Violence against Palestinians
Massive turnout at Gaza funeral for teen girl killed by Israel
Large crowds assembled on Friday at the funeral procession for a 17-year-old girl killed by Israeli shelling in central Gaza late on Thursday night.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38998
Israel cuts off water to Arab Druze towns on hottest day of year
The Israeli National Water Company has cut off the water supply to two Arab Druze towns inside Israel. While water cut-offs by Israeli authorities are common within the Occupied Territories of Gaza and the West Bank, they are fairly unheard of within Israel itself.
http://www.imemc.org/article/61037
Siege
VIDEOS: Meet two young Palestinians who cannot leave Gaza to accept scholarships
The videos aren't really edited, so I need to say something about them. The two students are both beautiful young people. Just watch their faces for a little while, you'll know what I'm saying ... Watch these videos, or even a portion of them, hear the anguish in these children's voices, and you will understand why it is absolutely essential for American Jews to recall their cultural memory of the Warsaw Ghetto, and why it is essential for Americans to say, Let these people go.
http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/07/meet-two-young-palestinians-who-cannot-leave-gaza-to-accept-scholarships.html
Gaza residents report severe shortage of basic goods
(Ynet) While Israel mulls easing siege on Gaza, locals continue to suffer from continued shortage of basic food products, forced to pay high prices for smuggled, low-quality goods from Egypt
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3740977,00.html
Anti-siege committee calls for more aid ships to Gaza
The Gaza-based Popular Committee Against the Siege called for more aid ships to attempt voyages to the Strip, according to a statement on Friday ... The spokesperson of the committee, Ali An-Nuzali, condemned "terrorism and violence carried out by the occupation state [Israel] against these unarmed solidarity activists," who were on Tuesday arrested en route to Gaza from Cyprus.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38999
In first visit to Israel, Bahraini delegation picks up deportees
In the Gulf nation's apparent first state visit to Israel, Bahraini officials arrived in Tel Aviv on Friday to accompany five nationals awaiting deportation. All 21 crew members of an aid ship bound for Gaza, including the five Bahraini citizens, a Nobel laureate and former US congresswoman and the ship itself, were seized and towed to the Israeli port city of Ashdod on Tuesday afternoon.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38996
UN expert: Israel's seizure of aid boat 'criminal'
The UN official, Special Rapporteur for human rights in the Palestinian territories Richard Falk, denounced what he called the unlawful naval seizure by an Israeli gunboat on Tuesday ... In a response to the official's remarks, Israeli Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Aharon Leshno-Yaar attacked Falk, saying he is "known for his bias against Israel and anti-Israel statements," and insisted that Israel is allowing aid into Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38993
Letter from an Israeli jail - by Cynthia McKinney
...The Israeli authorities have tried to get us to confess that we committed a crime... I am now known as Israeli prisoner number 88794. How can I be in prison for collecting crayons to kids? Zionism has surely run out of its last legitimacy if this is what it does to people who believe so deeply in human rights for all that they put their own lives on the line for someone else’s children.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39013
Scottish activist tells of special forces raid on aid boat
Miss McDermott, speaking to the Evening News from Givon jail in Ramla, claims the Israelis jammed their radar and GPS signals on the boat on Monday night, endangering the ship and making it difficult to navigate .... She now has to spend up to 17 hours a day in a small ten feet square cell, sharing with six people. However, she said they are being well fed and have not been mistreated.
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/latestnews/Activist-tells-of--special.5429637.jp
Israeli pirates teach about ... piracy
"As pirates attacks become a serious hazard in shipping lanes, Israeli security academy offers special maritime protection class."
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/07/israel-pirates-teach-aboutpiracy.html
She wants Gaza to know Americans care
Totowa [New Jersey] -- Arwa Hazin will travel to Egypt on Tuesday before crossing the border into Gaza, where she will join George Galloway, the British member of Parliament, and Ron Kovic, the anti-war activist best known for his book, "Born on the Fourth of July," which later was turned into a movie starring Tom Cruise. The 38-year-old accountant said she will be among 300 Americans making the trip with the charities Pastors for Peace and Viva Palestina. About a dozen travelers are from New Jersey. They will travel with 300 to 500 trucks filled with $10 million of medical supplies, electrical generators, prosthetic limbs and wheelchairs. [and the Egyptians and the Israelis will let them pass?]
http://www.northjersey.com/news/state/49899467.html
Gaza 'frontline of collective punishment'
Oxfam GB-UK. Two years of blockade and three weeks of military action have pushed ordinary Gazans into a state of continuing humanitarian crisis. Michael Bailey makes an empassioned plea for the end of the blockade.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/220803/1cf24290c1e04057d9045119606d930d.htm
Popular Palestinian singer performs for Gazans via video
After being prevented by Israeli authorities from entering the Gaza Strip to distribute her new album, Nowar Nisan (April Blossoms), renowned Palestinian singer Reem Al-Banna performed on Thursday via a video link. The popular musician held the concert from her home in the northern Israeli city of Nazareth, dedicating the performance to the children of Jabaliya,
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38979
Palestinian resistance
Israel: Palestinians opened fire on troops near Gaza crossing
Israeli sources said Palestinian gunmen opened fire on an Israeli military patrol near the Karni crossing east of Gaza City Saturday morning. The soldiers were allegedly in the area responding to reports of gunfire in the area. They then came under fire and retreated, the military said. No injuries were reported.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39005
Detention
IOA detains Al-Jazeera correspondent in Ramle prison
(PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have detained the Qatari TV network's correspondent Othman Al-Battiri and cameraman Mansour Al-Ibbi along with the crew of the spirit of humanity boat in Ramle prison without determining a date for deporting them to their countries. Al-Jazeera said on Saturday that Battiri confirmed in a telephone contact that their fate was not clear, adding that the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) exercised psychological pressures on them.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
Palestinian Media Forum says PA imprisoned, tortured journalist
The Palestinian Authority must stop the practice of detaining journalists for political reasons, a statement from the Palestinian Media Forum proclaimed Saturday. The forum called on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to pressure his security agencies into greater respect for press freedoms, saying they detain media workers "when the political situation is unfavorable" and said there were at least seven journalists in PA prisons.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39015
Palestinian police arrest West Bank 'plotters'
July 4 (Reuters) - Palestinian security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas have seized large cash sums and West Bank homes from men they accuse of plotting to kill government officials, a security source said on Saturday. The official, who could not be named, said evidence would only be produced "at a later date" but added that over the past few weeks men known to have connections to Islamist Hamas have been arrested at a number of locations in the West Bank.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L4498942.htm
