Clipmarks | Palestinians Clips

Obama-Netanyahu talks see no result

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:32:25 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Israel will only work for anything "on their terms only".
Having seen a bit more lately about the people in the settlements, it appears to be more like a "leper colony" type situation for those who Israel doesn't want ( and probably couldn't care if they came to nasty ends). No surprise when one of them claimed to hear supernatural voices.

Clip Source: english.aljazeera.net

The latest attempt by the US president to salvage the Middle East peace talks appears to have come to nothing after his meeting with Israel's prime minister ended with only a brief statement from the White House.

Binyamin Netanyahu left the White House on Monday after spending an hour and forty minutes inside with Barack Obama, without making the customary public appearance with his host.

A brief White House statement said that the two leaders discussed a number of bilateral issues, including Iran and "how to move forward on Middle East peace".

Before the meeting, Netanyahu said he was ready to engage in peace negotiations, but prospects of renewed talks appear dimmer than ever following Israel's refusal to halt settlement activity in the occupied territories, a pre-condition set by the Palestinians for the resumption of the talks.

Tags: politics

Palestinians break Israel's wall

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:51:19 GMT

clipped by: zouhir

Clip Source: english.aljazeera.net

Palestinians and foreign activists have torn down segments of Israel's separation wall in a demonstration marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall

In the town of Qalandiya in the occupied West Bank, a group of masked activists using a lorry pulled down a two-metre cement block before Israeli security forces confronted them with tear gas grenades

Several of the estimated 50 demonstrators passed through the hole they had made, hoisting a Palestinian flag and setting ablaze tyres on the other side

Abdullah Abu Rahma, leader of the People's Campaign to Fight the Wall, said: "Today we commemorate 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall

"This is the beginning of the activities, which we do, to express our hold on our land, and our refusal to this wall - the wall of torture, the wall of humiliation."

International Court of Justice, in a non-binding decision in 2004, said the Israeli-built barrier was illegal and should be taken down because it crossed into occupied territory

Tags: palestine, israel, west bank

Time to walk away from Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:26:20 GMT

clipped by: jatfla
clipper's remarks: FTA: "We should stop feeling as though we have to apologize for our friendship with Israel, or pretend that the Palestinians and their Arab neighbors didn’t create their own misery through a series of wars against Israel which they lost. Let the Palestinians and the Israelis tend to their own interests, and we should tend to our own as well. When the Palestinians figure out that we are not interested in beating our heads against the wall by dealing with terrorists uninterested in actual negotiations, then perhaps they’ll produce effective leadership with more interest in coexistence rather than annihilation."

I think I agree.

Clip Source: hotair.com

Time to walk away from Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

It’s not often that I agree with Tom Friedman, and even in this instance my agreement comes with heavy qualifiers.

the US has no reason to pursue the Israeli-Palestinian peace process,

Administrations of both parties have approached the conflict as an apology for close ties with Israel, perhaps as a means of maintaining diplomatic credibility with Arab and Muslim nations in the region. Well, that hasn’t worked out very well, has it? The nations that hate us still hate us, and the nations that sell us oil would still sell us oil anyway. (We get more from Canada and Mexico, anyway.)

The Israelis have gone farther on several occasions, including especially with Bill Clinton, only to have Yasser Arafat reject their concessions and call for armed intifada instead.

The Israeli-Palestinian peace process will never move forward under the current conditions because the Palestinians put terrorists in charge of their pseudo-state.

Israeli Activists Criticize US House

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:28:52 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Transcript at the source, has more detail.

Clip Source: www.democracynow.org

Israeli Activists Criticize US House for Considering Resolution Condemning Goldstone Report on Israeli War Crimes in Gaza

The House is expected to overwhelmingly vote today to condemn a UN inquiry that found Israel committed scores of war crimes in its three-week assault on the Gaza Strip. Headed by the South African jurist Richard Goldstone, the inquiry also accused Hamas of war crimes and said both sides should investigate the allegations or face international prosecution. Over 1,300 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli attack, a majority of them civilians. Nine Israelis were killed by Palestinians and another four by so-called friendly fire. The bipartisan, non-binding House measure calls the Goldstone inquiry “irredeemably biased and unworthy of further consideration or legitimacy.” The vote comes one day before the United Nations General Assembly is expected to take up the inquiry’s findings. [includes rush transcript]

Tags: politics

US President Obama and the Middle East - Old Wine in New Wineskins?

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:27:42 GMT

clipped by: Johanna_G

Clip Source: en.qantara.de

When US President Barack Obama took office, a faint breeze of hope blew through the Middle East. Yet after ten months of intensive efforts, the achievements appear modest. How much political capital is Obama willing to risk on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

Although unusually determined for the USA, the attempt to persuade Israel to freeze its settlement construction in the West Bank – illegal under international law – has failed for the time being. Washington back-pedalled after Israel's rude rebuff, and has since attempted to achieve at least a partial and temporary stop to settlement building.

