civil Rights in Israel criticised the sentence. "Placing Pollak behind bars because of his participation in the critical mass bike ride is an extreme punishment and an unusually harsh measurement," Dan Yakir, the organisation's chief legal adviser, said in a statement. "The entire affair raises suspicion that Pollak was personally targeted because of his views in an attempt to silence him and prevent him from partaking in various acts of protest."

12/29/2010 - Israel uses arcane law to try to expel Palestinian Gheith is also a leading opponent of Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat's plan to raze 22 Palestinian homes in another neighborhood to make way for an Israeli tourist center. That plan is on hold. "They are trying to make look it like I am the one threatening the security, as if saying no to oppression and to house demolitions is an assault," he said. "Whatever they do to stop me, I will keep talking." The similar article of the Israeli protester sitting in an Israeli jail for his activism against Israel coupled with this one are the answer to the oft-asked question: where is the Palestinian Ghandi? Palestinians DO protest using non-violent means. They're lucky they aren't killed by the IDF (Rachel Corrie, numerous Palestinians, etc).

12/29/2010 - French activists arrested at West Bank protest

12/29/2010 - After Israel flap, Constantine bans certain bus ads King County Executive Dow Constantine on Thursday temporarily suspended all non-commercial advertising on Metro Buses following complaints about a planned bus ad that criticized Israel Who are the intolerant ones here?

12/29/2010 - Israel-Palestine News Spanish artists paint on Israeli apartheid wall (PHOTOS)

12/29/2010 - Abe Foxman Takes on a New Threat: Jewish Paranoia

12/29/2010 - Iran hangs man convicted of spying for Israel According to IRNA, Siadat confessed to spying for Israel starting in 2004 in return for $60,000, as well as an additional $7,000 each time he met with Israeli handlers. IRNA said he met up with Israeli intelligence agents during "foreign trade" trips to Turkey, Thailand and the Netherlands and that he transferred data through a digital camera, transmitters and laptop.

12/29/2010 - Seattle anti-Israel demonstration in wake of Metro ad controversy "We'd like Israel to be held accountable for its actions and our government to stop spending our tax dollars to support Israel's war crimes," said Ed Mast, Mideast Awareness Campaign.

12/29/2010 - Israel destroyed Syria nuclear reactor: WikiLeaks Former US president George W Bush recounted in his memoirs that he resisted Israeli pressure to bomb the site. In 2008, current US President Barack Obama said when he was a Democratic hopeful for the White House that Israel was right to bomb the suspected nuclear facility in Syria.

12/29/2010 - Seattle transit agency rejects bus ads alleging 'Israeli war crimes' That proposed ad, expected to appear next week, sparked a furor, with thousands of comments flooding into the transit agency as two groups said they planned to run their own ads to counter the "Israeli war crimes" message.

12/29/2010 - Press TV News Analysis, James Morris, Richard Millet and Dahr Jamail on Israeli Nukes # 3

12/29/2010 - Press TV News Analysis, James Morris, Richard Millet and Dahr Jamail on Israeli Nukes # 2

12/29/2010 - Press TV News Analysis, James Morris, Richard Millet and Dahr Jamail on Israeli Nukes # 1

12/29/2010 - Nurse Wins $40,000 in Sabbath Discrimination Case Everything seemed great in 2007, when registered nurse Alisa Dolinsky got offered a job by the Color-Goldwater Specialty Hospital & Nursing Facility on Roosevelt Island, part of New York City’s Health and Hospitals Corporation. But when the observant Jew informed her prospective employer she couldn’t work on the Sabbath, they withdrew the offer. Now, that decision has earned Dolinsky a $40,000 payout from the city’s Commission on Human Rights to settle a discrimination claim, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. The case “could be an embarrassment to the Bloomberg administration, which has worked to build bridges with the Orthodox Jewish community,” according to the Journal. “Mayor Michael Bloomberg is Jewish. His press secretary, Stu Loeser, observes the Sabbath. And there are more than 1.4 million Jews in the area, many of them Orthodox.” Philosemitism.

12/29/2010 - Press TV's Waqar Rizvi talks to James Morris on "Mossad in Iraq"

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12/22/2010 - Teenager drowns after Israeli navy firing: witnesses A Palestinian teenager fishing off the coast of the Gaza Strip on Friday drowned following firing by the Israel navy, a health official and witnesses said.

12/22/2010 - Who Wants Peace? Americans Do here is where it becomes interesting. Telhami asked participants in the survey what position the U.S. should take in its efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Two thirds responded that America should be evenhanded and not lean to either side. A quarter believe the U.S. should lean toward Israel, and only 2% think it should lean in favor of the Palestinians. The majority of Americans want our government to take NO SIDE. Yet, Congress is overwhelmingly pro-Israel, as evidenced by the anti-Palestinian legislation passed as reported in this news batch. Our representatives do not represent us. This is a testament to the power of the Israeli lobby. This poll, along with a similar one only a few months ago, dispels the notion put forth by pro-Israelis that Americans support Israel. 2/3 of Americans want to take no side.

12/22/2010 - Israeli air strike kills five Gaza militants

12/22/2010 - Update: American Tourist Killed in Israel

12/22/2010 - American tourist found stabbed to death in Israel Wilson's face was obscured in TV footage of the interview, though Yair Ettinger of Israel's Haaretz daily said she had a black eye

12/22/2010 - American Woman Killed Near Jerusalem Early Sunday morning police have issued a gag order on the various suspicious details of this deadly incident.

12/22/2010 - British woman stabbed and US tourist killed in Israel Wilson, a 46-year-old tour guide who moved to Israel in the early 1990s, and who holds dual citizenship, was taken to Haddasah hospital in Jerusalem. She was said to be in a stable condition, after being moved from intensive care to a normal ward. "She was stabbed in the abdomen and in the back. The wounds are not very deep but she has a lot of pain. She did not suffer any internal bleeding and she has been communicative and conscious since she arrived at the hospital last night," ...."One of them took the Star of David necklace off my neck like a gentleman – and they stabbed me 12 times. They came to kill. Nobody walks around with a knife like that for no reason. He stabbed me, but I sensed the knife did not penetrate my heart. I pretended to be dead."

12/22/2010 - Body found of missing American woman with marks of violence Jerusalem Police spokesmen have said they were checking several lines of investigation, including Palestinian terrorist action. This vagueness may be attributed to lack of evidence of any crime to support Wilson's account or the disinclination to admit that a violent terrorist crime was possible deep inside the Green Line in an area popular with hikers, picnickers and tourists.

12/22/2010 - EU signs off 100 mln euros of Palestinian aid European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton announced Wednesday a first, 100–million–euro (131.5 million dollars) tranche of aid to the Palestinian people for 2011.

12/22/2010 - Group: Palestinian communities stifled by Israel No security rationale or other legitimate reason can explain the "vast scale of differential treatment," said the 166–page report, which compared several Palestinian communities with neighboring settlements. In one case, Israel refused to connect a West Bank village to the electricity grid and denied approval for a foreign–funded solar energy project there, while a nearby settlement enjoyed all standard services, the report said.

12/22/2010 - Rosen Fires Back in His Law Suit Against AIPAC The American Public Affairs Committee has frequently condoned its employees’ receipt of classified information, according to documents filed in federal court by lawyers for Steve Rosen, a former senior official of the pro-Israel lobby.

12/22/2010 - Breaking: American Tourist Killed in Israel

12/22/2010 - American Christian killed by terrorists, Messianic friend wounded “One of them turned me around and saw that I was wearing a Star of David necklace,” said Wilson. “He took it off of me like a gentleman and then stabbed me 12 times.”

12/22/2010 - Body of U.S. tourist found near Jerusalem; police suspect terror attack

12/22/2010 - Israel-West Bank Separate and Unequal - Human Rights Watch

12/22/2010 - Stabbing victim 'found God' in Israel no one in the CMJ had been notified of Luken's visit to Israel apart from Wilson. "I suppose she didn't tell anyone she was coming because she knew that if she did, work would be found for her to do at the offices in Jerusalem," the reverend surmised. Pileggi's main concern is that Kay's testimony be believed by the authorities investigating the mystery. "The impression I got from the police was that they weren't certain about Kay's story and did not believe her account," he said.

12/22/2010 - Disillusioned Palestinians: US-Guided 'Peace Process' is 'Ridiculous' "We're not looking for a Mickey Mouse state, we're not looking for some form of self-rule, we're looking for a sovereign state of Palestine, where we Palestinians can live as free people."

12/22/2010 - Mubarak blames Israel for Mideast peace crisis "Israel must take responsibility for the stalemate in the negotiations and realize that the security of its people depends on peace not occupation or arms," Mubarak told lawmakers, warning of the impact from Israel's "intransigence, positions and policies" on world and Middle East stability.

12/22/2010 - Israel condemns Norway's upgrade of Palestinian standing in Oslo to 'diplomatic delegation' Over the past four months several countries have upgraded the standing of Palestinian representatives. The first country to have done so was none other than the United States. After the U.S., France, Spain, and Portugal also took similar steps. Despite this, the Foreign Ministry has yet to condemn these moves until now.

12/22/2010 - S. African politicians 'beaten up by IDF' South African parliament members, who visited the West Bank city of Ramallah last week, say they were attacked by Israeli security forces during a protest in a Palestinian village near Bethlehem.

12/22/2010 - Israeli Military Demolishes Water Wells and Cisterns in the hilly and The demolished cisterns and wells supplied drinking water to the villagers as well as their sheep and goats. The wells were up to 300 meters deep and over 70 years old, pre-dating the 1967 occupation of the Palestinian Territories. The Israeli military claims that it does not destroy structures created before 1967.

12/22/2010 - Israel fears UK moving towards recognising Palestinian state Although the change of status is largely symbolic, Israel has started a major lobbying campaign to stop the move. Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/israel-fears-uk-moving-towards-recognising-palestinian-state-15036433.html#ixzz19SLBRKqe

12/22/2010 - Israeli Fighter Jets Attack Gaza Up to seven different Gazan targets were hit overnight on Monday and on Tuesday, according to the Israeli military.

12/22/2010 - Israel deprives Palestinians in West Bank: report Human Rights Watch said Israel had cited security concerns as a reason for any differential treatment. But Carroll Bogert, a spokeswoman for the group, said Israel was carrying out "systematic discrimination merely because of (Palestinians') race, ethnicity and national origin, depriving them of electricity, water, schools and access to roads."

12/22/2010 - Palestinians, Israelis trade rockets, airstrikes The violence followed the deaths of five Gaza militants Saturday in the deadliest Israeli assault on the coastal strip in months, indicating a trend of escalation.

12/22/2010 - Palestinian PM: Plan to declare statehood by 2011 remains on track

12/22/2010 - PLO 'Disappointed' Over U.S. Resolution opposing unilateral declaration of Palestinian state The Palestinian delegation in the United States expressed its "deep disappointment" on Thursday over the resolution passed by the U.S. House, which opposes unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state

12/22/2010 - EU to boost status of Palestinian diplomats The Foreign Office confirmed it was studying a proposal that would see Palestinian "general delegations" upgraded to "diplomatic missions" in a number of European capitals.

12/22/2010 - Bolivia to recognize sovereign Palestine Bolivia on Wednesday formally recognized Palestine as an independent state, following the lead of its neighbors Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay earlier this month.

12/22/2010 - Abbas holds rare meeting with Israeli lawmakers Abbas said the Palestinians have undergone a transformation since their uprising and Israel's harsh reprisals left thousands dead. "We changed the culture of terror and violence into a culture of peace and stability here in the West Bank in the last four years," he said. "We do not want to miss this opportunity," he told the Israelis. "We don't want to miss it. Please help us not to miss it. I have eight grandchildren. I want a peaceful life for them."

12/22/2010 - Palestinians ask Europe to recognize a state Brazil and Argentina, minor players in the Middle East, recently recognized Palestine as other countries in the Arab world and Africa have done. Several European countries have upgraded diplomatic relations with the Palestinians, but it is unclear how far the international community will go.

12/22/2010 - Israeli settlements 'displace' Palestinians: HRW "Palestinians face systematic discrimination merely because of their race, ethnicity, and national origin, depriving them of electricity, water, schools, and access to roads," HRW representative Carroll Bogert said. "While Israeli settlements flourish, Palestinians under Israeli control live in a time warp –– not just separate, not just unequal, but sometimes even pushed off their lands and out of their homes."

12/22/2010 - palestinians Draft condemning West Bank settlements ready for UN Erekat said he hoped the United States would not use its veto to defeat the resolution and added that if it did not succeed at the Security Council, "we will go to the International Court of Justice."

12/22/2010 - Gaza Christians look forward to celebrating Christmas in Bethlehem Local media reported that Israel will only offer pass permits to around 300 Christians this year, out of a total of 3,000 Christians in Gaza among the 1.8 million population, to go to Bethlehem during the Christmas.

12/22/2010 - Palestinians want control of more West Bank parts Children's chairs pulled out of a pile of rubble are all that's left of a schoolhouse that served 17 children of Palestinian herders in this encampment on a wind–swept West Bank plateau. The school was razed by Israeli troops last week for the third time in six years as Israel asserted control over the area – part of the 62 percent of the West Bank that remains exclusively in Israeli hands, much of it set aside for Jewish settlements and military zones. The rest – where most Palestinians live – are disconnected territorial islands administered by the Palestinian Authority.

12/22/2010 - Israel on offensive over Palestinian diplomacy: report The newspaper's website said the document, penned by foreign ministry director–general Rafael Barak, calls on Israeli envoys to begin a "comprehensive defence along the home–front," seeking to undermine Palestinian diplomatic efforts. It calls on Israeli diplomats to thwart three Palestinian initiatives: a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning settlement activity, international recognition of a Palestinian state, and the upgrading of Palestinian diplomatic representations in Europe and Latin America.

12/22/2010 - US woman's body found in Jerusalem-Beit Shemesh area The security level had not been raised in the Jerusalem area as of Sunday afternoon. Rosenfeld said the police were waiting for “concrete answers” before updating security procedures or implementing road blocks going in or out of the territories.

12/22/2010 - 'It was clear they came to kill us', says survivor of Jerusalem stabbing "I had a Star of David hanging on a chain around my neck," Wilson told Haaretz. "He took it off like a gentleman and then turned me around and stabbed in the place where the Star of David had been."

12/22/2010 - US House against Palestinian state The House unanimously approved a resolution opposing unilateral declaration of Palestinian state on Thursday, Ha'aretz reported. \\.....The remarks came after Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay recognized the Palestinian state to support the rights of Palestinian people, whose land has been occupied by Israel. You had to know that was coming. After all, Capitol Hill is controlled by Israel, as demonstrated here.

12/22/2010 - Slain Christian had religious ties to Israel (OneNewsNow.com) The ministry issued a statement citing Luken's "vibrant faith" and offering prayers for her friends and family. The ministry adds that it "will continue to share the gospel with the Jewish people and to work for forgiveness and reconciliation in Israel." According to the statement, Luken had worked with the ministry for one year and had previously worked for the U.S. government.

12/22/2010 - Stab victim 'could not wait to make aliyah' Police have placed a gag-order on the investigation. "We are keeping all avenues open on whether this was a terror or criminal attack," said Jerusalem police commander Aharon Franko.

12/22/2010 - U.S. Gov't "Responds" to Questions About Imprisoned Palestinian Protest Organizer Abu Rahmah Kudos to that reporter for his perserverance, very rare these days.

12/22/2010 - 'Israeli War Crimes' signs to go on Metro buses "I wouldn't say it's an anti-Israel message any more than any complaint about a country is anti-that country. We would like Israel to stop violating human rights. We would like Israel to give equal rights to its Palestinian citizens and its Palestinian subjects who live under occupation," said Mast.

12/22/2010 - How Kissinger Saved the Jews The “context of the time” included a nasty political battle between the White House and the organized Jewish community over a piece of legislation known as the Jackson-Vanik Amendment. The measure proposed pushing Moscow to ease Jewish emigration by making it a precondition for normal U.S.-Soviet trade relations. It won nearly unanimous approval in Congress in late 1974 despite fierce administration opposition, arguably the strongest display ever seen of American Jewish political muscle.

12/22/2010 - WikiLeaks hints at Israeli-Palestinian cooperation The Israeli Security Agency, also known as the Shin Bet, is reviled by Palestinians for its sometimes deadly raids on militant targets and its often harsh treatment of Palestinian suspects. Although Israeli and Palestinian security forces are known to cooperate, the tight coordination described by Diskin could further weaken Abbas.

12/22/2010 - U.S.-based rabbi: Edict against renting to Arabs endangers Jews abroad Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto, the New York-based rabbi whose followers include many high society names, has condemned the letter prohibiting Jews to rent or sell property to Arabs, signed by 50 municipal rabbis.

12/22/2010 - Missionary Slain in Israel was South Lakes Grad Luken, who moved to England in recent years, was in Israel working for Church's Ministry Among Jewish People, a group that tries to get Jews to accept Christ as their savior.

12/22/2010 - Israel moves to counter Gaza militants' new weapon The Israeli defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss such matters publicly, provided no proof to support their claim that the laser–guided missile came from Iran. Also, it was not clear how it was delivered. Hamas controls a network of smuggling tunnels along Gaza's southern border with Egypt, though Egypt has pledged to crack down on smuggling.

12/22/2010 - Middle East peace The U.S. needs to get tough with Israel America's political response? Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Valley Village) rushed a resolution to the House floor expressing opposition to such declarations of Palestinian statehood. The resolution, which passed, is a timely reminder of the increasing gap between Washington and the international community on this issue.

12/22/2010 - House vote against Palestinian statehood actually showed that Israel lobby is losing its grip As are most “pro-Israel” resolutions, H.Res.1765 was brought to a vote under a procedure known as “suspension of the rules.” This procedure, which is supposed to be reserved for non-controversial resolutions such as the naming of a post office, prohibits the resolution from being amended and limits debate on it. In exchange for these restrictions, the resolution must get at least a 2/3 vote to pass rather than a simple majority. Again, why is this a matter for the US Congress?

12/22/2010 - Metro buses to carry advertising critical of Israeli war crimes Americans are losing their jobs and their homes, yet we give Israel nearly $3 billion annually, which enables Israel to continue its militaristic control of the Palestinian people and the subsidizing of illegal settlements! We need to keep those tax dollars here at home. Here here, guys. Thank you for your tireless efforts towards justice.

12/22/2010 - Israeli companies outsourcing to Palestinians While Indians or Chinese engineers cost even less, he said Palestinians are more loyal to his company than workers from distant countries – and have a dogged work ethic. Many gained experience working abroad, and stiff competition for coveted engineering jobs in the West Bank pushes those who have work to prove themselves, Tahboub said.

12/22/2010 - Christmas trees 'provocative:' Nazareth suburb's mayor The mayor of a Jewish suburb of Nazareth sparked outrage on Wednesday after refusing to allow Christmas trees to be placed in town squares, calling them provocative. ...."The request of the Arabs to put Christmas trees in the squares in the Arab quarter of Nazareth Illit is provocative," Mayor Shimon Gapso told AFP. "Nazareth Illit is a Jewish city and it will not happen –– not this year and not next year, so long as I am a mayor," he said of the northern Israeli town.

12/22/2010 - Gaza victimized by double standard The reality is that when Israel burns, the world rushes to help -- and when Gaza burns, the world shuffles its feet and stands by for weeks at a time watching the smoke rise in ghastly plumes on the horizon. Where was the aid from the "developed" and "democratic" world during "Operation Cast Lead" when white phosphorous rained on civilian areas and 14,000 homes were damaged or destroyed? Gaza was burning then and is burning today, albeit invisibly to the Western gaze.

12/22/2010 - Say it ain’t so Zakaria, Huffington and Tom Friedman go to bat for center that is desecrating Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem

12/22/2010 - In Israel, a rabbi who argues that anti-Arab measures are un-Jewish he American-born rabbi is embroiled in two of Israel’s main conflicts today: the struggle with Palestinians over the West Bank and, within Israel, a rising tide of anti-Arab and anti-foreigner sentiment. The latter is starkly illustrated by an unprecedented rabbinical edict calling on Jews not to rent or sell property to non-Jews.

12/22/2010 - US embassy cables: New Zealand PM suspected passport fraud pair were 'Israeli intelligence agents'

12/22/2010 - Egypt: Stop Israeli aggression against Palestinians in Gaza The Egyptian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday condemned Israel's air strikes on the Gaza Strip this week, calling them an attempt to deflect attention from the failed peace process.

12/22/2010 - Perle: Israel Will Act on Iran Israel ultimately will have to attack Iran to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons, says Richard Perle, a key architect of President Ronald Reagan’s strategy to end the Cold War.

12/22/2010 - Dropping Goal of Direct Talks, U.S. Will Now Test Both Sides on Core Issues Such vigor would require not only determination on the part of the administration, but also the backing of Congress, which in the past has shown it does not welcome American pressure on Israel.

12/22/2010 - How Arab governments tried to silence WikiLeaks Some wondered why there are so few damaging revelations about Israel – giving rise to at least one conspiracy theory about collusion between Julian Assange and Binyamin Netanyahu. Others were disgusted if not really surprised at evidence of double-talk by the leaders who are quoted in the cables. In many cases, it is striking to see the contrast between well-informed, warts-and-all American assessments of the Arab autocracies and the limited efforts made by the US to promote democracy and human rights.

12/22/2010 - Syria eyed Israel for 2008 killing: US cable The leaked US cable on the killing said "the most obvious suspects are the Israelis."

12/22/2010 - AIPAC viewed U.S. gov’t as targeting pro-Israel groups during espionage probe Before firing the two senior staffers, AIPAC prepared a robust defense of them that alleged a conspiracy inside U.S. government agencies to target pro-Israel groups. ...The court case is significant because it shows the inner workings of AIPAC, a lobbying group that both enemies and supporters call one of Washington’s most powerful and feared lobbies. The new court filings also show the extent to which some of AIPAC’s highest officials believed the U.S. government was targeting the group because of its pro-Israel stance and activities, not because of suspected criminality. ...Kohr suggests that AIPAC is caught in the internecine wars between Bush administration neoconservatives and their enemies in and out of government. It warms the cockles of my heart to think that there are those in our government who are as angry as I am about the overwhelming influence the Israeli lobby has over our government. Kudos to you, the good guys! I cannot thank you enough. Never give up!

12/22/2010 - France gives Lebanon anti-tank missiles France will give Lebanon 100 anti–tank missiles, a government official said on Friday, confirming a deal that raised concerns in Israel and the United States earlier this year.

12/22/2010 - Israel can't defeat Hezbollah: Israeli expert Israelis have been watching for signs that Hezbollah, should it be named in an impending U.N. indictment over the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, will push back by consolidating power in Beirut.

12/22/2010 - Lebanon denounces Israel 'spy' devices to UN Lebanon has complained to the United Nations Security Council about two "espionage devices" it claims Israel placed atop two of the country's mountains, the foreign ministry said on Saturday.

12/22/2010 - US embassy cables Israel suspected in Syrian sniper killing As in other recent assassinations in Syria, speculation about who could have done it will likely be rampant. The most obvious suspects are the Israelis. SARG security services are well aware that the coastal city of Tartous would offer easier access to Israeli operatives than would more inland locations such as Damascus. Sulayman was not a highly visible government official, and the use of a sniper suggests the assassin could visually identify Sulayman from a distance.

12/22/2010 - Zionist Lobby’s New Orders For Obama As M.J. Rosenberg predicted, the Berman bill passed overwhelmingly, actually unanimously, “because that is how things work in a city where policy is driven by campaign contributions – and not just on this issue”. He added:

12/22/2010 - UN Hariri court to 'disappear with wind': Nasrallah Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday predicted a UN court on the murder of Rafiq Hariri would "disappear with the wind" as vast crowds gathered to mark the Shiite holy day of Ashura in Lebanon.

12/22/2010 - Terrorist by Association: The Justice Department targets nonviolent solidarity activists. Ten hours after their arrival, as television news crews filmed and activist supporters stood on the sidewalk, the agents drove away with nearly 30 boxes of material, including t-shirts and a photograph of Malcolm X. By that time, Iosbaker and Weiner had been served subpoenas to appear before a grand jury investigating "material support" for "foreign terrorist organizations." And they knew theirs wasn't the only home invaded that day. More than 70 FBI agents had raided seven residences in Chicago and Minneapolis and questioned activists in Michigan, California and North Carolina, serving subpoenas to 11 people. Can't say I didn't see that one coming either.

12/22/2010 - The Great Islamophobic Crusade Besides providing the initial energy for the Islamophobic crusade, conservative elements from within the pro-Israel lobby bankrolled the network’s apparatus, enabling it to influence the national debate. One philanthropist in particular has provided the beneficence to propel the campaign ahead. He is a little-known Los Angeles-area software security entrepreneur named Aubrey Chernick, who operates out of a security consulting firm blandly named the National Center for Crisis and Continuity Coordination. A former trustee of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, which has served as a think tank for the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a frontline lobbying group for Israel, Chernick is said to be worth $750 million. The pro-Israelis have brought this fight to America, and are continuing to provoke these people. It is they who are the extremists. They should be rounded up and deported to Israel. America would be all the better for it.

12/22/2010 - WikiLeaks cables: Syria believed Israel was behind sniper killing It was late in the evening of 1 August 2008 in the Syrian coastal city of Tartous when the sniper fired the fatal shot. The target was General Muhammad Suleiman, President Bashar al-Assad's top security aide. Israelis, the US embassy in Damascus reported, were "the most obvious suspects" in the assassination.

12/22/2010 - FBI Expands 'Witch Hunt' Against Antiwar Activists Meredith Aby, another prominent antiwar activist who had her home raided by the FBI, likewise believes she is being targeted for exercising her right to free speech, not because the government actually believes she and other committed pacifists would actually support terrorist violence. She says that the questions U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald wants activists to answer - like which activists they met with abroad and what ideas did they express - proves as much. And like other activists, she said she wasn't interested in answering.

12/22/2010 - Beltway Bunkum by Philip Giraldi Flipping over to the Post‘s opinion page, one also found "right turn" commentator Jennifer Rubin singing the praises of incoming Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. Rubin believes that Ros-Lehtinen will "scrutinize the gap between rhetoric and results." She asks "Why are we giving $1.5 billion to Hosni Mubarak…why aren’t we more robustly supporting Iran’s green movement?" Why indeed. But she fails to ask why are we giving Israel $3 billion when Tel Aviv continues to pursue policies that are more directly damaging to the United States than anything being done by Egypt or Iran? It is a question that Ros-Lehtinen and Rubin will no doubt avoid raising and symptomatic of the blinders that are on regarding the issue of Israel.

12/22/2010 - Why Kissinger Said U.S. Jews Acted ‘Traitorously’ The Soviets wanted a grain deal with the West, and they were hoping to get a new arms limitation treaty ratified. Jackson-Vanik had taught them an important lesson. If they wanted something from the United States government, they should release their Jews. And that’s what they did.

12/22/2010 - Obstructing a Middle East Rescue Effort Just in the time that elapsed since the collapse of efforts to restart direct negotiations, respected New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman effectively recommended conditioning American aid to Israel on its cooperation with peace efforts, while Andrew Sullivan — arguably America’s leading political blogger — called for an end to such aid entirely. Israel’s own actions, far more than those of its detractors, are hastening this moment. (Think about the recent decree by dozens of municipal rabbis prohibiting renting property to non-Jews, the proposed loyalty oath or the measures taken against Palestinian leaders engaged in nonviolent struggle.)

12/22/2010 - Holy Land Patriarch voices hope for peace Twal noted that a record 3.4 million tourists are visiting the Holy Land this year, many of them Christian pilgrims. He said he is grateful for "the fantastic solidarity" of Christians around the world with the Palestinian community.

12/22/2010 - Bloggers claim WikiLeaks struck deal with Israel over diplomatic cables leaks Speaking to Haaretz, Duff added that "it sticks out like a sore thumb that WikiLeaks is obviously concocted by an intelligence agency. It's a ham-handed action by Israel to do its public relations."

12/22/2010 - Israel to press Obama to free Israeli spy Pollard In his first tenure as prime minister a decade ago, Netanyahu granted Pollard Israeli citizenship, then later visited him in prison in North Carolina. Netanyahu said he has raised the issue with both Obama and Secretary of State Clinton "at least half a dozen times" in closed meetings over the last two months.

12/22/2010 - Turkey PM: Israel to blame for deadlock in Mideast peace talks

12/22/2010 - Israel to compensate Palestinian for disability caused by interrogation

12/22/2010 - Israel Doesn’t Need the West Bank To Be Secure in recent years Israel has shown it can deal with that kind of threat if it really wants to. Since 2006, when the Second Lebanon War killed perhaps 2,000 Lebanese, many of them civilians, and led to the destruction of an entire section of Beirut, the northern border has been absolutely quiet. Since Operation Cast Lead, which killed perhaps 1,200 Gazans, many of them civilians, and led to the destruction of much of the city of Gaza, not one Israeli has been killed by a mortar round or rocket coming from the Gaza Stri Killing civilians really works, is that the lesson here?

12/22/2010 - Roger Cohen’s Recklessness Roger Cohen, a New York Times Op-Ed columnist, is not obsessed with Israel; it only seems that way. During the last 10 weeks, only(!) five of his Times columns have dealt directly with Israel. I admit that I share the obsession, but not the places it takes him.

12/22/2010 - From August: A Wounded People vs. Oliver Stone As far as his comments about the pro-Israel lobby — well, AIPAC brags about its influence. Whether that has “f—ed up” American policy depends upon what you think of the policy....Few seemed to notice the irony: Two of the most powerful men in Hollywood, both Jewish, urging a third power player, also Jewish, to punish Stone for suggesting that Jews dominate the media. I saw the irony. Check back in these archives for it.

12/22/2010 - U.S. Rabbis Offer Rare Rebuke of Israeli Edict An edict signed by dozens of Israeli rabbis barring the sale or rental of homes to non-Jews in Israel has led to a rare consensus among American rabbis, who have issued a nearly unanimous condemnation of the ba

12/22/2010 - US urged to strike Iran opposition from terror list Several Bush–era officials on Friday urged the Obama administration to strike an Iranian opposition group from a terrorism blacklist and support regime change in Iran. Former officials Tom Ridge, John Bolton, Frances Townsend and Michael Mukasey who worked under president George W. Bush backed delisting the People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran (PMOI), which is also known as the Mujahedeen–e–Khalq (MEK).

12/22/2010 - Netanyahu to make public plea to US for spy's release Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will make a public plea to US President Barack Obama for the release of Jonathan Pollard, an Israeli spy jailed 25 years ago, his office said on Tuesday.

12/22/2010 - U.S. criticized New Zealand for reaction to 2004 Israel spy affair, WikiLeaks cables reveal Ties between Israel and New Zealand grew strained after two Israelis, thought to be Mossad agents, were caught trying to illegally forge local passports. New Zealand's then-Prime Minister Helen Clark suspended high-level diplomatic relations until Israel formally apologized over the incident in 2005.

12/22/2010 - Holiday Hijinks by Philip Giraldi Another story http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20101222005875/en/Obama-Asked-Delay-NUMEC-Founder-Award-Nuclear getting almost no traction in the MSM is the account of how one Zalman Shapiro is in line for a top US government award for his work as a scientist and inventor. Only problem is Shapiro was president of a Pennsylvania company called NUMEC that is generally believed to be the source of 741 pounds of weapons grade uranium that made its way to Israel in the 1960s

12/22/2010 - Mullen: US 'very ready' to counter Iran on nukes "We're very ready," Mullen said, an unusually direct acknowledgment that the United States has contingency plans to counter Iran should it make a move. "There are real threats to peace and stability here, and we've made no secrets of our concerns about Iran."

12/22/2010 - NY Rep. King: I'll hold hearings on radical Islam The incoming head of the House Committee on Homeland Security says he will hold hearings on what he calls the "radicalization" of some American Muslims. Rep. Peter King, a Republican from Long Island, said Sunday that law–enforcement officials around the country have told him they receive little cooperation from Muslims. Like so many of our 'representatives', King is nothing more than a shill for Israel, though he is one of the most egregious ones. Recall King's traitorous statement of a few months back.

12/22/2010 - Obama Asked to Delay NUMEC Founder Award over Nuclear Weapons Material Diversions to Israel The Obama administration has been asked to delay a 2010 National Medal of Technology and Innovation award to Zalman Shapiro over lingering questions about the theft and diversion of US weapons grade uranium to Israel. Shapiro, a talented inventor, was the former president of the Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corporation

12/22/2010 - Obama says US-Turkish ties 'more important than ever' US ties with Turkey are "more important than ever" despite differences over Iran, President Barack Obama said, also urging Ankara to repair ties with Israel, in an interview published Sunday.

12/22/2010 - Senator Spector Seeks Exoneration of NUMEC Diversion of Uranium to Israel The office of Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania attempted to obtain a statement from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission according to documents released under the Freedom of Information Act. On August 27, 2009, Arlen Specter wrote to Rebecca Schmidt asking that the NRC "issue a formal public statement confirming that he [constituent Zalman Shapiro] was not involved in any activities related to the diversion of uranium to Israel." Zalman Shapiro was formerly president of the Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corporation at Apollo, PA. According to a secret GAO report "Nuclear Diversion in the US?" partially declassified on May 6, 2010 NUMEC received over 22 tons of uranium-235, the key material used to fabricate nuclear weapons.

12/22/2010 - U.S. congressman urges France to rethink missile sale to Lebanon The United States House of Representatives expressed in August its disapproval of the deal, claiming the missiles might be used against Israel, due to the rising influence of Shiite militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. Why is this a matter for the US Congress?

12/22/2010 - Ramzy Baroud Insisting on Humanity The Plight of the Palestinians is not just another chronicle of the history of a defenseless nation. While it is an unhesitant acknowledgment of that reality, it is far from being a celebration of victimhood. Rather, it documents the logical evolution from suffering to resistance.

12/22/2010 - The smoking cable: Israel said it had ’secret accord’ with U.S. over expanding settlements even as Obama said in Cairo they must stop! One odd thing though, the story notes that indeed it seems that stuff critical of or embarrassing to Israel or even related to Israel was not in that tranche at all while stuff about damn near every other country sure was represented. One former U.S diplomat says it might be because cables from the U.S. embassy in Israel are so unremarkable really, but this seems weak to me at least: Lots of stuff Assange released was unremarkable, wasn’t it? He just seemed to dump a truckload, didn’t he? Moreover, what about cables from other ME embassies mentioning Israel?

12/22/2010 - Jewish-American group releases list of top 10 slurs The list is topped by Helen Thomas, who said in May that "Jews should get the hell out of Palestine" and "go home to Poland, Germany, America and everywhere else."

12/22/2010 - Israel Advocacy Is a Hot Place for New Hires, battling the so-called de-legitimization of Israel — specifically, combating boycott, divestment and sanctions campaigns — has become the cause célèbre of mainstream Jewish organizations. In fact, in November, the Jewish Federations of North America made it a major theme in its three-day General Assembly in New Orleans.

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12/15/2010 - Israeli troops kill two Gaza militants: army The incident was the second in three days in which an Israeli was wounded. On Wednesday, a civilian was lightly hurt by a mortar shell launched by militants from the Gaza Strip that landed in an agricultural community near the border. The last incident in which soldiers were hurt occurred in August when two were lightly wounded from shell fragments, the army said

12/15/2010 - Palestinian firefighters barred from Israeli fete About 20 Palestinian firefighters joined the international effort against the blaze that killed 43 people as it swept through the Carmel forest in Israel's north, the biggest forest fire Israel has ever seen. In the end, firefighting aircraft and crews from abroad helped put it out. Tuesday's ceremony was set to take place in Usfiya, an Israeli Arab town near to where the blaze erupted, and the Palestinian firefighters were to be awarded certificates at the event. I'm so proud of the Palestinians - who, despite all that Israel has done to them - volunteered to help put out that fire. It reminds me of the donations the Palestinian refugees made to Hurricane Katrina victims. They didn't have a lot to give, but they gave what they could because of all people, they could instantly sympathize with our refugees. Brings a tear to me eye.

12/15/2010 - Envoy says US committed to Palestinian state The U.S. will not be deterred by setbacks and will persevere until a Palestinian state is established alongside Israel, President Obama's Mideast envoy said Tuesday after meeting the Palestinian president.

12/15/2010 - 'Europe will recognize Palestinian state when appropriate' The resolution is also expected to address Israel's refusal to extend the construction moratorium in the West Bank and stress the need to resume negotiations for a period of 12 months, as determined by the Mideast Quartet. Israel has been working diligently to try and soften the wording in the resolution. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has spoken with a number of his counterparts in the Union to try and convince them not to recognize a Palestinian state, and he has also instructed Israeli ambassadors in EU countries to clarify Israel's position.

12/15/2010 - Arab FMs oppose Mideast talks without U.S. stance on borders The ministers said the failure of Washington to force Israel to stop settlement building on territories occupied in 1967 demands that the American administration declares clearly the two states' borders be based on the 1967 borders.

12/15/2010 - Palestinians to Mitchell: U.S. must demand talks based on 1967 borders In a meeting with U.S. envoy George Mitchell in Ramallah on Tuesday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expressed his disappointment with the United States for failing to declare that talks on borders with Israel will be based on 1967 lines.

12/15/2010 - US House Approves Large Increase in Military Aid to Israel Most significantly, the House added $205 million in first-time funding for the Iron Dome project, a short-range rocket defense system. The money was pledged by President Barack Obama last May, but had been stalled until now. In addition, military aid allocations from Israel should increase from 2010 levels of $2.775 billion to $3b. for fiscal year 2011, while those for Egypt and Jordan will hold constant from 2010. Look at the House vote -212-206? Are our representatives finally starting to represent US, the AMERICAN people?

12/15/2010 - A Grim Record: One In Seven Americans Is On Food Stamps Hey I know, let's shovel a few more billion to Israel, a prosperous country even despite the economic downturn.

12/15/2010 - The Returning Issue of Palestine's Refugees Before his murder in 1948, Lord Folke Bernadotte, the first UN mediator to the Arab-Israeli conflict, stated: "It would be an offence against the principles of elemental justice if these innocent [Palestinian] victims of the conflict were denied the right to return to their homes, while Jewish immigrants flow into Palestine." Lord Bernadotte paid for his candour with his life as Jewish militants assassinated him under the direction of Yitzhak Shamir, the man who would later become prime minister of Israel.

12/15/2010 - After setback, US resumes Mideast peace push

12/15/2010 - Public invited to inform on those renting to Arabs The Lehava organization issued a notice Sunday evening, inviting the public to call a voicemail service and record the names of Jewish Israelis renting apartments to Arabs. Lehava, identified with supporters of Meir Kahane, thus adds its weight to the recent call by 50 prominent rabbis to avoid renting to Arabs which, the organization says, amounts to no less than assimilation. Racism at its finest.

12/15/2010 - Israel Seeks 20 Additional F-35s After Failure of U.S. Swap for Peace Plan Defense officials from both countries are discussing ways to pay for the “expensive” jets because Israel lacks the funds, Oren said.

12/15/2010 - Hamas reaches out, tries to shore up popularity

12/15/2010 - U.S. says recognition of Palestinian state premature Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman, who was due to meet with Burns on Saturday, criticized his remarks. "I think it's unpropitious that once again the United States has publicly expressed an opinion about sovereign actions taken by the Argentine Republic," Timerman told Reuters.

12/15/2010 - Palestinians express doubts over 2-state future Conventional wisdom on Israeli–Palestinian peacemaking has long held that Israel should relinquish most of the lands it occupied in 1967 in favor of a Palestinian state – the "two–state solution" that much of the world has supported for years. But the utter lack of progress in peace talks and continued Jewish settlement in the West Bank has many people warning that Israel might instead be headed toward a one–state reality, with a permanent occupation of the West Bank and a Jewish minority ruling over an Arab majority – unless, perhaps, the world forces it to give the Palestinians the right to vote.

12/15/2010 - Hamas celebrates 23rd anniversary with mass rally While sticking to its militant rhetoric, the Hamas has largely observed an informal truce since a bruising Israeli offensive two years ago, forgoing attacks that could spur Israel to strike back or tighten its blockade. Any Israel response could make life harder for Gazans. Some 30 percent of residents are unemployed and many more rely on food aid.

12/15/2010 - Netanyahu hails U.S. retreat on settlement freeze demands Mitchell is also scheduled to hold talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. But the brunt of the work will be in Israel because the Palestinians have already submitted their opening positions on all the core issues - borders, security, Jerusalem, refugees, water and the settlements

12/15/2010 - Palestinians sceptical after US freeze failure

12/15/2010 - Hamas leader says group will never recognize Israel

12/15/2010 - Israel group blasts arrests of Palestinian minors In a report released Monday, the Israeli rights group B'Tselem says the youths' arrest is part of an Israeli campaign targeting Palestinian minors – one just 5 years old – for stone throwing in east Jerusalem. It says police often arrest minors from their homes in the middle of the night and interrogate them, sometimes with no parent present, in ways that violate Israeli law.

12/15/2010 - Israel's leader does not want to share Jerusalem Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's reaffirmation of his intention to hold on to east Jerusalem drew criticism from the Palestinians and was likely to increase friction with the Americans. The White House Mideast envoy is scheduled to arrive this week in another attempt to push peace efforts forward.

12/15/2010 - Israel draws international rebuke over settlements The European Union, the United Nations and the Arab League have rebuked Israel after its refusal to halt settlement construction forced Washington to drop efforts to relaunch Mideast peace talks.