De facto government to release 12 political prisoners
The chief of the de facto government’s internal security services confirmed that 12 detainees, likely all Fatah affiliates, will be released after being found not guilty of any charges. The officials did not indicate when the men would be released.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39017
Human rights group urges Abbas to release 1012 political prisoners in W. Bank
LONDON, (PIC)-- The Arab Organization for human rights in the UK said on Friday it was greatly disturbed for the sharp deterioration in human rights in the West Bank at the hands of the armed militia of Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas and the Israeli occupation forces. The group also stressed the importance of releasing all the political detainees in the PA jails that the group estimated to be 1012 male and female prisoners,
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
Farwana: IOF kidnapped 3,060 Palestinians in first half of 2009
GAZA, (PIC)-- Abdul Nasser Farwana, a former prisoner and prisoners' activist, affirmed that Israeli occupation forces kidnapped 3,060 Palestinians including children, women and fishermen in the first half of 2009 at a rate of 17 detainees per day. These kidnapping operations are not necessarily related to security measures as claimed by IOF and have no justification under the law, Farwana said, adding that they are carried out as a matter of routine; sometimes out of political or vengeful reasons. The kidnapped people are used by IOF as bargaining and pressurizing tools against their organizations, he underlined.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
War Crimes
Amnesty International says Israeli 'wantonly' destroyed Gaza
Amnesty International said Israel inflicted wanton destruction in the Gaza Strip in attacks that often targeted Palestinian civilians during an offensive in December and January in the Hamas-run enclave. Among other conclusions, Amnesty said it found no evidence to support Israeli claims that Gaza guerrillas deliberately used civilians as human shields, but it did, however, cite evidence that Israeli troops put children and other civilians in harm's way by forcing them to remain in homes taken over by soldiers.
http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/amnesty-israel-wantonly-destroyed-gaza-2826997
Haniyeh responds to Amnesty report on Gaza assault
De facto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Friday commented on Amnesty International's report this week that both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes during the Gaza assault last winter. At his weekly address at a local Gaza City mosque, Haniyeh said "there are important and positive issues" in the Amnesty report, which he commended for its honesty. However, Haniyeh criticized the report for "describing equally the victim and the perpetrator," and urged the international organization to "have more balance" and step back from its "double-standard policy."
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39001
Law expert: Hamas did not violate international law and settlers are not civilians
BEIRUT, (PIC)-- Dr. Hasan Johnny, a professor of international law at the Lebanese University, criticized Friday the report issued by Amnesty International (AI), saying that the Israeli settlers, living on usurped Palestinian lands, are not civilians and Hamas did not violate international law in Gaza war.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
Political developments
US State Department to press Israel on halting West Bank settlements
(Reuters) President Barack Obama’s envoy will hold a second meeting in a week with Israel’s defence minister, an Israeli official said on Friday, announcing talks on Monday likely to focus again on a dispute over settlements. A senior U.S. official confirmed to Reuters that Washington is asking Arab governments whether they might ease sanctions on Israel if it freezes Jewish settlement on Palestinian territory, a move that could lead to regional peace negotiations. But Arab leaders have so far been cool, Western diplomats said, to suggestions they might open their airspace to Israeli airliners, allow roaming calls by Israeli cellphones or let in tourists whose passports show they have also visited Israel.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2009/07/03/2009-07-03_arab_countries_react_coolly_to_us_atempt_to_ease_mideast
_sanctions_on_israel.html
UK foreign ministry raises Free Gaza issue with Israel
A spokesperson for the United Kingom's foreign secretary has raised the issue of an aid ship seized by Israel's navy with the country's government, according to British news reports. "We can confirm that six British nationals were detained by the Israeli authorities. We have visited them and we are providing consular assistance to them," a spokesperson for UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Saturday, according to Sky News.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39020
German foreign minister to visit West Bank next week
Germany's foreign minister will visit the occupied West Bank next week to add his support to the Palestine-Israel peace process, AFP reported.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39014
Assad invites Obama to Syria, signaling thaw in ties
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has issued an informal invitation to President Barack Obama to visit Damascus for talks, in a sign that relations between the two countries may gradually be thawing.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097637.html
Other news
Busy day for de facto navy
The de facto government navy returned a giant sea turtle to the Mediterranean after it beached itself on the Gaza shore Friday morning. Locals alerted the navy to the presence of the distressed turtle, and naval cadets who had already rescued 30 missing children who had swum too far into the waves or gone wandering from their families, responded to the call.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39018
Bethlehem church to host march on ICJ wall decision anniversary
The Lutheran Church in Bethlehem will host a March of Peace on the anniversary of the International Criminal Court’s proclamation that the Israeli separation wall is illegal. From 6-9 July the church will host dignitaries from Europe including several mayors from German towns and cities
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39004
Three new H1N1 cases diagnosed in Ramallah
The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced on Friday that three new cases of H1N1 were diagnosed in the West Bank city of Ramallah, increasing the total number of cases to 54. The three caes are of children who got the virus from others infected with it in Palestine, rather than abroad, where most cases had originated over the past month
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39002
Village celebrates as residents pronounced 'recovered' from H1N1
Fourteen of Nablus’ H1N1 cases have successfully recovered after treatment from Ministry of Health workers, the office reported Saturday. All those who have successfully recovered in the northern district are from Burqa village, and are part of one large family.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39016
Settlers slowly kill Bedouin way of life
NABI SAMUEL, WEST BANK // Ibrahim Ahmed Abu Dahouk remembers when he could walk the seven minutes to his brother’s house in the nearby village of Bidu. He remembers when he could herd his sheep into Jerusalem or over to Ramallah. He remembers when all he saw on the horizon on a clear day was the Mediterranean to one side and the mountains of the Jordan Valley to the other.
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090704/FOREIGN/707039850/1042/rss
For some Israeli Bedouin, border smuggling is a way of life
For this story, Haaretz interviewed defense, political and Bedouin sources in Israel. No one agreed to go on record, and the information had to be cross-checked by different sources. The IDF say that the issue is too sensitive to go on record; the police refused to offer any information on the smuggling. To date there has been an unwritten agreement between the various security agencies and the smugglers, which restricted the smuggling to mostly cigarettes, drugs and African refugees..