Yet this is not only a blow to hopes of wresting trust-building steps from the Arab states. The politically weakened Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, who now only speaks on behalf of some two million Palestinians in the West Bank, also insists on a stop to the settlements as a condition for re-opening direct negotiations with Israel.

Tags: israel, palestine

Man of hatred shocks the land he calls home

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 09:10:16 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Jewish terrorist.

Clip Source: www.smh.com.au

A Jewish extremist has put Israeli security in doubt, writes Jason Koutsoukis.

JERUSALEM: Yaakov Teitel is the new face of Israel's extreme right-wing religious movement. A fanatical Jewish settler from the tiny outpost of Shvut Rahel in the northern West Bank, Teitel flashed the peace sign as he was led from an Israeli courtroom this week.

But after confessing to a string of murders and hate crimes over the past 12 years, Teitel has emerged as anything but a peacemaker.

Branded a ''Jewish terrorist'', the 37-year-old father of four has already admitted to the murders of two Palestinians in 1997 and the pipe-bombing of the left-wing Israeli academic Zeev Sternhell this year.

Police also suspect Teitel of the shooting murder of two Israeli police officers on a West Bank highway nine months ago, a crime initially blamed on Palestinian terrorists. ''If the wheel were to turn back I would do it all again,'' Teitel told investigators after his arrest.

Tags: politics

U.N. on Israeli War Crimes

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:35:19 GMT

clipped by: citizenbfk
clipper's remarks: The Goldstone Report now has been approved overwhelmingly by the UN General Assembly.

The report calls for Israel to investigate it's war crime accusations...and for the Palestinians to investiage theirs -- and says the slow starvation of over a million and half people in the Gaza Strip should stop.

Now, it seems it goes to the Security Council.

Which means, if things go as usual, the USA will veto it and it will end there.

The USA has does similar actions at the UN for decades, protecting Israel, no matter what.

The USA House of Congress has even gone on record, this week, opposing this war crimes report.

Israel yesterday seized a ship with weapons and said they come from Iran and this was a war crime...also pointing out that Russia, the USA, China, etc. are all guility of war crimes.

The conclusion appears to be that war is a war crime. Everybody's guilty. And let's just forget it.

...um, except when talking about the Nazi's of WWII or the Bosnian Serbs curre

Clip Source: www.jpost.com

UN General Assembly endorses Goldstone Report

The UN General Assembly approved on Thursday an Arab-backed resolution endorsing the Goldstone Report, paving the way for the matter to be sent to the Security Council.

A total of 114 nations voted in favor of the resolution and 18 voted against it, with 44 members abstaining.

Tags: israel, usa, un, war, crimes

Hillary Clinton: US Wants Israel To Stop Building West Bank Settlements 'Forever'

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:06:40 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: But Clinton has had to do a lot of explaining since last Saturday, when she stood with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and praised his offer to limit settlement construction without halting it.

Clinton has since tried to clarify the remarks, saying that the Israeli offer does not got far enough. Still, she has indicated that the Palestinians should resume negotiations with Israel without a full settlement halt as they demand.

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

CAIRO — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton defended the U.S. stance toward Israeli settlement building to worried Arab allies on Wednesday, saying Washington does not accept the legitimacy of the West Bank enclaves and wants to see their construction halted "forever."

Still, she said an Israeli offer to restrain – but not halt – construction represents "positive movement forward" toward resuming Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

Clinton met for an hour with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak during a hastily arranged stopover in the Egyptian capital to soothe Arab concerns that Washington is backing off demands for an Israeli settlement halt.

Egypt appeared reassured by Clinton's visit, and Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit called for a resumption of negotiations.

Tags: israel, palestine, obama, clinton, foreing policy, settlers, peace, war, occupation, empire

Israel Says It Seized Iranian Arms Shipment for Hezbollah

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:04:15 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Israel says it seized Iranian arms shipment for Hezbollah November 4

By David Buimovitch (AFP) " 15 hours ago

ASHDOD, Israel " Israel said on Wednesday that commandos had intercepted a ship carrying "hundreds of tonnes" of arms from Iran to Hezbollah in a raid dozens of miles off its coast but both Iran and Syria denied the cargo was headed to the Lebanese militia.

"We found dozens of containers, with hundreds of tonnes of arms bound for Hezbollah from Iran," Israeli deputy naval commander Rani Ben Yehuda told reporters.

The shipment was among the largest ever seized by Israel, dwarfing the 50 tonnes of weapons found aboard the Karine A seized in 2002 on its way to Gaza, which dealt a major blow to relations between the Palestinians and Washington.

At the Mediterranean port of Ashdod, soldiers pulled hundreds of olive-green ammunition crates from shipping containers, many of them concealed by sacks of cement.