12/15/2010 - Jordanian, Palestinian soccer fans clash

12/15/2010 - Yad Vashem struggles to teach Holocaust to Arabs The irony. At what point will Israel teach its people the truth about its inception, and what it has done to a largely agrarian people who for 60 years have been made to pay for the Holocaust, when they had nothing to do with it.

12/15/2010 - Heavy rains, strong winds batter Middle East In the Gaza Strip, strong winds and lashing rains caused cracks in the pier and the breakfront at the harbor local fishermen use. No one was hurt, but civil defense workers and the Gaza maritime police were hauling boats out of the water and moving them and other fishing equipment to safer ground.

12/15/2010 - Palestinians, Contained

12/15/2010 - Who by Fire? By the end, when Prime Minister Netanyahu informed others already preparing to send personnel and supplies that they would not be needed, Israel had welcomed seven aircraft from Greece, two from Cyprus, two from Turkey(!), three from Russia, five from France, two more from Britain, seven from Germany, five from Spain, two from Azerbaijan, and five from America — as well as 92 firefighters from Bulgaria, 21 firefighters and three fire engines from the Palestinian Authority, along with three truckloads of equipment from Jordan, materials from Egypt — and all this is only a partial list.

12/15/2010 - What really drives suicide terrorists by Robert Pape After examining 2,200 suicide attacks around the world since 1980 – the most comprehensive analysis ever conducted – I've concluded that the answer is both simple and disturbing. What drives them is deep anger at the presence of Western combat forces in the Persian Gulf region and other predominately Muslim lands. Popular accounts of these suicide terrorists give the impression that most of them are globe-trotting extremists radicalized by militant networks to strike outside their homeland for religious or other transnational causes. These accounts are false.

12/15/2010 - Top Israeli rabbi slams anti-Arab edict A top Israeli rabbi has condemned a controversial ruling forbidding renting or selling property to non–Jews. That ruling, which won the support of three dozen rabbis this week, has drawn vocal criticism in Israel. Israel's attorney general is weighing possible charges against the rabbis.

12/15/2010 - Market alarm as US fails to control biggest debt in history The reality is, though, that the market is increasingly alarmed at the rate of increase of the US government’s already massive liabilities. America’s government debt is set to expand by a jaw-dropping 42pc over the next few years, reaching $19.6 trillion by 2015 according to Treasury Department estimates presented (amid very little fanfare) to Congress back in June Hey I know, let's send a few more billion to Israel.

12/15/2010 - Funding Illegal Israeli Settlements? Priceless. Visa, Mastercard and PayPal all enable donations to be made to US-registered groups funding illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank in defiance of international law. It appears at least one of the major credit cards also enables donations to an extremist Jewish group that has placed a bounty on the lives of Palestinians.

12/15/2010 - The Biggest Pro-Israel Group in America? That’s Us, Says Christians United Last year the group distributed, through its sister organization, John Hagee Ministries, more than $8 million to Israeli and Jewish organizations, according to CUFI. CUFI has stated that less than 5% of that sum went to settler organizations operating in the West Bank.

12/15/2010 - No Link Between Stopping Iran and Pushing Peace? Rabin Knew Better “No, he had the diplomatic cables to prove that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was no obstacle to wide Arab backing,” Horovitz wrote. “Obama, that is, was not the prisoner of a misconception, convinced in absolute good faith” that Israeli concessions would bring the Arabs “on board for the battle with the mullahs.” The pro-Israelis crave a US attack on Iran, as they did with Iraq but then later denied it.

12/15/2010 - Berman, Congressional Foreign Affairs Boss, Cites Israel as a Prime Motivator in His Politics, Then Calls Israel Lobby a ‘Total Canard’ Berman then assumed he was talking to a friendly crowd. He said Israel "is why I went on the Foreign Affairs Committee–" he corrected himself– "it’s part of why I went on the Foreign Affairs committee in the first place. I’m a great supporter of Israel." He hastened to add he was also a supporter of a "sensible" peace process that takes into account "Israel’s longtime security needs."

12/15/2010 - UPDATE: State Department Quakes In Terror As AP Asks About Imprisoned Palestinian Demonstrator -- Plus The True Story of the AIPAC-Drafted Berman Bill Congressman Howard Berman (D-CA), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is today rushing to the House floor with an AIPAC-drafted resolution condemning the Palestinians for publicly suggesting that, in the wake of Netanyahu's refusal to freeze settlements and negotiate, they will consider a unilateral declaration of statehood. (As is usual with Berman, his resolution exclusively blames Palestinians for the collapse of peace talks; not a word of criticism of Israel appears.)

12/15/2010 - Leaks and Leakers by Philip Giraldi Unauthorized release of classified information and what becomes of it was also the focus in the trial that was terminated in May 2009 of Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, AIPAC employees who passed sensitive intelligence to Israeli government officials and to Glenn Kessler at the Washington Post. The very same people at the Wall Street Journal and the Weekly Standard who are now calling on the federal government to declare war on WikiLeaks and to summarily execute Julian Assange were at that time complaining about the fact that Rosen and Weissman had been charged with a crime because "everyone" passes around classified information in Washington.

12/15/2010 - More Money for Nothing by Philip Giraldi Yesterday the US Congress approved $205 million for Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system. That was on top of $200 million previously allocated for Israel’s Arrow and David’s Sling development programs. Now, one might question approving nearly half a billion dollars for a foreign country at a time when budgets for programs in the United States are being axed, so it is definitely convenient that the US public will not know about the vote as it has not been reported anywhere in the US mainstream media. The article I saw was in today’s Haaretz.

12/15/2010 - Muslim hotel staff allege discrimination on Israeli visit Muslim employees of a Washington hotel alleged that they were discriminated against when Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak visited at the weekend, a group representing them said Wednesday. The Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) sent a protest letter to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel's management on behalf of the employees who alleged they were barred from floors where the Israeli delegation was staying.

12/15/2010 - Deputy FM: Iran-Venezuela Ties Threaten U.S., Entire World Last month, sources in Latin America told Haaretz that a border incident between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, and military pressure placed on Costa Rica, a country without an army, are the first step in a plan formulated by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, with funding and assistance from Iran, to create a substitute for the strategically and economically important Panama Canal. The plan has aroused concern in Washington, and the U.S. has begun behind the scenes efforts to foil such a move. Sources in Latin America consider these events, and the power demonstrated by Nicaragua, as a trial balloon by the creators of the "New Canal Plan" – Venezuela, Iran and Nicaragua. Western intelligence agencies are closely following the path of heavy machinery equipment to Nicaragua as well as the activities of Iranians in the Nicaraguan capital Managua.

12/15/2010 - Israel was happy with Rudd's stance: WikiLeaks The cables also indicate Mr Rotem was impressed with Prime Minister Julia Gillard's handling of Australia's response to fighting in Gaza while in the role of acting prime minister. The Israelis told US officials she was far more supportive than expected.

12/15/2010 - Italy PM said 'not even Obama can stop Israeli attack on Iran', WikiLeaks cable reveals "No one, including [U.S. President Barack] Obama, can stop Israel if it feels an existential threat," Berlusconi is reported to have said.

12/15/2010 - Barak tells Gates: Hezbollah and Syria must not gain weapons supremacy over Israel The two discussed continuing cooperation to build up Israel's active defense against missiles and rockets. They also resumed talks regarding the development of the Namer armored vehicle, and Barak advised his American counterpart to see the U.S. ground army equipped with one as well.

12/15/2010 - Obama withdraws offer to donate 20 F-35s to Israel

12/15/2010 - Lebanon Holds its Breath Over Leaked Revelations By Robert Fisk in Beirut Now the US cables reveal that the UN has indeed been cooperating with the United States, asking for aerial reconnaissance pictures of the Bekaa Valley and sending DNA samples from Mr Hariri's suspected killer, Ahmad Abu Adass, to FBI headquarters for examination.......Yet more dangerous still is a 2008 cable stating that former Lebanese telecommunications minister Marwan Hamadeh provided the US with maps detailing locations of Hezbollah's communications network. ...There are some details in the cables on Lebanon which are provably wrong. A claim by Samir Geagea, a right-wing Christian politician , that Iran had provided Syria with 15 submarines, was palpably untrue. Mr Geagea has refused to comment on this cable. Another allegation – that missiles were smuggled into Lebanon on board planes carrying first aid during the 2006 Hezbollah-Israeli war – is provably untrue: Beirut airport was bombed on the first day of the battles and never reopened until the conflict had ended.

12/15/2010 - Rudd calls for inspections of Israel's nuclear facility FOREIGN Minister Kevin Rudd has arrived in Israel with a blunt message: allow international inspectors into your nuclear facility. He has also called on Israel to stop building in Jewish settlements in both the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

12/15/2010 - Iran Nuclear Talks: Senators Urge Obama to Stand Firm On Monday, as Iran's nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili met in Geneva with E.U. foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, a group of prominent U.S. Senators – including John Kyl, Joe Lieberman, Kirsten Gillebrand and John McCain – wrote to President Obama urging him to reject any proposal under which Iran would maintain a uranium–enrichment capability AIPAC shills.

12/15/2010 - 1 small NY town's battle for tolerance Locals watched in horror as Sidney was branded as Islamophobic, backward and ignorant. "It was sickening," says attorney Tom Schimmerling, 58, the son of Holocaust survivors, who immediately offered to represent the Sufis free of charge. "McCarthy was acting like this was Selma, Ala., in the '60s and he was Bull Connor."

12/15/2010 - Rudd failed to consult Israel over call for nuclear inspection, Opposition claims KEVIN Rudd's call for an inspection of Israel's nuclear facilities was made without any consultation with Jerusalem, the Opposition has claimed. "If the reports are correct and Israeli officials were taken by surprise, it reveals Kevin Rudd has not learnt any lessons from his past mistakes," said the opposition's foreign affairs spokeswoman, Julie Bishop.

12/15/2010 - Jewish Ingratitude to Evangelicals Every year Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews raises about $100 million dollars from mostly evangelical Christians in the United States for distribution to social welfare projects in Israel and the former Soviet Union. This is a staggering sum, making the fellowship arguably the largest foundation for Jews in need in the world.

12/15/2010 - Former Congressman Paul Findley on Push for Iran War

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12/8/2010 - Thirty-Nine Congressmen Can’t Be Wrong by Philip Giraldi For those who think it inconceivable that a large number of congressmen might petition seeking clemency for a convicted foreign spy who did enormous damage to the United States, think again. Pollard has recently obtained the services of Barney Frank and thirty-eight other Democratic congressmen who have signed on to a letter coordinated with a number of Jewish groups. They apparently believe that the poor guy has suffered enough in service to his country, which is of course Israel, making one wonder why American politicians should feel the pain. But no matter, as we all know where the faux compassion comes from. Treason, folks. If you care about this country, you just have to read the whole thing. Then do something about it.

12/8/2010 - Covert war against Iran's nuclear aims takes chilling turn The assassination had the hallmark of well-practised professionals. The explosives were shaped to focus the blast and fire a hail of projectiles into the car at an individual target, with minimal "collateral damage". The targets were obviously carefully chosen and the attack would have required weeks of surveillance. So even if local assassins were involved, the questions of who trained and funded them and assigned the targets would remain.......Stuxnet does not bear fingerprints, but a western military source recently told the Observer that it was an Israeli creation.

12/8/2010 - Cables Belie Gulf States' Backing for Strikes on Iran

12/8/2010 - Israel upset by Argentina Palestinian recognition Argentina's foreign minister, Hector Timerman, said Monday that in view of stalemated peace efforts, "the time has come to recognize Palestine as a free and independent state."

12/8/2010 - Israel: US too consumed by WikiLeaks to talk peace Israel's defense minister said Tuesday the U.S. has halted talks with Israel about curbing West Bank settlement construction and resuming peace talks with the Palestinians because Washington is distracted by the WikiLeaks release of secret documents. Cui bono - who benefits -- from Wikileaks? Who is sitting pretty and smug, with Julian Assange singing Netanyahu's praises?

12/8/2010 - Abbas: Last resort — I'll ask Israel to take over Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has warned he may dissolve his self–rule government and ask Israel to resume full control of the West Bank if troubled peace talks fail.

12/8/2010 - Netanyahu Forces an Obama Mideast Retreat "I know what America is," Benjamin Netanyahu, then an opposition politician, told Israeli settlers in 2002. "America is something that can easily be moved. Moved to the right direction." And in the last few months, Prime Minister Netanyahu has proved his point by walking back President Obama's call for a freeze in Israeli settlement construction so much so that the Administration on Tuesday essentially gave up and took it off the table. America is not the land of the free, not when it is ruled by Israel.

12/8/2010 - Palestinian protest leader's case sparks scrutiny The target of such unprecedented interest was Abdullah Abu Rahmeh, a leader of Palestinian protests against Israel's West Bank separation barrier who has been feted by some in the international community, from European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, as a courageous defender of human rights. Israel views the West Bank school teacher as an instigator of violence and wants to keep him in prison, even though he has completed his yearlong sentence. Israel says the demonstrations are violent riots since some of the marchers routinely throw stones at Israeli troops. .......Carter and fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu, part of a group of former leaders known as The Elders, on Monday condemned the attempt to keep Abu Rahmeh in prison. Carter said his "example of nonviolent resistance against the occupation is a model that others should follow."

12/8/2010 - Iran makes arrests over nuclear scientist killing "The three spy agencies of Mossad, CIA and MI6 had a role in the (attacks) and, with the arrest of these people, we will find new clues to arrest other elements," Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi was quoted as saying on state television's website.

12/8/2010 - 'Promised land for organized crime' "It is fair to assume that many known OC figures hold valid tourist visas to the United States and travel freely," Cunningham wrote, adding that the embassy "has developed an extensive database and placed lookouts for OC figures and their foot soldiers." He did not elaborate.

12/8/2010 - Defense for Children International: Urgent Appeal - Shooting of children collecting building gravel

12/8/2010 - Without land, Gaza farmers grow crops on roofs The Israeli imposition of a "buffer zone" along Gaza's borders swallows at least a third of Gaza's farmland and renders lethal any border regions farmers try to access. This land formerly produced wheat, barley and a variety of fruits and nuts; it was Gaza's food basket.

12/8/2010 - WikiLeaks Exposes Israeli Mafia’s Growing Influence by Justin Raimondo Take, for example, this excerpt from a cable dated May 15, 2009 — entitled "Israel, A Promised Land for Organized Crime?" – sent by our embassy in Tel Aviv, which deals with the rising influence of Israeli organized crime The bottom line here: Israel's organized crime syndicate is free to roam the US on visas. And if they commit crimes against Americans, they can hightail it back to Israel to avoid extradition, as so many of them evidently do. And anyway, even if they out and out KILLED Americans, what would our government do about it? Well, what did our government do about the murder of Rachel Corrie, or the men aboard the USS Liberty? ZERO.

12/8/2010 - Israel to blame for "collapse" of talks: Abbas aide "It's time for the American administration to tell the world that Israel holds the responsibility for the collapse of this peace process," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said. "Israel has chosen settlements and not peace," he told Reuters.

12/8/2010 - Palestinians seek unilateral statehood recognition Winning a majority in the U.N. General Assembly would presumably be an easier task, but obtaining recognition by the U.N. Security Council would be the bigger prize, yet much harder to obtain because of a likely U.S. veto. Washington has traditionally blocked measures that Israel considers hostile.

12/8/2010 - Argentina: Palestine is free and independent state Argentina announced Monday that it recognizes the Palestinian territories as a free and independent state within their 1967 borders, a step it said reflects frustration at the slow progress of peace talks with Israel.

12/8/2010 - Palestinians: Israel has chosen West Bank settlements over peace The United States should openly blame Israel for the "collapse" of the peace process, a senior Palestinian official said on Thursday, in one of the bleakest assessments yet on Middle East peace efforts. New Israeli plans to build near East Jerusalem show Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not want to resume peace talks, Palestinian officials said.

12/8/2010 - Israel decides to ease Gaza export ban Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for Hamas in Gaza, described the decision as a "propaganda manoeuvre" and urged public opinion not to be "deceived ... and to keep up the international pressure on the occupation."

12/8/2010 - U.S. drops push for Israel settlement freeze there were some concerns about the size of the incentives the United States offered Israel –– which Israeli sources said included 20 F–35 stealth fighters worth $3 billion –– for only a temporary extension.......Three Latin American nations –– Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay –– declared recognition of a Palestinian state at the weekend, drawing Israeli condemnation.

12/8/2010 - After new setback, Obama Mideast plan in doubt A top aide to the Palestinian president, Yasser Abed Rabbo, went so far as to question Washington's ability to broker a deal, asking how the Americans could possibly "make Israel accept a fair solution" when they couldn't even make it limit its settlement activities.

12/8/2010 - Israel east Jerusalem policy threatens peace: EU The EU report said that since the start of November, east Jerusalem settlement planning had resumed "very intensively" and warned that such a policy, combined with curbs on Palestinian building and increased demolitions and evictions in the sector, were having "serious humanitarian consequences." .....Israel's attempts to exclusively emphasise the Jewish identity of the city were threatening to "radicalise the conflict, with potential regional and global repercussions." And the report warned of the EU's increasing concern about Israel's "use of archaeology as a political–ideological tool" in a bid to cement the Jewish state's hold over the entire city.

12/8/2010 - US lawmakers blast Brazil's Palestinian move Ros–Lehtinen, set to chair the panel come January, said "responsible nations" would wait to take such a step until Palestinians return to direct talks with Israel and recognize its "right to exist as a Jewish state." Why is this a matter for Capitol Hill? Do not our 'representatives' have anything better to do than to shill for a foreign nation? They seem to do an awful lot of that for the nation of Israel.

12/8/2010 - Rep. Ackerman Cheers Obama's Shift in Peace Process Instead, Ackerman now suggests focusing on Iran, which he sees as the biggest Middle East problem. Here, he is once again on the same page as Netanyahu.

12/8/2010 - Israeli rabbis tell Jews not to sell homes to Arabs Obtained by Reuters ahead of its planned publication in synagogues and religious journals, the letter quotes warnings by ancient sages that living with non–Jews can lead to "sacrilege." Other concerns for property values are also raised. Racist much?

12/8/2010 - Parsing a Palestinian Poll on Peace, With Prejudice if you’re the Zionist Organization of America, what’s in your headline is whatever distortion of the data you’re discussing that you think you can get away with.

12/8/2010 - Human Rights and Humanitarian Relief Groups Urge Rebuilding Plan for Gaza In a report entitled "Gaza Repair Strategies," the nongovernmental organizations propose a concerted effort of small-scale home repairs that offers viable, safe, and dignified repair options. The strategy is designed to enable Gaza residents to move toward regaining their lives and livelihoods until a permanent political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be reached.

12/8/2010 - Why we walked out Students across the US are protesting a public relations campaign that brings soldiers from the Israeli army to speak on campuses. These tours are an attempt to justify recent war crimes committed by the army and are coordinated by various organizations, the most well-known being the Zionist organization StandWithUs.

12/8/2010 - YouTube - Let Us Call On Israel To STOP SHOOTING CHILDREN! Congressman Brian Baird Congratulations for Rep. Baird for having the courage to stand up for justice, and stand up to Israel and its goons who preside over Capitol Hill.

12/8/2010 - Uprooting the Bedouins of Israel The Jewish National Fund’s objective, however, is not altruistic, but rather to plant a pine or eucalyptus forest on the desert land so that the Bedouins cannot return to their ancestral homes. The practice of planting forests in an attempt to Judaize more territory is by no means new. Right after Israel’s establishment in 1948, the JNF planted millions of trees to cover up the remains of Palestinian villages that had been destroyed during or after the war. The objective was to help ensure that the 750,000 Palestinian residents who either fled or were expelled during the war would never return to their villages and to suppress the fact that they had been the rightful owners of the land before the State of Israel was created.

12/8/2010 - Ireland 'blocked' weapons to Israel After the Israel-Lebanon war, the Israeli military said it needed to restore its depleted ammunition stocks, but the cable from James Kenny, the US ambassador to Ireland at the time, indicates that the Irish government was making it increasingly difficult for Israel-bound US weapons shipments to pass through its airport.

12/8/2010 - Turkey, Israel in bid to overcome crisis "Some say we should turn a new page... An apology must be offered first, compensation must be paid first," Erdogan said Sunday in a speech in Sivas, central Turkey, Anatolia news agency reported.

12/8/2010 - NY rabbi, sons accused of sexually abusing girls The 58–year–old father and his 21–year–old son fled to Israel two days ago and are wanted for questioning in the case, police said. They were apparently driven to the airport by the mother. Israel = haven for criminals.

12/8/2010 - State Dep’t reporters continue to be rambunctious about Israel announcing 625 new houses for Jews

12/8/2010 - Video: Reporters challenge State Department on Israel

12/8/2010 - Imams, rabbis in Brussels to improve Muslim-Jewish ties He also suggested that the EU impose on its members and officials a code of behavior that would sanction those who made anti-Semitic and racist remarks. Will Israel too be sanctioned for its anti-Semitic (Arabs are Semites too) and racist remarks of its leaders, rabbis, and legislation ? Doubtful.

12/8/2010 - New WikiLeaks revelations show Ireland limiting complicity in US arms transfer to Israel

12/8/2010 - Helen Thomas says Zionists control U.S. foreign policy - KansasCity.com “I can call a president of the United States anything in the book, but I can’t touch Israel, which has Jewish-only roads in the West Bank,” Thomas said. “No American would tolerate that — white-only roads.”

12/8/2010 - ei The Carmel wildfire is burning all illusions in Israel The pine trees themselves were instruments of concealment, strategically planted by the Jewish National Fund (JNF) on the sites of the hundreds of Palestinian villages the Zionist militias evacuated and destroyed in 1948. With forests sprouting up where towns once stood, those who had been expelled would have nothing to come back to. Meanwhile, to outsiders beholding the strangely Alpine landscape of northern Israel for the first time, it seemed as though the Palestinians had never existed. And that was exactly the impression the JNF intended to create.

12/8/2010 - Carmel inferno proves Israel can't afford war with Iran

12/8/2010 - Yahoo Video: Bittersweet Remembrance Sunday for Palestinian veterans Short clip of Palestinian Arab veterans who served for the British in WWII.

12/8/2010 - AP Exclusive: Jailed Palestinian atheist sorry A Palestinian atheist jailed for more than a month for sharing his anti–Islam views on the Internet has apologized for offending Muslims, and a Palestinian military spokesman said he expected "positive" developments in the case.

12/8/2010 - Israel recruits citizen advocates in Europe Israel has instructed its embassies in 10 European countries, including the UK, each to recruit 1,000 members of the public to act as advocates for its policies in a new public relations offensive. Europeans beware.

12/8/2010 - Gulf leaders want Iran to respond to peace efforts A communique issued by the six leaders at the end of a two–day summit in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, said they wanted the dispute over Iran's nuclear program to be resolved through "peaceful means" and make the Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction. Kind of goes against the Wikileaks cables.

12/8/2010 - Yvette Cooper calls for Israeli settler labelling on food imports Labour is opposed to boycotting Israeli goods but Cooper believes consumers should be informed whether products are produced by illegal settlers.

12/8/2010 - FOLLOW-UP ALERT ON ISRAEL’S POLICY OF NEAR-STARVATION FOR GAZA It is of major significance that explicit Israeli calculations for the amount of food, animal feed and poultry to be allowed into Gaza can be seen, starkly laid out in black and white. One of the calculated quantities is “breathing space”: the number of days that supplies will last in Gaza. The concept of “breathing space” for Gaza, dictated by the Israelis, is chilling; yet, the media appear happy to look the other way.

12/8/2010 - The Limits of a Coalition Without AIPAC So here is where the administration’s efforts to engage the Jewish community on START stand: On the one hand, the White House and congressional Democrats were successful in creating a remarkable Jewish coalition in support of the treaty, which spans from J Street to ADL. On the other hand, without the lobbying power of AIPAC, this coalition isn’t even close to showing lawmakers what Jewish power really means.

12/8/2010 - Leaks Hint at Chance, Risk of Coalition Against Iran “These leaders now have to hide following these comments,” Parsi said. “They are really going to have to pull back from the brink, and the primary reason is that this is a policy that is at odds with what their populations want.” Parsi said the main reason that these strong sentiments were only revealed now is that these Arab leaders, though heads of authoritarian regimes, were keeping their Iranian saber rattling to themselves because it puts them at odds with public opinion in their own countries.

12/8/2010 - Another Mosque Project Seeks Support, This Time With Jewish Help Asked why his group decided to spend the first night of Hanukkah with a Syrian-born imam and his flock to support their bid to build a mosque in the rolling hills of the Temecula Valley in California’s Southwestern Riverside County, Eric Greene replied, “We remember when there were protests in this country against synagogues being built.”

12/8/2010 - WikiLeaks cables: Don't trust Israel on Iran

12/8/2010 - Senior Turkey official says Israel behind WikiLeaks release “One has to look at which countries are pleased with these," Celik was quoted as saying. "Israel is very pleased. Israel has been making statements for days, even before the release of these documents.”

12/8/2010 - Wikileaks: Saudis 'chief funders of al-Qaeda' Why wasn't Saudi attacked after 9/11? Do you believe for one moment that without Saudi funding, those attacks would have been able to proceed? Not likely. One would've thought it was Iraq that funded 9/11, or even Iran. Who is driving our policy here? Who benefitted from our invasion of Iraq? The United States? Whose number 1 enemy did we depose? Israel's. So while we're bogged down fighting Israel's enemies (next comes Iran), our real foes get away with murder, incitement, and the funding of terror against US citizens and soldiers.

12/8/2010 - Wikileaks: Israel in the list of countries not clamping down on terror funding ABC Nightly News just ran a Wikileaks story exposing terror funding during which they showed documents exposing bank transactions from countries not clamping down on this funding. I spied some transactions from Tel Aviv in the list (a few times) of the document but yet no mention of this in the report or any other that I can find in the Google News index.

12/8/2010 - UN investigating reported device blast in Lebanon The U.N. peacekeeping force in south Lebanon says it is investigating a blast reportedly caused by the detonation of an Israeli device spying on Hezbollah's private telecommunications network.

12/8/2010 - Denounced as a traitor the Holocaust survivor who rents rooms to Israeli-Arabs Israel's extreme rightwing foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has advocated the compulsory "transfer" from the country of Israeli-Arabs, who make up about 20% of the population. The government wants non-Jewish citizens to pledge loyalty to the Jewish state. Tzvieli insists he will not bow to pressure over his tenants. "Most residents of Safed are a mixture of religious and secular and are tolerant and open," he said. "It's just here in the old city, where the extremists live, that I am in a minority."

12/8/2010 - mossad was this the chief's last hit - Telegraph Last Monday, a thousand miles further east in the Iranian capital, Tehran, it appears that the kidon put both of those skills into practice, killing a top nuclear scientist and critically injuring a second as they drove through the rush-hour traffic. .....To assist in the attack, Persian-speaking Mossad deep cover agents have been steadily infiltrating Iran for years. How exactly they helped the hitmen flit in and out of the country remains a secret.

12/8/2010 - Mossad and Iran's nuclear scientists Part II Saeed Kamali Dehghan, The Guardian's Iran correspondent in exile, has pointed me towards this Wikileaks cable from the US embassy in Tel Aviv. It is dated May 2009 and says: In November 2008, Israeli crime boss Yaakov Alperon was assassinated in broad daylight in a gruesome attack on the streets of Tel Aviv, only about a mile away from the Embassy. According to several media accounts, a motor scooter pulled up alongside Alperon's car and the rider attached a sophisticated explosive device with a remote detonator to the car door. The bomb killed Alperon and his driver, and injured two innocent pedestrians. The hit was the latest in a series of violent attacks and reprisals, and indicated a widening crime war in Israel. The interesting point here is that this is exactly how the two Iranian nuclear scientists, Majid Shahriari, and Fereidoun Abbasi, were attacked last Monday morning.

12/8/2010 - Israel on Iran So wrong for so long According to various Israeli government predictions over the years, Iran was going to have a bomb by the mid-90s -- or 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, and finally 2010. More recent Israeli predictions have put that date at 2011 or 2014.

12/8/2010 - Israel fears 'flood' of migrants threatens state In a speech to parliament last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of a "flood" of illegal migrants. "It is threatening the jobs of Israelis, and it is threatening the Jewish and democratic character of the state of Israel," he said. The supreme irony here is that it is the Jewish groups here in America that are squarely behind the effort to grant amnesty to illegals in America, by their own admission. Yet, it's another standard for Israel. Ironically, many of these immigants are from Sudan, another celebrated cause of American Jews.

12/8/2010 - Hezbollah says it found Israeli spy device Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group said Friday that it discovered an Israeli device spying on its private telecommunications network. The device exploded, apparently detonated remotely by the Israelis, when it was found near the village of Majdel Silim, about 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the border with Israel, Hezbollah said in a statement.

12/8/2010 - Covert war against Iran's nuclear aims takes chilling turn Time magazine last week claimed to have been given details of the attack from "a western intelligence expert with knowledge of the operation" and asserted that it "carried the signature of Israel's Mossad".

12/8/2010 - Hezbollah has 50,000 rockets: report The Times quoted a Pentagon official expressing concern over the Hezbollah arsenal, in response to a series of leaked diplomatic cables on the issue. which neocon in the Pentagon was it? Name names.

12/8/2010 - IWW supports Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement in support of Palestinian Rights This vote makes the IWW the first union in the US and the third union in Canada to officially support the Palestinian United Call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions.

12/8/2010 - ei Boycott roundup French companies to drop out of Jerusalem rail project In a significant victory for the global Palestinian-led boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, French companies Veolia and Alstom have dropped out of the Jerusalem light rail project due to sustained pressure from Palestine solidarity groups. The companies were contracted by the Israeli government to construct and manage the tramway linking Jerusalem to several illegal Israeli settlement colonies in the occupied West Bank.

12/8/2010 - WikiLeaks founder: Netanyahu believes exposé will aid Mideast peace WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Wednesday defended his disclosure of classified U.S. documents by singling out Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as an example of a world leader who believes the publications will aid global diplomacy. A little strange his praise of Israel. IT kind of goes against the premise of the whole Wikileaks operation, or at least the premise that the public is led to believe.

12/8/2010 - WikiLeaks: Saudi proposed force to crush Hezbollah

12/8/2010 - BUSTED – WIKILEAKS WORKING FOR ISRAEL Veterans Today

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12/1/2010 - URGENT APPEAL. More children collecting building gravel have been shot and wounded in Gaza. Please lodge a protest.

12/1/2010 - The Special Relationship with Israel: Is It Worth the Costs? When Benjamin Netanyahu was chosen as Israel’s prime minister in 1996, a handful of prominent American neoconservatives prepared for him a policy document entitled, “A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm.” The authors, several of whom would obtain influential posts in the George W. Bush administration, recommended an aggressive stance towards Syria, confrontation with Arafat, an effort to “wean” the Lebanese Shia away from Hezbollah, and the removal of Saddam Hussein from power. In his recent book Israel and the Clash of Civilizations, Jonathan Cook traces these recommendations to themes worked up by several right-wing Israeli strategists in the 1980s. The Israelis were proposing that Jerusalem cement its status as the Mideast’s dominant power by fomenting sectarian and ethnic strife in the surrounding states.

.... American backing of Israel has been a major, if not the sole, factor in making the United States a target of Muslim terrorists. This is invariably what such terrorists say, whether in custody or at liberty, and no one has explained plausibly why they would misrepresent their motivations.

.... While America’s freely elected leaders bear the ultimate responsibility for the decision to invade Iraq, it should not be forgotten that Israeli officials were pressing for the invasion every step of the way, giving speeches before Congress, writing op-eds, appearing on television.

.....One important consequence of a “special relationship” with Israel is that Israel will work to ensure that its enemies become enemies of the United States. To the extent it succeeds, the United States will have fewer friends and more enemies.

...The affection implicit in the special relationship flows in one direction only. The Washington Post reported recently on a poll of CIA officers. They ranked Israel dead last among allies for intelligence cooperation with the United States. The same story noted that American counterintelligence officials, pointing to aggressive Israeli spy operations on U.S soil, ranked only Russia and China as more serious intelligence threats. Our 'special relationship' with Israel has cost us Americans dearly - in many ways. This piece is long, but a must read.

12/1/2010 - Israeli gunfire wounds four Gazans: medics Israeli soldiers on Sunday shot and wounded four Palestinians as they searched for building materials near Gaza's border with Israel, medical sources said

12/1/2010 - 60 Israeli professionals speak out at violence against children The issues raised in the letter reflect concerns held by DCI-Palestine, which has documented 22 cases of children who report being mistreated by the arresting authorities since 8 October 2010. The age of the youngest child reporting mistreatment is seven years.

12/1/2010 - Israeli fire wounds Gaza child: officials The boy was shot in the leg as he foraged for building materials near the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya, the officials said. Figures provided by Geneva–based rights group Defence for Children International show that in the six months between March and October this year, 14 teenage gravel–pickers were wounded by Israeli fire –– with those injured being shot in an area ranging from 50 to 800 metres from the border.

12/1/2010 - Israel police under fire for abusing east Jerusalem children Israeli police were accused of "flagrant violations" of the law Thursday over their harsh and at times violent treatment of Palestinian children suspected of stone–throwing in east Jerusalem.

12/1/2010 - Israel condemned over Bedouin village demolition Amnesty International Amnesty International has condemned the Israeli authorities following the demolition of a Bedouin village in southern Israel for the seventh time since July. ...“The fact that the village has been demolished seven times in four months shows that this is not some administrative mistake but a conscious Israeli government policy of dispossession.” ....As in previous demolitions, no eviction or demolition order was presented to the inhabitants. Israeli authorities have previously detained residents and their supporters when they demanded to see a demolition order.

12/1/2010 - CPT Palestine: Help! Because of your support, we were able to continue to work with non-violent Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation. Today, Palestinian shop-keepers sell their wares in the old city of Hebron, and refuse to be driven out of their homes by harrassment from Israeli settlers and soldiers. This year, people living in the village of At-Tuwani succeeded in gaining access to electricity and running water. These successes are made possible by organized Palestinian activism, and CPT is honored to work with and support our Palestinian partners.

12/1/2010 - WikiLeaks shows Netanyahu supports land swaps I'll believe it when I see it.

12/1/2010 - Israel razes east Jerusalem home Shortly afterwards, some 15 Jewish settlers, accompanied by dozens of police, took over a house in another part of the district, an Israeli peace activist told AFP. ...Meanwhile, Israeli troops in the Jordan Valley on Wednesday destroyed at least two Palestinian buildings used to house livestock and a tent in Massua near the border with Jordan.

12/1/2010 - Aid Groups Decry Blockade on Gaza Nasma died four months later, on October 16, after Israeli authorities failed to issue her with a permit to leave the strip in time for treatment in an Israeli hospital. Her case is being held up by human rights groups as evidence that Israel's "relaxation" of the blockade has in fact offered little improvement to the lives of Palestinians trapped in Gaza. In a report issued on Tuesday, a coalition of 22 international NGOs and human rights groups have accused Israel of failing to make good on its June promises.

12/1/2010 - Israel primed to attack a nuclear Iran US officials repeatedly expressed concern about conflicting assessments by their Israeli counterparts, some of whom admitted their own estimates should be treated with caution: one diplomat noted that Israeli assessments from 1993 onwards had predicted Iran would possess an atomic bomb by 1998 at the latest. Israel=Chicken Little. Our government finally wising up?

12/1/2010 - Iran blames Israel after nuclear scientist killed Iran's president accused Israel and the West of being behind a pair of daring bomb attacks that killed one nuclear scientist and wounded another in their cars on the streets of Tehran on Monday. He also admitted for the first time that a computer worm had affected centrifuges in Iran's uranium enrichment program.

12/1/2010 - Israel unveils new residential plan near East Jerusalem Israel on Wednesday revealed plans to build new homes on West Bank land it has annexed as part of its Jerusalem boundaries, a move likely to further hamper any resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians. The plan to build 625 homes in the urban area of Pisgat Zeev adjacent to Arab East Jerusalem was approved by an Israeli Interior Ministry committee last week, some two years after it was originally proposed, Israel Radio said.

12/1/2010 - Memories and maps keep alive Palestinian hopes of return Aerial photographs taken by first world war German pilots are combined with mandate-era and Israeli maps supplemented by digitally enhanced satellite images that record old tribal boundaries, neighbourhoods and even individual buildings. Most striking are the hundreds of Arab villages that were destroyed or ploughed under fields, as well as postwar Jewish settlements and suburbs. The Abu Sitta family lands, for example, are now owned by Kibbutz Nirim, near the border with Gaza.

12/1/2010 - Hamas vows to honor Palestinian referendum on peace with Israel The Islamist Hamas movement, whose charter advocates the elimination of Israel, would accept the outcome of a Palestinian referendum on a future peace treaty with Israel, its Gaza leader said on Wednesday Another myth put forth by pro-Israeli propagandists flushed down the toilet: Hamas wants or intends to 'drive the Jews into the sea', ie that Hamas seeks to annihilate or conquer all of Israel.

12/1/2010 - Who Voted for More War? by Philip Giraldi as it is Thanksgiving, it is perhaps appropriate to ditch the gloom for just one day and look on the bright side. There has been no war against Iran in spite of the best efforts of Graham, McCain, Lieberman, Palin, the Israel Lobby, and the mainstream media. That is largely due to the intelligence community’s having developed a backbone in its 2007 Iran NIE, but it is also the product of alternative media sites like Antiwar.com that make sure that the downside of yet another military adventure is made clear to an increasingly well informed and vocal public. Antiwar has a stable of staff and contributors who put in long hours to produce unique content for the site, reflecting a wide range of viewpoints even if neocons are not generally welcome, thank you very much. On Thanksgiving I personally want to thank the many contributors whom I read and listen to every week: Justin Raimondo, Kelley Vlahos, Scott Horton, Ivan Eland, Chuck Pena, Jeff Huber, Jim Lobe, Gareth Porter, Paul Craig Roberts, and so many others. And I particularly will drink a toast later today to my fellow former spooks who have done so much to rip the veil of secrecy that surrounds the National Security State and its bankrupt policies: Ray McGovern, Michael Scheuer, and the Christisons. Floreat in aeternum! Thank you too, Mr. Giraldi, for your tireless efforts to protect America!! God love ya.

12/1/2010 - Exclusive: Leaked Cable Reveals US-Israeli Strategy for Regime Change in Iran Philip Giraldi, a former counter-terrorism specialist and military intelligence officer and the Central Intelligence Agency, who served for eighteen years in Turkey, believes Dagan's comment that Israel will have to "invest time and effort ourselves” in dealing with Iran was, in essence, a veiled threat. "It is essentially setting up a situation in which the threat of Israel acting alone becomes a wedge issue to force the US to do something so that it will be able to manage the situation rather than respond to Israeli initiatives," Giraldi told Raw Story on Sunday. "It pushes Washington into planning a military strike to force the Israelis to stand down on their own plans."

12/1/2010 - Amnesty report: Dashed Hopes five months later, there are few signs of real improvement on the ground as the ‘ease’ has left foundations of the illegal blockade policy intact. In order to have a positive impact on the daily lives of the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza, half of whom are children, Israel must fully lift its blockade of the Gaza Strip. ...the International Committee of the Red Cross has recently confirmed that the blockade constitutes a collective punishment of the entire civilian population of Gaza and is in clear violation of international humanitarian law........Palestinians’ freedom of movement including to travel, work, study and visit family members abroad continues to be denied. This PDF doesn't seem to open in Firefox but will open in Internet Explorer.

12/1/2010 - Hamas PM: We're ready for referendum on peace deal Hamas would respect any peace deal reached between Israel and Western–backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, provided it is approved in a global Palestinian referendum, the top Hamas official in Gaza said Wednesday. In a rare news conference for foreign media, Ismail Haniyeh, the prime minister of Gaza's Hamas government, staked out seemingly pragmatic positions. He said Hamas seeks dialogue with the West and wants to be "part of the solution, not the problem." Haniyeh said such claims are part of a disinformation campaign meant to prepare the ground for future attacks on Gaza. "There is no such thing as al–Qaida in Gaza," Haniyeh said, adding that "the Palestinian resistance does not work outside the borders of Palestine." Haniyeh said his government is also monitoring and attempting to rein in Gaza's homegrown zealots, but trying to avoid confrontation.

12/1/2010 - Germany asked U.S. to force settlement freeze on Israel, WikiLeaks cables show According to a telegram published by the whistleblowing website, two weeks before Israel's inner cabinet decided on a settlement construction freeze in November 2009, a senior German government official urged the United States to threaten Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that if he did not agree to a moratorium, Washington would withdraw its support for blocking a vote on the Goldstone Report at the United Nations Security Council.

12/1/2010 - China calls on Israel to immediately end all settlement activity in occupied territory China on Tuesday called on Israel to immediately stop all settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territory in order to revive the peace talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

12/1/2010 - Israel train line plan draws Palestinian ire "This shows not only Israel's short–term illegal activities in terms of settlement expansion, but its long term planning and execution of colonial projects that aim at nothing less than ending the two–state solution,"

12/1/2010 - Iran 'smuggled arms' to Hezbollah on ambulances I wonder if this is one of those planted cables discussed in other articles of this news batch? Cui bono - who benefits?