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097509.html
Gaza victim's dad's new legal service
THE father of Tom Hurndall, the Tufnell Park student shot dead in Gaza by Israeli defence forces, is bringing a new affordable legal service to Camden [in London, U.K.] in a bid to “bring justice to the people”.
http://www.thecnj.co.uk/camden/2009/070209/news070209_19.html
Haaretz editorial: Send the chief rabbi home
The Chief Military Rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces, Brig.-Gen. Avichai Rontzki, has managed once again to stretch his scope of authority to breaking point ... It appears that the chief rabbi, who was not raised as an observant Jew, is eager to prove to the most extremist rabbis that his views are up to their standards.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097606.html
Police, haredim clash in Jerusalem
Shabbat war continues: Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox protestors hurl stones at security forces, breach police roadblocks in capital Saturday evening; dozens of police officers deployed in area ahead of riots
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3741131,00.html
Hotels sign modesty code to attract haredi guests
Some 20 hotels that host vacationing ultra-Orthodox guests sign document detailing modesty code to be kept in order to make sure stringent guests comfortable. Among other things, hotels commit to unplug televisions, disallow looking into pool from rooms, instating modest dress code for female employees. Imposition of code not supported by rabbis responsible for granting kosher certificates
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3739794,00.html
Opinion / Analysis
Mondoweiss: Brokaw says Israelis can learn from Buchenwald about 'their treatment of Palestinians'
The conversation is obviously changing in the U.S. But I missed this one. It happened at Buchenwald a month ago, Brokaw asked Obama the question. My assiduous coreligionists at CAMERA got it. They're now trying to give Brokaw a spanking, administer a catechism of Holocaust exceptionalism. Tom: Know that many Americans, including many Jews, share your sense that Israelis are visiting upon the Palestinians their uninterrogated [?] rage toward the Germans.
http://www..philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/07/brokaw-says-israelis-can-learn-from-buchenwald-about-their-treatment-of
-palestinians.html
Building and weeping
By Shlomy Zachary. The Defense Ministry has for many years responded to the plundering of Palestinian land in a two-faced manner: On the one hand, it would condemn the illegal construction and issues demolition orders against it; on the other, it winked and nodded, giving assurances that the orders were only meant to appease the courts and would not be enforced. This has changed. Tired of all the contradictory facial gestures, Barak has now openly admitted that the government does not, and never did intend to enforce the law, or restore such property to its rightful owners..
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097521.html
Israel pisses on Britain - again
By Stuart Littlewood. Richard Falk, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights, says the seizing of the Spirit of Humanity is unlawful and the continuing blockade of Gaza a crime against humanity. Yes, yes, Mr Falk. But the question as always is, what is your paralytic, useless organization doing about it? Or is hand-wringing all it’s good for? ... The real problem, as I suggested, is that Israel dares to kidnap Brits on the high seas and doesn’t fear the consequences – no doubt confident there won’t be any. I was reminded that Israel had issued warnings (and so had the Foreign Office) not to travel in that area.. What area? Mustn’t one travel in international waters?
http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/07/israel-pisses-on-britain-again/
Are we still afraid the Jewish state won't last?
By Yehezkel Dror. We can offer several arguments for and against the demand to recognize
Israel as a Jewish state ... And here I come to considerations for opposing the demand. It is not accepted in those parts of international law that deal with the recognition of states ... Nor is there necessarily a real connection between recognizing the Jewish character of Israel and the refugee issue ... The question therefore is whether it is possible to create a synthesis that combines the advantages of recognition without the drawbacks of the demand for recognition. I think it is.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097534.html
A generation of Israeli Arabs nurtured on Israeli chutzpah
Aharish, 28, represents a new generation of young Arabs in Israel who hold visible positions in the country's media ..."There is a new generation of Arabs who don't give a hoot what anyone thinks and will do everything they can to get into high positions," says Aharish. "We have other things to get over besides the occupation and discrimination. We are fighters and don't give in. If you don't open the door for me, I will come in through the window, and if it is closed, down the chimney. We were too polite, but we learned Israeli chutzpah. It's easy to humiliate an Arab who kowtows, but when that person says 'Listen, pal, tone it down, don't talk to me like that,' you arrive at a dialogue."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097398.html
Bibi's 'Jewish' and 'Palestinian' not a two-state solution
By Saree Makdisi. To judge by the next day’s headlines, Benjamin Netanyahu’s policy speech last month was a great success. “Israeli Premier Backs State for Palestinians,” declared the New York Times. “Israel Endorses Two - State Goal,” said the Washington Post. “Netanyahu Backs Palestinian State,” announced The Guardian. He did no such thing, of course, unless by “state” one understands an amorphous entity lacking a definite territory, not allowed to control its own borders or airspace, shorn of any vestige of sovereignty (other than a flag and perhaps a national anthem), not allowed to enter into treaties with other states - and permanently disarmed and hence at the mercy of Israel.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39010
Masters of hypocrisy
By Khalid Amayreh. I have no doubt whatsoever that Shimon Peres, the President of the criminal state of Israel , would be the main winner in any international championship for the world’s worst liar and hypocrite. This week, Peres participated in an interfaith conference in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan , where he had the audacity to lecture delegates representing the world’s major religions on peace, human dignity, moral ethics and religious tolerance.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
The difference a 'comedian, actress, activist and dancing gimp' can make
By Deema Dabis. "I think that the biggest difference I make is that I actually show people that a disabled person can be members of society." ... "I was in Jordan and I was watching the news, and I just saw all the bombing and all the destruction,” Zaaiyd recalled of 2000, shortly before she founded Maysoon’s Kids. [http://www.maysoon.com/] “All I could think was my God, so many Palestinian children are becoming disabled, in a society that doesn't know how to deal with disabilities." [recall what was done to Maysoon at Ben Gurion in 2006: http://majnouna.blogspot.com/2006/11/what-they-did-to-maysoon.html ]
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38994
Literary biography: The bard of Bir el-Amir
My Happiness Bears no Relation to Happiness: A Poet's Life in the Palestinian Century, by Adina Hoffman. This ambitious book tells the story of Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali, one of Israel's "internal refugees," and his family, natives of Saffuriyya, one of some 400 villages destroyed by Israel in the 1948 war. As what is said to be the first published biography of a Palestinian writer, it opens up a new world to Western readers unfamiliar with Arabic literature. It also tells, through the life of one extraordinary man, the story of the Nakba, as Palestinians refer to their defeat and dispossession after the creation of Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097629.html
Iraq
Friday: 2 Iraqis killed, 3 wounded
Excerpt: U.S. Vice President Joe Biden spent part of his three-day trip to Iraq speaking with Gen. Ray Odierno and Ambassador Christopher Hill over breakfast. He also plans to meet with President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Several NFL coaches visited Iraq also, as part of a USO trip. Meanwhile, three Iraqis were killed and four more were wounded across northern Iraq. An bombing that was reported to have taken place in Kirkuk/Taza yesterday actually took place in al-Zab. The number of casualties rose overnight to two dead and nine wounded, upping yesterday’s figures by one dead and three wounded.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2009/07/03/friday-2-iraqis-killed-3-wounded/
Four killed in spate of gun attacks in Kirkuk
KIRKUK, Iraq (AFP) – A Kurdish militiaman and a Turkman policeman were among four people killed in three separate gun attacks in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, police said on Saturday. Northern Iraq's oil hub city is plagued with tensions among its rival Kurdish, Turkmen and Arab communities.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090704/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestkirkuk
The haggling over Iraqi oil
By Patrick Cockburn.Iraq is locked in a struggle with the world's largest oil companies over contracts that would see "Big Oil" return to the Iraqi oilfields for the first time in almost 40 years. The award of contracts began in Baghdad on June 30 and were broadcast live on television to show there were no secret corrupt deals.