12/1/2010 - Noodging and Good Timing Are Behind New Push for Release of Pollard Nyer, working under the auspices of the National Council of Young Israel and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, repeatedly called dozens of congressional offices and pressed Jewish groups asking for a leader to take on the case of Pollard, the former U.S. Navy analyst who has spent 25 years in prison, part of a life sentence, the longest ever for spying for an ally. Congressional staffers described Nyer as “relentless,” and he eventually struck gold: Massachusetts Democratic congressman Barney Frank, who chairs the U.S. House of Representatives Banking Committee, agreed to sign on. That prompted a total of 39 signatures, all by Democrats, on the letter sent to Obama. I wonder if Mr. Frank realizes just how severe the damage was that Jonathan Pollard's treason caused.

12/1/2010 - Bring on the transparency These examples are just the tip of an iceberg. Hundreds of millions of dollars in Israeli taxpayer money and U.S.tax exemptions, mostly hidden from public view, are the driving force of the settlement enterprise

12/1/2010 - Poll: Most Israeli Jews believe Arab citizens should have no say in foreign policy The study also revealed that almost half of the Jewish Israelis polled would be bothered to have an Arab neighbor No, they're not racists or anything....

12/1/2010 - Shouting To Be Heard And while our struggle within the Jewish world is personal and painful for us, we know that it is actually Palestinians whose voices need and deserve to be heard. A lasting peace will only be possible when Palestinians are seen as truly equal and their claims no longer ignored — whether in Jewish community forums across North America, or at the diplomatic negotiating table with Israel.

12/1/2010 - U.S. Students Group Calls to Boycott an Israeli Hummus Brand

12/1/2010 - Activism 101 with Colonel Ann Wright At Rice, Colonel Wright discussed her opposition to the violence used by the Israeli Navy to seize the six ships of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla on May 31. She gave an explicit, first-hand account of her experience on board 'The Challenger,' a ship which was filled with journalists who attempted to document Israeli soldiers' raids on the flotilla.

12/1/2010 - Tuk-tuks, cheap fuel edge out donkey carts in Gaza Tuk–tuks started appearing on Gaza's streets in significant numbers several months ago, with demand driven by cheap smuggled fuel. Once the first tuk–tuks were imported, their advantages quickly became apparent, generating more demand.

12/1/2010 - Carnations from Gaza allowed over the border Israel has granted permission for the export of strawberries and carnations from Gaza. The move is partly because the Dutch government is supporting the Palestinian farmers and growers. The produce will only be allowed onto the European market.

12/1/2010 - Vermont group offers anti-apartheid pledge, and more I stand with Nelson Mandela, Palestinian civil society and people of conscience around the world in support of the international boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign (BDS) against corporations, business interests, and academic and cultural institutions that are complicit in or profit from Israeli apartheid and occupation of the Palestinian territories.

12/1/2010 - WikiLeaks exposé: Israel tried to coordinate Gaza war with Abbas In a June 2009 meeting between Defense Minister Ehud Barak and a U.S. congressional delegation, Barak claimed that the Israeli government "had consulted with Egypt and Fatah prior to Operation Cast Lead, asking if they were willing to assume control of Gaza once Israel defeated Hamas." "Not surprisingly," Barak said in the meeting, Israel "received negative answers from both."

12/1/2010 - Did The US Supply Israel With Information Enabling Murder Of Hamas Officials?

12/1/2010 - Wikileaks: Israel Assessed Abbas as Weak, Unpopular In 2007, then-opposition leader and current Prime Minister Netanyahu told US lawmaker Gary Ackerman that Abbas was a "nice man who means well," but that Israeli and US efforts would be better focused on undermining Hamas.

12/1/2010 - Wikileaks: Israel Says Turkeys Prime Minister "Simply Hates Israel"

12/1/2010 - Israel says WikiLeaks shows 'consistency' on Iran Israel expressed satisfaction on Monday after the mass release of US diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks, saying it proved the Jewish state's position on Iran was consistent –– in public and in private. Cui bono - who benefits?

12/1/2010 - Galloway Stirs Up Montreal News Canadians, Galloway said, should stop treating Israel like a “legitimate member of the international community and start treating it like the international rogue terrorist state that it has become.” Nearly two million Palestinians have been pushed from their home and currently live in the “open-air concentration camp” in the Gaza strip, said Galloway.

12/1/2010 - Shouting ‘Fire’ The incident began when the leadership of Temple Beth Avodah in Newton Centre, Mass., acceded to the demands of what the congregation’s rabbi characterized as a “small, influential group” within the Reform congregation, by canceling a planned event at the synagogue with J Street’s president. This assuredly was not American Judaism’s finest hour.

12/1/2010 - Is Wikileaks being manipulated by an intelligence service? There are a number of bloggers – some of them informed writers with credibility, some of them uninformed, anti-Semitic conspiracy theory nutters – who think the answer is “Yes”. More to the point is that no less a figure than Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Carter’s National Security Advisor, thinks the answer could be “Yes”. He said so in an interview with PBS’s Judy Woodruff and also in a subsequent BBC World Service (Radio) interview. To Judy Woodruff he said: “The real issue is, who is feeding Wikileaks? They’re getting a lot of information which seems trivial, inconsequential, but some of it seems surprisingly pointed… The very pointed references to Arab leaders could have as their objective undermining their political credibility at home, because this kind of public identification of their hostility towards Iran could actually play against them at home…It’s a question of whether Wikileaks are being manipulated by interested parties that want to either complicate our relationship with other governments or want to undermine some governments… I have no doubt that Wikileaks is getting a lot of the stuff from sort of relatively unimportant sources, like the one that perhaps is identified on the air. But it may be getting stuff at the same time from interested intelligence parties who want to manipulate the process and achieve certain very specific objectives.” Interesting.

12/1/2010 - GORDON DUFF “WIKI-MURDERS” IN IRAN, SIGNAL “FALSE FLAG” TERROR Veterans Today Iran is being “set up” through terrorist attacks timed to make any military action in the region immediately look like Iran “out of control.” More attacks on scientists and their families are planned until international tensions are high enough for a “false flag” terror attack on the United States to seem plausible.........There is now little doubt that Wikileaks is an intelligence operation managed from Tel Aviv, carrying out Israeli foreign policy. The most recent “leaks” have successfully reset the diplomatic stage in the Middle East, exposing undercurrents of animosity against Iran while destroying American diplomatic credibility. Very interesting, if true.

12/1/2010 - WikiLeaks: Netanyahu Warned U.S. Iran 'Months Away' From Nuclear Bomb the U.S. diplomat quoted in the classified cable said in response to the premier's warning that Netanyahu's estimate was likely unfounded and meant to pressure Washington into action against the Islamic Republic.

12/1/2010 - Oceans of Blood and Profits for the Mongers of War Total losses for Lebanon in 2006 came to an estimated $3.6bn, for Israel $1.6bn - so Israel won hands down in terms of money, even if its rabble of an army screwed everything up on the ground. But among those who paid for this were American taxpayers (funding the Israelis) and European taxpayers, Arab potentates and the crackpot of Iran (funding Lebanon). So the American taxpayer destroys what the European taxpayer rebuilds. It's the same in Gaza; Washington funds the weapons to blow up EU-funded projects and the EU rebuilds them in time for them to be destroyed again. But boy oh boy, in the Lebanese war, US arms manufacturers make a packet - and so, to a lesser extent do the Iranian and Chinese missile dealers. The cost of Israel to the American taxpayers, and that includes all peripheral costs including continued aid to Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan for keeping peace treaties with Israel or because of the damage Israel has wrought upon them, and the costs of the Iraq war - all of this money has been drained out of the US economy, could have fed and housed millions of Americans many times over, could have provided free health care many times over. Instead, thanks to the overwhelming influence of the Israeli lobby on our government, we are going broke. America is becoming a third world nation in order to prop up a nation based on religious supremacism, one that routinely violates international and humanitarian law, and one that practices a form of apartheid. And given that, the Israelis are starting to seed a new host: China. This doesn't begin to address the political ramifications our support for Israel has cost us. It was the main reason given by the 911 mastermind, Khaled Shaikh Mohammed.

12/1/2010 - Der Spiegel: US officials called Ahmadinejad 'Hitler'

12/1/2010 - If WikiLeaks Is a PsyOp, Whose PsyOp Is It? Selective disclosure and cherry-picking intelligence can be even more useful than simply fabricating evidence. The authenticity of the diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks hasn’t been challenged. But one might wonder whether there’s a particular spin that the disclosures are meant to convey. Could be why Israel is so pleased at the latest Wikileaks release.

12/1/2010 - If we aren’t going to bomb, we have to deter The only way to prevent this scenario is through a sweeping military operation. Only one country has the power to take on an operation of this scale; it is the country with the most at stake and the greatest interest in preventing this new world disorder. That country is the United States. Israel wants us to attack Iran for them, like we did with Iraq.

12/1/2010 - WikiLeaks cables: Qatar okays use of airbase for U.S. attack on Iran Qatar agreed to allow the United States to use a base on Qatari soil to bomb Iran, according to a report in the newspaper Al-Arabiya based on secret diplomatic cables published by the website WikiLeaks.

12/1/2010 - Israel, U.S. tense as WikiLeaks set to release classified bilateral communiques According to the senior Israeli official, the U.S. Embassy said that the documents were not highly classified, but the administration did not know the precise content of the cables.

12/1/2010 - Unexpectedly, Israel Welcomes WikiLeaks Revelations

12/1/2010 - Why Are We Still in Korea? by Patrick J. Buchanan To broker peace in Palestine, Obama began his presidency with a demand that Israel halt all new construction of settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Today, as his price for a one-time-only 90-day freeze on new construction on the West Bank, but not East Jerusalem, “Bibi” Netanyahu is demanding 20 F-35 strike fighters, a U.S. commitment to a Security Council veto of any Palestinian declaration of independence, and assurances the U.S. will support a permanent Israeli presence on the Jordan river. And the Israelis want it all in writing. This, from a client state upon which we have lavished a hundred billion dollars in military aid and defended diplomatically for decades.

12/1/2010 - Israeli Airport Security Steve Clemons has a useful post about GOP demands for Israeli-style airport security in place of the TSA’s strip-’n'-grope regime. Not only would it be more expensive than TARP, and quite probably impractical, but as Stephen Walt writes to Clemons, there’s a bigger question going unaddressed here: Am I the only person who sees the irony in the recommendation that the US adopt the Israeli approach to airline security? The proper question to ask is: why do we suddenly need greater airport security? Could it be because we’ve gradually adopted Israel’s approach to the Middle East too? Our support for Israel is the reason we were attacked on 911 in the first place.

12/1/2010 - The Democracy Agenda is Over One other notable aspect of these stories has been the reaction of neoconservatives. I mentioned Jennifer Rubin and David Frum in the piece. But The Washington Times‘ Eli Lake and The Atlantic‘s Jeffrey Goldberg have also rushed to point out that Wikileaks proves “that it is not just Israel that seeks to pull America into a fight with Teheran.” This is a red herring. No one with any familiarity with the region would doubt that other Arab nations are uncomfortable with Iran’s ascendency. The problem with an American strike on Iran isn’t that it would be in Israel’s interest, it is that it is not in the American interest. Adding King Abdullah doesn’t make a hill of difference. Why should Uncle Sam muscle up on his behalf?

12/1/2010 - A Dangerous Link There are safer ways for the Obama administration to prove its unquestioned support for Israel’s security. Really? And why should he have to do that at all? He was elected to serve the AMERICAN PEOPLE.

12/1/2010 - A Look at the Franken Files On the Senate floor, however, Franken has been less active on issues relating to the Jewish community and Israel. He did not co-sponsor any of six recent bills in support of Israel, including one “calling for the immediate and unconditional release” of Gilad Shalit (Resolution 571) and another opposing the Arab League trade boycott of Israel (Bill 1671). He also did not cosponsor Bill 3821, protecting Jewish students from discrimination on the ground of religion under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act — which has not yet come to a vote. Franken’s official website also does not mention Israel or anti-Jewish discrimination, and does not include a section on Israel or anti-Semitism. This may be because most of his focus in his first two years has been directed toward issues relating directly to Minnesotans. Franken, for example, lists “Agriculture and Rural Issues” at the top of his agenda on his official website. Oh dear, how dare Franken put the interests of his constituents over the interests of a foreign nation! The nerve.

12/1/2010 - Now We Know. America Really Doesn't Care About Injustice in the Middle East It's not that US diplomats don't understand the Middle East; it's just that they've lost all sight of injustice. Vast amounts of diplomatic literature prove that the mainstay of Washington's Middle East policy is alignment with Israel, that its principal aim is to encourage the Arabs to join the American-Israeli alliance against Iran, that the compass point of US policy over years and years is the need to tame/bully/crush/oppress/ ultimately destroy the power of Iran. There is virtually no talk (so far, at least) of illegal Jewish colonial settlements on the West Bank, of Israeli "outposts", of extremist Israeli "settlers" whose homes now smallpox the occupied Palestinian West Bank – of the vast illegal system of land theft which lies at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian war. And incredibly, all kinds of worthy US diplomats grovel and kneel before Israel's demands – many of them apparently fervent supporters of Israel – as Mossad bosses and Israel military intelligence agents read their wish-list to their benefactors. A good read.

12/1/2010 - WikiLeaks Israel warned U.S. not to arm Arab states against Iran Netanyahu is quoted as warning that should Iran get the bomb despite U.S.-led efforts to curb its uranium enrichment, Arab powers could shift loyalties from Washington to Tehran.

12/1/2010 - Turkish foreign minister to hold talks in US Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu starts a four–day visit to the United States Saturday for talks on bilateral ties and regional issues, the foreign ministry said Friday.

12/1/2010 - Armed members of Jewish Defense League forced way into Paris museum The BDS France Campaign- On Sunday November 21, 2010, more than 30 members of the Jewish Defense League forced their way into the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, which was showing an exhibition of photographs from Gaza taken by Kai Wiedenhöfer. Armed, wearing helmets and hoods in some cases, group members tried to reach the basement exhibition room in order to vandalize the photographer's work, but were prevented from doing so by the museum security staff.

12/1/2010 - Hariri visits Iran to lobby for stability Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad al–Hariri visits Iran on Saturday, seeking its help to prevent political tensions turning violent if a U.N.–backed tribunal indicts Hezbollah members for killing his father.

12/1/2010 - Iran condemns leaks on Arab calls for attack "We don't give any value to these documents," Ahmadinejad told a news conference "It's without legal value. Iran and regional states are friends. Such acts of mischief have no impact on relations between nations." Wikileaks = psyops?

12/1/2010 - Is Israel's Mossad Targeting Iran's Nuclear Scientists? This is why it's likely it was the Israelis behind the Hariri assasination. The Israelis were the first terrorists in the Middle East (Irgun and Stern gangs) and the Arabs simply have learned from them.

12/1/2010 - Iran Scientist Killed by Bomb Worked on Atomic Project Shahriari was a member of a regional scientific program known as Sesame, which includes Israel as a member, according to the project’s website. He succeeded Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, an Iranian scientist who also died in an attack, the Tehran-based Asre-Iran website, which is close to the government, said today. Ali-Mohammadi, a professor of elementary particle physics, was killed in January by a bomb planted outside his home in Tehran.

12/1/2010 - Israeli firms see a global market for their anti-terrorism know-how "We might be a small country, but we're not small in this business," said Hefetz, director of the Israel Export & International Cooperation Institute, a quasi-government business promotion group that this month organized the Homeland Security Conference, Israel's first expo for domestic security providers. .....More than 400 Israeli companies export about $1.5 billion annually in domestic security goods and technology, including biometric devices, tear gas canisters, anti-intrusion systems, airport screening machines, explosives detectors and remote-controlled vehicles. How much terror is manufactured by Israel to further its massive anti-terrorism business?

12/1/2010 - Turkey 'won't be silent' if Israel strikes Lebanon "Does (Israel) think it can enter Lebanon with the most modern aircraft and tanks to kill women and children, and destroy schools and hospitals, and then expect us to remain silent?" Erdogan said at a conference organised by the Union of Arab Banks. "Does it think it can use the most modern weapons, phosphorus munitions and cluster bombs to kill children in Gaza and then expect us to remain silent? "We will not be silent and we will support justice by all means available to us."

12/1/2010 - WikiLeaks Israel's Security Concerns Often Clash With U.S. Interests Gilad's "typically frank" remarks lend credence to the testimony of Gen. David Petraeus, then CENTCOM Commander, before the Senate Armed Service Committee in March. Petraeus articulated several reasons why U.S. and Israeli interests did not necessarily coincide. The Arab-Israeli conflict, according to Petraeus, "present[s] distinct challenges to our ability to advance our interests," and "foments anti-American sentiment, due to a perception of U.S. favoritism for Israel." Petraeus went on to describe how Israel's ongoing conflicts spurred recruitment efforts for al-Qaeda and increased Iranian influence in the region.

12/1/2010 - Russians Refuted US Claim of Iranian Missile Threat to Europe by Gareth Porter The Russians maintained that even assuming favorable conditions, Iran would be able to begin a program to develop ballistic missiles that could reach Central Europe or Moscow only after 2015 at the earliest. The Russians denied, however, that Iran has such an intention, arguing that its ballistic missile program continues to be directed toward “regional concerns” – meaning deterring an attack on Iran by Israel.

12/1/2010 - Iran's military looks to the sky as new priority Still, Iran clearly is trying to close security gaps around nuclear sites – including Iran's main uranium enrichment lab – and blunt the edge that the Pentagon and Israel gain from drone technology. Iranian commanders now view drones as a critical tool, including to monitor the U.S. 5th Fleet based across the Gulf in Bahrain.

12/1/2010 - WikiLeaks Files Threaten Egypt's Role as Mideast Mediator

12/1/2010 - WikiLeaks Lesson: Deception Part of Middle East Diplomacy then there's the revelation, from Israeli officials, that a number of U.S. allies in the Gulf feel that their views are so routinely ignored by Washington that they have taken to relaying messages via Israel, which they know has the ear of those in power in the U.S. But any sense of strategic intimacy between Israel and even these most conservative Arab regimes is undercut by the cables' revelation that Israeli officials have constantly questioned some of the goodies included in U.S. arms sales to those regimes, making clear their suspicion that such weapons could one day be turned against Israel.

12/1/2010 - “There is no anti-Semitic sentiment in Iran” If you don’t believe in Moses and Jesus, you are not Muslim Islamic theologian Mohsen Rabbani, director of “Fundacion Cultural Oriente”, describes religious similarities between Jews and Muslims. “We believe that Moses and Jesus are great prophets. If you don’t believe that, you are not Muslim. We believe in Abrahamic religions. We view them as brothers. We as Muslims believe in Prophet Moses. The Islamic Republic of Iran is the only country where religious minorities have the same freedoms, occupy high positions, are free to operate on the market, in the economy, and have their representatives in the parliament. We consider ourselves first Jews, then Christians, and only after that, Muslims.” Great article.

12/1/2010 - Israel torn on U.S. arming Arabs against Iran: WikiLeaks Shapiro declines an Israeli request to review the U.S. report on planned Middle East arms sales before its submission to Congress, as it contained secret intelligence assessments. The Obama administration announced last month it would go ahead with the $60 billion deal with Saudi Arabia. A Pentagon official, Alexander Vershbow, told reporters at the time: "Israel does not object to this sale."

12/1/2010 - Israel approves detention center for migrants other officials said authorities cannot let thousands of economic migrants enter illegally each year, take jobs from Israelis and dilute the country's Jewish character. The supreme irony here is that it is the Jewish groups here in America that are squarely behind the effort to grant amnesty to illegals in America, by their own admission. Yet, it's another standard for Israel. Ironically, many of these immigants are from Sudan, another celebrated cause of American Jews.

12/1/2010 - Is Glenn Beck After the Wrong Billionaire? It’s kindly old Rupert Murdoch and his News Corp. He has six channels on my cable system alone. He actually pays Republican presidential contenders to pontificate on air. He owns The Wall Street Journal, The Times of London and a major Hollywood movie studio. But he doesn’t pull anyone’s strings, does he? Nah.

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November

11/24/2010 - Israel planes hit Gaza targets after rocket fire At least four people, three women and a boy, were hurt in one attack in the central Gaza Strip when an uninhabited building close to where they were standing collapsed after being hit, local residents said.

11/24/2010 - Liar, Liar by Philip Giraldi His administration’s retreat from any confrontation with Israel in an attempt to make a recalcitrant Netanyahu conform even to minimal standards of behavior confirms what all the world already knows: Israel will act and the United States will follow, even if those actions will inflict grave damage on the American people and on the US national interest. And what will that mean for the United States? It means that the decision about going to war for the US is essentially controlled by Israel because Tel Aviv can start a conflict with Iran at any time that will quickly draw Washington in. Those who think that the White House still is managing the situation are completely naïve. There is no indication that the Obama administration has warned Israel against bombing Iran because the US has no cards to play, having ruled out exerting any sort of economic or military pressure on Netanyahu. And there should be no doubt that an attack by Israel on an Iranian nuclear facility would trigger Iranian retaliation and immediate calls in Congress and the media to support Tel Aviv, leaving the president no option but to enter the conflict. ...So if you doubt that the United States is tied hand and foot to Israel in terms of its ability to take independent action in the Middle East, just listen to what Dennis Ross, Joe Biden, and Eric Cantor are saying. Does it sound like they are articulating policies beneficial to the US? Read on for more treason in our government. Philip Giraldi is a former CIA counterterrorism official.

11/24/2010 - Israeli soldiers who used Palestinian boy, 9, as a human shield avoid jail Majed was among dozens of men, women and children who were sheltering in a basement when the soldiers forced him to open a bag at gunpoint, according to the boy's affidavit, given to Defence for Children International (DCI), which filed a complaint against the Israeli army.

11/24/2010 - 'I saw Ariel Sharon murder 2 Palestinian toddlers in Lebanon' Dutch media this month published articles accusing Ariel Sharon of murdering Palestinian children in Lebanon. Former officials who worked with Sharon said the publications were false. The Israeli foreign ministry called the claim "a modern blood libel."

11/24/2010 - U.S. ready to offer Israel written guarantees if it restarts peace talks

11/24/2010 - Qaeda-linked group threatens Israelis, in Hebrew

11/24/2010 - AIPAC Gets Down and Dirty in Pushback vs. Defamation Suit former AIPAC staffer and now liberal columnist M.J. Rosenberg sees more to it. According to Rosenberg, if Rosen proves that his operations, including going to a foreign official to warn him about the investigation, were all part of AIPAC’s standard operating procedures, “that would mean that AIPAC is not a domestic lobbying organization at all, but something very, very different.”

11/24/2010 - US Taxpayers Footing the Bill for Israeli 'Refugee Resettlement' Just remember this when you see all of the continued poverty in the US as more and more people are forced to use food stamps in order to survive; this is just another one of the costs of Israel to the American taxpayers.

11/24/2010 - 'US no longer sees Israel as an asset' Rivlin’s remarks provide a good reference point for how average Israelis view the growing tension between Jerusalem and Washington, which is being fed by a burgeoning movement within the US to paint Israel as a liability, both ethically and politically. It's about time! Too bad Congress hasn't followed suit. YET.

11/24/2010 - Israeli bill could threaten future peace deals

11/24/2010 - U.S. and Israel: Still No Consensus on Pressuring Iran An open disagreement between Israel and the Pentagon in recent weeks has highlighted the dilemma President Barack Obama faces in making progress on Iran. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday poured cold water on last week's suggestion by Israeli Prime Minister that the only way Iran can be stopped from acquiring nuclear weapons is for the U.S. to threaten military action. Military action, Gates warned, would solve nothing; in fact it would be more likely to drive Iran to acquire nuclear weapons. Somebody needs to tell Israel to fight its own battles. Let us get our troops out of there first, as, they most certainly would pay the price for any such action. And thank you, Mr. Robert Gates, for putting the interests of our country, America, FIRST.

11/24/2010 - ISRAELI SOLDIERS DETAIN FIVE PALESTINIAN SCHOOLBOYS IN SOUTH HEBRON HILLS These kinds of incidents are the evidence of the Israeli military escort’s failure to protect the children from settler’s violence. In the last school year, the children were attacked 19 times, they waited for the escort 53 hours and they missed almost 27 hours of classes.

11/24/2010 - IDF officer suspected of blocking probe into Gaza civilian death Sergeant S. was part of a combined force of Givati and armored brigades which had entered a built up area when it identified a group of around 30 Palestinians walking toward them, apparently after being ordered by the IDF to evacuate their homes in a neighboring area. A deputy battalion commander ordered troops to fire warning shots toward the group - but not at them. Soon after the order was given, two Givati Brigade soldiers joined the troops. One of them, S., opened fire, killing the two women.

11/24/2010 - Jewish groups push for pardon of worst spy against US Insiders associated with the push, which resulted last week in a congressional letter to President Obama asking for clemency for the American Jew convicted in 1987 of spying for Israel, say the main factor was one man: David Nyer, an Orthodox activist from Monsey, N.Y. Nyer, working under the auspices of the National Council of Young Israel and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, repeatedly called dozens of congressional offices and pressed Jewish groups asking for a leader to take on the case of Pollard... Yet another example of the treason on Capitol Hill. Read on.

11/24/2010 - Abbas insists on Jerusalem in settlement freeze

11/24/2010 - U.S. bars Palestinian statehood moves in U.N. agencies At a meeting of the International Telecommunications Union last month in Mexico, the Palestinian delegations tabled a motion designed to secure them the rights of a member state, said Sulaiman Zuhairi, a senior Palestinian official. "We could have gone to voting and got what we wanted," he said, saying it was endorsed by around 50 countries and was on track to pass with the backing of an additional 40 states.

11/24/2010 - U.S. official: Israel must refrain from East Jerusalem construction during freeze The official added that President Barack Obama had committed in an oral message to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last April that the U.S. expects both sides to refrain from "actions that would seriously undermine trust," including in East Jerusalem, and would respond with "steps, actions, or adjustments in policy" to any such provocative actions as long as negotiations are underway. The U.S. administration has defined "actions that would seriously undermine trust" as including major housing announcements, demolitions, or evictions in East Jerusalem

11/24/2010 - Israel says no building freeze in Jerusalem Israel insisted Thursday it would keep building homes in disputed east Jerusalem, threatening to hold up a U.S.–proposed settlement construction moratorium designed to renew deadlocked Mideast peacemaking.

11/24/2010 - Israel condemns Web list of Gaza soldiers Israel's military on Friday condemned the publication of names and photographs of 200 Israeli soldiers on a website that called them "war criminals." If you can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen.

11/24/2010 - Israel and U.S. struggle to conclude settlement pact The latest snag concerned a pledge that Israel says U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made to provide the country free of charge 20 F–35 stealth warplanes worth $3 billion. Politicians said Washington was backtracking and now wanted some sort of payment for the coveted fighter aircraft. "It looks like the free stealth fighters have slipped," said Benny Begin, a minister from Netanyahu's Likud party who is opposed to the proposed U.S. deal, warning that Washington was setting a trap to extract major concessions later down the line. We have to bribe them to stop breaking the law. Other nations (Iraq, namely) would've been invaded for such behavior.

11/24/2010 - Evidence of Iran Nuclear Weapons Program May Be Fraudulent An IAEA official told Seymour Hersh that the Israelis were behind the revelation of the sites and two journalists from Der Spiegel reported the same thing. So did an adviser to an Iranian monarchist group, speaking to a writer for The New Yorker. That episode was not isolated, but was part of a broader pattern of Israeli cooperation with the MEK in providing intelligence intended to influence the CIA and the IAEA. Israeli authors Melman and Javadanfar, who claimed to have good sources in Mossad, wrote in their 2007 book that Israeli intelligence had "laundered" intelligence to the IAEA by providing it to Iranian opposition groups, especially the NCRI. Read it.

11/24/2010 - Israeli soldiers walk free in Gaza human shield case "It's purely for international consumption," Horton told AFP. "It's to look like you're doing something busy after the Goldstone report, in order to get the UN off your back. It's not a genuine attempt to enforce the law or to send a message that this is not appropriate conduct for the army to engage in."

11/24/2010 - With settlement deal, U.S. will be rewarding Israel's bad behavior It was only a little over a year and a half ago that the Obama administration demanded a freeze on Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, including even the "natural growth" of existing settlements. At the time, the administration called settlement activity "illegitimate" and appeared ready to go to the mat with Israel to show just how strongly the United States believed that settlements impede peace. But now, the administration says it is prepared to pay off Israel to freeze only some of its settlement activity, and only temporarily. For the first time in memory, the United States is poised to reward Israel for its bad behavior.

11/24/2010 - An American Bribe that Stinks of Appeasement By Robert Fisk Three billion dollars for three months is one billion dollars a month to stop Israel's colonisation. That's half a billion dollars a fortnight. That's $500m a week. That's $71,428,571 a day, or $2,976,190 an hour, or $49,603 a minute. And as well as this pot of gold, Washington will continue to veto any resolutions critical of Israel in the UN and prevent "Palestine" from declaring itself a state. It's worth invading anyone to get that much cash to stage a military withdrawal, let alone the gracious gesture of not building more illegal colonies for only 90 days while furiously continuing illegal construction in Jerusalem at the same time.

11/24/2010 - Israel’s ashkenazi elite, not Russian immigrants, are responsible for the country’s ever increasing racism

11/24/2010 - Palestinians, Syria condemn Israel referendum law In Damascus, the foreign ministry said "Syria totally rejects this Israeli measure which changes nothing to the fact that the Golan is Syrian territory and cannot be part of any negotiations." The legislation, which was backed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, passed with 65 Knesset members in favour and 33 against, and no abstentions. It requires any government signing a peace agreement that cedes territory in east Jerusalem or the Golan, or any other sovereign territory within Israel itself, to secure either approval of parliament or hold a national referendum.

11/24/2010 - Gazans shocked at how many neighbors, coworkers, officials are 'spying' for Israel Rumors and panic reached a fever pitch over the summer when the government began arresting people while shrouding the campaign in secrecy. Because officials wouldn’t say why anyone was arrested, people arrested for other crimes were sometimes falsely branded collaborators, a charge that carries a high price in Gazan society.

11/24/2010 - A Special Place in Hell-Israel News Before coming to America recently, I'd heard warnings from friends in the U.S. Jewish community that the very mention of J Street would spark nasty arguments, attempts to silence dissenting opinions regarding Israeli policies, behind-the-scenes sabotage by powerful pro-settlement donors and organizational professionals, perhaps cancellations of events. I had been warned, as well, that it was already too late.

11/24/2010 - George Galloway. Blasts Ottawa for its policies on Israel and Afghanistan "The Palestinians decided long away they will not go into the museum of ex-nations," he said to broad applause.

11/24/2010 - Israel must hold poll on any peace plan withdrawal after Knesset vote Any peace deal involving withdrawal by Israel from annexed territory in East Jerusalem or the Golan Heights will need to be ratified by a national referendum under legislation approved by the Israeli parliament late last night.

11/24/2010 - Palestinian official: Western Wall not Jewish "This wall has never been a part of what is called the Jewish Temple," the report claimed. "However, it was Islamic tolerance which allowed the Jews to stand before it and cry over its loss."

11/24/2010 - Ex-AIPAC Official Threatens to Uncover Mass Spying at Israel lobby Rosen says his actions were common practice at the organization. He said his next move is to show that AIPAC, Washington’s major pro-Israeli lobbying group by far, regularly traffics in sensitive U.S. government information, especially material related to the Middle East. “I will introduce documentary evidence that AIPAC approved of the receipt of classified information,” he said by e-mail. “Most instances of actual receipt are hard to document, because orally received information rarely comes with classified stamps on it nor records alerts that the information is classified.”

11/24/2010 - Israel stakes out lonely position on Jerusalem no other government recognizes Israel's 43–year–old annexation of east Jerusalem, and the Palestinians are increasingly vocal about insisting that what Israelis universally call "neighborhoods" are in fact illegal "settlements.".....On Tuesday, bulldozers started clearing land for 1,000 new housing units to expand Har Homa's population by a quarter. What might not have drawn much attention several years ago, however, drew reprimands this month from the U.S., the Palestinians and other countries.

11/24/2010 - The Rise, Then The Fall of GOP’s ‘National Rabbi’ In surreptitiously recorded conversations between Balkany and SAC Capital representatives that were played during the trial, Balkany boasted of his political connections. “Every six weeks, a different senator from Washington comes to my house for lunch or dinner,” he said on the tapes, citing such present and past senators as Orrin Hatch, Joseph Lieberman, Arlen Specter, Ted Kennedy and Max Baucus. There’s little cause to assume that Balkany is exaggerating. The catalog of boldface political players gives a hint as to the level of Balkany’s access, carefully cultivated through years of donations. His power, Sheinkopf said, came from “his ability to raise money, which gave him access, which gave him the ability to deliver things for his community that some thought were not possible to do. He was a great bundler. Money matters in politics; he was able to raise it.” ....A January 2000 Daily News report found that Balkany was charging Jewish families for his help in accessing child day care vouchers for low-income families. The report raised suspicions that applications submitted via Balkany received special consideration from the city as families elsewhere got put on long waiting lists. More than half the vouchers went to four heavily Orthodox Brooklyn neighborhoods, and the number going to the Brooklyn ZIP code in Boro Park where Balkany’s school and several others he helped were located was about five times the number of vouchers distributed in Manhattan and the Bronx combined. Balkany was never charged in this case. This is why ALL campaign financing must be ABOLISHED. This is NOT what the Founding Fathers had in mind for this country. Our representatives are supposed to be working for EVERYONE, not just the highest bidders. This is bullshit of the highest order.

11/24/2010 - Terror Expert Emerson Feels His Own Heat Over Finances “Emerson is a leading member of a multi-million-dollar industry of self-proclaimed experts who spread hate toward Muslims in books and movies, on websites and through speaking appearances,” the report claimed. In its wide-ranging article, The Tennessean reported that while the IPTF is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt charity, it in fact distributes almost all of its contributions to SAE Productions, a for-profit company that Emerson founded in 1994 and continues to control, as he does the IPTF. Citing publicly available tax filings, the paper reported that Emerson’s foundation paid $3,390,000 to SAE in 2008 — the foundation’s only significant expenditure. It was the Emerson-controlled for-profit firm that then made all expenditures on the foundation’s behalf. ....“Of all those of us who labored in the vineyard in trying to help the Jewish people, there is no one who stands higher in the pantheon of honor than Steve Emerson,” said Bialkin, a former chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, “for all of us — those of us who are hard-liners — feel this guy is worth his weight in gold.” And now you know why Emerson is allowed to get away with this.

11/24/2010 - Bush Lies - Not Just To Us, But To Himself The good news is that Cheney is gone and that Adm. Mullen is still around. The bad news is that Adm. Fallon was sacked for making it explicitly clear that, "We're not going to do Iran on my watch," and there are few flag officers with Fallon's guts and honesty. Moreover, President Barack Obama continues to show himself to be an invertebrate vis-à-vis Israel and its neocon disciples.

11/24/2010 - Al-Qaeda’s Christian Massacre — Aiding and Abetting the Occupation of Palestine The massacre of Iraqi Christians at Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad also makes one wonder about claims that the group has “a great sense of timing.” The slaughter of Catholic Mass-goers occurred just one week after church leaders from across the Middle East had forcefully condemned Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.

11/24/2010 - Mystery of Who Funded Right-wing "Radical Islam" Campaign Deepens The DVDs, 28 million in all, were a boost to Republican candidates who were trying to paint Democrats as weak on terrorism -- and they arguably helped fuel the anti-Muslim sentiment that boiled over in the "ground zero mosque" fight last summer. The film, "Obsession: Radical Islam's War With the West," was widely criticized for its cartoonish portrayal of Muslims as modern-day Nazis. But who put up the money to send out all those millions of DVDs? Clarion, which has strong links to the right-wing Israeli group Aish HaTorah and is listed in government records as a foreign nonprofit, would never say

11/24/2010 - Eric Cantor and the Provoking of American Anti-semitism Essentially what Cantor did was tell the leader of a foreign country that he will protect that country from the official policies of the President of the United States–the person charged by the Constitution to carry out the nation’s foreign policy. Actually, the Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, have been supplying just this sort of protection for a very long time. But they have always done so surreptitiously. What is different with Cantor is that he has done this quite publically, letting us all know about it in a notice on his official stationary.

11/24/2010 - PM asks for Pollard’s Release as Part of Freeze Deal Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has asked the US to release Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard as part of a series of gestures made to Israel in an effort to restart peace talks with the Palestinians, sources with knowledge of the talks told The Jerusalem Post over the weekend.

11/24/2010 - Israeli wanted by Colombia released in Russia He was sentenced in absentia to nearly 11 years in prison for his role in the 1980s training of far–right paramilitary groups responsible for mass murder and widespread land theft during a more than decade–long reign of terror across Colombia's countryside. And who better to do that than an Israeli?

11/24/2010 - New Museum on Independence Mall Is a Sign That Jews Have Arrived It is, therefore, a measure of how far American Jews have come, how much anti-Semitism has declined and how secure the Jewish community now feels that if any such fears were expressed, no notice whatsoever was taken of them. The new museum, in its prime location and through its eye-catching building, makes a bold statement. Nobody who walks the mall can miss it.

11/24/2010 - Shapiro: Administration Opposes Palestinian State Declaration Via U.N. What was on the minds of the Jewish leaders? A bevy of issues ranging from Iran sanctions, to delegitimization of Israel, to unilateral Palestinian steps (where Shapiro told Morton Klein of the ZOA that the administration opposes a move to ask the UN Security Council to recognize a Palestinian state, although he did not explicitly say the U.S. would veto it).

11/24/2010 - Ex-AIPAC official got at least $670,000 from donors The latest episode of the AIPAC spy scandal turned sordid last week, with the pro-Israeli lobby releasing its deposition of fired official Steven J. Rosen in which he confesses he engaged in extra-marital sex and watched pornography on his office computer. But largely buried beneath such tawdry details was an admission arguably far more damaging to Rosen’s drive to prove the organization ruined his professional life: that major Jewish donors supported him with hundreds of thousands of dollars during the four years after his dismissal in May 2005.

11/24/2010 - Occupation Is the Issue; BDS Is a Distraction a mobilization to oppose the Global BDS movement is now the highest priority of the pro-Israel community. .....“The BDS campaign is working hard to brand Israel. We must now work to brand the BDS movement as deceptive and destructive.” And we have a new and coordinated effort that includes the Jewish Federations of North America and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, with initial funding in the millions of dollars, with roughly the same goal: Denounce BDS. Once again (yawn), Israel as embattled victim.

11/24/2010 - Jewish settlements targeted in divestment campaign Pension funds in Norway and Sweden have divested themselves of holdings in some firms involved in building in settlements or helping to erect Israel's contentious West Bank separation barrier. European activists are cranking up pressure on companies by exposing the West Bank ties and picketing stores that sell settlement goods. And some major U.S. churches are questioning companies as a precursor to possible divestment.

11/24/2010 - Columbia Student Group Drops Sponsorship of Gaza Talk Under Pressure J Street U’s national director, Daniel May, who introduced Ging at the Columbia event, took exception to the notion that Ging’s views are beyond the pale. If an event with Ging is considered illegitimate, May said, “then we are effectively saying that any criticism, any questioning of the effectiveness of Israel’s policies, is illegitimate.” Fascists strike again.

11/24/2010 - Sarah Palin, Neocon A great article out this week by former CIA Philip Giraldi deals with a recent letter Sarah Palin penned to Congress, evidently on behalf of her Neocon puppetmasters

11/24/2010 - Pope's praise of Pius dismays Holocaust survivors "The decisive thing is what he did and what he tried to do, and on that score, we really must acknowledge, I believe, that he was one of the great righteous men and that he saved more Jews than anyone else," Benedict said, offering perhaps his most sweeping praise of Pius' papacy to date.

11/24/2010 - Purposes to All in Tents: Four Films About Bedouins in One The film opens with the four directors reading facts about the Bedouin community of Israel over sepia-tinted footage of Bedouins shuffling through the desert. As one says, in 1948, the year of the Jewish state’s founding, his community was told, “Keep living on your land as you did during the British Mandate.” Whether due to migration or other reasons left somewhat ambiguous, Israel’s 2008 Goldberg Commission found that 70,000 Bedouins living in the Negev in 1948 had, by 1951, dwindled to 12,750.

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11/17/2010 - Two brothers killed in Israeli strike against Gaza militant

11/17/2010 - Two-year-old girl dies from leukemia while waiting to leave Gaza for treatment A two-year-old girl suffering from leukemia died while waiting for an urgent referral to an Israeli hospital. Since January 2009 a total of 33 patients have died while waiting to access hospitals outside Gaza.

11/17/2010 - Palestinians say settlers torched their olive trees A senior Israeli intelligence officer acknowledged that there had been acts of violence and vandalism by Jews in the West Bank, noting in particular recent attacks against mosques there. "We are not happy about the situation connected with Jewish extremists in the West Bank," he told a group of foreign journalists on Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity. Settlers are Israeli terrorists, but are rarely prosecuted for their crimes.

11/17/2010 - Clinton offers Netanyahu security pledge on peace talks "The chances of reaching a peace agreement will be improved significantly by achieving comprehensive security understandings between Israel and the United States," Netanyahu said before Thursday's talks began. Extortion.