http://www.counterpunch.org/patrick07032009.html
Iraq's Maliki declines US offer on national reconciliation
The Iraqi prime minister tells visiting Vice President Joe Biden that Iraqis must overcome their political differences on their own and that U.S. involvement would not be welcome.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/mideastemail/la-fg-iraq-biden4-2009jul04,0,1531508.story
New wave of violence against Iraqi gays
Rights advocate speaks of an "extraordinarily brutal campaign", saying hundreds may have been killed in last few months.
http://www.iwpr.net/EN-icr-f-353873
Iran
Incoming IAEA chief: No evidence Iran seeking nuclear weapons
The incoming head of the United Nation's nuclear watchdog said on Friday he did not see any hard evidence that Iran was trying to gain the ability to develop nuclear weapons. "I don't see any evidence in IAEA official documents about this," Japan's Yukiya Amano told Reuters in his first direct comment on Iran's nuclear program
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097655.html
Israeli sub sails Suez sending message to Iran
An Israeli submarine sailed the Suez Canal to the Red Sea as part of a naval drill last month, defense sources said on Friday, describing the unusual maneuver as a show of strategic reach in the face of Iran. Israel has long kept its three Dolphin-class submarines, which are widely assumed to carry nuclear missiles, away from Suez so as not to expose them to the gaze of Egyptian harbormasters.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097643.html
Iran plans to put British Embassy staffers on trial
Ahmad Jannati, head of the Guardian Council, says Iran's enemies 'made an effort to poison the people' during postelection unrest. European Union nations consider pulling ambassadors from Tehran.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/mideastemail/la-fg-iran4-2009jul04,0,3747167.story
EU summons Iran ambassadors in joint protest
The European Union on Friday summoned Iranian ambassadors across the 27-nation bloc in a joint protest against the detentions of staff at the British Embassy in Tehran.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097652.html
Iran book publisher recalls weeklong ordeal in prison
The man, mistakenly detained, was crammed into a cell with hundreds of others seized in the election unrest. They were threatened by a pistol-wielding young man and interrogated. Some were beaten.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/mideastemail/la-fg-iran-evin2-2009jul02,0,1063580.story
Iran leader's foes to continue disputing election
With President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad set to be sworn in for another term, his reformist opponents appear to have shifted tactics, seeking to tarnish the government's reputation and credibility.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/mideastemail/la-fg-iran2-2009jul02,0,2174299.story
Picnicking outside Tehran's Evin Prison
Outside the gates of Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, hundreds wait impatiently – some with blankets spread out in the parking lot on the street below, making time for dinner. The improvised picnic area has become a second home to the families of those arrested in the massive roundups that accompanied Iran’s post-election unrest. They were jailed both before and during the authorities’ ongoing violent crackdown, which started a week after protests swelled in the wake of the Jun. 12 disputed polls.
http://original.antiwar..com/farhang/2009/07/03/picnicking-outside-tehrans-evin-prison/
U.S.
Single loyalty: man jumps from American Jewish Committee to Israel's National Security Council
Ynet meets Dr. Eran Lerman, who took office Thursday as deputy chief of Israel's National Security Council. ...Thanks to Jeff Blankfort, who writes, "that this former Israeli intelligence official who was the head of the AJC's Middle East office can shift so easy into an important position in the Israeli government would indicate that there is actually no line between the AJC and whatever government is in power in Israel."
http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/07/single-loyalty-man-jumps-from-american-jewish-committee-to-isra
els-national-security-council.html
Mondoweiss: Forward piece touches on dual loyalty as motivator for Iraq war
The best line in Nathan Guttman's piece in the Forward about the Justice Department's effort to prove that a pro-Israel spy ring was operating inside the Pentagon, AIPAC and the Israeli Embassy came from Steve Rosen, the former AIPAC lobbyist whose indictment on espionage charges the Justice Department recently dropped.
http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/07/guttman-also-talked-to-steve-rosen-he-bridled-at-the-idea-that-he-was-
-indicted-for-passing-along-to-the-israelis-a-faked.html
US says it will preserve secret jails for terror case
The government will agree to preserve the secret overseas sites where a defendant in a terror case was once held and, his lawyers say, subjected to harsh interrogation techniques after his capture in 2004, a prosecutor indicated in court in New York on Thursday. Lawyers for the defendant, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, told a judge this week that they were afraid that the so-called black sites, which were run by the Central Intelligence Agency, would be demolished as the agency has said it will discontinue their use.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/03/nyregion/03detainee.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
--
www.TheHeadlines.org
Massive turnout at Gaza funeral for teen girl killed by Israel
Large crowds assembled on Friday at the funeral procession for a 17-year-old girl killed by Israeli shelling in central Gaza late on Thursday night.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38998
Israel cuts off water to Arab Druze towns on hottest day of year
The Israeli National Water Company has cut off the water supply to two Arab Druze towns inside Israel. While water cut-offs by Israeli authorities are common within the Occupied Territories of Gaza and the West Bank, they are fairly unheard of within Israel itself.
http://www.imemc.org/article/61037
Siege
VIDEOS: Meet two young Palestinians who cannot leave Gaza to accept scholarships
The videos aren't really edited, so I need to say something about them. The two students are both beautiful young people. Just watch their faces for a little while, you'll know what I'm saying ... Watch these videos, or even a portion of them, hear the anguish in these children's voices, and you will understand why it is absolutely essential for American Jews to recall their cultural memory of the Warsaw Ghetto, and why it is essential for Americans to say, Let these people go.
http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/07/meet-two-young-palestinians-who-cannot-leave-gaza-to-accept-scholarships.html
Gaza residents report severe shortage of basic goods
(Ynet) While Israel mulls easing siege on Gaza, locals continue to suffer from continued shortage of basic food products, forced to pay high prices for smuggled, low-quality goods from Egypt
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3740977,00.html
Anti-siege committee calls for more aid ships to Gaza
The Gaza-based Popular Committee Against the Siege called for more aid ships to attempt voyages to the Strip, according to a statement on Friday ... The spokesperson of the committee, Ali An-Nuzali, condemned "terrorism and violence carried out by the occupation state [Israel] against these unarmed solidarity activists," who were on Tuesday arrested en route to Gaza from Cyprus.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38999
In first visit to Israel, Bahraini delegation picks up deportees
In the Gulf nation's apparent first state visit to Israel, Bahraini officials arrived in Tel Aviv on Friday to accompany five nationals awaiting deportation. All 21 crew members of an aid ship bound for Gaza, including the five Bahraini citizens, a Nobel laureate and former US congresswoman and the ship itself, were seized and towed to the Israeli port city of Ashdod on Tuesday afternoon.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38996
UN expert: Israel's seizure of aid boat 'criminal'
The UN official, Special Rapporteur for human rights in the Palestinian territories Richard Falk, denounced what he called the unlawful naval seizure by an Israeli gunboat on Tuesday ... In a response to the official's remarks, Israeli Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Aharon Leshno-Yaar attacked Falk, saying he is "known for his bias against Israel and anti-Israel statements," and insisted that Israel is allowing aid into Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38993
Letter from an Israeli jail - by Cynthia McKinney
...The Israeli authorities have tried to get us to confess that we committed a crime... I am now known as Israeli prisoner number 88794. How can I be in prison for collecting crayons to kids? Zionism has surely run out of its last legitimacy if this is what it does to people who believe so deeply in human rights for all that they put their own lives on the line for someone else’s children.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39013
Scottish activist tells of special forces raid on aid boat
Miss McDermott, speaking to the Evening News from Givon jail in Ramla, claims the Israelis jammed their radar and GPS signals on the boat on Monday night, endangering the ship and making it difficult to navigate .... She now has to spend up to 17 hours a day in a small ten feet square cell, sharing with six people. However, she said they are being well fed and have not been mistreated.
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/latestnews/Activist-tells-of--special.5429637.jp
Israeli pirates teach about ... piracy
"As pirates attacks become a serious hazard in shipping lanes, Israeli security academy offers special maritime protection class."
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/07/israel-pirates-teach-aboutpiracy.html
She wants Gaza to know Americans care
Totowa [New Jersey] -- Arwa Hazin will travel to Egypt on Tuesday before crossing the border into Gaza, where she will join George Galloway, the British member of Parliament, and Ron Kovic, the anti-war activist best known for his book, "Born on the Fourth of July," which later was turned into a movie starring Tom Cruise. The 38-year-old accountant said she will be among 300 Americans making the trip with the charities Pastors for Peace and Viva Palestina. About a dozen travelers are from New Jersey. They will travel with 300 to 500 trucks filled with $10 million of medical supplies, electrical generators, prosthetic limbs and wheelchairs. [and the Egyptians and the Israelis will let them pass?]
http://www.northjersey.com/news/state/49899467.html
Gaza 'frontline of collective punishment'
Oxfam GB-UK. Two years of blockade and three weeks of military action have pushed ordinary Gazans into a state of continuing humanitarian crisis. Michael Bailey makes an empassioned plea for the end of the blockade.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/220803/1cf24290c1e04057d9045119606d930d.htm
Popular Palestinian singer performs for Gazans via video
After being prevented by Israeli authorities from entering the Gaza Strip to distribute her new album, Nowar Nisan (April Blossoms), renowned Palestinian singer Reem Al-Banna performed on Thursday via a video link. The popular musician held the concert from her home in the northern Israeli city of Nazareth, dedicating the performance to the children of Jabaliya,
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38979
Palestinian resistance
Israel: Palestinians opened fire on troops near Gaza crossing
Israeli sources said Palestinian gunmen opened fire on an Israeli military patrol near the Karni crossing east of Gaza City Saturday morning. The soldiers were allegedly in the area responding to reports of gunfire in the area. They then came under fire and retreated, the military said. No injuries were reported.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39005
Detention
IOA detains Al-Jazeera correspondent in Ramle prison
(PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have detained the Qatari TV network's correspondent Othman Al-Battiri and cameraman Mansour Al-Ibbi along with the crew of the spirit of humanity boat in Ramle prison without determining a date for deporting them to their countries. Al-Jazeera said on Saturday that Battiri confirmed in a telephone contact that their fate was not clear, adding that the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) exercised psychological pressures on them.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
Palestinian Media Forum says PA imprisoned, tortured journalist
The Palestinian Authority must stop the practice of detaining journalists for political reasons, a statement from the Palestinian Media Forum proclaimed Saturday. The forum called on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to pressure his security agencies into greater respect for press freedoms, saying they detain media workers "when the political situation is unfavorable" and said there were at least seven journalists in PA prisons.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39015
Palestinian police arrest West Bank 'plotters'
July 4 (Reuters) - Palestinian security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas have seized large cash sums and West Bank homes from men they accuse of plotting to kill government officials, a security source said on Saturday. The official, who could not be named, said evidence would only be produced "at a later date" but added that over the past few weeks men known to have connections to Islamist Hamas have been arrested at a number of locations in the West Bank.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L4498942.htm
De facto government to release 12 political prisoners
The chief of the de facto government’s internal security services confirmed that 12 detainees, likely all Fatah affiliates, will be released after being found not guilty of any charges. The officials did not indicate when the men would be released.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39017