11/17/2010 - US deal would allow Israel some West Bank building

11/17/2010 - Iran starts "biggest" air defense war games Iran began what it said was its biggest ever air defense drill on Tuesday to test its ability to deter air strikes, which the United States and Israel have not ruled out to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.

11/17/2010 - Israeli high tech adjusts to Asian challenge It's well known that the emergence of India and China is casting a shadow on the developed economies of Europe and North America. Less famous is the challenge facing Israel: With the Jewish state having quietly prospered as a global haven of innovation, key players here are asking whether the Asian giants might steal their high–tech thunder. If they are prosperous, then they can GIVE US OUR TAXPAYER MONEY BACK.

11/17/2010 - Lengthy US-Israel talks fail to make Mideast headway Cut all aid to Israel. Watch how fast they make peace with their neighbors.

11/17/2010 - Cantor Draws Fire Over Pledge to Israel

11/17/2010 - Israeli official: Hamas rockets can reach Tel Aviv

11/17/2010 - Eric Cantor's Pledge of Allegiance Leave aside the absurdity of believing that Israel needs to be protected from the extremely deferential and devoted Obama administration. So extraordinary is Cantor's pledge that even the Jewish Telegraph Agency's Ron Kampeas -- himself a reflexive American defender of most things Israel -- was astonished, and wrote: I can't remember an opposition leader telling a foreign leader, in a personal meeting, that he would side, as a policy, with that leader against the president. Certainly, in statements on one specific issue or another -- building in Jerusalem, or somesuch -- lawmakers have taken the sides of other nations. But to have-a-face to face and say, in general, we will take your side against the White House -- that sounds to me extraordinary. Treason.

11/17/2010 - U.S. offers Israel warplanes in return for new settlement freeze According to "The Cable" blog, White House Middle East adviser Dan Shapiro told a group of American Jewish leaders on Friday that U.S. was committed to fighting delegitimization of Israel, and listed recent efforts to advocate on behalf of Israel. Such efforts included: curbing actions by the United Nations on the Goldstone Report; blocking anti-Israel UN resolutions concerning the Gaza flotilla raid; defeating international resolutions aimed at exposing Israel's nuclear program at the International Atomic Energy Agency; and strengthening pressure on Iran and Syria in regards to their nuclear and proliferation activities.

11/17/2010 - Palestinian held for Facebook criticism of Islam The case of the unlikely apostate, a shy barber from this backwater West Bank town, is highlighting the limits of tolerance in the Western–backed Palestinian Authority – and illustrating a new trend by authorities in the Arab world to mine social media for evidence.

11/17/2010 - Plan for Mideast talks bets on quick border dealClinton outlined the "borders first" approach in September, saying that an agreement on territory would eliminate the debate about settlements "because some areas would be inside Israel and some areas would not be inside Israel." Netanyahu has not revealed his detailed position on borders. His predecessor, Ehud Olmert, proposed to Abbas in 2008 that Israel annex 6.5 percent of the West Bank, where large Jewish settlements are located, and compensate the Palestinians with a roughly equal amount of Israeli land. The Palestinians proposed a land swap of 1.9 percent, negotiators said at the time. Those talks ended abruptly in December 2008. It appears unlikely Netanyahu would match Olmert's proposal, since he has steadfastly refused to resume negotiations where they left off.

11/17/2010 - How the Neocons Are Co-opting the Tea Party by Scott McConnell Palin has become neoconservatism’s reliable vector into the Tea Party world. She reliably echoes neoconservative talking points about war with Iran. When addressing the Tea Party Convention in Nashville last February, she hit neocon talking points by citing Ronald Reagan, "peace through strength," and "tough action" against Iran. She declared that the United States needed a foreign policy that "reflected our values" and denounced the alleged policy of treating terrorism as "a mere law enforcement matter." Wearing an Israeli flag pin, she charged that President Obama was causing "Israel, our critical ally" to question our support by reaching out to hostile regimes.

11/17/2010 - Clinton offers Netanyahu security pledge on peace talks

11/17/2010 - Straight Talk from Sarah by Philip Giraldi Sarah Palin has written an “Open Letter to Republican Freshmen Members of Congress” telling them what they should support in the upcoming legislative session. The letter is clearly directed towards those congressmen who are believed to be associated with the tea parties. Her advice on foreign policy is pretty much a straight neoconservative interpretation – not at all surprising since that is who is advising her and providing her with her talking point

11/17/2010 - Cantor Recants no American official — by any stretch of the imagination — has the right to tell the government of Israel, or any foreign government, that he stands with the foreign leader against his own president. It is one thing to oppose particular US policies; it is quite another to tell a foreign leader, "I'm with you, not my president." Of course, Cantor was just being honest. Although he does oppose virtually all of President Obama's policies (he's a Republican and that is what Republicans do), he supports 100% of Israeli policies. And although an extreme partisan domestically, when it comes to Israel, he supports whichever government is in power. He believes in the right to criticize this government, just not that one. Cantor serves Israel, not the United States. Understand that. That way, we can finally DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. He is NOT THE ONLY ONE.

11/17/2010 - Settler convicted of kidnapping, abusing Palestinian teen Struk had attacked the boy two months earlier, the indictment stated, while the latter was herding sheep with a friend near the village. Struk told them to leave the land, claiming it was his, and then beat the two boys. The settler also killed a young goat belonging to the Palestinian.

11/17/2010 - Obama calls latest Israeli plan promising On the Mideast, Washington's new proposal for reviving peace talks includes a 90–day ban on housing starts in West Bank settlements – but not in east Jerusalem

11/17/2010 - Israeli government seen accepting new settlement freeze In private, Palestinian officials have expressed anger over U.S. incentives to get Israel to prolong the partial moratorium on Jewish settlement building, saying it effectively constituted bribing Israel to fulfil basic international obligations.

11/17/2010 - Israel demands written US guarantees before freeze They're using extortion to bilk the US taxpayers of MORE money that would be obviously better spent HERE AT HOME.

11/17/2010 - Cabinet stalls on settlement freeze as Israel and U.S. clash over terms

11/17/2010 - Israeli military invades Palestinian village after settlers attack family

11/17/2010 - U.S. to store more weapons in Israel The United States will store an additional $400 million in emergency military equipment in Israel. The new equipment, which will arrive in Israel over the next two years, will be available to Israel in the event of an emergency. It will bring to $1.2 billion the amount of American military equipment being stockpiled in Israel by 2012.

11/17/2010 - Clinton, Netanyahu hold marathon Mideast talks Netanyahu has insisted Israel will maintain a military presence along the eastern border of any future Palestinian state. Aaron David Miller, a Middle East expert at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, said Netanyahu was likely to remain defiant. The premier is determined "to make it unmistakably clear to the Americans that Jerusalem was never a part of this understanding and will not be a part of it in the future. There's no question that he's prepared to stand his ground," Miller told AFP.

11/17/2010 - J Street and Republican Jewish Coalition Clash Over Their Own Influence on the Elections he RJC expanded the breadth of its campaign ads on Israel during this election, making its biggest ever investment. It is hoping to show a political return. Most of the group’s ad money went to eight races, but RJC polls do not provide information about the influence it had on the outcome of those races.

11/17/2010 - Major Dutch pension fund divests from occupation The major Dutch pension fund Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn (PFZW), which has investments totaling 97 billion euros, has informed The Electronic Intifada that it has divested from almost all the Israeli companies in its portfolio.

11/17/2010 - Analysis: Obama's bid for Mideast peace is risky After watching fellow Democrats suffer bruising defeats in congressional elections, Obama is looking toward his own campaign for re-election in 2012. He needs a big win on foreign policy, and brokering an Israeli-Palestinian peace that has eluded U.S. leaders for six decades would certainly be that. To this end, the Obama administration has moved a significant distance from its original demands on Israel and its settlements.

11/17/2010 - ‘Social Suitability’ Nears OK As Israeli Housing Criterion Adalah claims that absorption committees are a means to exclude Arabs without saying so. Bishara said that these committees hide behind “vagueness,” as “no one can explain what social suitability is.”

11/17/2010 - Fate of Mideast talks in hands of polarizing rabbi The future of the Mideast peace process could rest in the hands of one very undiplomatic man: an outspoken 90–year–old rabbi who recently sparked an uproar by saying the Palestinian president should "perish from the world." Why have not the Israelis been told by US officials that they must end all of THEIR incitement against the Palestinians? Israel has for years, by way of our government, demanded the same of the Palestinians.

11/17/2010 - Israel OKs pullout from Lebanon border village Ghajar is a village of 2,200 people that lies in a strategic corner where the boundaries of Syria, Israel and Lebanon are in dispute. More than 1,500 residents live in the northern half. Its residents are members of Islam's Alawite sect, whose followers include many members of Syria's ruling elite. Most of the villagers say they want the village to remain united, regardless of who controls it. Virtually all residents have taken Israeli citizenship, further complicating the village's future.

11/17/2010 - Harper on Israel: Is the Prime Minister Mentally Sound? His dedication to that country supersedes his commitment to his own. That would be disturbing enough if Harper were merely a private citizen. But as prime minister it is beyond the pale and it isn't much of a stretch to suggest it borders on the betrayal of Canada and certainly Canadian interests. For what does it mean that Harper will defend Israel no matter the consequences for Canada? Harper appears to be a traitor to the Canadian people. The US has no shortage of such individuals - and for the same reason.

11/17/2010 - Israel rates low in terms of religious freedom While Israel’s Basic Law describes the country as a Jewish and democratic state, “Government policy continued to support the generally free practice of religion, although governmental and legal discrimination against non-Jews and non-Orthodox streams of Judaism continued,” according to the report. And if you read some of the news from the latest news batches, you'd see that these people have made sure OUR government TOO favors the Orthodox (in NYS, as one example). These are the first groups by their own admission to see to it that there's a separation of church and state here in the US (except evidently when it applies to their own).

11/17/2010 - Boston-area towns vote on Israeli anti-discrimination resolutions

11/17/2010 - Jewish Voters, Obama and the Great Elephant Hunt The two most dramatic swings in Jewish voting in the last 30 years had a lot to do with Israel: with 45% of the Jewish vote, Jimmy Carter garnered a record low for a Democrat in 1980, and with 12% of the Jewish vote, George H.W. Bush earned a near-record low for a Republican in 1992. The surveys don’t show it, but when a candidate sets off alarm bells, Israel matters big time.

11/17/2010 - CPT At-Tuwani October 2010 Update A visitor from England spent a day with the team and a delegation of 30 Mennonites from the US and Canada visited to see for themselves and hear the stories of nonviolent resistance of the people of At-Tuwani to the occupation and confiscation of their land by Israeli settlers and soldiers. The team helped a Palestinian couple from At-Tuwani prepare for a speaking tour in Italy next month.

11/17/2010 - Nigeria summons Iran diplomats over seized arms Immediately after the arms seizure, Israeli officials accused Iran of trying to sneak the shipment into the Gaza Strip, but Nigeria's security service now believes the arms were imported by some local politicians to destabilize Nigeria if they lose in the coming general elections.

11/17/2010 - "Put The Palestinians On A Diet" "The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger." ('Hamas readies for government, Israel prepares sanctions', Agence France Presse, February 16, 2006) The released documents contain actual equations used by the Israeli government to calculate the exact amounts of food, fuel and other necessities needed to do exactly that. ('Submitted to Gisha in the framework of a Freedom of Information Act Petition, AP 2744/09 Gisha v. Defense Ministry', Appendices B, C and D; http://gisha.org/UserFiles/File/HiddenMessages/DefenseMinistryDocumentsRevealedFOIAPetition.pdf)

11/17/2010 - Jewish Congressman Loses Florida Seat to Hard-Line, Pro-Israel Republican

11/17/2010 - Federations Find Youth Outreach Tricky Terrain at Yearly Meeting though conference leaders claimed to distinguish legitimate criticism of Israel from delegitimization, the panels promoted as addressing the issue contained no public critics of Israeli policy. The audience heard instead from Republican messaging guru Frank Luntz and from representatives of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the right-leaning Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs.

11/17/2010 - Wingnuts on Parade by Philip Giraldi Pollak, one of whose supporters is Alan Dershowitz, asked Schakowsky to join him in "condemning the Obama administration’s ongoing attack on Israel." In a debate with Schakowsky, Pollak unrolled a map of Israel and announced "My focus tonight will be Israel." Schakowsky’s campaign countered that she had a 100% pro-Israel voting record, which was the truth, including even a vote in favor of Israel’s right to defend itself after it killed 300 Palestinian children in operation Cast Lead against Gaza. She also cited self defense when signing a congressional letter endorsing the killing of US citizen Furkan Dogan on the Gaza flotilla. In addition, she has enthusiastically endorsed every actual and proposed piece of legislation sanctioning Iran.

11/17/2010 - Standard Operating Procedures: How the Neocons Are Co-opting the Tea Party Before there were Tea Partiers, there was Sarah Palin. The summer before John McCain put the Alaska governor on the ticket, she had been “discovered” on a Weekly Standard sponsored summer cruise to Alaska. She hosted Standard editor Bill Kristol and others at a luncheon in the state capitol, where she impressed them as a raw political talent. Kristol’s subsequent touting elevated her onto McCain’s vice presidential short list. One AEI staffer described Palin as a “project,” adding “[s]he’s bright and she’s a blank page. She’s going places and it’s worth going there with her.” ...For the neoconservatives, this alliance has paid off. Palin has become the neoconservatism’s reliable vector into the Tea Party world. She reliably echoes neoconservative talking points about war with Iran. When addressing the Tea Party Convention in Nashville last February, she hit neocon talking points by citing Ronald Reagan, “peace through strength,” and “tough action” against Iran

11/17/2010 - Not one cent for tribute: Obama's embarrassing gift to Israel On October 25, Dennis Ross, the White House point person on the Middle East, told a meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that not only is America committed "to Israel's security", but that the U.S. commitment "has also been demonstrated in our work to defeat efforts in international organizations to single out or delegitimize Israel." This is new, but undoubtedly welcome to Israel's supporters: the U.S. will not only defend Israel, it will silence its critics. The Ross pledge was ostensibly made to bar a U.N. move for Palestinian statehood which, under the agreement, would be vetoed by the U.S. But the administration's new promise has far reaching consequences.

11/17/2010 - Senior Republican Against US Aid to Palestinians Ros-Lehtinen is another one of the most egregious Israel-firsters on Capitol Hill. She should be deported to Israel, for, she too does not serve the American people.

11/17/2010 - U.S. Taxpayers are Paying for Israel's West Bank Occupation As more Americans go hungry, our government funds the state in the Middle East that is based on religious supremacy, which goes against the ideals upon which this nation was founded.

11/17/2010 - This Congress Won't Give Obama a Free Pass on Israel he new Congress can be expected to be openly supportive of Israel. That means that if the president were to resume his tactic of pressuring Israel he will find himself in opposition to many in the Congress. With many other urgent items on his agenda he may not want to get into a collision with Congress on this issue. If he were to consider taking punitive measures against Israel, if he finds the Israeli government recalcitrant, he will find it difficult to get the cooperation of Congress in the areas where this is required.

11/17/2010 - Land of the Food Insecure: Record Rates of Hunger in US Hey I know, let's give a couple more billion to Israel (whose economy is flourishing).

11/17/2010 - AIPAC Bares All to Quash Lawsuit Shapiro and Rosen are clearly building a very interesting box of incrimination around Kohr. While it is now established fact that a copy of the 300-page “Probable Economic Effect of Providing Duty-Free Treatment for U.S. Imports from Israel, Investigation No. 332-180” was probably still in AIPAC’s possession in 1987 and circulating among its employees, the report was only classified as “confidential” by the U.S. government. If Rosen intends to reveal Kohr received that particular classified information through such depositions, he will have to coach his legal team on the details of how AIPAC (in conjunction with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs) obtained such classified U.S. industrial secrets.

11/17/2010 - Eyeing Iran, Israel slates missile shield for 2015

11/17/2010 - Justice Department Prepares for Expansion of Law Prohibiting ‘Material Support’ for Terrorism Of course, the first targets of this draconian expansion of the material support law will not be a former president or the establishment media, but members of a Marxist organization and vocal opponents of the governments of Israel and Colombia and the U.S. policies supporting these repressive governments. Come and get me, bitches :)

11/17/2010 - Still More Than a Minyan in the Senate: The Post-Election Count : Cantor apparently is no longer the only elected Jewish Republican on Capitol Hill. Nan Hayworth, newly elected from New York’s 19th congressional district, got a shout-out in an AIPAC email blast that congratulated winners and especially saluted the three newly elected Jews, one of whom is Hayworth.

11/17/2010 - Was Glenn Beck's George Soros Takedown Anti-Semitic Jewish groups like the Anti-Defamation League have condemned Beck's description of Soros's behavior in occupied Hungary, while others have said that Beck's entire broadside against Soros veers uncomfortably close to anti-Semitism.

11/17/2010 - Release of the ‘Dancing Israelis’, Coincidence or Blackmail? Following what ABC News reported were “high-level negotiations between Israeli and U.S. government officials”, a settlement was reached in the case of the five Urban Moving Systems suspects. Intense political pressure apparently had been brought to bear. The reputable Israeli daily Ha’aretz reported that by the last week of October 2001, some six weeks after the men had been detained, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and two unidentified “prominent New York congressmen” were lobbying heavily for their release. According to a source at ABC News close to the 20/20 report, high-profile criminal lawyer Alan Dershowitz also stepped in as a negotiator on behalf of the men to smooth out differences with the U.S. government.

11/17/2010 - Bribing Israel Enhancing the Swag What it all means is that the Obama administration is promising to interfere with and prevent any effort to hold Israel accountable in the international arena. The U.S. is staking out a position that allowing the UN to function unhindered, or implementing UN resolutions such as the Goldstone Report, are simply gifts to be bestowed or withheld according to politically-driven, not international law-driven, considerations.

11/17/2010 - Congress lifts hold on $100 million for Lebanese army

11/17/2010 - Israel welcomes last Ethiopians of Jewish descent The original link for a related story by the JTA is here but it no longer works. It`s from June 15, 2007. I found it on this website. Essentially, WE THE US TAXPAYERS are paying for the `resettlement` of these `refugees`.

Just remember that when you see all of the continued poverty in the US as more and more people are forced to use food stamps in order to survive.

Here is a similar story on one of my blogs from November of 2005. It states:

"The package, which the American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobbied for, includes an additional $40 million in refugee-resettlement assistance for Israel, money that helps absorb Ethiopian Jews, and provides up to $75 million annually in additional funds by cutting administrative costs."

11/17/2010 - Australian Zionist group withdraws offensive ad JTA - Jewish & Israel News A major Zionist organization has withdrawn an advertisement because it featured images mocking the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

11/17/2010 - British politician: ‘Israel is the root cause of terrorism' In the second attack on Israel by Liberal Democrat politicians in the same week that the party’s leader said the party got it wrong on Israel, Jenny Tonge claimed on Friday that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is the root cause of terrorism worldwide. Possibly “Holocaust guilt” allows this treatment to go unchecked, Tonge said, adding that it might also be the “power of the pro-Israel lobby” in the UK and US.

11/17/2010 - Rowing Home to Haven In Sunny Palestine It must be a sign that I’m getting old that I encounter fewer and fewer people who remember that, prior to the creation of the State of Israel, in 1948, “Palestine” was a perfectly respectable word among Jews and was used by them all the time

11/17/2010 - We Believe We Can Make A Difference I have devoted most of my adult life to working as a diplomat on behalf of Palestinian rights, foremost their right to live as a free and dignified people in their homeland in peace and security, side by side with all their neighbors, including Israelis.

11/17/2010 - Moving Beyond Stereotypes As a result of our intense, often volatile, discussions, I came to see that each side perceives itself as the victim and sees the other as the aggressor. I also realized that Israelis feel as vulnerable and scared as Palestinians, even though Israel is so strong and Palestine so weak. And I see that Palestinians are imagined powerful enough to influence the entire outcome of the conflict by ending our resistance to occupation, which, whether violent or non-violent, Israel calls “terrorism.”

11/17/2010 - Challenging Each Other, In Good Faith Because I lived in Ramallah for a few years, I’m able to bring to the group some critical insights about life in a “five-star prison” with limited to no freedom of movement. To reach my father’s village, normally a 15-minute drive from Ramallah, we had to circumvent all the special roads that Israel built — mostly on confiscated Palestinian land — for settlers’ use only. Now the trip takes an hour and a half.

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11/10/2010 - Israel claims assassination of top Islamist militant in Gaza

11/10/2010 - German FM calls on Israel to lift Gaza siege German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle called on Israel on Monday to lift its siege of the Gaza Strip, saying the blockade of 1.5 million people was "not acceptable."

11/10/2010 - Echoes of Iraq as Hawks Push for Attack on Iran Starting in January, advocates of a tougher line on Iran will have powerful allies in Congress who could help advance that plan. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), a veteran Iran hawk who has downplayed the effectiveness of sanctions, will take over as chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

11/10/2010 - Netanyahu Pounds War Drums Less than a week after Republicans made major gains in the U.S. midterm elections, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called on President Barack Obama to "create a credible threat of military action" against Iran. .....According to diplomatic sources quoted in the Israeli and U.S. press, Netanyahu's appeal came during a meeting with Vice President Joseph Biden in New Orleans Sunday. It suggests that his right-wing government and its allies here, including hawkish Republicans who will take control of the House of Representatives in January, are preparing to escalate pressure on Obama to adopt a more confrontational stance with Tehran. Can Israel ever fight its own battles?

11/10/2010 - Bush: Olmert asked me to bomb suspected Syria nuclear plant Bush writes that he told Olmert, "I cannot justify an attack on a sovereign nation unless my intelligence agencies stand up and say it's a weapons program." Can Israel ever fight any of its own battles?

11/10/2010 - Palestinians say it's time to recognize their state "Israeli unilateralism is a call for immediate international recognition of the Palestinian state," he said in a statement. The United States swiftly repeated its opposition to any unilateral moves to recognize Palestinian statehood.

11/10/2010 - U.S. midterms: AIPAC lauds re-election of pro-Israel stalwarts Israel's Washington embassy also expressed satisfaction with the results. "Support for Israel at the Congress is strong and bipartisan,” an embassy spokesman told Haaretz.

11/10/2010 - VP Biden pledges unwavering support for Israel The vice president said the Mideast's genuine threats come from Iran and he pledged to defend Israel from that country.

11/10/2010 - Netanyahu says Iran must fear military strike Netanyahu's call for a "credible military threat" drew a swift response from the U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who said international sanctions were "biting more deeply" than the Iranians anticipated. "I disagree that only a credible military threat can get Iran to take the actions that it needs to," Gates said in Australia on Monday. "At this point we continue to believe that the political and economic approach that we are taking is in fact having an impact on Iran."

11/10/2010 - 'US Support for Israel Must Continue Forever,' says Biden Iran featured prominently in Biden’s address in New Orleans.

11/10/2010 - Help the Palestinians. Go See This Movie The film, which a Washington Post reviewer called "riveting" and "a sure-fire crowd-pleaser," and former AIPAC staffer M.J. Rosenberg called a "totally engaging" story of "regular people" who "take their fate into their own hands," is starting to be shown throughout the United States. In the next two months, scheduled screenings include: Washington DC, through November 11; Chicago, starting November 19; Minneapolis, November 26; Palm Beach, December 1; Boston, December 3; Seattle, December 17.

11/10/2010 - How will the Republican-controlled House affect U.S.-Israel ties? "If we regain the majority, we will use our larger platform to make the case that a strong Israel is firmly in the strategic and moral interests of the United States. We will press the administration not to pressure Israel into making concessions that will compromise Israel’s already tenuous security.”

11/10/2010 - 'Palestinians will give U.S. more time to relaunch peace talks' The Palestinians will give the United States several more weeks to try to relaunch direct peace talks with Israel, but will not buckle on their key demand for a halt to Israeli settlement activity, a top Palestinian official said on Thursday.

11/10/2010 - Israel sparks legal row during William Hague visit British officials were dismayed after being ambushed ahead of a meeting between Hague and his Israeli counterpart, Avigdor Lieberman, at which the issue of universal jurisdiction – under which such arrest warrants can be made – was due to be discussed. Drama queens.

11/10/2010 - Arrest fears prompt Israel to relocate strategic forum with U.K. Israel said an annual strategic forum of Israeli and British officials set to be held in London has been relocated to Israel due to continued fears that Israeli leaders could be arrested on war crimes charges.

11/10/2010 - Israel halts 'special strategic dialogue' with Britain to protest arrest warrants Israel has canceled its special strategic dialogue with London to protest a law that enables Britain to arrest visiting Israeli officials for alleged war crimes, officials in Jerusalem said Wednesday.

11/10/2010 - Israeli fast train to run through West Bank Israel is taking Palestinian lands, some of them privately owned, for tunnel portals and access roads, Baum said. Most of the land belongs to the Palestinian villages of Beit Iksa and neighboring Beit Surik, whose residents have already been cut off from some of their lands by the construction of Israel's West Bank separation barrier.

11/10/2010 - Israel-Palestine News US denies support for UN Palestinian statehood bid

11/10/2010 - Israel demolishes illegal mosque in Arab town

11/10/2010 - Palestinians demand immediate statehood to counter Israeli 'unilateralism' The prospect of the United States recognising an independent Palestine without the agreement of Israel seems very remote. But Israeli analysts speculate that President Barack Obama could threaten to abstain rather than veto a UN resolution if he believes Israel is obstructing the path to a peace treaty.

11/10/2010 - Obama: Israel construction plans unhelpful Then do something about it.

11/10/2010 - Abbas seeks urgent Security Council meeting over East Jerusalem construction Israel announced earlier this week it plans for 1,300 new apartments on land in and around Jerusalem which was annexed by Israel following the 1967 Six-Day War. A further 800 housing units were planned for the settlement of Ariel in the northern West Bank.

11/10/2010 - Special Satmar School District Gets a Windfall Some basic math shows that the public school district for Kiryas Joel — a town founded in 1977 by the late grand rebbe of the Satmar Hasidic sect, Joel Teitelbaum, as a rural refuge for his followers — will receive more in RTTT funds per public school student than any other district in the state What remains unclear is whether the district can also use those funds to benefit its private school students, an outcome that would be welcome news to the religious schools that serve almost all the non-special education students in the politically influential town .......The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1994 that the district violated the Constitution’s requirement of separation between religion and state. But allies of the influential Satmar sect in the state government rewrote the law allowing for creation of the district, finally finding statutory language able to overcome the constitutional barriers. Unlike some New York villages and neighborhoods with majority Orthodox populations, Kiryas Joel is almost exclusively populated by members of the Satmar Hasidic sect. The village ranks among the poorest in the United States, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Read that again. And realize who cries the loudest to keep the separation of church and state, only when it applies to others.

11/10/2010 - Struggling Over Subsidies That Undo Modernity The reason for the protest was the students’ perception of rank unfairness in Israel’s upcoming state budget, which will provide monthly living allowances to Orthodox men engaged in full-time yeshiva study. The stipends actually date back to 1980, but they were ruled illegal by the Supreme Court last June because they discriminate against secular university students. Then, late in October, the Cabinet began discussing a bill to circumvent the high court and restore the yeshiva stipends, and protests erupted nationwide, some of them violent. Notice how similar this is to the story in this news batch dealing with the upstate New York school in a largely orthodox neighborhood. Welcome to the United States of Israel, where American taxpayers get to fund religious supremacy as long as it is JUDAISM. And we also get to fund the pirate kingdom of Israel, which pillages and plunders its neighbors property at will.

11/10/2010 - Federal Civil Rights Policy Expanded To Protect Jewish College Students The University of California, Irvine, has become emblematic of the trend, as its Muslim Student Union gained attention — and was eventually suspended — for, among other actions, disrupting a speech by Michael Oren, Israeli ambassador to the United States, with calls that he was a “killer.” The Muslim group’s anti-Israel protests fueled a 2004 complaint that ZOA filed with the Education Department claiming Irvine’s administration had stood by as its environment became hostile for Jews. (After an investigation, the OCR found that most alleged acts of harassment were not based on shared ethnic origins, and that the university had dealt with other instances appropriately. The ZOA’s appeal is pending.) Klein said his group regularly fields calls from students who say they are cursed and spat at for wearing shirts promoting Israel. The ZOA and 12 other Jewish organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League and the Orthodox Union, wrote a letter in April arguing that OCR’s policy failed to protect Jewish students from anti-Semitic harassment. More special treatement for guess who? This time, as 'victims' due to the growing anti-Israel sentiment on campus, that's now deemed 'anti-Semitism'.

11/10/2010 - A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall by Philip Giraldi hen there are the changes that will take place in committees and the pecking order in Congress, changes that will bring the long war advocates to the fore. It is where the real damage can take place. Not coincidentally, the hawks are also calling for military action against Iran and are notable in their affection for the state of Israel. The Israel connection is significant because Israel has long been at the heart of America’s foreign policy woes. America’s misguided war on terror is in fact a complete adoption of Israeli security paradigms without any regard for the actual threats that confront the US, making Israel’s many enemies also the foes of Washington. The Israeli Lobby might not have single handedly brought about the disastrous Iraq war but it certainly was a major factor in the push to invade, taking its cues from the Israeli Foreign Ministry. And today Israel and its friends in Congress and the media are the most powerful advocates of a military conflict with Iran, which will only take place, if it does, because of them. At the same time the Lobby is doing its best to sour relations with Lebanon and preempt any possible rapprochement with Syria ..Neither Cantor nor Ros-Lehtinen is troubled by giving more than $3 billion of taxpayer money annually to a relatively wealthy country whose policies damage US interests and place US citizens at risk worldwide. With friends like Cantor and Ros-Lehtinen in key positions in Congress it is the American people who should be in despair.

11/10/2010 - Israel moves ahead with new east Jerusalem housing The Israeli government is moving ahead with plans to build nearly 1,300 apartments in disputed east Jerusalem, an official said Monday, drawing a harsh U.S. response just as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is there for meetings with American leaders.

11/10/2010 - Republicans Backtrack After Proposal on Aid to Israel Draws Heavy Criticism The roughly $3 billion a year provided by the United States for Israeli military purchases is a product of years of formal negotiations and backroom tweaking, and tinkering with it raises concern among pro-Israel lobbyists. Moreover, raising the issue as Cantor did, days before the election, is viewed as breaching the bipartisan support for aid to Israel, which traditionally translates to an easy passage of the bill in Congress every year. ......Throughout the years, AIPAC’s lobbying efforts added other perks to the aid package: Israel is the only recipient allowed to spend a portion of its military aid on purchases within the country; usually this kind of aid is designed for procurement of American-made weapon systems. Israel also receives its aid in the first month of the fiscal year as a deposit in an interest-bearing account. Aid to all other recipients is spread out throughout the year. Are you getting the picture yet?

11/10/2010 - Hecklers disrupt Netanyahu's speech at U.S. Jewish conference The first heckler, who interrupted Netanyahu barely moments after he began his 30 minute speech, was ejected while shouting "the loyalty oath delegitimizes Israel". .....Subsequent interruptions of regular intervals protested Israel's occupation, claiming that it too delegitimizes Israel.

11/10/2010 - Harper says Canada will stand by Israel The prime minister delivered a strongly worded warning about the resurgence of anti-Semitism in Canada and abroad. He said the persecution of Jews is becoming a global phenomenon in which anti-Semitic ideologies target the Jewish people in their “homeland” of Israel and uses the “language of human rights to do so.” Canada = another Israeli-occupied territory.

11/10/2010 - Israel denies entry to Sweden MP and ex-Israeli who sailed on Gaza flotilla Kaplan and Feiler had planned to use their trip in Israel to lodge an official complaint with the Israel Police against the Israel Defense Forces. Their complaint accused the IDF of kidnapping, armed robbery, violence and obstruction of freedom. Feiler claims that Israeli security forces confiscated his saxophone during the raid, and refused to return it to him. Kaplan says the IDF stole his satellite telephone and camera.

11/10/2010 - El Al apologizes for strip-searching U.S. professor Following the incident, Hebrew University officials wrote to El Al to warn that "the world's top scientists will now refrain from visiting Israel due to interrogations and insensitive searches at Israel's airports".

11/10/2010 - Schakowsky’s Israel Question Her own seat seems safe for the time being. But Schakowsky was visibly worried by the prospect of the Obama administration’s Israel policy becoming a wider issue. She was particularly stunned to hear of the loss of Miami Congressman Ron Klein, whose non-Jewish opponent criticized Klein’s support for Obama’s Israel policy.

11/10/2010 - Boxer Scores Knockout, Defying GOP Wave Raphael Sonenshein, chairman of the political science department at California State University, Fullerton, believes that Israel and foreign policy generally will have less importance in the coming congressional power struggles than domestic issues, mainly the economy; that is, unless matters should change on the ground and the Middle East erupts into the headlines. “Obama will have less room to push for negotiations,” Sonenshein speculated.

11/10/2010 - Israel needs a Leftist revolution to stop the fascism

11/10/2010 - Despite ban, Palestinians build the settlements ... I'm married and have kids. I don't want to be a millionaire. I just want to pay my bills."

11/10/2010 - Court okays Jews-only building in Jaffa

11/10/2010 - Jewish Settler Leaders Praise Republican Gains

11/10/2010 - First sign of the new U.S. political reality—Bibi’s swagger JTA - Jewish & Israel News It was a clear sign that Netanyahu feels empowered by the Republican sweep last week of the House of Representatives to trump the Obama administration’s emphasis on peacemaking with the Palestinians with his own priority: confronting Iran. .....Pro-Israel insiders in Washington noted that in different ways, Mandel and Grossman both have been leaders in the effort to sanction Iran and now are positioned to mak sure that their states enforce such sanctions. As a lawmaker, Mandel led the effort to divest Ohio from Iran. Grossman, as AIPAC president in the mid-1990s, lobbied for the Iran sanctions passed by Congress at that time.

11/10/2010 - Kerry: Israel may extend settlement freeze "I completely understand the frustration of the Palestinian people," said Kerry, who warned against pulling from the negotiations with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton working "in very good faith" to break the impasse. Then do something about it.

11/10/2010 - IDF spokeswoman completely denies hinting Israel coordinated Gaza hit with Washington

11/10/2010 - A Tale of Two Ghettoes Last week, in a move to silence criticism of Israeli policies, the Canadian Jewish Congress labelled Adbusters -- and anyone who makes the above historical analogy -- anti-Semitic. The CJC has lobbied Shoppers Drug Mart not to carry Adbusters. Three-thousand-five-hundred copies of Adbusters will no longer be sold at Shoppers Drug Mart's 515 Canadian stores. The fascists strike again.

11/10/2010 - A rabbi struggles to protect his Palestinian flock This sunny late-October morning, has turned out to be the day of the stolen ladders. It started while Ascherman was checking on a group of the Israeli volunteers he assembles each year to help protect olive picking Palestinian families from settlers during the harvest in olive groves overlooked by the red-roofed Jewish settlement of Kedumim. A phone call alerted him to the fact that settlers had vandalised an empty Palestinian car parked on the main road on the other side of the settlement, below the deserted – and even in Israeli law illegal – hilltop outpost of Shvut Ami.

11/10/2010 - Israelis mull leaving settlers in Palestine Although it's hardly mainstream thinking, voices on both sides are quietly contemplating an alternative: Perhaps some Jews can live in a future Palestine, even if only in small numbers, the way Arabs live in Israel.

11/10/2010 - UN Human Rights Council Calls On U.S. to Enforce “Leahy Amendment” The Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice In Geneva, Ms. Patnaik explained that there are systemic flaws in U.S. implementation of both the “Leahy Amendment,” and the Department of State’s annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices that prevent them from effectively identifying and remedying gross human rights violations. Patnaik stated that multiple sources have provided credible evidence of a persistent pattern of human rights violations committed by the Israeli military, including the killing and injury of international human rights monitors and Palestinian civilians, and demolition of civilian homes. However, to date, the U.S. Department of State has not conducted an investigation under the Leahy Amendment into any Israeli military violations of human rights law.

11/10/2010 - Obama's settlement stand The end of Mideast peace talks

11/10/2010 - First US targeted assassination in Gaza Somehow I doubt that this was a US hit.

11/10/2010 - Settlers got sweet land deals in east Jerusalem

11/10/2010 - Haaretz exposé - State gave East Jerusalem lands to rightist groups without tenders - Haaretz Daily Newspaper Israel News

11/10/2010 - Report: Iran gave Hezbollah UAVs, attack aircraft

11/10/2010 - Bush rejects claims that Israel was behind Iraq war The only reference Bush makes to a pro-Israel figure having a role in his Iraq deliberations is the Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, a supporter of military intervention whose opinion the president solicited as he weighed his options. “Elie is a sober and gentle man. But there was passion in his seventy-four-year-old eyes when he compared Saddam Hussein’s brutality to the Nazi genocide,” Bush writes. The other major pro-Israel figure whose influence Bush notes in his work comes during his discussion of the “Freedom Agenda.” Bush cites a passage from Natan Sharansky’s book The Case for Democracy in making the argument that America needed to “put pressure on the arms of the world’s tyrants.”

11/10/2010 - George Bush's memoirs reveal how he considered attacks on Iran and Syria

11/10/2010 - Netanyahu to press U.S. for military threat on Iran

11/10/2010 - Netanyahu Tests Obama, Again While visiting Israel in March, Vice President Joe Biden delivered a speech that delighted the Israeli right and its followers here. The key passage was this: "When it comes to Israel's security there can be no daylight — no daylight — between Israel and the US." That formulation, which was devised by the pro-Israel lobby here, pleased the Netanyahu government, which interprets it to mean that Israel has carte blanch from Washington to do whatever it wants. No other country in the world enjoys such a pledge from the United States.

11/10/2010 - Jews Stayed With Democrats, Now Worry About Domestic Agenda Capitol Hill, however, is still a friendly place for Jewish and pro-Israeli activists. Leadership of key committees, including Appropriations and Foreign Affairs, will remain in the hands of veteran Republicans with whom pro-Israeli activists had established long-standing working relations. “We make sure to be in close ties with both sides, and we’ve always worked with both the majority and the minority, so these kinds of transitions are easier for us,” said Daniel Meron, minister of congressional affairs at the Israeli Embassy in Washington.

11/10/2010 - Michael Oren urges U.S. Jews to defend Israel against aggressors “I think it is fair for Israel to expect the American Jewish community to uphold our right to self-defense," Oren said. "Israel expects American Jews to fight the Goldstone report which limits our ability to defend ourselves by branding us as war criminals, with the same zeal that you have fought boycotts, divestment and sanctions." ...“I want to say categorically that bipartisan political support for Israel is a national strategic interest for the Jewish state. We urge American Jews to ensure that preserving a secure sovereign Israel remains a bipartisan goal to which Americans of all political outlooks aspire”.

11/10/2010 - 'Bibi Can Take US Into War With Iran' “On Iran, there's no difference between Democrats and Republicans. They're very comfortable with the idea that a foreign leader like [Benjamin] Netanyahu can take 300 million Americans to war whenever he wants,” said counterterrorism expert Michael Scheuer, who has worked with the Central Intelligence Agency for more than 20 years. “The election was a disaster in terms of increasing the chances of another war that we don't have the resources to fight, and we won't have the will to win,” Newsmax quoted Scheuer as saying. .....Scheuer said no problem would be resolved “until they [US officials] understand we're being attacked because of our foreign policy and what we do in the Muslim world, we're never going to understand the motivation and size of the enemy.” We were not attacked for our freedom, because of Islam or because our women are liberated. The majority of those attacked us on 911 because of our support for Israel.

11/10/2010 - The Parcel Bomb Plot: Al-Qaeda’s Latest Christmas Gift to Israel While Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) may have claimed responsibility for the parcel bomb plot, it’s worth considering how this latest Yemen-linked terror scare has been a gift to their avowed enemies. A mere two weeks before the discovery of mail bombs addressed to “two places of Jewish worship in Chicago,” Rupert Murdoch sounded prescient as he received an award from the Anti-Defamation League for his support of Israel. “The terrorists continue to target Jews across the world,” declared the media mogul in his acceptance speech. “But they have not succeeded in bringing down the Israeli government – and they have not weakened Israeli resolve.” Equating criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism, the Fox News owner smeared the growing worldwide condemnation of Israel’s rogue behaviour as an “ongoing war against the Jews.”

11/10/2010 - Citing Their Close Ties With Local Muslims, Chicago’s Jews Unfazed by Terrorist Threat In Chicago, Lopatin noted that the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago issued a statement condemning the attacks immediately after the first news reports broke stating that area Jewish institutions were targeted.

11/10/2010 - Outgoing intel chief: Iran can already produce nuclear bomb

11/10/2010 - In U.S., 14% Rely on Food Stamps Some 42,389,619 Americans received food stamps in August, a 17% rise from the same time a year ago, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which tracks the data. That number is up 58.5% from August 2007, before the recession began. Hey I know, let's give a few more billion to Israel.

11/10/2010 - Sen Graham sees ‘confrontation’ with China, war with Iran The South Carolina Republican saw the United States going to war with the Islamic republic “not to just neutralize their nuclear program, but to sink their navy, destroy their air force and deliver a decisive blow to the Revolutionary Guard, in other words neuter that regime.”

11/10/2010 - BREAKING NEWS: Benjamin Netanyahu retains control of U.S. Congress "American voters on both sides of the aisle support Israel," Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, founder and president of The Israel Project, says in the e-mail. American voters nothing to do with it. AIPAC did.