Human rights group urges Abbas to release 1012 political prisoners in W. Bank
LONDON, (PIC)-- The Arab Organization for human rights in the UK said on Friday it was greatly disturbed for the sharp deterioration in human rights in the West Bank at the hands of the armed militia of Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas and the Israeli occupation forces. The group also stressed the importance of releasing all the political detainees in the PA jails that the group estimated to be 1012 male and female prisoners,
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
Farwana: IOF kidnapped 3,060 Palestinians in first half of 2009
GAZA, (PIC)-- Abdul Nasser Farwana, a former prisoner and prisoners' activist, affirmed that Israeli occupation forces kidnapped 3,060 Palestinians including children, women and fishermen in the first half of 2009 at a rate of 17 detainees per day. These kidnapping operations are not necessarily related to security measures as claimed by IOF and have no justification under the law, Farwana said, adding that they are carried out as a matter of routine; sometimes out of political or vengeful reasons. The kidnapped people are used by IOF as bargaining and pressurizing tools against their organizations, he underlined.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
War Crimes
Amnesty International says Israeli 'wantonly' destroyed Gaza
Amnesty International said Israel inflicted wanton destruction in the Gaza Strip in attacks that often targeted Palestinian civilians during an offensive in December and January in the Hamas-run enclave. Among other conclusions, Amnesty said it found no evidence to support Israeli claims that Gaza guerrillas deliberately used civilians as human shields, but it did, however, cite evidence that Israeli troops put children and other civilians in harm's way by forcing them to remain in homes taken over by soldiers.
http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/amnesty-israel-wantonly-destroyed-gaza-2826997
Haniyeh responds to Amnesty report on Gaza assault
De facto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Friday commented on Amnesty International's report this week that both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes during the Gaza assault last winter. At his weekly address at a local Gaza City mosque, Haniyeh said "there are important and positive issues" in the Amnesty report, which he commended for its honesty. However, Haniyeh criticized the report for "describing equally the victim and the perpetrator," and urged the international organization to "have more balance" and step back from its "double-standard policy."
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39001
Law expert: Hamas did not violate international law and settlers are not civilians
BEIRUT, (PIC)-- Dr. Hasan Johnny, a professor of international law at the Lebanese University, criticized Friday the report issued by Amnesty International (AI), saying that the Israeli settlers, living on usurped Palestinian lands, are not civilians and Hamas did not violate international law in Gaza war.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
Political developments
US State Department to press Israel on halting West Bank settlements
(Reuters) President Barack Obama’s envoy will hold a second meeting in a week with Israel’s defence minister, an Israeli official said on Friday, announcing talks on Monday likely to focus again on a dispute over settlements. A senior U.S. official confirmed to Reuters that Washington is asking Arab governments whether they might ease sanctions on Israel if it freezes Jewish settlement on Palestinian territory, a move that could lead to regional peace negotiations. But Arab leaders have so far been cool, Western diplomats said, to suggestions they might open their airspace to Israeli airliners, allow roaming calls by Israeli cellphones or let in tourists whose passports show they have also visited Israel.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2009/07/03/2009-07-03_arab_countries_react_coolly_to_us_atempt_to_ease_mideast
_sanctions_on_israel.html
UK foreign ministry raises Free Gaza issue with Israel
A spokesperson for the United Kingom's foreign secretary has raised the issue of an aid ship seized by Israel's navy with the country's government, according to British news reports. "We can confirm that six British nationals were detained by the Israeli authorities. We have visited them and we are providing consular assistance to them," a spokesperson for UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Saturday, according to Sky News.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39020
German foreign minister to visit West Bank next week
Germany's foreign minister will visit the occupied West Bank next week to add his support to the Palestine-Israel peace process, AFP reported.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39014
Assad invites Obama to Syria, signaling thaw in ties
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has issued an informal invitation to President Barack Obama to visit Damascus for talks, in a sign that relations between the two countries may gradually be thawing.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097637.html
Other news
Busy day for de facto navy
The de facto government navy returned a giant sea turtle to the Mediterranean after it beached itself on the Gaza shore Friday morning. Locals alerted the navy to the presence of the distressed turtle, and naval cadets who had already rescued 30 missing children who had swum too far into the waves or gone wandering from their families, responded to the call.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39018
Bethlehem church to host march on ICJ wall decision anniversary
The Lutheran Church in Bethlehem will host a March of Peace on the anniversary of the International Criminal Court’s proclamation that the Israeli separation wall is illegal. From 6-9 July the church will host dignitaries from Europe including several mayors from German towns and cities
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39004
Three new H1N1 cases diagnosed in Ramallah
The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced on Friday that three new cases of H1N1 were diagnosed in the West Bank city of Ramallah, increasing the total number of cases to 54. The three caes are of children who got the virus from others infected with it in Palestine, rather than abroad, where most cases had originated over the past month
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39002
Village celebrates as residents pronounced 'recovered' from H1N1
Fourteen of Nablus’ H1N1 cases have successfully recovered after treatment from Ministry of Health workers, the office reported Saturday. All those who have successfully recovered in the northern district are from Burqa village, and are part of one large family.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39016
Settlers slowly kill Bedouin way of life
NABI SAMUEL, WEST BANK // Ibrahim Ahmed Abu Dahouk remembers when he could walk the seven minutes to his brother’s house in the nearby village of Bidu. He remembers when he could herd his sheep into Jerusalem or over to Ramallah. He remembers when all he saw on the horizon on a clear day was the Mediterranean to one side and the mountains of the Jordan Valley to the other.
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090704/FOREIGN/707039850/1042/rss
For some Israeli Bedouin, border smuggling is a way of life
For this story, Haaretz interviewed defense, political and Bedouin sources in Israel. No one agreed to go on record, and the information had to be cross-checked by different sources. The IDF say that the issue is too sensitive to go on record; the police refused to offer any information on the smuggling. To date there has been an unwritten agreement between the various security agencies and the smugglers, which restricted the smuggling to mostly cigarettes, drugs and African refugees..
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097509.html
Gaza victim's dad's new legal service
THE father of Tom Hurndall, the Tufnell Park student shot dead in Gaza by Israeli defence forces, is bringing a new affordable legal service to Camden [in London, U.K.] in a bid to “bring justice to the people”.
http://www.thecnj.co.uk/camden/2009/070209/news070209_19.html
Haaretz editorial: Send the chief rabbi home
The Chief Military Rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces, Brig.-Gen. Avichai Rontzki, has managed once again to stretch his scope of authority to breaking point ... It appears that the chief rabbi, who was not raised as an observant Jew, is eager to prove to the most extremist rabbis that his views are up to their standards.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097606.html
Police, haredim clash in Jerusalem
Shabbat war continues: Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox protestors hurl stones at security forces, breach police roadblocks in capital Saturday evening; dozens of police officers deployed in area ahead of riots
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3741131,00.html
Hotels sign modesty code to attract haredi guests
Some 20 hotels that host vacationing ultra-Orthodox guests sign document detailing modesty code to be kept in order to make sure stringent guests comfortable. Among other things, hotels commit to unplug televisions, disallow looking into pool from rooms, instating modest dress code for female employees. Imposition of code not supported by rabbis responsible for granting kosher certificates
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3739794,00.html
Opinion / Analysis
Mondoweiss: Brokaw says Israelis can learn from Buchenwald about 'their treatment of Palestinians'
The conversation is obviously changing in the U.S. But I missed this one. It happened at Buchenwald a month ago, Brokaw asked Obama the question. My assiduous coreligionists at CAMERA got it. They're now trying to give Brokaw a spanking, administer a catechism of Holocaust exceptionalism. Tom: Know that many Americans, including many Jews, share your sense that Israelis are visiting upon the Palestinians their uninterrogated [?] rage toward the Germans.
http://www..philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/07/brokaw-says-israelis-can-learn-from-buchenwald-about-their-treatment-of
-palestinians.html
Building and weeping
By Shlomy Zachary. The Defense Ministry has for many years responded to the plundering of Palestinian land in a two-faced manner: On the one hand, it would condemn the illegal construction and issues demolition orders against it; on the other, it winked and nodded, giving assurances that the orders were only meant to appease the courts and would not be enforced. This has changed. Tired of all the contradictory facial gestures, Barak has now openly admitted that the government does not, and never did intend to enforce the law, or restore such property to its rightful owners..
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097521.html
Israel pisses on Britain - again
By Stuart Littlewood. Richard Falk, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights, says the seizing of the Spirit of Humanity is unlawful and the continuing blockade of Gaza a crime against humanity. Yes, yes, Mr Falk. But the question as always is, what is your paralytic, useless organization doing about it? Or is hand-wringing all it’s good for? ... The real problem, as I suggested, is that Israel dares to kidnap Brits on the high seas and doesn’t fear the consequences – no doubt confident there won’t be any. I was reminded that Israel had issued warnings (and so had the Foreign Office) not to travel in that area.. What area? Mustn’t one travel in international waters?
http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/07/israel-pisses-on-britain-again/
Are we still afraid the Jewish state won't last?
By Yehezkel Dror. We can offer several arguments for and against the demand to recognize
Israel as a Jewish state ... And here I come to considerations for opposing the demand. It is not accepted in those parts of international law that deal with the recognition of states ... Nor is there necessarily a real connection between recognizing the Jewish character of Israel and the refugee issue ... The question therefore is whether it is possible to create a synthesis that combines the advantages of recognition without the drawbacks of the demand for recognition. I think it is.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097534.html
A generation of Israeli Arabs nurtured on Israeli chutzpah
Aharish, 28, represents a new generation of young Arabs in Israel who hold visible positions in the country's media ..."There is a new generation of Arabs who don't give a hoot what anyone thinks and will do everything they can to get into high positions," says Aharish. "We have other things to get over besides the occupation and discrimination. We are fighters and don't give in. If you don't open the door for me, I will come in through the window, and if it is closed, down the chimney. We were too polite, but we learned Israeli chutzpah. It's easy to humiliate an Arab who kowtows, but when that person says 'Listen, pal, tone it down, don't talk to me like that,' you arrive at a dialogue."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097398.html
Bibi's 'Jewish' and 'Palestinian' not a two-state solution
By Saree Makdisi. To judge by the next day’s headlines, Benjamin Netanyahu’s policy speech last month was a great success. “Israeli Premier Backs State for Palestinians,” declared the New York Times. “Israel Endorses Two - State Goal,” said the Washington Post. “Netanyahu Backs Palestinian State,” announced The Guardian. He did no such thing, of course, unless by “state” one understands an amorphous entity lacking a definite territory, not allowed to control its own borders or airspace, shorn of any vestige of sovereignty (other than a flag and perhaps a national anthem), not allowed to enter into treaties with other states - and permanently disarmed and hence at the mercy of Israel.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39010
Masters of hypocrisy
By Khalid Amayreh. I have no doubt whatsoever that Shimon Peres, the President of the criminal state of Israel , would be the main winner in any international championship for the world’s worst liar and hypocrite. This week, Peres participated in an interfaith conference in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan , where he had the audacity to lecture delegates representing the world’s major religions on peace, human dignity, moral ethics and religious tolerance.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/
The difference a 'comedian, actress, activist and dancing gimp' can make
By Deema Dabis. "I think that the biggest difference I make is that I actually show people that a disabled person can be members of society." ... "I was in Jordan and I was watching the news, and I just saw all the bombing and all the destruction,” Zaaiyd recalled of 2000, shortly before she founded Maysoon’s Kids. [http://www.maysoon.com/] “All I could think was my God, so many Palestinian children are becoming disabled, in a society that doesn't know how to deal with disabilities." [recall what was done to Maysoon at Ben Gurion in 2006: http://majnouna.blogspot.com/2006/11/what-they-did-to-maysoon.html ]
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38994
Literary biography: The bard of Bir el-Amir
My Happiness Bears no Relation to Happiness: A Poet's Life in the Palestinian Century, by Adina Hoffman. This ambitious book tells the story of Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali, one of Israel's "internal refugees," and his family, natives of Saffuriyya, one of some 400 villages destroyed by Israel in the 1948 war. As what is said to be the first published biography of a Palestinian writer, it opens up a new world to Western readers unfamiliar with Arabic literature. It also tells, through the life of one extraordinary man, the story of the Nakba, as Palestinians refer to their defeat and dispossession after the creation of Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097629.html
Iraq
Friday: 2 Iraqis killed, 3 wounded
Excerpt: U.S. Vice President Joe Biden spent part of his three-day trip to Iraq speaking with Gen. Ray Odierno and Ambassador Christopher Hill over breakfast. He also plans to meet with President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Several NFL coaches visited Iraq also, as part of a USO trip. Meanwhile, three Iraqis were killed and four more were wounded across northern Iraq. An bombing that was reported to have taken place in Kirkuk/Taza yesterday actually took place in al-Zab. The number of casualties rose overnight to two dead and nine wounded, upping yesterday’s figures by one dead and three wounded.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2009/07/03/friday-2-iraqis-killed-3-wounded/
Four killed in spate of gun attacks in Kirkuk
KIRKUK, Iraq (AFP) – A Kurdish militiaman and a Turkman policeman were among four people killed in three separate gun attacks in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, police said on Saturday. Northern Iraq's oil hub city is plagued with tensions among its rival Kurdish, Turkmen and Arab communities.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090704/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestkirkuk
The haggling over Iraqi oil
By Patrick Cockburn.Iraq is locked in a struggle with the world's largest oil companies over contracts that would see "Big Oil" return to the Iraqi oilfields for the first time in almost 40 years. The award of contracts began in Baghdad on June 30 and were broadcast live on television to show there were no secret corrupt deals.