11/10/2010 - Anger at Israel flares in Jordan election campaign Behind the anger expressed by candidates and voters lies U.S. ally Jordan's greatest fear: that if peacemaking collapses, Israel will try to force it to take in the residents of the West Bank and stand as the Palestinian state. Recent talk by right–wing Israelis about the "Jordanian option" has only fueled the belief here that this is Israel's ultimate plan.

11/10/2010 - ei The great book robbery of 1948 Between May 1948 and February 1949, librarians from the Jewish National Library and Hebrew University Library entered the desolate Palestinian homes of west Jerusalem and seized 30,000 books, manuscripts and newspapers alone. These cultural assets, which had belonged to elite and educated Palestinian families, were then "loaned" to the National Library where they have remained until now. Furthermore, across cities such as Jaffa, Haifa, Tiberias and Nazareth, employees of the Custodian of Absentee Property gathered approximately 40,000-50,000 books belonging to Palestinians. Most of these were later resold to Arabs although approximately 26,000 books were deemed unsuitable as they contained "inciting material against the State [Israel]" and were sold as paper waste.

11/10/2010 - netanyahu Intellectual Father of the ‘War on Terror’ by Thomas Harrington -- Antiwar.com Key to the continued rise of Revisionist Zionism was the ability to organize key elements of American Jewry around this new, hyper-martial view of the Israeli reality. They did so by infiltrating AIPAC and by flooding the think-tanks then being created to prop up the Reagan Revolution (e.g., the Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute) with thinkers amenable to their cause, and by founding think-tanks of their own (e.g., the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, the Hudson Institute, the Center for Security Policy, the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, the Middle East Media Research Institute) dedicated wholeheartedly to promoting a pro-Likud approach to Mideast policy. A very good read.

11/10/2010 - Muslims say Obama failing to keep Cairo promises Seventeen months after Obama's Cairo University speech, al Qaeda is still threatening the West, peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians remain stalled over the issue of West Bank settlements and U.S. troops remain in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many in the Middle East believe that Washington's tight alliance with Israel makes it impossible to end the suffering of the Palestinians, breeding cynicism among Arab Muslims toward U.S. intentions in the region.

11/10/2010 - Meet your new House Foreign Affairs chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Over the mid to long term, Ros-Lehtinen is poised to thwart Obama's efforts to move toward repealing sanctions on Fidel Castro and resist any White House attempts to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. She isn't likely to move Berman's foreign-aid reform bill through the committee and she is likely to seek cuts in the foreign-aid budget in her authorization bill.

11/10/2010 - Justice Dept. Renews Enforcement of Subpoenas for Antiwar Activists Targeted in FBI Raids Subpoenas to appear before a grand jury were served on 13 people, but later withdrawn when the activists asserted their right to remain silent. But this week, the U.S. Department of Justice said it intends to enforce the subpoenas for some of them and require them to appear before a grand jury.

11/10/2010 - U.S.: Syria risks IAEA action if access to suspected nuclear site is denied

11/10/2010 - The War on Christianity by Patrick J. Buchanan Some great comments on this article.

11/10/2010 - Israel/Palestine and Iran Are Not Linked And Should Not Be Linked (II)

11/10/2010 - At New Museum, an Inventive, if Incomplete, Paean to Freedom Some subjects, though, remain perplexingly untouched. Most glaringly avoided is the complex role that Israel has played in American Jewish identity over the past century.

11/10/2010 - Turkish Action Movie on Gaza Flotilla Raid Unlikely to Calm Regional Tensions

11/10/2010 - Israpundit » Blog Archive » Senator Elect Rubio is coming to Israel next week You Just Won The Senate Seat For Florida, Mr. Rubio! Now What are You Going to Do? . . . “I’m Going to Israel!”

11/10/2010 - ANALYSIS - Bush's memoir explains U.S. can't appear to be doing Israel's bidding - Haaretz Daily Newspaper Israel News Bush's book should thus be read as a lesson for the future: The Americans cannot appear to be doing Israel's bidding. Precise intelligence is necessary. And whatever can be done secretly is better than what explodes thunderously

11/10/2010 - Muslim supplier refuses blood money from South African Jewish group

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11/3/2010 - Palestinian children face increasing settler violence: study Palestinian children are coming under increasing attack by a handful of violent, extremist Jewish settlers, a rights group said Monday in a report on the human cost of settlement expansion. The study, which was compiled over two years by Defence for Children International–Palestine (DCI), investigated 38 separate incidents of settler violence towards minors, which resulted in the deaths of three children and injuries to 42 others.

11/3/2010 - Israel Quietly Accedes to Huge Saudi Arms Deal, The Largest Ever one of the most important parties involved in the negotiations for this huge deal is making its position clear simply through its silence. Israel and its supporters in the United States have chosen to quietly allow the deal to pass unopposed Congress. ...“The U.S. did a good job of convincing Israelis,” said Michael Knights, a military expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He added that in exchange for its acceptance of America’s need to strengthen the Saudi military, Israel could be well compensated on its next arms request .....the administration has stated it believes, based on quiet discussions held with key congressmen, that Congress will not block the deal. This optimism is based in part on the fact that the pro-Israel lobby is not fighting against the deal. Who runs Congress? ...Not you and I.

11/3/2010 - Palestinians to declare statehood in 2011

11/3/2010 - Netanyahu: Settlement building won't affect final status peace deal Speaking after a meeting with U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman on Thursday, Netanyahu seemingly rejected the Palestinian stance, saying the settlement issue was "not substantial" and that construction in the settlements "will not influence the peace map."

11/3/2010 - The Tea Party Disconnect by Philip Giraldi Palin is something quite different, and a good deal more dangerous than the lumpish and frequently strident Gingrich. She knows nothing of foreign policy and even less of security and defense related issues and is basically a neocon creation being promoted by them as a national candidate. Palin was discovered by Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol in 2007 while he and a group of National Review stalwarts were on an Alaska cruise. Kristol assiduously pushed the right buttons to get her on the Republican ticket with John McCain. Palin returned the favor, describing how she had an Israeli flag on display in her governor’s office and describing her love for Israel during the debate with Joe Biden, but her ignorance of foreign policy issues was palpable during the campaign Another excellent article by former CIA Philip Giraldi.

11/3/2010 - Does Obama Need a War? by Patrick J. Buchanan The first result of a U.S. strike would be to pull Iran’s oil off the world market. If Iran responded by mining the Gulf or sinking a tanker, oil would go to $300 a barrel and gasoline to $10 a gallon. Does Broder think that would give a nice boost to the U.S. and world economy? ....Israel calls Iran “an existential threat.” But Israel has 200 nukes and the planes, subs and missiles to deliver them, while U.N. inspectors claim Iran has not diverted any of its low-enriched uranium for conversion to weapons grade.

11/3/2010 - Jewish-Arab relations in Israel hit boiling point Relations between Israel's Jewish majority and its Arab minority have never been warm, but they appear to have hit a new low that has activists on both sides worried the troubled relationship is beyond repair. In the past month alone, Israeli lawmakers have introduced a series of bills that aim to marginalize Arabs. Rabbis in a northern town have urged followers not to rent homes to Arabs. Extremist Jews marched through this town and set off a violent riot. And a prominent Arab activist has admitted in a plea bargain to spying for the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah.

11/3/2010 - In Beirut, a crash course in Arabic -- and Mideast politics For student Sajjad Dewji, a political science major at the University of British Columbia in Canada, the most memorable experience was a visit to a rundown Palestinian refugee camp. "While the subject ... has been one that many of us would have discussed academically ... visiting the Palestinian camps was a very emotional and eye–opening experience," said the 21–year–old Vancouver resident. Lebanon is home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees who are crammed into a dozen destitute camps across the country.

11/3/2010 - Israeli military occupy Palestinian house

11/3/2010 - American professor invited to Israel 'humiliated' by El Al security personnel An American professor who was invited to a conference in Israel claims she was humiliated by Israeli security personnel at London's Luton airport on Thursday.

11/3/2010 - Israel bans Palestinian PM from East Jerusalem event Fayyad was scheduled to make an appearance on Tuesday at two East Jerusalem schools to mark the PA-sponsored renovation of 15 educational institutions in the city. The reception and ceremony was to take place in the Dahyat al-Salam neighborhood. On Monday, however, Jerusalem policemen arrived at the Dahyat al-Salam reception hall, handing over a warrant signed by Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch, according to which PA-sponsored events were forbidden on Israeli soil.

11/3/2010 - Obama can let Palestinians seek state recognition at the UN If the UN declares a state of Palestine, Israeli settlements would then clearly be in violation of international law. They already are.

11/3/2010 - Murders, Deemed ‘Honor Killings,’ Rock an Israeli City

11/3/2010 - So Much For The Triumph of the National Interest I agree with Miller that Obama should not focus on foreign policy for the next two years, but that is because anything substantial he is likely to achieve will most likely undermined or sabotaged by political opposition at home.

11/3/2010 - U.S. midterms / Israeli Democrat leader says American voters need to grow up What about Jewish voters who, according to polls, are beginning to abandon the Democrats, because of, among other things, Obama's approach to Israel? The Jewish American voter also has to grow up and recognize that Obama is Israel's friend and acts in its interests.

11/3/2010 - Equal Time for Arab Voices The stunning disinterest in Arab-American opinion, or its productive role in genuine peacemaking, is the result of decades of demonizing the Palestinian narrative and reducing it to an intellectually dishonest caricature of a violently anti-Semitic people squatting on the land, always rejecting peace.

11/3/2010 - Some good news for Obama from Israel "Tea Party" The Israel Tea Party launch did not mark the start of a breakaway right–wing party, he said. It was meant to help Netanyahu reject Obama's pressure to bend to Palestinian conditions for the revival of flagging peace talks.

11/3/2010 - Jewish Federations acknowledge Israel’s ‘paradigm shift,’ then circle the wagons If we are to effectively respond to the delegitimization/BDS campaign against Israel, the People of the Book also have to become the People of Cyberspace. Understanding how much anti-Israel material is out there, monitoring attacks and crafting tailored pro-Israel messages to the right audiences—especially to the younger generation—is now dependent on our ability to strategically and effectively utilize the Internet, new media, Websites and social networks. This workshop will provide hands-on guidance on how Federations, and other organizations, networks and individuals can implement advocacy and communications strategies for the 21st Century. Be warned: MORE pro-Israel propaganda is on the way.

11/3/2010 - Israeli Jews at odds with liberal brethren in US Rubin is at the center of a deepening rift between the world's two biggest Jewish communities – the American and Israeli. Religious life in Israel is dominated by the strict ultra–Orthodox establishment, which has growing political power and has become increasingly resistant to any inroads by the more liberal movements that predominate among American Jews. ....."There are a lot of Americans who normally would not get involved in Israeli politics but who are saying, 'What you are doing is delegitimizing me. It is not enough to want my support and want my money, you have to be willing to recognize me as a human being and as a Jew,' and they feel that is not happening,"

11/3/2010 - Israel PM to fly to US for talks on peace process

11/3/2010 - Turkey policy paper: Israel's actions threaten Mideast

11/3/2010 - Questioning A Congresswoman's Jewishness (or Jewessness) His name is Bruce Ash, and he is a member of the RNC national committee. Ash also served in the past as chair of the Southern Arizona federation. According to a report in the Jewish News of Greater Phoenix, Ash posted a letter on a conservative website in which he referred to Giffords as the congresswoman “who claims to be a Jewess.” The broader context of the sentence was an attack on Giffords’ stance on Israel, which Ash believes is not strong enough.

11/3/2010 - Opening Minds on Campus In Imran’s first week of college, he immediately had someone to hate. Or at least his dorm neighbor thought so. “Wait, Imran, why are you going to Shabbat this Friday?” he asked. “I thought Muslims hated Jews.”

11/3/2010 - Christian pilgrims flock to Jordan River for baptism Qasr al–Yahud is located in a closed military zone near Jericho. Although it has been opened to pilgrims on special occasions, Israel recently allowed access to the site six days a week.

11/3/2010 - Price of Beauty: Boycotts and ‘Buycotts’ The escalation of both the boycott campaign and opposition to it come as supporters of Israel increasingly point to BDS as part of an effort to “delegitimize” Israel. On October 26, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and the Jewish Federations of North America announced the creation of the Israel Action Network to actively combat BDS campaigns.

11/3/2010 - Ahmadinejad aide says Iran not ready to talk nuclear Ahmadinejad has also asked the parties to declare their opinion on Israel's alleged nuclear arsenal. Israel says a nuclear–armed Iran would threaten its very existence and does not rule out striking Iran militarily to stop that happening.

11/3/2010 - Meet your new House Foreign Affairs chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen The Cable Over the mid to long term, Ros-Lehtinen is poised to thwart Obama's efforts to move toward repealing sanctions on Fidel Castro and resist any White House attempts to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. She isn't likely to move Berman's foreign-aid reform bill through the committee and she is likely to seek cuts in the foreign-aid budget in her authorization bill. She is one of Israel's top agents on Capitol Hill. Thus will the American national interest further suffer with her in power.

11/3/2010 - Nigeria: Shipper confirms weapons came from Iran Israeli military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were unauthorized to discuss the matter with journalists, said Thursday that it appeared Iran hoped to smuggle the weapons into the Gaza Strip. Israel instituted a naval blockade of the region in 2007 after Iranian–backed Hamas seized control of the Palestinian territory.

11/3/2010 - Obama's star fades in Muslim world

11/3/2010 - Syria flouts Lebanon sovereignty, arms militants: U.S.

11/3/2010 - US says Syria, Iran, Hezbollah endanger Lebanon

11/3/2010 - Obama's message to Israel: Freeze settlements or get rid of Dimona Ross, who has served both Republican and Democratic presidents for the last three decades, predictably lauded Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and National Security Advisor Thomas Donilon for leading the campaign to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. But he also took care to mention that Congress, with "strong encouragement from AIPAC," had enacted tough sanctions against Iran with bipartisan support.

11/3/2010 - GOP Hawks and Dovesby Philip Giraldi Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, born in Cuba and currently representing Florida, will almost certainly become chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where she will energetically pursue a policy of undying enmity towards Fidel Castro coupled with total alignment with Bibi Netanyahu. Eric Cantor of Virginia, currently minority whip, will likely move up to become Speaker of the House. Cantor has proposed that Israel’s $3 billion plus per annum be removed from the foreign aid budget, where it is bunched with a number of countries that Cantor does not like, and that it come directly from the Treasury, making Israel a permanent and institutionalized beneficiary of the United States taxpayer. Cantor and Ros-Lehtinen and those of a like mind would then be able to vote against foreign aid without damaging Israeli interests. Both Cantor and Ros-Lehtinen also support preemptive action against Iran.

11/3/2010 - Some Israelis Hoping for A GOP Win, But Will History Repeat Itself? “Netanyahu fears a strong Obama who can apply pressure,” said Yaron Deckel, Israeli TV’s Channel 1 political commentator. “If the Republicans win big in the midterm elections, Obama will be weaker and less inclined to pressure Israel, and that will buy Netanyahu more time.” ....“If you need the president, you need us as chairs of the committees,” Ackerman said as he listed what he called the “first-class team” of Jewish pro-Israel Democrats who chair key House committees: Berman at Foreign Affairs, Barney Frank at Financial Services, Henry Waxman at the Energy and Commerce committee, Sander Levin at Ways and Means, and Ackerman himself in his role as head of the Middle East subcommittee. “We are all pro-Israel and we all have major, major, major influence in the executive branch.”

11/3/2010 - As Some Retire From ADL, Will Abe Be Next? While the ADL was founded as a civil rights and human relations agency, Foxman in recent years has clearly focused on defending Israel, which some say is to the detriment of the ADL’s legacy and stated mission. Targeting Jewish Voice for Peace — a left-wing group but a Jewish one — is one example. The recent award to Murdoch is offered as another. .....said Klein of the group’s award to Murdoch, “It’s this ‘wink wink nod nod,’ we’ll take Murdoch’s money because he supports Israel, and we’ll ignore everything happening on Fox News.” On several recent occasions when Klein posted polite but critical comments of the Murdoch award on the ADL’s Facebook page, they were deleted within hours. Through Gutnick, Foxman declined to be interviewed for this story.

11/3/2010 - BDS success Africa Israel pulls out of settlement development Jews for Justice for Palestinians

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October

10/27/2010 - Israeli Military's negligence exposes schoolchild The Israeli military is mandated by the Israeli Knesset to escort these children to and from school each day because Israeli settlers from the Ma’on settlement and Havat Ma’on outpost have repeatedly attacked schoolchildren on their way to and from school. On the afternoons of the 24th and 25th, Internationals from Operation Dove and the Christian Peacemaker Teams made repeated calls to the Israeli military to notify them that the children were ready and waiting for the escort, but the army never arrived. This is the third incident this month in which the army has failed to arrive to escort the schoolchildren.

10/27/2010 - Carter: Sheikh Jarrah evictions are against international law Former United States President Jimmy Carter said on Friday that the eviction of Palestinians from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah is against international law.

10/27/2010 - Palestinians renew threat of unilateral action The Palestinian president says Israel's prime minister should not warn him against taking unilateral steps when Israel has been building West Bank settlements on its own for decades. Mahmoud Abbas was referring to a statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in which he said the Palestinians have no options for peace except direct negotiations. Palestinians have been indicating they might ask for U.N. recognition of a state of their own if they give up on peace talks. Abbas said Israel has been taking one–sided measures for decades in the West Bank. "Settlements are a unilateral step taken by Israel," Abbas said during a visit to Bethlehem Monday.

10/27/2010 - Restoration planned for Bethlehem Nativity Church The Palestinian government has appealed to European and Arab nations to help fund the project, Bandak said. He said the three churches that administer sections of the church have agreed to the project. Officials from the Latin, Greek and Armenian churches could not be reached for comment. Their rivalries have often led to fistfights between monks at the holy site.

10/27/2010 - Public outcry ensues after rabbis tell Jews not to rent to Arabs Several Knesset members and nonprofit organizations on Wednesday demanded a criminal investigation of Safed Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu and 17 other rabbis, after Haaretz reported that they had called on Jews not to rent or sell apartments to non-Jews.

10/27/2010 - Anti-Muslim crusaders make millions spreading fear Emerson is a leading member of a multimillion-dollar industry of self-proclaimed experts who spread hate toward Muslims in books and movies, on websites and through speaking appearances.

10/27/2010 - Tutu urges South African opera not to tour Israel Tutu charges that by bringing international artists to perform, the Tel Aviv Opera House "advances Israel's fallacious claim to being a 'civilized democracy.'"

10/27/2010 - Israel critical over Mideast synod conclusions the bishops attending the gathering issued their conclusions on Saturday. They said they had "reflected" on the suffering and insecurity in which Israelis live and on the status of Jerusalem, a city holy to Christians, Jews and Muslims. While the bishops condemned terrorism and anti–Semitism, they laid much of the blame for the conflict squarely on Israel. They listed the occupation of Palestinian lands, Israel's separation barrier with the West Bank, its military checkpoints, political prisoners, demolition of homes and disturbance of Palestinians' socio–economic lives as factors that have made life increasingly difficult for Palestinians.

10/27/2010 - 'Not One Word of Remorse' from Driver Who Crushed Rachel Corrie The Corrie family had requested that they be given dispensation to see YB give evidence, which was refused. "I do feel that the state of Israel is saying [we] are security risks and I am affronted by that," Cindy Corrie, Rachel's mother, said after the hearing. "I wanted to be able to see the whole person, not just hear the words."

10/27/2010 - Ross warns Israel failed talks could imperil its security he primarily focused on Iran in his address, which he described as a preeminent threat to America. He said that US President Barack Obama “has consistently devoted more time to this issue than almost any other national security challenge.” Read that sentence again. Who really feels threatened by Iran? Not America. So why is this the nearly number one concern of our AMERICAN president? Because AIPAC made it his concern. To OUR detriment.

10/27/2010 - Foxman: US must stop Palestinians from declaring state Like Israel did in 1948? And how is this a matter for the ADL? Because their real job has more to do with being an agent of Israel.

10/27/2010 - Bishops at Meeting Urge Israel to End Its Occupation of Palestinian Territories “The concept of the promised land cannot be used as a base for the justification of the return of Jews to Israel and the displacement of Palestinians,” he said. “Sacred scripture should not be used to justify the occupation by Israel of Palestine.”

10/27/2010 - Israel PM praises troops who raided Gaza flotilla Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on a special visit to a military base, told the men they acted "heroically" and "ethically" in an attempt to stop "people who sought to kill you." The Israelis have a museum exhibit dedicated to praising the attack on the USS Liberty which killed 34 American men and wounded 170 others. Read about it in the article Friendless Fire.

10/27/2010 - Pentagon in charge of aid to Israel? According to advocates of this proposal, disconnecting Israel from the foreign aid's law will guarantee the continued support while also allowing the Republicans to take control of the foreign aid budget and the money flow to other countries. .... Eric Cantor, the only Jewish Republican serving in the US House of Representatives, has recently told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), that the House of Representatives, headed by the Republican Party, will work towards stopping the American aid to countries who do not operate according to American interest. This means that there is a possibility that the House of Representatives will not approve the foreign aid budget submitted by the Government .....If the Republicans win the upcoming elections, there will be more Tea Party right-winged representatives supporting tax cut-backs and strict foreign aid policy. Some of them have already stated that they intend to vote against foreign aid.

10/27/2010 - Peace with Palestinians would help U.S. on Iran: Peres "We fought alone, but we cannot exist alone. For our existence we need the friendship of the United States of America. It doesn't sound easy, but this is the truth," Peres said in a speech to Jewish leaders broadcast by Israel Radio. "As the United States is trying to understand the security needs of Israel, we Israelis ourselves must understand the security needs of the United States," he said, speaking in English in an address made on Thursday evening.

10/27/2010 - Vatican meeting demands Israel end occupation

10/27/2010 - AP IMPACT: Israeli settlers building 544 new homes Israeli settlers have begun building new homes at an extraordinary pace since the government lifted its moratorium on West Bank housing starts – almost 550 in three weeks, more than four times faster than the last two years.

10/27/2010 - Israel colonel 'quizzed over deadly Gaza raid' Givati units had been operating in the neighbourhood for several days before the air raid, and witnesses said it was clear the building was populated with civilians.

10/27/2010 - UN envoy demands Israel act against settler attacks "I am appalled at acts of destruction of olive trees and farmlands, desecration of mosques and violence against civilians," terrorism.

10/27/2010 - Palestinian graveyard vandalized in settler 'price tag' operation One of the slogans had the words "price tag," which radical settlers use to describe their revenge campaign against restrictions on Israeli construction in the occupied territory.

10/27/2010 - Abbas discusses UN-approved Palestinian statehood with Saudi King DO IT.

10/27/2010 - Israeli settlement building 'alarming', says UN envoy After touring east Jerusalem flashpoints where Jewish settlers have moved in to houses after Palestinians were evicted, Mr Carter expressed outrage. "The suffering here under occupation and the deprivations of people in Gaza are evidence of the improper policies of the government of Israel," he said. "We will continue to work on a peaceful solution where the Israelis will withdraw from east Jerusalem, and let this be the capital of a Palestinian state.

10/27/2010 - Palestinians, Jews race to plant West Bank Israeli military officials can seize farmland if it has lain fallow for three to 10 years. The military has grabbed some 240,000 acres this way since the 1980s, mostly handing them over to Jews to build settlements, according to Peace Now, an anti–settlement watchdog group. The Israeli military has no legal right to do that. In fact, it's a violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Conventions which states: the occuping power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies. Those are war crimes.

10/27/2010 - Israel slams 'political attacks' by Catholic bishops Most religious Jews believe the land of Israel was given to them by God, and Jewish settlers often cite biblical justifications for holding onto the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories seized in the 1967 Six–Day War.

10/27/2010 - Israel settlements block Palestinian state: UN envoy A Palestinian state "seems increasingly problematic as a solution because it would require a substantial reversal of the settlement process," said Richard Falk, a UN representative on human rights in the Palestinian territories.

10/27/2010 - UN envoy: AP findings on settlements 'alarming' In a statement, U.N. envoy Robert Serry called the AP settlement report "alarming." He said settlement construction is "illegal under international law" and "will only further undermine trust."

10/27/2010 - British passengers of Gaza flotilla seek to testify in Israeli probe Most of the 33 British passengers on May's aid flotilla to Gaza have asked to give oral testimony to Turkel committee investigating the botched IDF raid on the ships, a lawyer acting on their behalf said yesterday. The group say they are resisting what they see as efforts by the commission to belittle their evidence by having them submit only very basic information about their experiences.

10/27/2010 - Shin Bet supports revoking citizenship of Israelis convicted of terror Interior Minister Eli Yishai's proposal has been presented as a method of deterring potential criminals from embarking on terrorist activities, seen as targeting Israeli Arabs in particular.

10/27/2010 - Israel hails commandoes killing activists

10/27/2010 - Police, protesters clash in Arab Israeli town Police kept journalists away from the march's 50–meter (yard) path. But nearby resident Amneh Jabari, 38, said marchers chanted "death to the Arabs" and "Umm el–Fahm will be Jewish" while waving white–and–blue Israeli flags and reciting prayers. The Jewish militants are admirers of Meir Kahane, a U.S.–born rabbi who preached that Palestinians should be expelled from Israel and the West Bank. An Arab gunman assassinated Kahane at a New York hotel 20 years ago. ....On Wednesday, a parliamentary committee gave preliminary approval to legislation that would allow small towns to determine who moves into their communities and reject those deemed unfit. Arab lawmakers say the measure targets Arabs.

10/27/2010 - Israelis, Palestinians agree not to embarrass Obama before midterm elections "The time frame we are following has been designed around the elections in America," said a senior member of the Palestinian negotiating team. "We have been asked not to issue announcements that could embarrass negotiation officials."

10/27/2010 - ei Police repress convergence on UK weapons factory As Israeli warplanes flew over Gaza on 13 October, activists converged on Brighton, United Kingdom for the annual mass action against the local EDO/ITT factory that produces components used in weapons by the Israeli Air Force, amongst others, to devastating effect.

10/27/2010 - New Israels and U.S. Israel Policy As the distilled essence of Mead’s argument about the reasons for pro-Israel attitudes in America, this captures quite nicely just how silly it is. It must be that South Africa’s Nationalist government was also interested in developing a close diplomatic relationship with Israel during the 1970s and 1980s because Calvinist Afrikaners also thought of themselves as a New Israel. When we put it that way, it’s clear how ridiculous it is.

10/27/2010 - U.S. media ignore Israeli flotilla executions An autopsy revealed that Dogan, 19, was shot once in the back, twice in the head and once in the leg and foot. After lying on the deck for some time, he was shot at point-blank range in the face.

10/27/2010 - Netanyahu's 'list of millionaires' List of potential donors prepared by then-opposition leader in 2007 provides peek into his fundraising industry in US. Officials include extreme rightists, people who got in trouble with law

10/27/2010 - ISRAEL’S MURDER OF AMERICAN CITIZEN FURKAN DOGAN As Ralph G. Loeffler in Kayseri, Turkey wrote two days ago in his article, Remembering Furkan Dogan, “Furkan was filming the Israeli assault when an Israeli commando fired his first shot pointblank hitting Furkan squarely in the face. Four more shots were fired into Furkan leaving him dead and unrecognizable.”

10/27/2010 - Vincent Warren Live from Rachel Corrie Trial in Israel Seeking Answers and Accountability From Israel "When our daughter was killed, the Israeli government promised a thorough, credible and transparent investigation into her death, and neither our family nor our government believes that standard has been met," said Cindy Corrie. Indeed, in response to inquiries from the Corrie family to the U.S. government regarding the Israeli Military Police investigation, Colin Powell's Chief of Staff, Lawrence B. Wilkerson, stated in 2004, "Your ultimate question, however, is a valid one, i.e., whether or not we view that report to have reflected an investigation that was 'thorough, credible, and transparent.' I can answer your question without equivocation. No, we do not consider it so." The testimony to date in the trial taking place in Haifa reinforces this conclusion.

10/27/2010 - The Associated Press American al-Qaida spokesman urges attacks in US "It is the duty of everyone who is sincere in his desire to defend Islam and Muslims today, to take the initiative to perform the individual obligation of jihad ... by striking the Zio–Crusader interests," he said, referring to Western and Jewish interests.

10/27/2010 - 'Viva Palestina' Activists Deliver Tons of Aid to Gaza Strip Over 300 activists from Syrian aid flotilla "Viva Palestina" crossed Thursday the Egyptian Border into Gaza by land with tons of medical equipment and food supplies for the residents of the coastal enclave.

10/27/2010 - Report: Israel planned explosion at Iranian missile site An explosion that killed 18 members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard on October 12 was ordered by the Mossad, French newspaper Le Figaro suggested on Monday. Another cause for the blast mentioned by the paper was a targeted Israeli air raid.

10/27/2010 - The Rhetoric Turns Red Hot as Election Day Approaches In Illinois’ 9th District, indefatigable Republican Joel Pollak kept on going after incumbent Democrat Jan Schakowsky, claiming she was not supportive of Israel. It’s a theme that has been taken up against several Jewish Democrats by Republican challengers, or by the Republican Jewish Coalition on their behalf.

10/27/2010 - Attacks From the Jewish Right Continue in Pennsylvania Joe Sestak, the Democratic Pennsylvania senatorial candidate, just can’t seem to shake off attacks from right-wing Jewish groups. First he was targeted by the Emergency Campaign for Israel in TV ads questioning his support for Israel, mainly because of his decision to join a letter calling for easing the Israeli siege on Gaza. Later he was hammered in newspaper ads, sponsored by the Republican Jewish Coalition, that took issue with funding he received from J Street.

10/27/2010 - For Jews, a Permanent Stake in the Immigration Debate An ideologically-based citizenship — a fundamental principle of this nation’s birth — offers the best source of national cohesion. Emphasizing shared ideals and the rich commonalities of the American experience is where the Jewish stake in the contemporary immigration debate is anchored. Again, more of the same hypocrisy on the part of American Jews. For, not anyone can just immigrate to Israel. One has to be Jewish under the so-called Law of Return. Yet America is to retain a liberal immigration policy to make sure she stays amenable to Jews worldwide (oh, and others too), should they need to seek refuge. The excerpt above from this article contrasts sharply with the new legislation in Israel enforcing people to swear allegiance to Israel as a Jewish state. This is the height of hypocrisy.

10/27/2010 - Obama’s Still Popular With Ex-Generals Obama’s handling of the Iran nuclear crisis is even more unpopular: 46% disapprove, while only 43% approve. Nearly three quarters believe there’s little or no chance that diplomacy or sanctions will stop Iran from getting nukes, and 59% would support a U.S. military strike to prevent it. That’s a huge change from two years ago, in September 2008, the final months of the Bush administration, when Jews opposed U.S. military action by 47% to 42%. By the way, I think the poll numbers with respect to ISrael's importance vs the importance of the economy to Jews polled are misleading. Support for Israel is a given on Capitol Hill, and thus is largely a non-issue. The economy however is neither of those things.

10/27/2010 - Rights of Return and Recognition Cannot Be Swapped “Though recognition of Israel as the Jewish state would not shield us from further assaults or pressure, it would prove that the Palestinians are serious about peace.” Come again? How would it prove that? If it is not a shield against violence, what is its value? Yes, it would be nice were the Palestinians to acknowledge what everyone in the world knows, that Israel is, as a matter of obvious fact, the Jewish state And again.

10/27/2010 - Oath of Loyalty to What? To ask non-Jews to declare loyalty to a “Jewish and democratic state,” it is claimed, is an inherent contradiction, since no country can be considered democratic if it demands of prospective citizens that they swear allegiance to what excludes them. Just more of the same with respect to Israel as a 'democracy', which it clearly is not. It's a theocracy, which is why it demands to be seen as a Jewish state.

10/27/2010 - One Nation, Under Various Divinities She points to the example of the landmark 1962 school prayer case, Engel v. Vitale, in which five Long Island families, all Jewish or with Jewish backgrounds, brought suit opposing school prayer. “They suffered terrible repercussions, including hate mail,” she said. This, Mellowes said, is an example of how Jews “have clearly contributed in a major way to the tremendous religious vitality and diversity in America and also been at the forefront of pressing for religious freedom.” Do you see the irony and hypocrisy in the preceding excerpt and the entire article? See also the article with respect to the battle fuming in upstate NY over the Orthodox school issue. Then also realize just how much taxpayer money flows to Israel, a JEWISH state, and realize that on the one hand American Jews seek to keep religion out of state at all costs yet demand that the United States continue to fund Israel- - a state based on RELIGIOUS SUPREMACY. Israel is not a democracy. Israel is a THEOCRACY. Do these Jews demand that Israel keep religion out of ITS schools and government? NOPE. Hypocrisy of the highest order. And look in the mirror folks, you get to fund it ALL.

10/27/2010 - Boxer-Fiorina Race Redefines ‘Negative’ The visit to Eretz Yisrael was billed as a “personal trip.” But unlike most personal pilgrimages to the Holy Land, Fiorina’s was financed and arranged by the RJC and led straight to high-level meetings with President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Knesset opposition leader Tzipi Livni. Netanyahu’s office told the Forward, “The prime minister and Fiorina discussed the Israeli and world economies and events in the region.” Netanyahu, as a representative noted, via e-mail, “believes strongly in the importance of the Israeli-American relationship being above partisan party politics. [H]e therefore makes every effort to meet with political leaders from both major parties whenever they visit Israel.”

10/27/2010 - Schools Fight Stokes Anger At Orthodox Jews in N.Y. Suburb Some non-Orthodox community members allege that the Orthodox members of the board support the religious schools at the expense of the public school system — claims that the Orthodox board denies. But people on both sides agree that anger over the issue is running high.

10/27/2010 - With Friends Like These, II Some supporters of Israel see in the latest Wiki-leak the opportunity to bury the Goldstone Report (PDF) and attendant international criticism of Israel’s war in Lebanon. Israeli MK Michael Ben Ari, of the Kahane strain, would bury along with it those former (and no longer useful) American high officials whose expenditure in American blood–largely to rid Israel of a hostile neighbor–continues:

10/27/2010 - Pope seeks religious liberty in Muslim Mideast At least 3.5 million Christians of all denominations live in the Gulf Arab region, the birthplace of Islam and home to some of the most conservative Arab Muslim societies in the world. The freedom to practice Christianity –– or any religion other than Islam –– is not always a given in the Gulf and varies from country to country. Saudi Arabia, which applies an austere form of Sunni Islam, has by far the tightest restrictions.

10/27/2010 - Syria spurns U.S. bid to mend ties

10/27/2010 - Chavez visits Syria on tour to counter US sway Chavez arrived in Syria on Wednesday from Tehran, where he and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said they are united in efforts to establish a "new world order" that will eliminate Western dominance over global affairs.

10/27/2010 - Israel is Relieved Not to be The Only War Criminal The voice of joy, the voice of rejoicing is heard in Israel: The Americans and British have also committed for war crimes, not only us. WikiLeaks' revelations have inflamed all our noisy propagandists: Where is Goldstone, they rejoiced, and what would he have said? They were relieved. If the Americans are allowed to do it, so are we. Case in point (see related post in this news batch).

10/27/2010 - The final reasons for going to war are being swept away We have become just like Israel. I'm sure they're pleased.

10/27/2010 - The Shaming of America The "evidence" of Iranian involvement in bomb-making in southern Iraq was farmed out to The New York Times's Michael Gordon by the Pentagon in February 2007. The raw material, which we can now read, is far more doubtful than the Pentagon-peddled version. Iranian military material was still lying around all over Iraq from the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war and most of the attacks on Americans were at that stage carried out by Sunni insurgents. The reports suggesting that Syria allowed insurgents to pass through their territory, by the way, are correct. I have spoken to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers whose sons made their way to Iraq from Lebanon via the Lebanese village of Majdal Aanjar and then via the northern Syrian city of Aleppo to attack the Americans....... The Americans scored no better last time round. In Kuwait, US troops could hear Palestinians being tortured by Kuwaitis in police stations after the liberation of the city from Saddam Hussein's legions in 1991. A member of the Kuwaiti royal family was involved in the torture. US forces did not intervene. They just complained to the royal family. Soldiers are always being told not to intervene. After all, what was Lieutenant Avi Grabovsky of the Israeli army told when he reported to his officer in September 1982 that Israel's Phalangist allies had just murdered some women and children? "We know, it's not to our liking, and don't interfere," Grabovsky was told by his battalion commander. This was during the Sabra and Chatila refugee camp massacre. The quotation comes from Israel's 1983 Kahan commission report – heaven knows what we could read if WikiLeaks got its hands on the barrels of military files in the Israeli defence ministry (or the Syrian version, for that matter).

10/27/2010 - The Israel Lobby: Targeting Democrats for Election Day Defeat One, they are tired of even Obama's timid pressure on settlements and (2) they want a President who will give Israel permission to bomb Iran. George W. Bush said "no" to that scheme as has Obama. But President Palin or Huckabee? They know that they would say "bombs away" in a heartbeat. That is why they are running these ads. That is why the American Jewish Committee has become a Republican cutout. It's all about the Middle East: preventing Israel from achieving peace with its neighbors and preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons, not through diplomacy but war.

10/27/2010 - And Now, Here's The First 11 State Pensions Funds That Will Run Out Of Money

10/27/2010 - 'US, Israel and Iran have approached the end game' “One problem today when you think about [Israeli] restraint,” he said, “is that Israelis don’t see the United States preparing for a credible threat to use military action, and it’s heightened their sense of isolation.”

10/27/2010 - Iran, Saudi leaders talk after $60b. arms deal advances Jerusalem did not object to the weapons sale to the Saudi government, perhaps influenced by its own deal to receivedthe US the F-35 Joint Strike stealth fighters from the US as a reassurance against an Iranian attack. "This equipment is primarily to give (Israel) a better feeling facing the Iranian threat. It is not related to Israeli-Arab relations,"

10/27/2010 - US-Saudi arms deal ripples from Iran to Israel "This equipment is primarily to give (Israel) a better feeling facing the Iranian threat. It is not related to Israeli–Arab relations," said Inbar. "Ironically, in the current situation, Saudi Arabia is in the same strategic boat as Israel is in facing the Iranian threat."

10/27/2010 - Schools, stipends trigger Israeli religious battle "If they want to live in a ghetto, fine, but why should the state pay for it? As long as the state is paying, it has to have a say," said Yossi Sarid, a former education minister. And they seem to be keen on getting the American taxpayer to fund their schooling here too. See related news in this batch.

10/27/2010 - Australian unions join boycott of Israeli goods from?West Bank j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California Five Australian unions have joined the international campaign to boycott Israeli goods from the West Bank

10/27/2010 - Mideast sides eye US midterms and impact on talks Animating the discussion is the startling fact that the United States has failed, despite emphatic public appeals by Obama and weeks of increasingly frustrating diplomacy, to persuade Israel to extend the settlement–building slowdown that expired on Sept. 26. ...If Congress tilts Republican it could have a "positive impact" on Israeli concerns, one Netanyahu adviser told The AP – an allusion to avoiding pressure for concessions. With the Democrats weakened, Israel's friends in Congress – both Democrat and Republican – "would be able to have a stronger voice if the administration should embark on a policy that is less favorable to Israel," he added. U.S. foreign policy is set by the White House, not Congress. But Congress can influence it in the course of the day–to–day political horse trading that goes on between the executive and legislative branches. For example, when Republicans controlled the House of Representatives during Netanyahu's first term in the late 1990s, the Israeli leader was able to marshal the support of the party's conservative wing in a faceoff with President Bill Clinton over stepped–up settlement construction and Israeli troop pullbacks in the West Bank. Traditionally, both branches have been bastions of support for Israel no matter which party is in charge

10/27/2010 - Obama aide: Iran prefers defiance and secrecy to transparency and peace

10/27/2010 - ‘IF AMERICANS KNEW’ MADE THE ADL’S ANTI-ISRAEL LIST!

10/27/2010 - Israel ranks among Western world's most corrupt countries Out of 178 countries - 1 being least corrupt - Israel was listed at number 30. But when compared to other member states of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Israel fared much worse.

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10/20/2010 - Israeli air strike kills 2 militants in Gaza Strip

10/20/2010 - Israeli army shoots teenage boy in Gaza Israeli forces have shot yet another Palestinian teenager near the Gaza Strip's border with Israel for collecting rubble often used as building material.

10/20/2010 - MKs seek ban on East Jerusalem Arabs guiding in the city A bill sponsored by MK Gideon Ezra (Kadima ) and seven other Knesset members proposes to ban residents of East Jerusalem from serving as tour guides in the city, potentially putting hundreds out of work. Ezra, who said he was temporarily freezing work on the bill so as not to damage the negotiations with Palestinians, said in the introduction to the bill he believed Palestinian residents of Jerusalem should not be certified guides because they did not represent Israel's national interest well enough "and in an appropriate manner."..... The bill proposes that a guide leading a group of over 11 people, or traveling in more than one vehicle, must be a citizen of Israel. Most Arab residents of East Jerusalem have residency status but not citizenship, and so would be banned from guiding a majority of the tourist groups. "Israel has valuable tourism sites," the text of the proposed bill reads. "Oftentimes there are disagreements on the manner of the presentation of these sites historically, religiously, culturally and more. The city of Jerusalem, with its many historic sites, is an example of a site about which there are such disagreements. Some of the residents of Israel, like those in East Jerusalem, often have 'dual loyalty,' since they vote in elections of the Palestinian Authority.