http://www.counterpunch.org/patrick07032009.html
Iraq's Maliki declines US offer on national reconciliation
The Iraqi prime minister tells visiting Vice President Joe Biden that Iraqis must overcome their political differences on their own and that U.S. involvement would not be welcome.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/mideastemail/la-fg-iraq-biden4-2009jul04,0,1531508.story
New wave of violence against Iraqi gays
Rights advocate speaks of an "extraordinarily brutal campaign", saying hundreds may have been killed in last few months.
http://www.iwpr.net/EN-icr-f-353873
Iran
Incoming IAEA chief: No evidence Iran seeking nuclear weapons
The incoming head of the United Nation's nuclear watchdog said on Friday he did not see any hard evidence that Iran was trying to gain the ability to develop nuclear weapons. "I don't see any evidence in IAEA official documents about this," Japan's Yukiya Amano told Reuters in his first direct comment on Iran's nuclear program
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097655.html
Israeli sub sails Suez sending message to Iran
An Israeli submarine sailed the Suez Canal to the Red Sea as part of a naval drill last month, defense sources said on Friday, describing the unusual maneuver as a show of strategic reach in the face of Iran. Israel has long kept its three Dolphin-class submarines, which are widely assumed to carry nuclear missiles, away from Suez so as not to expose them to the gaze of Egyptian harbormasters.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097643.html
Iran plans to put British Embassy staffers on trial
Ahmad Jannati, head of the Guardian Council, says Iran's enemies 'made an effort to poison the people' during postelection unrest. European Union nations consider pulling ambassadors from Tehran.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/mideastemail/la-fg-iran4-2009jul04,0,3747167.story
EU summons Iran ambassadors in joint protest
The European Union on Friday summoned Iranian ambassadors across the 27-nation bloc in a joint protest against the detentions of staff at the British Embassy in Tehran.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097652.html
Iran book publisher recalls weeklong ordeal in prison
The man, mistakenly detained, was crammed into a cell with hundreds of others seized in the election unrest. They were threatened by a pistol-wielding young man and interrogated. Some were beaten.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/mideastemail/la-fg-iran-evin2-2009jul02,0,1063580.story
Iran leader's foes to continue disputing election
With President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad set to be sworn in for another term, his reformist opponents appear to have shifted tactics, seeking to tarnish the government's reputation and credibility.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/mideastemail/la-fg-iran2-2009jul02,0,2174299.story
Picnicking outside Tehran's Evin Prison
Outside the gates of Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, hundreds wait impatiently – some with blankets spread out in the parking lot on the street below, making time for dinner. The improvised picnic area has become a second home to the families of those arrested in the massive roundups that accompanied Iran’s post-election unrest. They were jailed both before and during the authorities’ ongoing violent crackdown, which started a week after protests swelled in the wake of the Jun. 12 disputed polls.
http://original.antiwar..com/farhang/2009/07/03/picnicking-outside-tehrans-evin-prison/
U.S.
Single loyalty: man jumps from American Jewish Committee to Israel's National Security Council
Ynet meets Dr. Eran Lerman, who took office Thursday as deputy chief of Israel's National Security Council. ...Thanks to Jeff Blankfort, who writes, "that this former Israeli intelligence official who was the head of the AJC's Middle East office can shift so easy into an important position in the Israeli government would indicate that there is actually no line between the AJC and whatever government is in power in Israel."
http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/07/single-loyalty-man-jumps-from-american-jewish-committee-to-isra
els-national-security-council.html
Mondoweiss: Forward piece touches on dual loyalty as motivator for Iraq war
The best line in Nathan Guttman's piece in the Forward about the Justice Department's effort to prove that a pro-Israel spy ring was operating inside the Pentagon, AIPAC and the Israeli Embassy came from Steve Rosen, the former AIPAC lobbyist whose indictment on espionage charges the Justice Department recently dropped.
http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/07/guttman-also-talked-to-steve-rosen-he-bridled-at-the-idea-that-he-was-
-indicted-for-passing-along-to-the-israelis-a-faked.html
US says it will preserve secret jails for terror case
The government will agree to preserve the secret overseas sites where a defendant in a terror case was once held and, his lawyers say, subjected to harsh interrogation techniques after his capture in 2004, a prosecutor indicated in court in New York on Thursday. Lawyers for the defendant, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, told a judge this week that they were afraid that the so-called black sites, which were run by the Central Intelligence Agency, would be demolished as the agency has said it will discontinue their use.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/03/nyregion/03detainee.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
--
www.TheHeadlines.org
Offline 
Send Email