10/20/2010 - Shepherd made homeless, livelihood threatened, son in prison.

10/20/2010 - Turks accuse Israel of war crimes at int'l court Turkish lawyers representing pro–Palestinian activists filed a complaint Thursday with the International Criminal Court accusing Israel of committing war crimes in May when its troops raided a boat trying to break Israel's blockade of Gaza.

10/20/2010 - PLO chief: We will recognize Israel in return for 1967 borders Abed Rabbo continued, "It is important for us to know where are the borders of Israel and where are the borders of Palestine. Any formulation the Americans present – even asking us to call Israel the 'Chinese State' – we will agree to it, as long as we receive the 1967 borders. We have recognized Israel in the past, but Israel has not recognized the Palestinian state."

10/20/2010 - Israel settlers start fires amid West Bank harvest Thick black smoke billows from the olive grove under the gaze of Israeli soldiers as Palestinian farmers use branches to try to beat out the fires lit by Jewish settlers. It's olive harvest time in the occupied West Bank. The firebombers swooped down from Havat Gilad, a wildcat Jewish settlement unauthorised even by the Israeli government. Every American should read this. These are the Israeli equivalent of Hamas, just as capable of murder and other crimes but with one main difference: the Israeli government supports them, and so does ours (and the US taxpayer dollars never stop flowing).

10/20/2010 - America's Poor Where Poverty Is Rising In America Thanks to the recession, 2009 was one of the worst years for poverty in America in more than half a century. The total number of Americans living in poverty hit 43.6 million, the highest level in 51 years and the national poverty rate rose to 14.3 percent from 13.2 percent, according to data released last month by the Census Bureau. All of that money we pour into the Middle East in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Jordan, Egypt and more, could be better spent here at home.

10/20/2010 - t r u t h o u t Israel Seals Unprecedented Weapons Deals With the US Preceding the October 7 signing of the Lockheed contract, Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to the United States, told The Washington Post on October 6 that "incentives" were offered to Israel to extend its so-called moratorium on the illegal settlement colonies in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem to keep the Palestinian Authority in direct talks. Oren told the Post that the Obama administration had come up with "a number of suggestions, incentives if you would, to the Israelis that would enable the government to maybe pass a limited extension of two or three months." It was unclear whether the Lockheed contract was specifically offered as one of the incentives, but Oren added that the purchase agreement was "an event of great strategic and historic significance," and that it would "serve the common interests" of the US and Israel. In late July 2010, the US House Appropriations Sub-Committee on Defense increased funding for Israeli missile defense programs to its highest level ever - approving $422.7 million for next year's budget - and adding $95.7 million to the original White House funding request for the long-range Arrow interceptor project and the medium-range David's Sling, according to sources quoted by the Jerusalem Post. "The lion's share - $108.8m. - will go to the Arrow 3 system, which the US signed off on after some initial hesitation," the Jerusalem Post reported. The funding also includes $205 million for the short-range missile interceptor program (dubbed "The Iron Dome") initially approved by President Barack Obama last Spring. This defense spending package is more than double that of last year's. And that's just a fraction of the total aid that American taxpayers shell out to Israel (and its neighbors to keep the peace) each year. Americans would be shocked, and outraged, especially given the fact that more and more Americans are in POVERTY. Our money is funding a people whose economy is actuallly DOING WELL, and the government is committing war crimes ('settlements' in occupied territory) and has been since its inception.

10/20/2010 - Across the U.S., Long Recovery Looks Like Recession At the current rate of job creation, the nation would need nine more years to recapture the jobs lost during the recession. And that doesn’t even account for five million or six million jobs needed in that time to keep pace with an expanding population All of that money we pour into the Middle East in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Jordan, Egypt and more, could be better spent here at home.

10/20/2010 - Water Crisis in Palestine Is Worsening According to current statistics by Amnesty International, Israel takes 80% of the water in the Mountain aquifers in the north (one of many water sources available to Israel, including the state's full access to the Jordan River, which runs inside the occupied West Bank); while Palestinians in the West Bank are left with just the remaining 20% of that one aquifer, and are prohibited from accessing water from the Jordan river altogether.

10/20/2010 - Israel takes center stage in Illinois election campaign Forget the financial crisis; in the Ninth Congressional District of Illinois, it is Israel that has taken center stage in the election campaign. A Jewish candidate has been trying to convince the mostly Jewish voters that his Jewish opponent has not done enough to protect the Jewish interest. Don't read this if you have high blood pressure.

10/20/2010 - With statehood, Palestine ready to end all claims The Palestinians are ready to end all historic claims against Israel once they establish their state in the lands Israel occupied in the 1967 Mideast War, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday, addressing a long–standing Israeli demand.

10/20/2010 - Palestinians weighing alternatives to peace talks The Palestinians will study alternatives to peace talks with Israel in the coming days, a top PLO official said Saturday, after Israel gave the green light to build 238 new houses for Jews on war–won land Palestinians seek for their state.

10/20/2010 - Israel rebuked at United Nations. Will Security Council take action? Israel’s approval last week of 238 new Jewish housing units in Arab East Jerusalem provoked widespread condemnation in a United Nations Security Council session Monday focused on the stalemated Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

10/20/2010 - Leading rabbi encourages IDF soldiers to use Palestinian human shields "According to true Jewish values, your lives come before those of the enemy, whether he is a soldier or a civilian under protection. Therefore, you are forbidden from endangering your own life for the sake of the enemy, not even for a civilian," Shapira declared.

10/20/2010 - New east Jerusalem homes approved

10/20/2010 - Israel says Hamas has anti-aircraft missiles Netanyahu gave no evidence to support his claim, and aides would not discuss details about the missiles.

10/20/2010 - East Jerusalem housing approval irks Palestinians

10/20/2010 - Carter in Syria: Israel Must Fully Lift Gaza Blockade "The blockade is one of the most serious human rights violations on Earth and it must be lifted fully," said Carter from Syria. Besides Carter, the Elders delegation includes former Irish president Mary Robinson and former UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi. While in Gaza, the group described Israel's blockade as an "illegal collective punishment" and "an impediment to peace."

10/20/2010 - Families of Gaza flotilla victims accuse Israel of war crimes in The Hague Turkish lawyers representing pro-Palestinian activists filed a complaint Thursday with the International Criminal Court in The Hague, accusing Israel of committing war crimes in May when its troops raided a boat trying to break Israel's blockade of Gaza. It was unclear whether the prosecutor would agree to pursue the case or whether the court has jurisdiction. But the filing reignited an issue that has severely strained Israel's relations with Turkey, previously its strongest ally in the Muslim world, and keeps Israel on the defensive over its much-criticized Gaza blockade. Anti-Israel protest in Turkey, AP, June 6, 2010 Pro-Palestinian Turks demonstrating against Israel in Ankara, Turkey on June 6, 2010 Photo by: AP A delegation representing some 300 activists and a Turkish nongovernment organization submitted the complaint to the prosecutor's office in The Hague seeking an investigation into the May 31 raid.

10/20/2010 - US 'disappointed' at Israel's settlement move The United States said Friday it was "disappointed" with Israel's plans for 238 new settler homes in east Jerusalem, saying it undermined US efforts to revive Middle East peace talks.

10/20/2010 - Did Canada's support for Israel cost it a seat on UN Security Council? In January 2010, Canada was the only country to reduce its financial contributions to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which provides education, health care and emergency aid to Palestinian refugees in the West Bank and Gaza, cutting $18 million in aid, as reported by the Ma'an News Agency.

10/20/2010 - With Allies Like These Israeli Sephardic leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef in his weekly Saturday night sermon said that non-Jews exist to serve Jews. “Goyim were born only to serve us. Without that, they have no place in the world; only to serve the People of Israel,” he said during a public discussion of what kind of work non-Jews are allowed to perform on Shabbat.

10/20/2010 - No Knesset majority for loyalty oath for Jews and non-Jews Edelstein and Elkin, both immigrants from the former Soviet Union, told Neeman at the meeting that they won't support the bill in its new form, as it discriminates between Jews born in Israel and Jews who immigrate under the Law of Return. That would undermine the point of the Law of Return, which was to treat any Jew who moves here as the equal of someone born here, they argued

10/20/2010 - This Peaceful Position Takes Courage While Israel often gets a lot of negative publicity for its brutal treatment of Palestinians and the inherent racism within its society, there is a growing core of Israeli human rights activists who are challenging government policy -- and paying a high price for their courage.

10/20/2010 - Report: Suspect in Dubai Hamas assassination arrested in Canada

10/20/2010 - Arab League urges world leaders to boycott OECD conference in Jerusalem The Arab League sent letters to world leaders on Sunday calling for a boycott of this week's international tourism conference in Jerusalem hosted by Israel.

10/20/2010 - US supports terrorism: Turkish PM Erdogan touched on Israeli attack on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla that killed nine Turkish human rights activists on May 31 and condemned the US "double standards," noting that Washington openly "supported the Israeli state terrorism," despite its claims that it supports peace, Turkey's Milliyet newspaper reported on Saturday.

10/20/2010 - New Loyalty Oath Unusual in Asserting Religion It adds the words “as a Jewish and democratic state,

10/20/2010 - The Iran Report by Philip Girald How about a White House-issued statement calling itself an NIE that says something like this: "Even though we have no hard evidence that Iran has a nuclear arms program we have decided that since Tehran has not been completely forthcoming on some aspects of its nuclear energy program it might be intending to develop a weapon. The White House is under constant pressure from Israel and its supporters in congress and the media to do something about the threat from Iran, so we have asked the CIA to prepare a document that will enable us to bomb Iran if we decide it is politically expedient to do so. Or alternatively not to bomb Iran if we decide not to do so because, in our judgment, the voters cannot stomach another war. The decision on what to do about Iran will be based on what happens in midterm elections next month and on a White House assessment of what has to be done to insure the re-election of President Obama. That might require a new war or maybe not, but rest assured that it will have nothing to do with the genuine threat that Iran might actually pose and nothing to do with any balance of power in the world or vital American national interests. It will all come down to appeasing the Israel Lobby and managing the election cycle. Thank you." Right on, Phil. Sad.

10/20/2010 - It’s the Palestinians’ Fault You get the picture. Israel is now essentially saying: we will partially obey international law for 60 days (and then go back to violating it), as long as you sign away basic human rights–refugees and their descendants returning to homes they were expelled from and equality for all–forever. And media, both in the U.S., in Israel and around the world, are adopting Israel’s framing of the issue.

10/20/2010 - Turkish PM says will not talk with Netanyahu

10/20/2010 - Director Mike Leigh cancels Israel trip in protest Leigh, the award–winning director of "Naked" and "Secrets & Lies," was to participate in a film festival next month. He is Jewish. Writing to the school sponsoring the event, Leigh said he opposed Israel's policies on Gaza, but called the loyalty oath the "last straw."

10/20/2010 - 'Ahmadinejad visit proves Lebanon has joined axis of extreme nations' Israel's stance, which has been clearly expressed over recent days, is that Ahmadinejad's visit proves that Lebanon is becoming more extreme, on its way to becoming an Iranian outpost. "Lebanon has joined the axis of extreme nations which object to the peace process and support terror," said a senior Israeli official involved in preparations for the two-day visit.

10/20/2010 - Obama's Sinking Jewish Numbers--Is It Israel? It does not mean that Jewish voters do not care about Israel, said David Harris, president and CEO of the National Jewish Democratic Coalition, but rather that Jewish voters feel comfortable with the level of support for Israel demonstrated by most candidates, Democrats and Republicans. In other words, they know they're going to get an Israel-kowtower in Congress, so they don't have to worry.

10/20/2010 - Israel Is a Campaign Issue, but How Big? “Jewish voters need to be comfortable that their candidates support Israel, and once they are sure of that, they move on to other issues,”

10/20/2010 - New York Candidates Court Hasidic Vote While the true strength of the famous ultra-Orthodox voting blocs is up for debate, the Hasidic lifestyle, which calls for large families and private yeshiva education, leads its adherents to rely on significant infusions of government financial support. Relationships between community leaders and political leaders are based largely on the ability of the former to deliver bloc votes to the latter, and are seen as essential to keeping the aid flowing in the opposite direction. “They don’t want to be on the outside,” New York Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf said of the New York Hasidic leadership. “They’ll pick the winner. Why? Because they don’t want to be denied aid.”.......“Education, and how government can alleviate the financial burden on a typical Jewish family sending five or six children to yeshivas, is probably the issue of paramount importance to the community,” Read that a few times.

10/20/2010 - Occupation and Withdrawal The central fact is that overwhelmingly suicide-terrorist attacks are not driven by religion as much as they are by a clear strategic objective: to compel modern democracies to withdraw military forces from the territory that the terrorists view as their homeland [bold mine-DL]. From Lebanon to Sri Lanka to Chechnya to Kashmir to the West Bank, every major suicide-terrorist campaign—over 95 percent of all the incidents—has had as its central objective to compel a democratic state to withdraw.

10/20/2010 - Going After Iran (Again) by Philip Giraldi Quite a lot to digest. One does not have to be an apologist for Iran to note that the editorial is a whole lot of innuendo wrapped in speculation. In reality, Iran has not attacked any neighbor or triggered any war either directly or by proxy while it has been Israel that has been doing all the attacking.

10/20/2010 - US, Israel agree Iran prime threat to Mideast "While today's strategic dialogue covered many subjects, it is clear that Iran is among the greatest challenges we face today in the Middle East," said the statement, which was released by the State Department in the names of Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon. Israel=the tail that wags the American dog.

10/20/2010 - Musharraf's 'fish, duck and wine' lunch with Israeli MPs in London Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is stated to have shared a lunch with a couple of members of Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, at a Chinese restaurant in Kensington area of central London a few days ago.

10/20/2010 - Ahmadinejad, near Israel border, says Zionists mortal

10/20/2010 - Israeli Policies are Manifestly Evil: Philip Giraldi Most intelligence officers believe that Israel, which was conducting a massive and illegal spy operation inside the U.S. aimed at Arabs living here, knew at least parts of the 9/11 conspiracy. It did not share that information and it is also clear that leading Israeli politicians welcomed the attacks because they made Washington a totally committed ally in full agreement with the Israeli view of Islamic terrorism.

10/20/2010 - Without Protest or Funding, Columbia Opens Center for Palestine Studies Unlike Israel Studies, which has expanded rapidly with support from wealthy Jewish donors, "Palestine studies" as an autonomous field of research has no ready–made set of foundations and donors to back it

10/20/2010 - turkey Iran sanctions affecting banking decisions Turkey said Wednesday that U.S. and EU sanctions have led to hesitation by Turkish banks on doing business with Iran. But Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan told reporters in Washington that he expects overall Turkish trade with Iran to increase. Read more: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2010/10/20/1678148/turkey-iran-sanctions-affecting.html#ixzz13VZqdsTM

10/20/2010 - Pro-Israel groups deny role in Cyprus bill A report last week in Congressional Quarterly said the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobbied for the nonbinding resolution passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on Sept. 28 by voice vote.....The Congressional Quarterly story cast what it said was pro-Israel support for the resolution as part of deteriorating Israel-Turkey relations in the wake of the 2009 Gaza war and Israel's deadly May 31 raid on a Turkish-flagged aid flotilla attempting to breach Israel's blockade of Gaza.

10/20/2010 - It's the Occupation, Stupid - By Robert A. Pape Israelis have their own narrative about terrorism, which holds that Arab fanatics seek to destroy the Jewish state because of what it is, not what it does. But since Israel withdrew its army from Lebanon in May 2000, there has not been a single Lebanese suicide attack. Similarly, since Israel withdrew from Gaza and large parts of the West Bank, Palestinian suicide attacks are down over 90 percent.

10/20/2010 - Foreign Policy Does Not Flow From the Will of the People To the extent that a consensus on Israel exists on the right, it is something that has been fashioned by conservative political and intellectual leaders over decades, and it is something that has been reinforced through a steady diet of slanted or incomplete news coverage, government propaganda, and the constantly repeated claim that Israel is a reliable ally.......One side has effectively dominated the public discussion of the issue for decades, not because they happen to be telling the public what it already wants to hear, but because they have been trying to shape public opinion for decades

10/20/2010 - 4 men are convicted in NY synagogue-bombing plot The FBI assigned Hussain in 2008 to infiltrate a mosque in Newburgh, about an hour north of New York. After meeting Cromitie, he told him he was a representative of a Pakistani terror organization that was eager to finance a holy war on U.S. soil.

10/20/2010 - At Lebanon border, Ahmadinejad predicts Israel demise "The whole world knows that the Zionists are going to disappear," he said Thursday to thunderous applause before a frenzied crowd in Hezbollah's bastion of Bint Jbeil, some four kilometres (two miles) from the Israeli border. "The occupying Zionists today have no choice but to accept reality and go back to their countries of origin," he added.

10/20/2010 - Ahmadinejad in Lebanon: A Mideast Doctrine in Ruins The Bush Administration may have hoped that its own invasion of Iraq and Israel's attacks on Lebanon in 2006 and Gaza in late 2008 would strike decisive blows against Iran and its allies and turn the regional dynamic in favor of the U.S. But in all three places, Iran's influence was actually strengthened

10/20/2010 - Building to destroy the peace process The only explanation for the government's approval of 240 new housing units in East Jerusalem is that it was an attempt to sabotage the efforts to renew direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

10/20/2010 - ADL's demonization of student activism denounced

10/20/2010 - U.S. lawmakers: Lebanon's embrace of Ahmadinejad may affect military aid In August, two key Democrats, Representatives Nita Lowey and Howard Berman, announced they were holding up $100 million that had been approved for Lebanon's army but not yet spent. At the time, lawmakers said they were blocking U.S. funding due to a deadly border clash between Lebanon and Israel.

10/20/2010 - My Amazing and Disturbing Experiences in Israel Veterans Today “Boy, you guys are really something – having served the military of our country (remember – they were AMERICAN citizens) and then investing your time in a ‘feeling for duty’ to Israel”. They answered proudly and without hesitation: ” Oh no – we haven’t served in the United States military – there’s no way”. Then they both broke out in a cynical mocking laughter. So if there is any doubt where their loyalties lie – consider their unabashed answer of contemptuous scorn for the notion of patriotically serving in uniform for America I don't agree with Mr. Cortina's inability to distinguish between Jews and Israelis but if true, his account of his travels is interesting.

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10/13/2010 - 2 militants dead in Israeli raid in West Bank Israeli troops in the West Bank killed two senior Hamas militants, and a settler leader struck a rock–wielding Palestinian youth with his car Friday in disputed east Jerusalem as tensions rose over stalled peace talks.

10/13/2010 - Third world America The National Association of Counties estimates that local governments will eliminate roughly half a million employees in the next fiscal year, with public safety, public works, public health, social services, and parks and recreation hardest hit by the cutbacks. A July survey by the association of counties, the National League of Cities, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors of 270 local governments found that 63 per cent of localities are cutting back on public safety and 60 per cent are cutting public works. Hey I know, let's send Israel a few more billion.

10/13/2010 - Syria: Israel-U.S. fighter jet deal destabilizes region Last month, a ministerial panel headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak made a final decision to purchase 20 new F-35 fighter jets, despite opposition from a number of senior defense officials over the high cost of the deal. The entire deal will be funded by American military. Hey I know, let's send Israel a few more billion.

10/13/2010 - A record 30% of unemployed out of work at least a year Put another way, a hefty share of the long-term unemployed — 71% — were out of work at least a year in August, up from 48% a year earlier, BLS figures show. Hey I know, let's send Israel a few more billion.

10/13/2010 - US Backs PM: Israel is Jewish State Meanwhile, Israel plans to request next week that the US extend its $3 billion security package for another few years, but the state is also preparing for the possibility that the latter will cut the package by a billion, Ynet has learned. Next week officials from the State Department are scheduled to arrive in Israel in order to receive a briefing on its economic standing and reforms. Over the past few years, due to Israel's relatively buoyant economy, the state has not generally had to make use of US security in order to raise funds, but the Finance Ministry prefers to continue receiving it. Hey I know, let's send Israel a few more billion.

10/13/2010 - US Cities Face Half a Trillion Dollars of Pension Deficits Hey I know, let's send Israel a few more billion.

10/13/2010 - Senior citizens brace for Social Security freeze The government is expected to announce this week that more than 58 million Social Security recipients will go through a second straight year without an increase in monthly benefits. This year was the first without an increase since automatic adjustments for inflation started in 1975. Hey I know, let's send Israel a few more billion.

10/13/2010 - 10,000 wait in line at Cal Expo in bid to save their homes Hey I know, let's send Israel a few more billion.

10/13/2010 - Ahmadinejad makes a show of strength in Lebanon Israeli lawmaker Arieh Eldad, from the ultranationalist National Union Party, went so far as to suggest that Israel assassinate the Iranian leader when he visits the border area.

10/13/2010 - Arab summit fails to address issues Abbas sought Arab backing for possible fall back options in case troubled talks with Israel collapse, including urging the US to unilaterally recognise a Palestinian state. The Arab Summit gave US mediators another month to keep the talks from collapsing, a deadline that comes just after the US midterm elections.

10/13/2010 - “Why Is the U.S. Government Deaf to What Has Been Done to My Son?” Asks Father of an American Murdered on the Gaza Flotilla "Up to this moment, I still do not understand why the United States government is deaf to what has been done to my son, an American citizen. I urge the U.S. government to act to defend the rights of my son. I also would like to know why the U.S. voted against the Gaza Flotilla Report of the UN Fact Finding Mission at the Human Rights Council last week, as that report included information about the execution of my son, " said Dogan

10/13/2010 - Israeli Troops Accused of Shooting Children in Gaza At least 10 Palestinian children have been shot and wounded by Israeli troops in the past three months while collecting rubble in or near the "buffer zone" created by Israel along the Gaza border, in a low-intensity offensive on the fringes of the blockaded Palestinian territory.....Last month a 91-year-old man and two teenage boys were killed while harvesting olives outside the official zone when Israeli troops fired shells. Forty-three goats also died in the attack.

10/13/2010 - Israelis, Palestinians signal deal on settlements Israel indicated it, too, was edging toward a compromise. The country's ambassador to Washington confirmed for the first time that the U.S. is offering "incentives" for Israel to extend a just–expired settlement slowdown

10/13/2010 - How Will Jews React to ‘Budrus’? A Film Highlighting Non-violent Resistance to Israeli Policies, and Israel’s Tough Response, To Get U.S. Premiere, With Jewish Support.

10/13/2010 - Abbas to Arab League: Israel has violated all agreements Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat quoted Abbas as telling Arab leaders attending the summit that Israel has also scrapped the PA’s political, legal, functional and security authorities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

10/13/2010 - Palestinian dream city hits snag from Israel "I'm really glad the road is there to prevent them from building that city," she said, speaking in English, "and yay for us that we have established those communities so that the problem exists." [says an Israeli settler]

10/13/2010 - Netanyahu asking Palestinians to cede right of return Netanyahu knows full well that any Palestinian leader who recognizes Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people also acknowledges that the Palestinians do not have any rightful place there. In other words, it is tantamount to an up-front concession on the right of return.

10/13/2010 - Obama’s Letter, Netanyahu’s Rejection, and Media’s Non-response

10/13/2010 - Israeli PM offers conditional settlements freeze Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said for the first time that he would extend the settlement restrictions in the West Bank – if the Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish national homeland. The idea, while innocuous to Israel's supporters, is widely seen as undermining the rights of Arab Israelis, and was immediately rejected by the Palestinians. But it could signal that Netanyahu is willing to bend and save a U.S.–led peace effort in exchange for a different concession.

10/13/2010 - In Global Hunt for Hit Men, Tantalizing Trail Goes Cold The findings raised hopes of nabbing one of the orchestrators of the hit, possibly providing proof for accusations by Dubai police that Israel's intelligence agency Mossad was behind it.......And despite an initial burst of tough talk from various governments, some international investigators are concerned that politics may be hampering cooperation from some governments that support Israel.....Two suspects, traveling with forged passports, appeared to have fled to the U.S. shortly after the killing.....But the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has since said it doesn't have records of the two suspects in its system.

10/13/2010 - Push To Amend Civil Rights Act Forces Basic Questions About Jewish Identity Now, two Jewish lawmakers are trying to amend the law, in order to have it include protection for Jewish students on college campuses. In the process, they are taking on a heavy historical question: Are the Jews of America part of a religion, or are they an ethnic group?.....the driving force behind this proposed legislation is the Zionist Organization of America, and the events triggering it took place at the University of California, Irvine, where tensions between Jewish and pro-Palestinian students have run high......In addition to incidents at UC, Irvine, ZOA also pointed to other campuses at which anti-Israel activity has left Jewish students feeling harassed. The Specter-Sherman bill mentions several incidents at other universities, as well, including the University of California’s Berkeley campus, where a student holding a pro-Israel sign was pushed and injured. At the University of North Dakota, anti-Semitic slurs were shouted at a Jewish student. Soon criticism of Israel will be illegal, if the Zionists have their way. Already, the FBI is- under the auspices of the new definition of terrorism- rounding up people in the US for pro-Palestinian activity. Let the fascism of Israel and its supporters be fully known to the American people - so that we all finally DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

10/13/2010 - Critics: Israel loyalty oath undermines pluralism Netanyahu's government is also smarting over harsh international criticism over a deadly naval raid on a Gaza–bound flotilla and suspicions that Israeli agents killed a Palestinian militant in Dubai after stealing the identities of some of its own citizens. Nationalists are promoting a bill that would shut down groups that provide information that could be used to support war crimes allegations against Israel in court cases raised in other countries. Another would impose fines and entry bans on supporters of an anti–Israel boycott. Earlier this month, controversy erupted after a high school principal used of an unapproved textbook that presents the Palestinian grief over Israel's 1948 creation. Palestinians mourn it as the "nakba" – the catastrophe – because hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were expelled from homes in what is now Israel. The principal faces possible disciplinary action. Another bill that has drawn criticism recently would deny state funding to groups that mourn the "nakba." Fascism.

10/13/2010 - Israel To Iran: Time’s Up Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz called Monday for a naval blockade of Iran within two to six months, saying sanctions have failed to convince the Islamic republic to abandon its nuclear weapons program. THey'll do and say anything at this point to get the US to fight yet another war on their behalf.

10/13/2010 - Slumdog movie star turns defiant Palestinian girl The Indian actress who starred in "Slumdog Millionaire" has moved from the slums of Mumbai to the squalid refugee camps of the West Bank in a new film: the story of a defiant Palestinian girl who wants to fight against Israel in a coming of age story with a Mideast twists. "Miral," directed by award–winning artist Julian Schnabel and with cameos by Willem Dafoe and Vanessa Redgrave, stands apart for more than its star power. Due for U.S. release in December, it's also likely to give Western audiences–some perhaps more used to movies depicting Arabs as violent Islamic militants–a compassionate view of the Palestinians. "The ordinary American who knows nothing about Palestine and knows nothing about our cause–it will be the first time he will sit and watch this story," said Yasmine al–Massri, a 31–year–old Paris–based Palestinian actress who plays Pinto's mother.

10/13/2010 - Slain US activist's parents seek justice in Israel The Corries have lobbied U.S. officials to pressure Israel to reopen the investigation into Rachel's death. And if the Supreme Court doesn't rule in their favour, the Corries say the will resume lobbying U.S. officials.

10/13/2010 - Settlers, Palestinians clash over olive harvest Nasser, a carpenter from the village of Jit, took a day off on Sunday to pick olives from his 30 olive trees which provide him with oil for the entire season. He was shocked to discover a pianful sight when he reached his plot. "I saw that all my trees had been shaved," he said. "There's not one fruit left on any of the trees." Nasser has no doubts as to who is behind the act. "The Havat Gilat settlers emptied them (the trees) completely." Nasser is not alone. Farmers of the neighboring villages also found there was nothing left of their crop of hundreds of thousands of olives. Hundreds of trees have been stripped of their fruit.

10/13/2010 - IOC president invites Israel, Palestine for talks The president of the International Olympic Committee has invited Israeli and Palestinian sports officials to meet at IOC headquarters to discuss travel restrictions on Palestinian athletes. Jacque Rogge has expressed concern over travel obstacles facing Palestinian athletes, saying they should be granted free movement regardless of politics.

10/13/2010 - Jordan Valley joins list of peace obstacles The Palestinians say they can't give up an inch of the fertile valley, which makes up a quarter of the West Bank and would be one of the few largely undeveloped territories of their crowded future state, a place to build new cities and settle refugees. With an eye to the future, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad broke ground Monday on an agroindustrial park in the valley that, with funding and technical help from Japan, is to create 10,000 Palestinian jobs one day and transform the sleepy area into an economic hub.

10/13/2010 - Two Palestinians killed, four families made homeless.

10/13/2010 - Israel's Other "Peace" Plan Arm-Twisting Obama

10/13/2010 - CPT Serious Incident Report and Reflection This particular incident speaks not only to the Israeli police’s lack of impartiality, but also to the reality that settlers’ accusations supersede preserving the educational environment of Palestinian children. The entry of soldiers into educational institutions signifies to children that schools are not safe places for them, thus creating further barriers to education.

10/13/2010 - French, Spanish FMs: Lieberman violated every rule of diplomacy During a dinner meeting on Sunday, Lieberman told France's Bernard Kouchner and Spain's Miguel Angel Moratinos to "solve your own problems in Europe before you come to us with complaints. Maybe then I will be open to accepting your suggestions."

10/13/2010 - Dubai police: Suspect in Hamas assassination arrested abroad In Monday's comments, Tamim said the suspect is not believed to be European. "The suspect who was arrested played a key role in the killing, but we were informed by the ambassador ... that they did not wish to release the information," Tamim told the Abu Dhabi government-owned daily.

10/13/2010 - Gaza teens brave IDF fire to collect salvaged building materials Every day dozens of people come to the ruins of the industrial zone and the settlements, such as Elei Sinai, in wagons drawn by donkeys or horses. One of the teens, who was shot on August 25, told Defence for Children that in recent months soldiers also shot and killed one of the donkeys and three of the horses.

10/13/2010 - J Street Board Sticks With Ben-Ami After Soros Flap

10/13/2010 - Video: The Two State Solution Is Effectively Dead Short clip of John Mearsheimer, coauthor of The Israeli Lobby, giving the lowdown on Israel's future.

10/13/2010 - The Israeli Loyalty Oath: What is Netanyahu Up To?

10/13/2010 - Israel's loyalty oath: Discriminatory by design The question that lies behind this is why, and why now? Are these the actions of a nation prepared to make a historical compromise, end occupation and live in peace with its neighbourhood? If they are and we are all wildly misinterpreting this, why alienate and incite the very people who could have helped by their example bring a historic settlement about, people who have accepted the existence of Israel, who have never in their history taken up arms against it? This applies to Christian as well as Muslim.

10/13/2010 - Russia to pay Iran $800 mln for shelved S-300 deal Iran had criticised Russia for abandoning the deal, which the United States and Israel had urged Moscow to drop because of fears Tehran could use the missiles to protect nuclear facilities they suspect are part of a weapons programme.

10/13/2010 - Bagels and Ballots — Friday Responding to MitzVote’s questionnaire, California’s Democratic incumbent Sen. Barbara Boxer responds to our questionnaire. “When it comes to Iran, nothing should be taken off the table,” she wrote. (The San Francisco Chronicle)

10/13/2010 - Six More Years by Philip Giraldi . The White House has promised Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu that it will pursue a hard line on Iran and has offered a complete surrender over the issue of settlements if Israel can come to some jury-rigged peace agreement with the Palestinians, possibly landing the United States in the middle of yet another conflict in the Persian Gulf. And to ice the cake there is fear-mongering that occasionally even exceeds the frenetic output of the Bush Administration.

10/13/2010 - Joseph Sobran, Antiwar Prophet, RIP The Israeli/Likud lobby today is still dominant mainly because of its fanatical support from tens of millions of Christian Zionist evangelicals and the military-industrial complex.

10/13/2010 - Goldwater on the Israel Lobby Kolbe: Is the Israeli lobby too powerful? Goldwater: God, yes, way too powerful. Kolbe: Has that had some detrimental effects on what comes out of Congress? Goldwater: Yes. See, we have no treaty with Israel, but we have pledged ourselves to go to war if she has to go to war. And there are some of the actions that some of the Israeli groups take that, at times, I’ve felt would hasten that day when we have to live up to our promise. I can understand the feeling, but I’m getting awfully tired of the great influence they have and there’s no question about it.

10/13/2010 - Poll: 76% of American Jews think Arabs want to destroy Israel If diplomacy fails, 59% would support military action against Iran to stop its nuclear program, while 35% would oppose it. 70% will support Israeli preventive strike, while 26% would oppose it.

10/13/2010 - With Emanuel and Axelrod Gone, Will the Jews Have Access to Obama? the two individuals now running the policy in the White House -- National Security Council staffers Daniel Shapiro and Dennis Ross -- are sensitive to Jewish concerns. “Rahm was not running Middle East policy,” Diament said. “Dennis Ross and Dan Shapiro are still there.”

10/13/2010 - Sarah Palin says if Iran gets a nuclear weapon, it could lead to Armageddon or World War III "We have to realize that, at the end of the day, a nuclear weapon in that country's hands is not just Israel's problem or America's problem — it is the world's problem," Palin said of Iran. Sarah Palin would appear to be a nitwit.

10/13/2010 - Chinese warplanes refueled in Iran en route to Turkey Iran indirectly supported a secret military drill between the Turkish and Chinese air forces that took place in September, sparking concerns in the United States, daily Hürriyet reported Monday

10/13/2010 - They Hate Us for Our Occupations In 2004, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld commissioned a task force to study what causes Terrorism, and it concluded that "Muslims do not 'hate our freedom,' but rather, they hate our policies": specifically, "American direct intervention in the Muslim world" through our "one sided support in favor of Israel"; support for Islamic tyrannies in places like Egypt and Saudi Arabia; and, most of all, "the American occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan" (the full report is here). Now, a new, comprehensive study from Robert Pape, a University of Chicago political science professor and former Air Force lecturer, substantiates what is (a) already bleedingly obvious and (b) known to the U.S. Government for many years: namely, that the prime cause of suicide bombings is not Hatred of Our Freedoms or Inherent Violence in Islamic Culture or a Desire for Worldwide Sharia Rule by Caliphate, but rather. . . . foreign military occupations.

10/13/2010 - US man suspected of trying to spy for Israel In June 2006, Doxer e-mailed a foreign country's consulate in Boston with his offer to help. Court papers indicated the country was Israel because at one point he identified himself as a Jewish American who wanted "to help our homeland and our war against our enemies." A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to confirm or deny that it was Israel.

10/13/2010 - The Media's Construction of the 'Ground Zero Mosque' CNN featured virulent Islamophobes on a number of occasions. Geller—who has called for the destruction of Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock, one of Islam’s holiest sites, and whose website depicted Muhammad with the face of a pig (FAIR Blog, 8/18/10)—appeared on the network twice (5/26/10, 8/17/10) to talk about her opposition to the project. Many are bile-spewing Israel-supporters, not surprisingly.

10/13/2010 - Venezuela Community in Eye of Storm As Chavez Assails Israel “A Palestinian community lives here with us, which we adore and love, and there are also Jews that live here who we love, as well,” he said then. “But I wish the Jewish community would declare themselves against this barbarism. Do it. Don’t you strongly denounce any act of persecution and the Holocaust? What do you think we are looking at [in Gaza]? Put your hand on your heart, and be fair.”

10/13/2010 - Why defense spending won't go down much Stephen M. Walt Q. How can you tell when William Kristol is giving bad policy advice? A. His lips are moving. Or he's typing. Or he's writing an open letter for a bunch of hawks to sign. Or launching some new letterhead organization. I refer, of course, to Kristol's recent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal (co-authored with the presidents of the the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute). The basic theme is that the world is very, very dangerous, and so the United States should not cut a nickel from its defense budget, even though we already spend more than the rest of the world combined, have most of the world's major powers on our side, and possess a robust nuclear deterrent. So even though the country is also facing massive budget deficits, at least partly due to policies that Kristol has previously promoted, we need to build a wall around the defense budget and make sure it doesn't get shrunk. At all. Mr. Walt is the other author of the Israeli lobby.

10/13/2010 - The Real Israel Lobby Neocon Bill Kristol attempting to further the lie that Americans support Israel. IF it were true, then there wouldn't be a need for AIPAC, WINEP, CAMERA, Honestreporting.com and many more lobbies, PACs, thinktanks, watchdogs : all dedicated to making sure the media and representatives toe the Israeli line. None of that would be necessary if the majority of Americans supported Israel. In fact, they don't according to a recent poll by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. My condolences to the Israel firsters (which includes the neocons).

10/13/2010 - Israel, Hurt by Belly-Dance Video, Fears Delegitimization - TIME Israel's latest mortification, now playing on YouTube, features a Palestinian woman in modest Islamic dress, captive, blindfolded and standing stock still while an Israeli soldier undulates against her, trilling his fingers like the belly dancer he pretends to be as he grins at his friend who holds the camera. This follows the infamous Facebook posting of a female soldier beaming beside blindfolded and bound Palestinian men — her prisoners — in a photo album titled "IDF — The best time of my life." .......The need to nurture U.S. support against Iran was only one reason Netanyahu came around to the Obama Administration's bid for talks

10/13/2010 - Hero's welcome in Lebanon for Iranian leader "We fully support the resistance of the Lebanese people against the Zionist regime and we want full liberation of occupied territory in Lebanon, Syria and Palestine,"

10/13/2010 - Helen Thomas on being anti-Semitic: 'Baloney!' In a radio interview, former White House correspondent Helen Thomas acknowledges she touched a nerve with remarks about Israel that led to her retirement. But she says the comments were "exactly what I thought," even though she realized soon afterward that it was the end of her job. "I hit the third rail. You cannot criticize Israel in this country and survive," Thomas told Ohio station WMRN–AM in a sometimes emotional 35–minute interview that aired Tuesday

10/13/2010 - Israel Is Spying In And On The U.S.? Part 1

10/13/2010 - Palestinian Oktoberfest Entices Israeli Jews This past weekend thousands of Palestinians, foreigners and a few Israelis flocked there for an Oktoberfest celebration where, as-per Oktoberfest tradition, beer flowed freely. For some of the Israelis who went the event was reminiscent of the days, before the First Intifada, when they regularly traveled to Palestinian areas to eat and drink.

10/13/2010 - Bagels & Ballots: The Governator Jumps In The American Jewish Committee published a survey on Jewish voters is out, and it looks like Barack Obama is losing Jewish support because of his Israel policy. 61% of Jewish voters see the issue as “very important” in choosing mid-term congressional candidates, making it the sixth-highest concern.

10/13/2010 - Rick Sanchez Latest To Be Immediately Fired After Comments Hostile to Jews Before Sanchez there was Octavia Nasr, CNN’s senior editor of Middle East affairs, who was sacked in June for publicly praising — via Twitter — a Muslim cleric associated with Hezbollah. And before her there was Helen Thomas, the 90-year-old veteran White House correspondent who lost her job this past summer when she said that Israelis should “get the hell out of Palestine” and go back to Poland and Germany. In her case, she quit, but there was little chance of her staying on in her job after the uproar began.

10/13/2010 - Negotiator: Iran to show proof of US nuclear aid to Israel

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10/6/2010 - Israelis kill Palestinian worker who sneaked in Israeli police shot and killed a construction worker from this West Bank village Sunday after he used a rope to scale a towering wall meant to keep Palestinians from sneaking into Israel, police and a witness said.

10/6/2010 - Israeli rabbis visit torched West Bank mosque The attackers left Hebrew slogans on the mosque walls, including the word "revenge." It appeared to be the latest action in a campaign that extremist Jewish settlers call the "price tag," their response to moves by their government to remove unauthorized settlement outposts and other similar measures.

10/6/2010 - Two Israeli soldiers ‘take fall’ for Gaza offensive Despite over 150 internal investigations being opened by the Israeli military into alleged misconduct by its troops during the assault on Gaza, only 36 have been referred for criminal prosecutions, and – until yesterday's verdict – only one conviction has been handed down by the courts, in the case of a soldier accused of petty theft....Human rights groups have documented scores of cases of similar abuses by IDF fighters since the practice of using human shields was supposedly banned in 2005. Allegations backed by substantial evidence continue to surface - and the IDF continues to fail to instigate meaningful investigations in almost all incidences. You will not see this story in our media anywhere, certainly not in any headlines on the local or national news. Refer to the video in this batch on how Israel controls our media.

10/6/2010 - Israeli troops used boy as shield In Sunday's ruling, a military court said the soldiers asked the boy to open bags that troops suspected contained explosives.

10/6/2010 - 10 days after settlement freeze expires, 350 new units under construction

10/6/2010 - Art sellers or Mossad spies? In Saratoga Springs, in northern Utah, there were complains that these art peddlers were asking strange questions that had nothing to do with their sales pitch. Some residents said they were asked about the new National Security Agency's data center being built at Camp Williams. Art sellers resurface in America? They were around in the run up to 9/11, according to a Fox News report on Israel's spies in December of 2001. Round them up and deport them, posthaste.

10/6/2010 - Ahmadinejad says Mideast to expel US with 'kick in butt' Ahmadinejad has already drawn international condemnation by repeatedly casting doubt on the Nazi Holocaust since coming to power in 2005. On Sunday he branded Iran's regional arch–foe Israel a "savage dog unleashed in the region."

10/6/2010 - FBI Targets US Palestine Activists Despite the searches and seizures of computers, cheque books, mobile phones, documents and photographs, Molm and other activists have not been charged with committing a crime.....Molm and other American activists travelled to Palestine in 2004 to see the conditions there for themselves.

10/6/2010 - Obama envoy ends Mideast talks with no breakthrough

10/6/2010 - Hundreds of activists from Muslim countries planning new Gaza-bound flotilla The Turkish charity IHH, which sponsored a Gaza-bound flotilla that Israeli commandos boarded in a deadly raid last spring, said Monday that some 500 activists would take part in a new flotilla that hopes to reach Gaza by December 27.

10/6/2010 - Korans burnt in West Bank mosque attack A Star of David symbol and the words "Price Tag" were found scrawled over the mosque's doorway. Militant settlers coined the slogan to warn of the cost of any threat to their presence.

10/6/2010 - Livni tells UN to mind its own business over flotilla probe Livni told UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that his decision to appoint a panel to investigate the May 31 commando raid, which left nine pro-Palestinian activists dead, was "unacceptable". ...."Israel is investigating the events of the flotilla itself, and that is enough," said Livni, who leads Kadima, the second largest party in Israel's Knesset. Arrogant much?

10/6/2010 - Israel: Principal faces hearing over textbook An Israeli high school principal has been summoned for a hearing by the country's Education Ministry for using a textbook that presents the Palestinian narrative about events surrounding Israel's creation in 1948, officials said Friday.....The textbook in question gives the Israeli narrative of the country's founding next to that of the Palestinians, with blank space in the middle for students to insert their own thoughts, according to a report this week in the daily Haaretz.

10/6/2010 - Egypt, Jordan back Palestinians on settlements

10/6/2010 - Court upholds deportation of Nobel laureate She won the peace prize in 1976 for her efforts to end sectarian violence in Northern Ireland, but has since turned most of her attention to the Palestinian cause.

10/6/2010 - Arsonists torch mosque in West Bank village Arsonists torched a mosque in a West Bank village Monday, scrawling "revenge" on a wall in Hebrew and charring copies of the Muslim holy book in an attack that threatened to stoke tensions over deadlocked Mideast peacemaking.

10/6/2010 - Ancient tree to help turn Jericho into tourism hub At the Oct. 10 launch of yearlong festivities, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will outline ambitious plans for Jericho, a Jordan Valley oasis that bills itself as the world's oldest and lowest–lying town, at some 780 feet below sea level. "This is to promote Palestine as a destination," Palestinian Tourism Minister Khouloud Daibes said of the venture, which includes a resort to be built on the shores of the nearby Dead Sea. The Palestinians even hope for an airport in the area, though both projects hinge on Israeli approval.....On Friday, dozens of Palestinian and Russian workers laid brick, rushing to finish the white stone building with two domes and several graceful columns in time for the Oct. 10 opening. The museum, which sits on land bought by the Russian government in the 19th century, will feature Russian art and an exhibit on cultural ties between Russia and Palestine, as well as artifacts discovered during a salvage dig before construction began.

10/6/2010 - Peace talks come and go, but a settlement grows In 1991, when the first Bush administration was coaxing Israelis and Palestinians to the negotiating table, 90,300 Israelis lived in settlements across the West Bank. Today there are 300,000 – and their population is growing by 5 percent a year, more than 2 1/2 times the growth rate inside Israel. The settlements themselves, ranging from small cities to isolated enclaves, take up just one percent of the area of the West Bank, according to government maps analyzed by Israeli human rights campaigners. But their impact is much greater than that number would suggest; the settlements and their access roads form a web of Israeli control that Palestinians say rules out any chance of viable statehood.

10/6/2010 - Webclip shows Israel soldier dancing around prisoner A grainy video of a male Israeli soldier bellydancing around a bound and blindfolded female prisoner which went viral overnight, on Tuesday provoked a furious response from the Palestinians.

10/6/2010 - Palestinians back Abbas on settlement slowdown Dozens of senior Palestinians on Saturday backed President Mahmoud Abbas' refusal to negotiate with Israel as long as it builds in West Bank settlements, dealing a new setback to troubled U.S. efforts to salvage peace talks.

10/6/2010 - Obama pressed to weigh Iran strike US President Barack Obama is under pressure to consider a military strike on Iran, according to the Financial Times. Both Senator Joe Lieberman and Howard Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, have urged the president to consider setting a time limit of just a few months on the effectiveness of the most recent sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic for its nuclear advances. Joe Lieberman is one of Israel's top agents on Capitol Hill. Any strike on Iran would place our missions and troops in the region in grave danger. For whom do these representatives work?

10/6/2010 - Israeli premier weighing new settlement curbs The Israelis are seeking various "assurances" in return for the extension. Officials said the Israeli wish list included additional American military support, U.S. guarantees to veto anti–Israeli resolutions at the United Nations and guarantees that Washington would not impose an accord on Israel or force a full withdrawal from the West Bank and east Jerusalem. The Palestinians seek both areas as part of a future state.

10/6/2010 - David Grossman, a Man Who Owns Israel As to the “oppressor,” President Barack Obama, he plainly understood that the 10-month moratorium was scheduled to end just as the American midterm election campaigns were heading into their final stretch. Ten months is such an unusual time period — the mind inclines toward nine months or 12 — that Netanyahu’s choice of 10 months was plainly intended as a trap. Surely, no American administration would take the political risk of leaning on Israel just before elections; no one wants to incur the wrath of the Jews or the evangelicals. And the fact is that we do not yet know to what degree Obama is prepared to take that risk.

10/6/2010 - How Israel Controls Your Media: Pay particular attention to the disparity in the news coverage - even between that of the Brits and ours. I have experienced it for the 8 years I have been reading the coverage of all things Israel-Palestine. Our media is in fact controlled by Israeli interests. Not so much that they own the media, it's by way of their intense 'lobbying' of our journalists, our news wires (AP), and the threat of anti-Semitism -this is how they accomplish getting our media to carry the Israeli side of the story, nearly all of the time.

10/6/2010 - Mossad 'issued death threats' to Dubai police chief Dubai's police chief said he has received death threats from Israel's spy agency Mossad linked to his role in uncovering details of the assassination of a senior Hamas leader, a report said on Thursday.

10/6/2010 - Hamas leader: Arafat urged attacks on Israel Avi Issacharov, an Israeli journalist who co–authored a book about the uprising, went further: "Arafat wasn't in favor of suicide attacks. He didn't demand, he didn't order, he didn't recommend" them

10/6/2010 - Flotilla ship is setting for anti-Israel movie (AP) Part of a movie is being filmed on board the Mavi Marmara, where Israeli troops clashed in May with pro–Palestinian activists trying to breach the blockade in Gaza, said Salih Bilici, a spokesman for the Turkish Islamic charity that sponsored the flotilla, told The Associated Press on Sunday.

10/6/2010 - Syria wants Turkey to mediate talks with Israel

10/6/2010 - Rachel Corrie, an Israeli bulldozer, and our shared global fate Last month, several state witnesses took the stand in a Haifa District Court to testify in the civil law suit filed by Rachel Corrie’s family against the state of Israel. Many may still recall the disturbing photographs that wallpapered the world’s media outlets of Ms. Corrie, a 23-year-old activist from Walla, Walla, Washington, being crushed under a military bulldozer while trying to defend a Palestinian home in Rafah, Gaza under threat of demolition

10/6/2010 - CNN fires host Rick Sanchez over controversial remarks Sanchez called out Comedy Central host Jon Stewart as a "bigot" for mocking him, and complained that Jews – like Stewart – don't face discrimination. He also suggested that CNN, and perhaps the media industry more broadly, is run by Jews and elitists who look down on Hispanics like himself.

10/6/2010 - The Intifada, 10 Years Later: Why Israelis Don't Care About Peace Processing Actually, what Time said wasn’t even new or shocking to anyone who’s spoken to a real live Israeli in the last five years or so. Newsweek carried an almost identical story this past January. Fortune magazine reported it all the way back in June 2005. Israelis themselves have been saying the same thing for years: There’s no point in trying to negotiate peace with the Arabs, either because it always backfires, or because the Arabs are bunch of bums and you can’t trust them, or because, as Time reports, things are fine the way they are and nobody believes it’ll get better.

10/6/2010 - Israel's unit 8200: cyber warfare The Negev desert based Unit 8200 has evolved from the signal intelligence arm of the Israeli military into a respected leader in high technology warfare. One American consultancy rated Unit 8200 as the sixth biggest initiator of cyber attacks on the plants.

10/6/2010 - Netanyahu Humiliates Obama Again By MJ Rosenberg "Netanyahu said he appreciated the letter but could not accept the American proposal because it included a two-month extension of the construction moratorium, which he said would damage his public credibility."

10/6/2010 - It’s Not Easy To Build a Mosque in Brooklyn, Either “They brought people in who aren’t from the neighborhood,” he said. “They’re anti-Muslim. What other reasons would they be here? Do they care that I have a lot of traffic here? No, seriously — they live in Queens.”.....In the view of Michael Berenbaum, head of the Sigi Ziering Center for the Study of the Holocaust and Ethics at American Jewish University, the fact that so many of the Sheepshead Bay mosque opponents are Russian Jews — immigrants themselves — “may mean that they have not internalized the notion of religious freedom, which is essential to the American experience.”

10/6/2010 - Cracks in the Democratic Coalitionby Patrick J. Buchanan Black-Jewish tensions inside the Democratic coalition have also arisen in recent years, as Jewish contributors have poured money into races to defeat black members of Congress seen as hostile to Israel. Two smaller minorities, Muslim- and Arab-Americans, also vote Democratic, are growing rapidly in numbers and, like many African-Americans, take the side of the Palestinians as an oppressed Third World people of color.

10/6/2010 - Antiwar Activists Refuse to Appear in Court Activists say the feds are trying to silence criticism of U.S. foreign policy.

10/6/2010 - Israel pressures Lebanon to cancel Ahmadinejad visit

10/6/2010 - Midnight Shopping On The Brink Of Poverty Last year, 3.7 million Americans joined those already living in poverty, meaning families of four living on just under $22,000. That's 14 percent of the population Hey I know, let's give a couple more billion dollars to Israel so she won't steal any more Palestinian land (for 'settlements'). Unf'ingreal.

10/6/2010 - Obama’s Cave-In To Israel According to the leak, Obama made a series of extraordinarily generous offers to Israel, many of them at the expense of the Palestinians, in return for a single minor concession from Netanyahu: a two-month extension of the partial feeze on settlement growth.

10/6/2010 - Video: Even Zbigniew Brzezinski says AIPAC is bad for USA and Israel stole Palestinian land

10/6/2010 - Jewish population in Israel is declining There is no choice but to deal with forecasts for the next decade or two, and it turns out that by then the proportion of Jews will have declined to 42 percent

10/6/2010 - Israeli cyber unit responsible for Iran computer worm – claim Ralf Langner, a German researcher, claims that Unit 8200, the signals intelligence arm of the Israeli defence forces, perpetrated the computer virus attack by infiltrating the software into the Bushehr nuclear power station

10/6/2010 - Did the West attack Iran's nukes... with a Biblically encoded computer worm? experts found what might be a "fleeting reference to the Book of Esther" embedded deep in the worm's code. "Myrtus," the name of one of the files, may be an allusion to "the Hebrew word for Esther." The biblical book of the same name "tells the story of a Persian plot against the Jews, who attacked their enemies pre-emptively."

10/6/2010 - Millions of Computers Hit by Virus Across China “Once Stuxnet successfully penetrates factory computers in China, those industries may collapse, which would damage China’s national security.”

10/6/2010 - Bill Clinton: Mideast peace would undercut terror Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said Tuesday that solving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict would take away much of the motivation for terrorism around the world.

10/6/2010 - Syrian leader: Mideast talks only to help Obama Assad said the current attempt at dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians have brought "no change" and claimed that President Barack Obama only seeks a political boost. "The talks are only aimed at supporting Obama's position inside the U.S," Assad said in his first public comments about the process since the latest round of negotiations began last month.

10/6/2010 - Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett, Mr. Ahmadinejad Comes to New York Though we are more concerned about the risk of a bad U.S. decision in this regard than Secretary Powell appears to be, we certainly hope he is right about the chances of an Israeli or U.S. attack against Iran. And, of course, we strongly agree that acceptance of Iran's right to enrich uranium is an indispensable key to a serious and sustainable agreement on the nuclear issue. We hope that the Obama Administration is listening.

10/6/2010 - J Street Flap Shines Spotlight On George Soros And His Money A tough critic of the pro-Israel lobby and a self-proclaimed non-Zionist, Soros has also led the campaign for democracy in Eastern Europe, a cause shared by many in the Jewish community. He has made business investments in Israel, and provides political donations to Jewish candidates.

10/6/2010 - Israel Is Now Punishing Palestinians Shamelessly Behind a modest desk with a view of Beit Jala sits a nameless Shin Bet security service officer who is very pleased with himself. He has just saved the Jewish people in Israel from yet another grave security risk by preventing a 47-year-old woman, for five weeks now, from going abroad for urgent medical tests.

10/6/2010 - Obama faces humiliation over Middle East talks Israel's refusal to extend a moratorium on settlement building in the West Bank is the ostensible reason for the halt in direct talks with the Palestinians. Speaking at the weekend after the PLO refused to continue the negotiations, executive committee member Hanan Ashrawi said a line had to be drawn.....Netanyahu may be calculating that big Republican gains in next month's US midterm congressional elections will curtail Obama's capacity to put pressure on Israel. If the process does collapse, Netanyahu will be able to say, publicly, that it was the Palestinians, not he, who turned their backs on peace; and privately, that the inexperienced Obama screwed up, a verdict that the American right will gleefully endorse.

10/6/2010 - Assad, Ahmadinejad: Israel's actions prove it doesn't want peace The leaders of Iran and Syria, during a meeting in Tehran Saturday, expressed hope of expanding the anti-Israeli bloc in the region, adding that Israel's actions in the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem proved the country did not truly want peace, the Iranian presidential office said in a statement.

10/6/2010 - Poet Zach: Israel apartheid state

10/6/2010 - Batsheva Dances, Challenging Gender — and Demonstrators on a recent evening, audience members had to make it past a cacophonous demonstration outside. The protesters’ chants, accompanied by drums, cymbals and a flute, were part of Adalah-NY: The New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel, whose demands include the so-called right of return for Palestinian refugees.

10/6/2010 - What J Street Can Learn From The Tea Party here’s the critical distinction with the Tea Partiers: Those who have stuck with AIPAC haven’t paid a price. Consider the case of Rep. Jane Harman of southern California, a darling of AIPAC and hawkish Democrats. Harman was opposed in a bitter Democratic primary by Marcy Winograd, a leftist peace activist who would seem to be a prototypical J Street candidate: On the peace process and Israel’s need to make concessions, she was holier than the pope. But J Street stayed out of the primary battle, which Harman won (and I am glad she did).

10/6/2010 - Of Recognition, and Reality if, as some of their spokesmen have recently confirmed, the Palestinians are refusing to recognize Israel as the Jewish State because such recognition undermines the “the right of return” of Palestinian refugees into properties inside Israel, the peace negotiations are, indeed, futile. Israel might well agree to absorb a small number of returnees. But even the most compromise-minded Israelis reject a wholesale “right of return,” as this would signal the end of the state’s Jewishness.

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September

9/29/2010 - Gaza fisherman 'killed by Israeli navy' n Gaza it is not uncommon to hear the sound of machine-gun fire off the coast, as the Israeli navy fires upon boats it says have breached the limit.

9/29/2010 - Obama urges Arabs and Israel to support fragile talks The U.S.–brokered talks are in danger of collapsing almost before they have begun because of the September 30 expiration of Israel's self–imposed, partial moratorium on new construction in Jewish settlements on the occupied West Bank. Israel's refusal so far to maintain the freeze –– and the Palestinians' threat to walk out if it does not –– have imperiled the negotiations, which aim to resolve the main issues in the conflict within a year.

9/29/2010 - PALESTINIAN FAMILY AWAKES TO DISCOVER VANDALS DEMOLISHED ARBOR OF 100 MATURE GRAPE TREES On the morning of September 20th 2010, the Abdul Rahman Sharif Sultan family of the Al Bweireh neighborhood awoke to find that Israeli settlers had cut down six dunams (6000 m²) worth of their mature grape trees and vines during the night.

9/29/2010 - Hungry in Gaza, More and More In the Gaza Strip, where unemployment levels soar up to 65 percent, and more than 80 percent people are food aid dependent, the average income per day per person is just two dollars. According to the WFP and FAO, the food insecure in Gaza are an alarming 61 percent, with another 16 percent vulnerable to food insecurity.

9/29/2010 - UN panel: Israel suppressing footage of Gaza flotilla raid An expert panel investigating Israel's boarding of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla four months ago said Tuesday that Israel is suppressing footage of the incident it seized from the passengers.

9/29/2010 - Obama Administration Silent on IDF Murder of 19-Year-Old American Although the conclusions of the Human Rights Commissioner's report and of the Turkish medical examiners has been big news in Turkey for the past week, the US media has maintained a news blackout, even though one of the murdered victims was an American. It's a sad commentary on the extent to which the US corporate media have become propagandists for the US and Israeli governments.

9/29/2010 - Israelis "Executed" US Citizen Furkan Dogan The report of the fact-finding mission of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on the Israeli attack on the Gaza flotilla released last week shows conclusively, for the first time, that US citizen Furkan Dogan and five Turkish citizens were murdered execution-style by Israeli commandos.

9/29/2010 - Israel Seizes Gaza Aid Boat Yousef Rizka, a Hamas official, said: "The government has received Jewish activists heading to Gaza before. The government positively views all attempts to break the siege on Gaza".

9/29/2010 - 'Jews for Justice' aid boat sets sail for Gaza Richard Kuper, an organizer with the U.K. group Jews for Justice for Palestinians, said one goal is to show that not all Jews support Israeli policies toward Palestinians.

9/29/2010 - The Influencer He remains keenly interested in the world of business, but he is most proud of his role as political power broker. His greatest concern, he says, is to protect Israel, by strengthening the United States-Israel relationship. At a conference last fall in Israel, Saban described his formula. His “three ways to be influential in American politics,” he said, were: make donations to political parties, establish think tanks, and control media outlets......In targeting media properties, Saban frankly acknowledges his political agenda. He has tried repeatedly to buy the Los Angeles Times, because, he said, “I thought it was time that it turn from a pro-Palestinian paper into a balanced paper.”......As Saban has said, “I’m a one-issue guy, and my issue is Israel.” If you love Israel so much, why not move there and leave America to those that care more about AMERICAN interests. Some of us count America's (not Israel's) interests as priority number 1.

9/29/2010 - Turkish president demands apology for flotilla at UN

9/29/2010 - Israel accused of war crimes by expert panel ''There is clear evidence to support prosecutions of the following crimes within the terms of article 147 of the fourth Geneva convention: wilful killing; torture or inhuman treatment; wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health,'' the report said.

9/29/2010 - Turkey lauds UN report on Gaza flotilla Israel refused to cooperate with the panel, preferring instead to work with a separate UN group under New Zealand's former Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer and Colombia's former President Alvaro Uribe that is also examining the incident but has yet to publish its findings "Israel is a democratic and law abiding country that carefully observes international law and, when need be, knows how to investigate itself," the Foreign Ministry statement said.

9/29/2010 - Israel used 'incredible violence' against Gaza aid flotilla, says UN Human Rights Council Israel maintains that its soldiers acted in self-defence after coming under attack from activists wielding clubs, axes and metal rods. However the report found that Israeli commandos' response to the flotilla was disproportionate and "betrayed an unacceptable level of brutality".

9/29/2010 - Obama challenges the world: Time for Mideast peace To a hushed audience of global leaders, Obama made Mideast peace the dominant theme of his yearly address to the U.N. General Assembly, a sign of the fragile state of the latest talks and the importance he attaches to their success. Nearly every other topic of his international agenda was shoved to the margins, save for a vigorous call for support of human rights.

9/29/2010 - Israel, Palestinians look to salvage Mideast talks Netanyahu – a hard–liner who only recently accepted the idea of a Palestinian state – has balked at extending the moratorium, saying that would fracture his pro–settlement coalition government.

9/29/2010 - Hamas says Palestinian reconciliation on the way Hamas' Khaled Meshal said Monday in Damascus that the two groups have taken serious and real steps toward reconciliation and will meet in early October in Cairo. The rival sides had said Saturday they agreed on steps to end divisions.

9/29/2010 - Officials: Palestinians will consider compromise Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas himself appeared to back away from the extension demand in comments late Tuesday to prominent American Jewish figures. "I cannot say I will leave the negotiations, but it's very difficult for me to resume talks if Prime Minister Netanyahu declares that he will continue his (settlement) activity in the West Bank and Jerusalem," he said, according to a transcript of the event obtained by The Associated Press. It would appear that the only peace Israel seeks is the peace with which to continue building settlements on Palestinian land.

9/29/2010 - Abbas says settlements block Mideast peace deal Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday there will be no peace deal with Israel unless the Jewish state stops settlement construction in areas the Palestinians claim for their future state.

9/29/2010 - Fatah official: Israeli settlements could kill two-state solution Expanding Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territory have reached a point of no return and could kill an internationally backed, two-state solution, a top Fatah official said on Monday.

9/29/2010 - Bulldozers roll out across West Bank as settlement freeze ends Settlers currently have plans for around 2,000 new homes across the West Bank.

9/29/2010 - Some Zionist Groups Stoke Fear Of Islam for Political Profit At an AIPAC conference in March 2009, to take just one example, terrorism expert Steve Emerson spent 40 minutes stoking the worst fears of the mostly elderly attendees with a talk called “Tentacles of Terror: The Global Reach of Islamic Radicalism.” It could just as easily have been called “Scaring the Living Crap Out of Bubbe and Zayde.” As long as Jews are encouraged to believe that scary Muslims are hiding under every American bed, the idea is perpetuated that support for the Jewish state is a zero-sum contest between favoring Israel and favoring Arabs and Muslims. For too many American Jews, smearing Islam is seen as a legitimate expression of Zionism.

9/29/2010 - Israel: Settlers brace for end of building freeze Peace or piece, can't have both.

9/29/2010 - Delaware Jews First to Host Victorious Tea Party Nominee The crowd, mainly made up of members of the Delaware Jewish community, asked questions about the Middle East peace process, foreign aid to Israel and the possibility of cutting foreign aid in order to deal with the growing deficit. All candidates (including candidates for the House who attended as well) gave answers that satisfied the audience, according to the organizers: They support Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, agree to continue foreign aid to Israel at the level of $3 billion, and do not wish to cut the foreign aid budget.

9/29/2010 - Hamas claims to have found Israeli 'sleeper cells' in Gaza

9/29/2010 - Syrian aid arrives at Rafah crossing

9/29/2010 - Jewish boat activists: Israel treated us harshly The activists' comments contradict military statements that said no violence took place when soldiers commandeered the boat - statements that were released while the activists were still in detention. Military officials declined to comment Wednesday on Shapira's report.

9/29/2010 - Netanyahu to settlers: Keep low profile as building freeze expires Netanyahu's bureau also approached cabinet ministers requesting that they refrain from giving interviews on the topic.

9/29/2010 - How U.S. Jews Strangle Peace Talks So let’s get this straight. When Netanyahu agrees to a settlement moratorium, it’s a sign of his commitment to peace. And now that he has let the moratorium end? It’s still a sign of his commitment to peace because, as AIPAC now insists, negotiations must proceed without preconditions. It’s back to “the problem isn’t settlements.”

9/29/2010 - South Florida: An arms smuggler's paradise In June, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and a former Israeli aviation executive were charged in Fort Lauderdale federal court with conspiring to export 2,000 AK-47s to Somalia -- after the Israeli allegedly wired $116,000 to a Wells Fargo branch in Broward County. The indictment charged Joseph O'Toole, 79, of California, and Chanoch Miller, 53, an Israeli citizen living in Tel Aviv, with scheming to obtain and transport the AK-47s from Bosnia to Somalia, an embargoed country. Miller was arrested in Miami after traveling here to close the deal.

9/29/2010 - Israeli leaders praise Fidel Castro Israeli leaders are praising former Cuban President Fidel Castro for supporting Israel in a series of interviews

9/29/2010 - Settlement freeze? It was barely a slowdown The official statistics supplied by the Central Bureau of Statistics describe the story behind the 10-month construction moratorium in the West Bank. The story can be called many things but "freeze" is certainly not one of them. What took place in the past few months is, in the best case scenario, not more than a negligible decrease in the number of housing units that were built in settlements.

9/29/2010 - Why Mitchell Said ‘No’ to Hamas

9/29/2010 - Stuxnet worm is the 'work of a national government agency' The "Stuxnet" computer worm, which has been described as one of the "most refined pieces of malware ever discovered", has been most active in Iran, says the security company Symantec – leading some experts to conjecture that the likely target of the virus is the controversial Bushehr nuclear power plant, and that it was created by Israeli hackers.

9/29/2010 - FBI Serves Terrorism Warrants in Minnesota, Chicago "The FBI is harassing anti-war organizers and leaders, folks who opposed U.S. intervention in the Middle East and Latin America," Kelly said before agents confiscated his cell phone.

9/29/2010 - THE THIRD TEMPLE'S HOLY OF HOLIES: ISRAEL'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS In 1965, the U.S. government accused Dr. Zalman Shapiro, the corporation president, of “losing” 200 pounds of highly enriched uranium. Although investigated by the Atomic Energy Commission, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other government agencies and inquiring reporters, no answers were available in what was termed the Apollo Affair.29 Many remain convinced that the Israelis received 200 pounds of enriched uranium sometime before 1965.30 One source links Rafi Eitan, an Israeli Mossad agent and later the handler of spy Jonathan Pollard, with NUMEC.31 In the 1990s when the NUMEC plant was disassembled, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission found over 100 kilograms of plutonium in the structural components of the contaminated plant, casting doubt on 200 pounds going to Israel.32..........Thus started the subtle, opaque use of the Israeli bomb to ensure that the United States kept its pledge to maintain Israel's conventional weapons edge over its foes.65 There is significant anecdotal evidence that Henry Kissinger told President of Egypt, Anwar Sadat, that the reason for the U.S. airlift was that the Israelis were close to “going nuclear.”66......One other purpose of Israeli nuclear weapons, not often stated, but obvious, is their “use” on the United States. America does not want Israel's nuclear profile raised.144 They have been used in the past to ensure America does not desert Israel under increased Arab, or oil embargo, pressure and have forced the United States to support Israeli diplomatically against the Soviet Union. Israel used their existence to guarantee a continuing supply of American conventional weapons, a policy likely to continue.145

9/29/2010 - Why Russia will not sell the S-300 Air Defense System to Iran Serdyukov's military reform and told that in the nearest future Russia would – oddly enough - be importing at least 30% of the weapons and equipment for its army from Israel and NATO countries. Another roundtable speaker from Russia - Gen. V. Dvorkin who, incidentally, paid a visit to Israel a short time ago - urged US senators to OK launching an attack against Iran as soon as possible and even presented a computer model of the conflict to US partners.

9/29/2010 - US walks out on Ahmadinejad's UN speech

9/29/2010 - Obama condems Iran leader's 'hateful' September 11 comments Ahmadinejad said in a speech to the UN General Assembly on Thursday that most Americans and nations around the world believe a theory that "some segments within the US government orchestrated the attack to reverse the declining American economy and its grips on the Middle East, in order also to save the Zionist regime." The Iranian leader defended his actions on Friday. "I did not pass a judgement, I simply made proposals for a humane solution to the problems that have risen as a result of 9/11," Ahmadinejad told a New York press conference.

9/29/2010 - Military-Grade Malware Spurs Theories on New Cyberwar Threat "Experts say it took a massive expenditure of time, money, and software engineering talent to identify and exploit such vulnerabilities in industrial control software systems. ... [It was] probably created by a team working for a nation state." Wired's Kim Zetter writes, "If Iran was the target, the United States or Israel are suspected as the likely perpetrators — both have the skill and resources to produce complicated malware such as Stuxnet."

9/29/2010 - Mobilizing Against FBI Raids There was a concern that the FBI motivation covered support of Palestinians and Colombian activists.

9/29/2010 - Israel commandos 'peacefully' board Jewish Gaza-bound aid boat

9/29/2010 - The Floating Palestinian Pep Rally

9/29/2010 - How Christian Are the Tea Party’s Political Candidates? “We want to look at the candidates as they mature, and see how they develop and shape their views on the issue of Israel,” Read more: http://forward.com/articles/131516/#ixzz11cXaTUdv

9/29/2010 - Iran says it killed 30 militants behind bomb attack "Investigations showed that intelligence services of America and the Zionist regime (Israel) as well as members of the Iraqi Baath party were behind the blast," Mahmoudabadi said. "Bandits backed by Mossad and the CIA ? carried out the blast."

9/29/2010 - Israel Suspected in Worm Sabotage of Iran's First Nuclear Plant So who is behind the attacks? The New York Times quotes a former U.S. intelligence office as saying that the attack was the work of Israel’s equivalent of America’s National Security Agency, known as Unit 8200. According to IEEE Spectrum's December issue, Israel had previously used a cyber-attack to shut off radar systems in Syria, allowing it to evaluate what it believed to be an under-construction nuclear reactor.

9/29/2010 - Lieberman presents plans for population exchange at UN Lieberman believes peace with the Palestinians could never be achieved until the Middle East confronts a greater threat, Iran.

9/29/2010 - Anti-Israel IAEA resolution tossed The United States swayed the 151-member states of the UN nuclear agency to reject the Arab-proposed resolution which called on Tel Aviv to open up its nuclear activities to inspection.

9/29/2010 - When Violence Overcame a Freedom Struggle It started with Molotov cocktails. As the ’60s curdled into the ’70s, the teenage boys of Meir Kahane’s Jewish Defense League, like many other disaffected and angry young men of the time, found the flash and heat of violence irresistible. Dressing up in their bar mitzvah suits to lob balloons filled with chicken blood at the ballerinas of the touring Bolshoi didn’t cut it anymore. They began building crude pipe bombs and exploding them at the bottom of a drained pool at Kahane’s summer camp in the Catskills. These were the kind of bombs they then placed in the doorways of the Aeroflot and Intourist offices in Manhattan in the fall of 1970, causing a minor diplomatic crisis between the superpowers. The informers and undercover police officers that swelled the ranks of the JDL were warning their superiors that something bigger and more dangerous was in the works. One officer from the NYPD’s intelligence unit who had infiltrated the group gained access to their cache of weapons, which were hidden in closets all over Brooklyn. The JDL had enough shotguns and rifles to arm a small militia.

9/29/2010 - END ISRAEL LOBBY’S PERVASIVE AND DAMAGING INFLUENCE IN US POLITICS It’s long past time to end one of the most damaging and pervasive cover-ups in the U.S. today and time for people and institutions to confront Israel’s lobbies.

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9/22/2010 - Twenty-eight years not enough to heal wounds of Sabra-Shatila massacre American journalist David Lamb wrote about this first night of butchery and the “walls of death:” “Entire families were slain. Groups consisting of 10-20 people were lined up against walls and sprayed with bullets. Mothers died while clutching their babies. All men appeared to be shot in the back. Five youths of fighting age were tied to a pickup truck and dragged through the streets before being shot.”

9/22/2010 - One killed, two wounded in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza A Palestinian was killed and two others wounded as Israeli airplanes attacked smuggling tunnels along Gaza's southern borders with Egypt, witnesses and security sources said Wednesday.

9/22/2010 - Violence in east Jerusalem clouds peace efforts Wednesday's clashes erupted in the Silwan neighborhood shortly after a 32–year–old Palestinian man was killed by a private Israeli security guard watching over Jewish families in the area. About 70 ultranationalist Jewish families live in Silwan, amid some 50,000 Palestinian residents.....The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, an Israeli advocacy group, recently wrote in a report that Israeli security firms act like a private police force for Silwan's Jewish residents. It said the firms often receive government funding and frequently use threats and violence against Arab residents, while police are reluctant to intervene. "What happened to Samir could happen to anybody," said Murad Shafi, a 35–year–old neighbor of Sirhan. "You wake up, maybe you shout at someone. Maybe you argue. But in the end, you are dead."

9/22/2010 - UN experts: Israel flotilla raid broke int'l law A report by three U.N.–appointed human rights experts Wednesday said that Israeli forces violated international law when they raided a Gaza–bound aid flotilla killing nine activists earlier this year. The U.N. Human Rights Council's fact–finding mission concluded that Israel's naval blockade of the Palestinian territory was unlawful because of the humanitarian crisis there, and described the military raid on the flotilla as brutal and disproportionate....The 56–page document lists a series of alleged crimes committed by Israeli forces during and after the raid, including willful killing and torture. It also alleges that Israel violated the right to life, liberty, freedom of expression and the right of captured crew and passengers to be treated with humanity. This report did not even make the headlines here in the good old USA. Go figure.

9/22/2010 - Peres: We are ready to enter direct negotiations with Syria Peres went on to harshly condemn Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his countless declarations to "annihilate Israel." Complete BS.

9/22/2010 - Israeli FM wants to eject Israeli Arabs Lieberman said Sunday the principle guiding peace talks "must not be land for peace, but a transfer of land and people."

9/22/2010 - Obama says military action against Iran not ideal

9/22/2010 - Israel: It's Against Our Interest to Join Anti-Nuclear Arms Treaty The Jewish state is the only Middle East power believed to possess nuclear weapons.

9/22/2010 - Hamas: We agreed in the past to state within '67 borders Hamas sent messages to the US government in the past stating that the movement does not oppose the formation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital, Israel Radio reported on Monday, quoting the group's Gaza leadership.

9/22/2010 - IDF still using banned weapon against civilian protestors the IDF reverted to using the Ruger against protesters in 2009, killing a teenager in Hebron in February and a protester in Nial'in in June. Human rights group B'Tselem asked the military advocate general to make clear that the weapon was not meant for crowd control.

9/22/2010 - Israel's investigations of Gaza conflict inadequate, say UN experts The UN investigation accused Israel of deliberately attacking civilians, firing white phospohrous shells and carring out torture during the offensive. "The Israeli operations were carefully planned in all their phases as a deliberately disproportionate attack designed to punish, humiliate and terrorise the civilian population," the report found.

9/22/2010 - Israel rejects UN criticism of its Gaza war probe Israel had flatly refused to cooperate with the committee appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to examine the progress of investigations by all parties in the war which left some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead.

9/22/2010 - Riots in Temple Mount, Western Wall area after Palestinian shot dead by Israeli guard Riots erupted near the Western Wall and Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem on Wednesday, after a Palestinian man was shot dead by an Israeli security guard earlier in the day.

9/22/2010 - Quartet to urge Israel to keep settlement freeze

9/22/2010 - Egypt accuses Israel of 'chutzpah' in nuclear meet The remarks at the International Atomic Energy Agency's general conference reflect the bitterness dividing Arab nations and Israel and its supporters over whether Israel should open up its nuclear program to the U.N. watchdog's perusal.

9/22/2010 - Israeli curbs stymie Palestinian economy: World Bank Among the obstacles to private investment in the West Bank caused by Israeli restrictions, the report listed the "severely curtailed" access to land and water, the unpredictability of access to Israel and the West Bank for investors, and the fact that the lucrative east Jerusalem market "is beyond reach."

9/22/2010 - Who is Spying on Whom? by Philip Giraldi Israeli companies now dominate in the areas of transportation and telecommunications security, both of which are critical national infrastructures that should be restricted only to American companies employing American citizens. One recalls that at the time of the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinski scandal there were reports that the NSA had determined that a foreign nation had been listening in to White House phone calls. That foreign nation was Israel, able to do so because several Israeli companies had the contracts to provide various services relating to telephone monitoring. The Israeli companies involved are still active, having changed their names and shifted their business locations to the US, but their ownership and management continues to be Israeli.

9/22/2010 - Israel's settlements key to peace talk progress Palestinian official Raed Fattouh, who coordinates the flow of goods into Gaza with Israel, said the Israeli military also canceled plans to let new cars enter Gaza on Thursday for the first time in four years. The Israeli military had no immediate confirmation.

9/22/2010 - US group releases West Bank settlements iPhone app Americans for Peace Now (APN), the US partner of Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now, released an iPhone and iPad application on Monday that tracks Israeli settlement activity on the West Bank. "Anyone, anywhere, can now log in and see the realities on the ground," APN president and chief executive Debra DeLee said of the free application, which is available through iTunes. Beautiful.

9/22/2010 - World Bank: Palestinians managing reforms well The organization says in a report Friday that if Palestinians maintain financial reforms, institution building and the delivery of public services, they will be ready to handle statehood "at any point in the near future."

9/22/2010 - MESS Report - For Palestinians, settler abuse is only the beginning of the ordeal Almost every few weeks (or days, depending on the season), the following ceremony repeats itself in Palestinian villages around Nablus: A group of Israeli settlers from one of the outposts in the West Bank hills attacks Palestinian farmers while they are grazing sheep or working the fields, hoping to throw them off Palestinian land. ...a Palestinian from the northern West Bank looking to file a complaint against settlers must appear in person at the Ariel police station - but Palestinians are prohibited from entering Israeli territory.

9/22/2010 - Palestinian leader hints at settlement compromise Abbas told American Jewish leaders in New York late Tuesday it would be "very difficult" to continue the talks if building resumes but added that he "cannot say" definitively that he would walk away.

9/22/2010 - Israel warns of violence if peace talks fail

9/22/2010 - Egypt's spy chief meets Hamas leader in Saudi: report Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman met Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Saudi Arabia this month in an attempt to push for reconciliation between Palestinian factions, the pan–Arab daily al–Hayat reported.

9/22/2010 - A Bipartisan Look at the Israel Lobby by Philip Giraldi Yes, there is quite a lot to examine and if anyone is seriously interested in genuine threats against the United States AIPAC and the Israel Lobby are good places to start. Another must read.

9/22/2010 - EXCLUSIVE: Israeli Official Says Strikes on 'Bottlenecks' Could Cripple Iran's Nuke Program

9/22/2010 - Mideast officials fly to US as talks crisis looms So far, Israel has stubbornly refused to extend the partial 10-month moratorium on new construction. The Palestinians have vowed to pull out of the talks if the building resumes.

9/22/2010 - Barak: Options against Iran on the table Barak, who met with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen in Washington on Monday, said Iran continues to deceive the international community, the Hebrew daily Maariv said Tuesday. The Israeli defense minister called for harsher measures against Tehran.

9/22/2010 - Iran deal with Russia for air-defence missiles scuppered by US and Israel The US and Israel joined forces in opposing the deal because, they argued, the system could help Iran defend itself against potential attacks on its nuclear facilities. Israel also warned that the weapon could fall into the hands of Hezbollah guerillas in Lebanon, who are supported by Iran. The CIA has said that it believes the missiles would be deployed to protect Iranian nuclear facilities.

9/22/2010 - Carter: Iran rescue effort should have worked The Associated Press purchased a copy of the book, "White House Diary," on Friday, ahead of its release Monday. In it, he criticizes several presidents, including fellow Democrats Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, for not bringing sufficient pressure on Israel to stop building settlements on the West Bank. He writes that construction was "especially rapid" during Clinton's administration and he believes Obama has "backed away" from his initial commitment to a settlement freeze.

9/22/2010 - Shades of Algeria on the West Bank A minority of extremely radical Israeli settlers have adopted rhetoric similar to that of the French ultras, dissociating themselves from a state that they believe has betrayed them. Under the so-called “price tag” policy, radical settlers have avenged evacuations of unauthorized outposts with violence against Palestinians and their property — and even, occasionally, assaulting Israeli soldiers. The Israeli army is increasingly stuck in the middle, trying to keep the radical settlers and Palestinians apart.

9/22/2010 - How History Will Judge Boycotters of the Theater in Ariel To ask of an artist who clearly sees that reality to contribute to the notion that Ariel is, as it so loudly proclaims, just another Israeli city, is to ask that she abandons conscience. Withholding consent is an elementary form of protest, and in this case it comes to remind people that Ariel is not an instance of pioneering Zionism but of Israeli colonization.

9/22/2010 - MitzVote: A Post-Primary Users' Guide Golden State Gals: In California, Barbara Boxer, a Democratic U.S. senator, is trying to fend off her challenger: Republican Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO who has been gaining ground in the polls as of late. Their campaigns have largely focused on domestic issues, but Fiorina’s recent trip to Israel was understood as an attempt to sharpen her foreign policy chops and make an impression on Jewish voters. Read about the California race, the candidates, and the issues here.

9/22/2010 - Grayson Defying Convention in Fla. While in Congress, Grayson has met several times with Howard Kohr, head of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and attends meetings of the group in his district. A consistent supporter of Israel and Jewish causes, he sometimes finesses controversial issues, like new Jewish housing in Jerusalem and the “Ground Zero mosque,” which he dismisses as a distraction. l

9/22/2010 - Bill Clinton's 'Russian immigrants are obstacle to peace' comment draws fire in Israel "An increasing number of the young people in the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] are the children of Russians and settlers, the hardest-core people against a division of the land. This presents a staggering problem," Clinton told a roundtable with press in New York. "It's a different Israel. Sixteen percent of Israelis speak Russian."

9/22/2010 - Hope for true peace in Jerusalem continues to endure The Palestinian people are Rosa Parks tired -- physically tired of working, working, working, and then a checkpoint. Tired of trying, trying, trying and always being told no -- no permit to build on to your home, no extension of your work permit, no chance to get your vegetables to the Jerusalem market -- no, no, no! It is always, always, no.

9/22/2010 - In West Bank, corruption-busting teenagers shake up local government - CSMonitor.com Such education is "a precondition to be liberated from the [Israeli] occupation and establish a viable Palestinian state," says human rights advocate Issam Aruri, who represents 132 Palestinian nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). "Independence is not just raising the flag or having the president walking on a red carpet. That's not a state. The state is ... to feel that our dignity is protected."

9/22/2010 - 'Largest flotilla yet' en-route to Gaza "I witnessed the man one meter in front of me being shot in the leg, a man 50 centimeters to the right of me being shot through the abdomen," Ovenden said of the experience. "Neither of them had anything in their hands. There were no Israeli commandos within the immediate proximity. They were shot from above, so it was simply unfeasible -- in that incident I saw – for anyone to claim they were in fearing for their lives when they rang out those shots,"

9/22/2010 - Fidel Castro firmly backs Israel's right to exist: report In the same interview Castro criticized Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for denying the Holocaust and said in an interview Tehran should acknowledge Israel's fears for its own survival.

9/22/2010 - AP Interview: Gul backs Mideast nuclear-free zone Gul's remarks will likely antagonize the United States, because Washington sees any move to raise the issue of Israel's nuclear arsenal as potentially destabilizing at a time of renewed Israel–Palestinian peace talks. Last week, the Obama administration warned Arab nations that they risk contributing to a failure of the Mideast talks if they continue to pressure Israel over its nuclear program. U.S. officials have asserted that it would be possible to have a nuclear–free zone in the Middle East even if Israel's arsenal remains intact.

9/22/2010 - Carter in new book Obama turned back on settlement freeze Carter also criticizes fellow Democrat and former president Bill Clinton over his policy on Israel settlement expansion, writing that settlement building was especially rapid during Clinton's administration.

9/22/2010 - Israel decides to buy F-35 fighter jets, despite row over cost of deal

9/22/2010 - A 'Personal,' International Trip in High Campaign Season Fiorina, the Republican candidate facing incumbent Jewish Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer for a California U.S. Senate seat, traveled to Israel for four days. The trip was funded and organized by the Republican Jewish Coalition. She returned just as the Rasmussen Reports released a new poll that gave her 48% of the vote, putting her one percentage point ahead of Boxer.....Fiorina, a former Hewlett-Packard CEO, has come under fire from pro-Israel groups for HP’s shipments to Iran during her leadership there. (Fiorina has criticized Boxer for her alleged silence on Iran’s threat; Boxer’s campaign rebutted that claim, pointing to Boxer’s Iran statements). And Fiorina is now running neck-and-neck against a Jewish senator....At AIPAC, Bloomfield said, he shepherded several candidates through similar trips. Their purposes, he said, were to establish a relationship between a politician and the organization; for education; and “for the politician to establish bona fides” and claim credibility. Senator John McCain and then-Senator Barack Obama took similar trips through Israel in 2008. Ten years before that, George W. Bush, then governor of Texas, traveled there as well – on the first such itinerary organized by the RJC, Brooks said. This cycle, Brooks said RJC also played travel agent to Pat Meehan, candidate for Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District.

9/22/2010 - Cantor Gunning for Another Revolution He has been a vocal critic of the Obama administration’s approach to Israel. Cantor believes it was a mistake to push for Israeli-Palestinian talks. “Any quest for peace in the Middle East starts with dealing with Iran effectively to ensure that it does not [develop] nuclear weapons,” Cantor said. In the book he added that “being a Jewish American” has given him “a unique perspective on the good guys.”

9/22/2010 - STEPHEN SNIEGOSKI: RICHARD COHEN –ISRAEL LIABILITY FOR US Great article.

9/22/2010 - The Transparent Cabal History is full of examples of a determined minority prevailing over a more passive majority. A case in point is the neoconservative effort to bring the United States into war with Iraq largely for the protection of Israel. Despite the dubious reasons the neoconservatives advanced — Iraq has WMDs, ties to al-Qaeda — they managed to overcome the resistance of the military, the State Department and CIA partly by infiltrating them for their own ends. As the book title suggests, much of this was done in the open, a transparent cabal.

9/22/2010 - Pro-Israel Biased Media Is a Threat to Our Security

9/22/2010 - Lindsey Graham says U.S. Must Prepare to Attack Iran In order to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, he said, a U.S. attack would be preferable to an Israeli attack because the American military is more powerful and more likely to achieve regime change.

9/22/2010 - Israeli official: We'll sell arms to Russia's enemies Israeli officials are threatening to sell weapons to "areas of strategic importance" to Russia after Moscow announced over the weekend that it would go through with the sale of P800 missiles to Syria, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Sunday.

9/22/2010 - Powell unsure whether U.S. is winning in Afghanistan Mr. Powell also said that neither the United States nor Israel is likely to launch a military strike on Iran any time soon.

9/22/2010 - Jewish Groups Denounce ‘Museum of Tolerance’ “I’m just going to take a minute to tell you a new definition of a Yiddish word called ‘chutzpah.’ … It refers to brazen nerve,” said Richard Levy, a lawyer working with the Center for Constitutional Rights on a petition filed with several international bodies to halt the construction of the museum in Jerusalem. “This cemetery, which stands in West Jerusalem for a thousand years, is now subject to the bulldozer of this organization. So that’s the meaning of the word chutzpah: to say you stand for tolerance, and perform that kind of an act, is the most despicable kind of hypocrisy.”

9/22/2010 - American Public Opinion and the Special Relationship With Israel The data in the Chicago Council’s study is consistent with the data that Steve and I presented in our book and in countless public talks. The story remains the same. The bottom line is that the lobby is largely responsible for America’s special relationship with Israel, which is harmful to both countries. Alan Dershowitz was spot on when he said, “My generation of Jews … became part of what is perhaps the most effective lobbying and fund-raising effort in the history of democracy.” Looks like Mearsheimer caught wind of this poll too.

9/22/2010 - Poll: Vast majority opposes attack on Iran The survey (PDF) also finds an electorate that is far less certain of its support of Israel than US political leaders would suggest. By a narrow margin -- 50 percent to 47 percent -- Americans would oppose the US militarily defending Israel if it were the victim of an unprovoked attack.....Americans "show a rather restrained attitude toward being involved" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the survey states. Fully two-thirds -- 66 percent -- of those polled want the US to maintain a neutral stance in the conflict, while 28 percent want to see the US take the Israeli side Read the last part in the above excerpt. So, if 66 percent of Americans want to stay neutral, then why aren't those numbers also demonstrated on Capital Hill by our so-called 'representaves'? This is a very important question, and the answer is found on all of blogs and my website. And the answer goes against the very principles upon which this nation was founded. If our representatives aren't representing our wishes, then it's time to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

9/22/2010 - Israeli Company Hired by State Government to Spy on Pennsylvanians and Other Americans The surprise disclosure that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, through its state Homeland Security Agency, along with a number of local police departments in the state, have been employing a private Israeli security company with strong links to Mossad and the Israeli Defense Force grows increasingly disturbing when the website of the company, called the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response, is examined.

9/22/2010 - Reality check Iran is not a nuclear threat Politicians, lobbyists, and propagandists have spent nearly two decades pushing the lie that Iran poses a nuclear weapons threat to the United States and Israel. After a brief respite in the intensity of the wolf cries over the past two years, the neoconservative movement has decided to relaunch the “Must Bomb Iran” brand.

9/22/2010 - Arab states snub US over Israel resolution at IAEA meet Arab states refused on Thursday to drop plans to chide Israel over its assumed nuclear arsenal at a UN nuclear conference next week, despite US suggestions that such a move would jeopardise Middle East peace talks.

9/22/2010 - Iranian president stops in Syria on way to UN The back–to–back trips underscored the battle for influence in Syria between Washington and Tehran. Seeking to isolate Iran, President Barack Obama has tried – unsuccessfully, so far – to pry Damascus away from its alliance with Tehran.

9/22/2010 - Signs of a Rift Between U.S. Politicians and U.S. National Security? Castro’s well-timed comments about persecuted Jews may have been a signal that Cuba is again open for business — any business. At the very least, his comments were like a healing balm to nationalist Zionist settlers who have plans to construct another 19,000 home in the West Bank A very good piece.

9/22/2010 - The Hate Mongers Among Us Not long ago an internal poll of friendly foreign intelligence agencies ranked our best and worst allies—those who behave as friends to the U.S. versus those who are clearly foes. Israel ranked dead last as a reliable ally. Though their brazen theft of technical and industrial secrets is well known among those in the know, the broader U.S. public remains deceived or in denial.

9/22/2010 - Israel set to build wings for some 800 F-35s Israeli and U.S. officials expect final approval of that deal by the end of September. The planes would be delivered in 2015–2017. The cost of the purchase would be covered by an annual U.S. defense grant of $3 billion.

9/22/2010 - Weapons Bizarre by Justin Raimondo -- Antiwar.com The F-35 was designed, in short, to fight a war in the Middle East against a nation that doesn’t quite measure up to our technological standards. One that can be expected to deploy large massed armies in its defense – and which, in the case of Iran, will have to be stopped from pouring into US-occupied Iraq. With this move, it is clear that the US is arming its allies in the region – Israel and the Saudis – in preparation for an attack. When Obama said during the last presidential election campaign that he wasn’t taking such an attack off the table, he clearly meant it – and I said so at the time, so you can’t say you weren’t warned.

9/22/2010 - Under IAEA pressure, Syria and Iran point to Israel Last month, Davies said a "number of countries" were beginning to ask whether it was time to invoke the IAEA's "special inspection" mechanism to give it the authority to look anywhere necessary in Syria at short notice.

9/22/2010 - Turkey: a democratic superpower in the Middle East One hears similar criticisms in the United States, where there has been a lot of hand-wringing lately over Turkey’s increasingly assertive foreign policy, its deepening ties with Iran, Syria, and Iraq, and its overt criticism of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians. Some have even suggested that Turkey, the only Muslim member of NATO, is turning away from its strategic alliance with the West and instead building an “Islamic axis” against America’s interests in the region.

9/22/2010 - Stuxnet malware is 'weapon' out to destroy ... Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant A geographical distribution of computers hit by Stuxnet, which Microsoft produced in July, found Iran to be the apparent epicenter of the Stuxnet infections. That suggests that any enemy of Iran with advanced cyber war capability might be involved, Langner says. The US is acknowledged to have that ability, and Israel is also reported to have a formidable offensive cyber-war-fighting capability.

9/22/2010 - S. African hospital charged in organ trafficking The case first became known in 2003. That year and the next, arrests were made in Brazil and South Africa. Investigators said Brazilians who passed a medical checkup were flown to South Africa, where their kidneys were extracted for transplants into Israeli patients. Eastern Europeans were also donors.

9/22/2010 - Paterson vetoes popular AIDS, HIV housing bill The Democratic governor said it was "the hardest veto" he has every issued, but added that the state could not afford the $20 million in yearly subsidies the program would cost. But we can afford the 15 million to invest in Israeli bonds. Story follows.

9/22/2010 - COMPTROLLER LIU ANNOUNCES NYCERS RE-COMMITMENT TO STATE OF ISRAEL BONDS New York City Comptroller John C. Liu today announced, on behalf of the Board of Trustees at the New York City Employees’ Retirement System (NYCERS), the reinvestment of $15 million in State of Israel Bonds.

9/22/2010 - Israel OKs US ‘Gift’ of Billions of Dollars in Warplanes The F-35's enormous costs have made it hugely controversial in the US as well, though the question of giving Israel a number of the planes does not appear to have been questioned at all. The planes are expected to be delivered in 2015, assuming development goes according to plans.

9/22/2010 - Israel to buy U.S. F 35 fighters worth an estimated 2.75 billion t Israel will not pay the bill in any event. It will be the U.S. taxpayer since the planes will all be funded as part of U.S. military aid to Israel. Of course no doubt U.S. politicians who have Lockheed Martin related facilities in their areas will praise the job creation involved.

9/22/2010 - Israel Buys Twitter Handle From Porn Entrepreneur “We thought we could put it to better use than he did,” Yigal Palmor, a spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry, told the New York Times. He went on to explain that the purchase was in line with Israel’s recent efforts to expand into social media. More BS headed our way.

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9/15/2010 - Palestinians in Gaza killed by Israeli tank shells One, a 91 year old farm caretaker was killed along with a 20 year old worker. The teenage grandson of the farm holder also died of wounds sustained in the incident, which occurred close to the Gaza-Israel border.

9/15/2010 - Israeli army admits three killed Gazans were civilians Hours after the general's statement, at least two Palestinians were wounded in Israeli shelling east of Gaza City, a medic and another witness said.

9/15/2010 - Israeli aircraft strike Gaza as leaders convene

9/15/2010 - PA releases dozens of Hamas-linked detainees despite rising tensions The Palestinian Authority said in a statement that the decision to release the detainees was a gesture marking the Muslim holiday of Eid el Fitr which ends the holy month of Ramadan.

9/15/2010 - Israeli police accused of targeting Jerusalem's Arab residents Israeli authorities "practise selective law enforcement and fail to provide even the most minimal protection to Palestinian locals," Acri claimed. "Law-enforcement authorities have become complicit in violating Palestinian rights; in many cases, they do not enforce the law or do so only in a discriminatory manner." Palestinians claim that they are often arrested as suspects when they make complaints against Israelis, that their children are arrested in circumstances that flout Israeli law on the treatment of minors, and that widespread surveillance cameras violate their privacy.

9/15/2010 - Clinton: Israel must extend settlement freeze for peace talks to succeed "The United states believes that the moratorium should be extended," Clinton told reporters, echoing a view taken by U.S. President Barack Obama. But she then put some of the onus on the Palestinians to take unspecified steps to help Netanyahu to extend the freeze. Huh? 'Help Israel stop robbing you of your land by kowtowing further ot them. That way you can make 'peace' but never get your land back'.. Oh ok..

9/15/2010 - Pentagon proposes huge sale of warplanes to Saudis The Obama administration is seeking a go–ahead from Congress to sell up to $60 billion worth of sophisticated warplanes to Saudi Arabia and could add another $30 billion worth of naval arms in a deal designed to counter the rise of Iran as a regional power.....Washington plans to counterbalance the sales to Arab nations with $30 billion in military assistance to Israel over 10 years. Israel is buying about 20 advanced American F–35 fighter jets worth $4 billion, to be funded by U.S. military aid to the country.

9/15/2010 - CNN report: IDF sexually abused Palestinian children

9/15/2010 - U.S., allies should accept a nuclear-armed Iran An attack on Iran is coming — if you believe what some analysts in the nation’s capital are saying. Israel, they predict, will make a pre-emptive strike to stop Iran from building a nuclear weapon — and probably sooner rather than later if U.S. conservatives rack up big gains in the Nov. 2 elections. Let’s hope the pundits are wrong because the Air Force will almost certainly be drawn into the fight — and it doesn’t need to help wage another ill-fated war......Although many Americans want to support Israel, the feeling is not universal. A big reason is the size of the check the U.S. is writing. Just one example: Israel’s F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter program, estimated at $30 billion, will be paid for by American taxpayers. $30 billion dollars? The American taxpayers could put that money to better use than to continue to arm the most rogue nation in the Middle East.

9/15/2010 - Israeli PM: Current settlement curbs won't remain Netanyahu told Mideast envoy Tony Blair, "the Palestinians demand that after Sept. 26, there will be zero building" in the West Bank. "That will not happen," Netanyahu said

9/15/2010 - Netanyahu silent on Obama settlement freeze remarks "Unfortunately I am not yet hearing from the Palestinians the sentence 'two states for two peoples'," Netanyahu said. Palestinians have said they have already recognised the state of Israel in past declarations and in interim peace agreements that set the basis for establishing a state of their own in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

9/15/2010 - No progress seen on Israeli settlements in talks Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai spoke out Tuesday against the settlement slowdown, reflecting the intense pressure on Netanyahu to resume construction once the moratorium ends. "The freeze in the West Bank is incorrect and its good that it is ending," Yishai told Israel Radio as the meetings in Egypt were taking place.

9/15/2010 - Obama presses Israel to extend settlement freeze US President Barack Obama called Friday on Israel to extend a freeze on settlements as he pledged a never–say–die approach to the new Middle East peace talks, calling the effort "a risk worth taking."

9/15/2010 - Israel refuses to meet European ministers for settlement talks Israel has said it will not meet a delegation of European foreign ministers, including William Hague, this week as diplomatic pressure mounts on its government to extend a 10-month settlement freeze that ends next week.

9/15/2010 - Rachel Corrie v. Israel Trial Contradictions Emerge Oded testified that the interview of the bulldozer driver was halted on the order of a senior commander. He also testified that investigators waited a week to retrieve from another unit the only known videotape of the incident; failed to interview non-military eyewitnesses; ignored the ambulance workers, doctors and other Palestinians who treated her; and did not even visit the scene of her death

9/15/2010 - Los Angeles Company Indicted for Human Trafficking Cushman provided the court with a copy of a 2003 report, "Migrant Workers in Israel – A Contemporary Form of Slavery," published by the Euro–Mediterranean Human Rights Network and the International Federation for Human Rights. It states that Orian took 3,000 dollars from each of 19 Chinese workers for the "privilege" of working in Israel for two years.

9/15/2010 - Matthews says Obama has gone ‘neocon.’ Why? As for Obama's neoconservativism, anti-Vietnam-war Democrats like Schumer, Berman, and Lieberman voted for the Iraq war, surely in part because of Israel's security. Just as many Democrats are now pushing for an attack on Iran. The Iran saber-rattling is not a partisan issue; both parties are corrupted (as both existing parties were by the slave power); and the cause of the rot is the Israel lobby. Until the media start talking about it, politicians can't run against it, and voters won't be able to vote against it.

9/15/2010 - Jordan King Abdullah anti-semitism and Zionism conversation

9/15/2010 - Bibi Gets Down With the Facebook Generation “Today, social media channels are more vital than ever for Israel’s public diplomacy efforts, for administrative transparency and for providing citizens with updated information,” Netanyahu said in a statement posted to his website.

9/15/2010 - 'In Whose Name Do They Talk?' Gazans share their views on the talks taking place between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

9/15/2010 - Void of Responsibility: Israel Military Policy not to investigate Killings of Palestinians by Soldiers B'Tselem protests the sweeping classification of the situation in the Occupied Territories as an “armed conflict,” which effectively grants immunity to soldiers and officers, with the result that soldiers who kill Palestinians not taking part in hostilities are almost never held accountable for their misdeeds.

9/15/2010 - BBC Bias: Panorama Programme Exposed

9/15/2010 - Poll: Americans' support for Israel up following restart of talks Of 800 people questioned, 58 percent thought the U.S. should support Israel – a jump of 7 percent on a similar poll in July. Israeli PR (read Hasbara) really works on the sheep. Go figure.

9/15/2010 - Orthodox Jewish youths burn New Testaments in Or Yehuda Orthodox Jews set fire to hundreds of copies of the New Testament in the latest act of violence against Christian missionaries in the Holy Land.

9/15/2010 - European Jewish aid ship bound for Gaza ready to sail An organization of European Jews that wants to sail an aid ship to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza said Wednesday its ship was ready to go, but its port of departure remained a secret.

9/15/2010 - Why Some Jewish Stars Support Israeli Artistic Boycott “Anyone who has strong feelings for Israel like I do, and that believes it is an absolute necessity to strive for peace, understands that the single most obvious obstacle are the settlements,”

9/15/2010 - IDF soldier convicted of killing U.K. activist in Gaza released from jail Military Advocate General Avichai Mendelblit opposed Hayb's early release, citing the potential damage such a move could cause to Israel's relations with Great Britain.

9/15/2010 - Major pro-Israel giver funding Jihad Watch A woman who with her husband has contributed large sums to pro-Israel and Jewish groups is the principal funder of a leading foe of the Ground Zero Islamic center.....Aubrey and Joyce Chernick, Politico reported, over the years have contributed to, among other groups, the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles; the Anti-Defamation League; the Zionist Organization of America; MEMRI, a group that distributes translations of inflammatory Arabic language material; the Investigative Project on Terrorism, a group that tracks what it depicts as the threat of radical Islam; the American Jewish Congress; CAMERA, a group that tracks what it says is anti-Israel bias in the media; the Central Fund for Israel, a clearinghouse for monies directed to pro-settler groups; and a number of conservative think tanks. As I noted in a previous news batch: it is the Israeli lobby that is largely behind this anti-Muslim sentiment in America.

9/15/2010 - Clinton resuming 'last chance' Mideast peace talks More broadly, the status quo is a drag on U.S. interests. The wars and grievances that flowed from Israel's 1948 founding as a Jewish state have divided the Middle East, and U.S. officials have argued that the conflict begets hatred and suspicion of the U.S. as Israel's principal ally.

9/15/2010 - UN nuclear chief chides Iran, defends monitors Beyond Iran, the board – and a subsequent assembly of the 151 IAEA member nations – will focus on allegations of a hidden Syrian nuclear program; something Syria denies. Israel – which is commonly considered to have nuclear arms – is also on the agenda, with Islamic nations pushing the Jewish state to open its atomic activities to IAEA perusal.

9/15/2010 - The ‘Meaning’ of 9-11 by Justin Raimondo Millions pour into the coffers of these groups, all of which are dedicated to one overriding principle, one goal: advancing Israel’s national interests in the US. The serpentine convolutions of the Chernick connection, linking one front group to another, encircle the political and temperamental spectrum, ranging from the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles (over $900k) to the many hundreds of thousands given to hardline neoconservative outfits like the Hudson Institute, the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, not to mention Pajamas Media ($7 million, in collusion with venture capitalist James "extensively experienced in multimillion-dollar technology transfer and license agreements " Koshland) and a mass campaign to distribute DVDs of the virulently anti-Muslim film "Obsession." And again.

9/15/2010 - Report: Ahmadinejad to visit Lebanon's border with Israel Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will make an official visit to Lebanon next month, the Iranian administration said in an official announcement on Thursday.

9/15/2010 - Netanyahu said Iran was 3-5 years away from nuclear capability– back in ‘95! One has to question Netanyahu's sincerity because Israel uses this alleged threat. It uses it to distract the world from its oppression of Palestinians, and from Obama's pressure on it to stop settlement activities. Netanyahu has never wanted to stop settlement activity. He needs an existential threat to turn attention away.

9/15/2010 - Danny Yatom urges strike on Iranian nuclear sites

9/15/2010 - US to Arabs: Don't Make Israel a 'Pariah' at IAEA Arab countries, backed by Iran, are seeking to build on a victory at an assembly meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency last year when they narrowly won support for a non-binding resolution calling on Israel to join the Non-Proliferation treaty. Israel evidently must remain above the law.

9/15/2010 - U.S. diplomat fears condemnation of Israel The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. nuclear watchdog fears Arab ambassadors may condemn Israel at the next board of governors meeting, Asharq al-Awsat reported.

9/15/2010 - Israel-Iran War: Not Inevitable

9/15/2010 - Now, It's the Jewish Men Who Are Wearing Burqas over the past years, we’ve seen the birth of the Jewish burqa-wearers, embracing the most uncomfortable of severe Islamic restrictions — a fully covered body and a veil over the face. Read more: http://blogs.forward.com/sisterhood-blog/131066/#ixzz10DLezweM

9/15/2010 - Cuba says U.S. embargo has toughened under Obama There has been more leniency, too, in granting of licenses for visits by U.S. performers and academics, but progress has stalled since Cuba detained a U.S. contractor in December on suspicion of espionage. The contractor, Alan Gross, remains behind bars in Cuba, without formal charges. The U.S. says he was not a spy, but was in Cuba installing Internet services for Jewish groups

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9/8/2010 - Mideast crisis looms over Israeli settlements Meanwhile, Israeli aircraft bombed three Gaza smuggling tunnels late Saturday in retaliation for two Hamas shooting attacks that killed four Israelis in the West Bank last week. The airstrikes killed two Palestinians and wounded a third. Two more Palestinians were missing.

9/8/2010 - Boycotted, Bothered and Bewildered The problem is that this is unlike any boycott Israel has faced before. For one thing, it’s working. Israeli news reports tell of factories shutting down and millions of shekels lost. That’s never happened before, in all the years of Arab boycotts and campus divestment rallies. Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin called it “a declaration of war against Israel.” The Yesha Council, which represents Jewish settlers in the West Bank, called it “economic terrorism.” .....Even more awkward, the boycott is an embodiment of something Israel has been demanding for years: that Palestinians pursue their goals non-violently. Boycotts are not violent. Dubbing a settlement boycott illegitimate suggests, in effect, that Palestinians have no right to pursue their goals at all. Pay attention that paragraph. This will surely shape future Israeli policy dealing with the Palestinians. The Israeli government has increasingly been taken over by settler interests over the last decade. They now hold a lot of power.

9/8/2010 - Israel picks Gaza war commander as new military chief The Israeli cabinet on Sunday confirmed as armed forces chief Major General Yoav Galant, who directed Israel's 2008–2009 Gaza war, the prime minister's office said.

9/8/2010 - Palestinian Authority lashes out at Ahmadinejad over remarks The Iranian president, "who does not represent the Iranian people, who falsified elections and took power by fraud does not have the right to talk about Palestine, its president or its representatives," Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rodeina said in a statement distributed by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

9/8/2010 - Irishman held in Israel ‘threatened by top official close to PM’ The Donegal man detained in Israel after its commandos shot dead nine people on a flotilla of ships heading for Gaza has told the UN that he received a “serious threat” from an official close to the Israeli Prime Minister.

9/8/2010 - Gaza militants vow wave of attacks against Israel Several armed gunmen held an open-air news conference in Gaza where Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for Hamas's military wing, vowed that militants would "respond to the negotiations that aim at selling out (Palestinian) land."

9/8/2010 - PNA, Hamas trade accusations over arrests Palestinian National Authority ( PNA) and Islamic Hamas movement on Thursday traded accusations over intensive arrests in the West Bank after Hamas claimed responsibility for two attacks on Israelis.

9/8/2010 - Why most Palestinians don't support Israeli-Palestinian talks – or another intifada A June survey by the Palestinian Center for Public Survey Research found that 71 percent of Palestinians oppose abandoning a two-state solution. A majority also oppose a resumption of the armed uprising against Israel and more than two-thirds doubt that a new nonviolent uprising would achieve their goals either.

9/8/2010 - Lieberman: This generation will not see Middle East peace A peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians will not be achieved in the foreseeable future, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Sunday.

9/8/2010 - PA official: We won't recognize Israel as a Jewish state Shaath said that the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state would harm Israel's Arab citizens and negate the right of return of Palestinian refugees.

9/8/2010 - Israeli Settlement Construction Booms Despite Ban

9/8/2010 - When Would Israel Attack Iran? Under what conditions would an Israeli leader, left or right, civilian or military, actually consider attacking Iran’s nuclear infrastructure? By my reckoning, the following set of conditions would have to exist in its entirety: Fifth, it is clear to Israel that neither America nor any other international actor is prepared to deal militarily with Iran, but that Washington is giving Israel at least a “yellow light” to move. This is not the case today; the United States itself frequently hints that it might ultimately resort to military means. They will try to getAmerica to attack Iran before they take military action.

9/8/2010 - Iran could strike Israeli nuclear site if attacked

9/8/2010 - Israeli FM pushes for new settlement construction Israel's hard–line foreign minister said Monday that his party will try to block any extension of Israel's settlement slowdown, a move that could derail the recently launched Mideast peace negotiations. Piece or peace? Israel always chooses piece as in, another piece of Palestine.

9/8/2010 - Israeli spies wooing U.S. Muslims, sources say t a retired senior FBI counterintelligence official told SpyTalk, "They have always been extremely aggressive, and seem to feel they can operate whenever and wherever they want, in spite of being called on the carpet more than any other country by probably a factor of three times as often."

9/8/2010 - Abbas asks US to step into settlement dispute

9/8/2010 - Abbas: No talks without building freeze A 10-month freeze on settlement housing ends September 26, and Netanyahu is under pressure from hardline allies to resume construction

9/8/2010 - Religious Leaders Condemn Growing Islamophobia In addition to the planned Qu'ran burning, a major rally in Lower Manhattan against the Proposed Islamic centre is also planned for Sep. 11, led by Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, two bloggers who have been leading critics of the project. Both have until recently been widely considered "fringe" figures, although their work has been praised or supported by a number of prominent far-right or neo-conservative personalities and groups, such as the Center for Security Policy (CSP), which itself is funded by major U.S. defence contractors and several wealthy Jewish donors who also have supported radical Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem and the West Bank; former U.N. Amb. John Bolton of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), the David Horowitz Freedom Center, the Middle East Forum; and the Foundation for Defence of Democracies. All are pro-Israel neocon outfits/individuals. Go figure.They want us to hate all Muslims so that our enemy (Al Qaeda) and theirs (Hamas/Hezbollah/Iran etc) can be conflated into one: Islam. That way, the US can keep fighting Israel's wars. These people have a vested interest in Americans hating Muslims.

9/8/2010 - Palestinian leader urges Israel to end settlements The Palestinian leader spoke at the State Department at the opening of face–to–face peace negotiations with Israel.

9/8/2010 - UN Atomic Agency Curtails Probe of Israel’s Nuclear Capability Countries including Canada, the U.K. and U.S. opposed the probe, saying that the inquiry risked turning the IAEA into a political battleground, according to the documents. Others, including China, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey, supported the investigation

9/8/2010 - Settlers Defy Peace Talks With New Construction Across West Bank Pro-settler parties are a majority in Netanyahu's right-wing coalition and a number of cabinet ministers have already backed demands to resume settlement construction.

9/8/2010 - Settlers reveal deep disdain for events in Washington

9/8/2010 - Why Israelis Don't Care About Peace with Palestinians Now observing 2½ years without a single suicide bombing on their territory, with the economy robust and with souls a trifle weary of having to handle big elemental thoughts, the Israeli public prefers to explore such satisfactions as might be available from the private sphere, in a land first imagined as a utopia

9/8/2010 - Hamas leader rejects talks with Israel

9/8/2010 - US Condemns Murder of Israelis -- But Never of Palestinians We did not condemn the Gaza onslaught in which the IDF killed 1,200 Palestinians (including 432 kids). We do not condemn the routine killing of Palestinian civilians by the army or the settlers. We did not condemn the the shooting of the American Jewish girl from Maryland who lost an eye for protesting the Gaza ship raid. We did, however, condemn the Goldstone Report for delineating what the IDF did in Gaza.

9/8/2010 - MSCI Forces Israel Sale Harvard Campaign Failed to Bring About Israeli economic growth unexpectedly accelerated to an annualized 4.7 percent in the second quarter, the fastest pace in more than two years, as exports and consumer spending increased, the Jerusalem-based Central Bureau of Statistics said Aug. 16. The median forecast of six economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for growth of 2.9 percent.

9/8/2010 - EU trade chief apologizes for Jewish comments The European Jewish Congress, an umbrella group, had demanded a retraction of De Gucht's remarks in which he maintained that Israel frustrates U.S.–led peace efforts and warned not to "underestimate the Jewish lobby on Capitol Hill."

9/8/2010 - Book says Nazi hunter Wiesenthal worked for Mossad Wiesenthal worked with the Mossad until 1970, operating under the code name "Theocrat" and providing Israeli intelligence information on suspected war criminals, neo–Nazi groups that threatened Jewish communities in Europe and German scientists working for Egypt's rocket program.

9/8/2010 - US artists support Israelis' settlement protest The names on the letter include Oscar–winning actress Vanessa Redgrave, Cynthia Nixon of "Sex and the City" and playwright Tony Kushner. It was organized by the Jewish Voice for Peace.

9/8/2010 - Unseizing Gaza Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister says Blockade of Gaza Was a “Mistake and Not Effective”

9/8/2010 - Matan Cohen legal appeal – £5,000 needed Readers of JfJfP.com may recall the case of Matan Cohen, a young refusenik who almost lost an eye after being shot in the face by a tear gas canisterMC eye (hosp) on a demonstration in the West Bank village of Bil’in. He brought a court case to highlight the violence meted out to such demonstrations by the Israeli security forces.

9/8/2010 - Washington Post: Pervasive Israeli Spying in the U.S.

9/8/2010 - Israel Invited to Join Anti-Nuclear Pact By staying outside the NPT, Israel has maintained secrecy over a programme widely believed to have yielded the region's only atomic arsenal -- perceived as an irritant and threat among its neighbours.

9/8/2010 - The false case for attacking Iran

9/8/2010 - Report: Castro blasts Ahmadinejad as anti-Semitic Jeffrey Goldberg, a national correspondent for The Atlantic, blogged on the magazine's website Tuesday that he was on vacation last month when the head of the Cuban Interests Section in Washington – which Cuba maintains there instead of an embassy – called to say Castro had read his recent article about Israel and Iran and wanted him to come to Cuba. Goldberg asked Julia Sweig, a Cuba–U.S. policy expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, to accompany him, and the pair spent portions of three days talking with Castro.

9/8/2010 - Lebanon PM: accusations against Syria were mistake

9/8/2010 - Israel: Explosions occurred at Hezbollah depot

9/8/2010 - Foreign report: Israel has one of world's largest 'eavesdropping' intel bases

9/8/2010 - Hebron: God's Justice, Even for the Shops Over the past decade, more than five hundred Palestinian shops have been welded shut and well over a thousand more closed due to Israeli imperial politics. That’s about 75 % of the shops in this place, and the impact of such oppression, as you can well imagine, has been devastating. Once the hub of trade, giving life to the entire community, today’s Old City struggles simply to survive.

9/8/2010 - Survey Says Young Jews Do Care About Israel They need American Jews to be attached to Israel in order for Israel to survive. Well, WE need AMERICANS to be attached to AMERICA in order for AMERICA to survive. I can't see how the former sentence helps the latter. Two different countries here.

9/8/2010 - During War There Are No Civilians "During war there are no civilians," that’s what “Yossi,” an Israeli military (IDF) training unit leader simply stated during a round of questioning on day two of the Rachel Corrie trials, held in Haifa’s District Court earlier this week. “When you write a [protocol] manual, that manual is for war,” he added.

9/8/2010 - Poll: Half of Israeli teens don't want Arab students in their class

9/8/2010 - EC halts proposed data deal with Israel Mr Martin said the Irish Government had raised concerns in the context of the fraudulent misuse of information on Irish passport holders for an extra judicial killing in Dubai and had articulated its anger about that on a number of occasions. Good move.

9/8/2010 - Tony Blair: West should use force if Iran 'continues to develop nuclear weapons' The west should use force against Iran if it "continues to develop nuclear weapons", Tony Blair said today, aligning himself with US hawks who have called for strikes against Iranian nuclear sites......"The reason for that, let me explain it, is that in my view what was shocking about September 11 was that it was 3,000 people killed in one day but it would have been 300,000 if they could have done it," Blair said, appearing to equate al-Qaida with Iran.....Blair's approach to Iran aligns him with US hawks such as John Bolton, the former American ambassador to the UN, who believes that Israel should have attacked Iran before it started loading fuel into its first nuclear power plant in the southern port city of Bushehr

9/8/2010 - Report: U.S. threatens to shun military drill with Turkey if it bans Israel The U.S. has pressured Turkey in recent months to ease tensions with Israel, which have been increasingly strained since Israel's three-week-long offensive in the Gaza Strip that began in December 2008 in a effort to stop rocket fire from the territory into bordering Israeli cities.

9/8/2010 - Israel urged to open up atomic program

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9/1/2010 - Palestinian kills 4 Israelis on eve of peace talks Being an ultranationalist settler living in civilian settlements on occupied land is evidently a dangerous thing. Whodda thunk it?

9/1/2010 - Boxed into a Corner on Iran by Philip Giraldi To be completely and cold bloodedly serious about the respective positions being staked out by Iran and its chief antagonists in Washington and Tel Aviv, one must first of all remember that Tehran does not currently have a nuclear weapon and there is no real evidence that it even has a program to produce one. It has been basically compliant with the UN inspection regime mandated by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to which it is a signatory. Nor is there any evidence that the Mullahs are suicidal....The conversation on Iran, such as it is, has been expressly designed to bring about a war rather than avoid it. The mainstream media disinformation campaign orchestrated by AIPAC has worked just fine. Most Americans already believe incorrectly that Iran has a nuclear weapon and most also support attacking it, a product of the steady diet of hokum that they have been fed

9/1/2010 - Abbas, Palestinians should die: Israeli rabbi "Abu Mazen and all these evil people should perish from this earth," Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, spiritual head of the religious Shas party in Israel's government, said in a sermon late Saturday, using Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's popular name. ....The Iraqi–born cleric has made similar remarks before, most notably in 2001, during a Palestinian uprising, when he called for Arabs' annihilation and said it was forbidden to be merciful to them. The warships would be descending on Iran if this were an Iranian cleric that said as much about Jews.

9/1/2010 - Abbas: No peace talks with settlement building Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned Sunday that he will not back down from his threat to pull out of new peace talks with Israel if it resumes construction in West Bank settlements.

9/1/2010 - Hamas: PA can't give up Jerusalem in direct Mideast peace talks Palestinian negotiators are not mandated to surrender Jerusalem or any part of Palestine, the Palestinian Ma'an news agency quoted Gaza's Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh as saying on Friday, with the Hamas strongman dubbing upcoming direct peace talks as the latest in a string of Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people.

9/1/2010 - Obama, Netanyahu condemn Hamas killings in Israel

9/1/2010 - 'IDF can destroy Lebanon army within 4 hours'

9/1/2010 - Abbas seeks active US mediation in Mideast talks

9/1/2010 - Palestinians crack down on Hamas after shooting Palestinian security forces arrested more than 250 Hamas members in an overnight sweep throughout the West Bank after the Islamic militant group claimed responsibility for shooting dead four Israelis on the eve of new Mideast peace talks.

9/1/2010 - Obama says Mideast peace moment 'must be seized'

9/1/2010 - Israel rabbi remarks on Palestinians 'deeply offensive': US "We regret and condemn the inflammatory statements by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said in a statement.

9/1/2010 - Mahmoud Abbas: If talks fail over settlements, only Israel will be to blame

9/1/2010 - Israel gave 'licence to kill' on Gaza ship: Israeli Arab MP Outspoken Arab Israeli MP Haneen Zuabi on Tuesday told a UN human rights inquiry into Israel's deadly raid on a Gaza–bound aid flotilla that its commandos had a "licence to kill."

9/1/2010 - Israel govt mulls alternatives to settlement freeze The idea would be to keep the restrictions quiet in order to minimise chances of a public uproar among rightwing Israelis.

9/1/2010 - Report: Israel planning to attack Hezbollah arms depots in Syria The report is based on Western sources who asserted that Israel has increased its military force level along the northern border in the Golan Heights and Mount Dov areas.

9/1/2010 - NY Muslim groups decry hostile atmosphere Islamic leaders on Wednesday said they would support a move to another location, if that's what the imam and his supporters choose to do. But they emphasized that Muslims also were killed in the terrorist attacks and were first responders.

9/1/2010 - 'Palestinian Gandhi' Convicted for Protesting; U.S. Silent Last week, an Israeli military court convicted Abdallah Abu Rahmah, whom progressive Zionists have called a "Palestinian Gandhi," of "incitement" and "organizing and participating in illegal demonstrations" for organizing protests against the confiscation of Palestinian land by the "Apartheid Wall" in the village of Bilin in the West Bank, following an eight month trial, during which he was kept in prison

9/1/2010 - The Egyptian Plumber and My ‘Eurabia’ Problem for Jews, Israelis and Americans in Europe, the first impulse is often to worry about Arab migrants. A 29-year-old Tel Aviv native in East Berlin (where I’ve been living since March), summed it up best when she told me the reason that she doesn’t like to visit Neukölln, the Turkish-Arab district in the southeastern part of the city: “I’m an anarchist. I think Middle Eastern immigration to Germany is good. But I lived through the second intifada, and Muslims scare me.”

9/1/2010 - ‘Sinner’ singer given 39 lashes by rabbis

9/1/2010 - How to Kill Goyim and Influence People: Palestinian Israeli member of Knesset Jamal Zehalka subsequently demanded that the Israeli Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein put Yosef on trial for incitement. "If, heaven forbid, a Muslim spiritual leader were to make anti-Jewish comments of this sort," Zehalka said, "he would be arrested immediately."

9/1/2010 - Hebron: Soldiers Practice Break and Enter

9/1/2010 - Obama Resists Pressure for Red Line on Iran's Nuclear Capability Gates appears to have been trying to maneuver Obama into adopting a policy under which the United States would have a reason for threatening Iran unless it agreed to divest itself of its low enriched uranium stocks and end enrichment.

9/1/2010 - Losing a Mentor, Gaining an Opponent In the coming years, he wants to see the Jewish population of the West Bank — which he always refers to by the biblical regions it covers, Judea and Samaria — swell to a million.

9/1/2010 - At Ground Zero, a Fight We’re All Losing said Gingrich, “There should be no mosque near Ground Zero in New York so long as there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia.” (So now the state of religious freedom in Saudi Arabia becomes the standard against which we are urged to measure ourselves.)

9/1/2010 - The Israeli Right’s ‘Post-Nationalism’ Excuse George Will, the conservative Washington Post columnist, was in the Israeli prime minis