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Israeli commandos seized a ship Wednesday that defense officials said was carrying hundreds of tons of weapons from Iran bound for Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas _ the largest arms shipment Israel has ever commandeered. (Nov. 4)

Tags: hezbollah-bound ship, iranian arms-boat, israel, israeli commandos seize

Nonviolence As Their Weapon

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:33:08 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: "It was 2001. Khatib watched in horror as Israeli soldiers shot an unarmed friend at a checkpoint. Two weeks later, the militant Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade made a revenge attack on the checkpoint, killing seven soldiers.

"My first reaction was 'Good for Al Aqsa!' " Khatib said. Then he realized the dead soldiers belonged to a different unit, not the one on duty when his friend was shot.

"It made me wonder: This cycle of death, of violent action and reaction, how we can break it?"

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

"If they cannot accuse us of terrorism, they cannot stop us. The world will support us."

His message is a hard sell: Khatib, 35, is a modern-day Gandhi in a culture that enshrines the language of the gun, even if most Palestinians have never used one. And the risks of his activism are enormous.

The Israeli army has targeted him. He was arrested, severely beaten and threatened with death during a series of midnight raids on the village this summer

He believes Israel is trying to crush nonviolent activists because it would rather take on an armed insurgency.

Today's nonviolence initiatives tap into nostalgia for the first intifada, in what Khatib calls a sober reaction to the armed uprising that bloodied the first half of this decade after peace talks broke down.

Khatib, who dropped out when things turned violent, remembers the killings that changed him.

Goodbye Palestinian State

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:02:32 GMT

clipped by: citizenbfk
clipper's remarks: The chief negotiator for Palestine in the Eviction Talks (definitely NOT "peace talks,") with Israel says it might be time to give up the two-state solution.

Of course the negotiations were a charade and this is the USA-puppet Palestinian government, not Hamas, but still it rings out as a profound statement, a "thinking of the unthinkable," for Palestinians, a clear declaration of surrender.

Thus, the Israeli Eviction Talks seem to be moving along well for them.

Erekat seems to miss the point on that. He thinks there will have to be a One State Solution, with Jews, Christians and Muslims all living happily together.

Oh my. That is not in accord with the Israeli Eviction Notice.

And where does Erekat get the idea that the U.S. will come to Palestinian aid? How long and how much do you have to beat up some people before they get the message? -- The U.S. is on the side of Israel (giving cash, weapons, support for Zionism at home and in the UN).

Maybe an "Aineisa," will

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Palestinian state may have to be abandoned - Erekat

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Palestinians may have to abandon the goal of an independent state if Israel continues to expand Jewish settlements and the United States does not stop it, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Wednesday. It may be time for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to "tell his people the truth, that with the continuation of settlement activities, the two-state solution is no longer an option", Erekat told a news conference.

Netanyahu, Erekat said, told Abbas "that Jerusalem will be the eternal and united capital of Israel, that refugees won't be discussed, that our state will be demilitarised, that we have to recognise the Jewish state, that it's not going to be the 1967 borders, that the skies will be under his control" .

Tags: israel, palestine, usa

Israeli settlers forcibly evict E. Jerusalem homeowners, seize home

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:24:06 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: No nation but Israel recognizes Israel's claim to East Jerusalem, yet settlers, backed by the Supreme Court of Israel, continue to put non-Jewish families on the street and move into their homes.

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

JERUSALEM — (AP) Jewish settlers forced their way into a disputed house in east Jerusalem on Tuesday, using hired guards to evict an elderly Palestinian woman and tossing the other residents' belongings into the rain-swept yard.

The settlers displayed what they said was a court order granting them ownership of the simple one-story building. Human rights groups said the takeover was a push by Jewish settlers to expand their presence in east Jerusalem.

Israel captured the area in the 1967 Mideast war and immediately annexed it – a move recognized by no other country. The Palestinians consider east Jerusalem the capital of their hoped-for state.

The U.S. and others have criticized Israeli settlement in east Jerusalem and urged Israel to stop evicting Palestinians and demolishing their homes there, saying such moves disrupt peace efforts.

Tags: israel

US House: UN report on Gaza 'war crimes' is biased

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:44:48 GMT

clipped by: infidel70
clipper's remarks: The Goldstone report lambasted both sides in the war, which killed up to 1,387 Palestinians and 13 Israelis, but was harsher toward Israel. It gave Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants six months to mount credible investigations or face possible prosecution in the Hague.

Both Israel and Hamas have denied committing any war crimes. Israel has criticized the report as unbalanced and says the 47-nation Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council, which commissioned the report, is biased against the Jewish state. (Additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau in New York; editing by Todd Eastham)

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

WASHINGTON, Nov 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday condemned as biased a U.N. report accusing Israel and Hamas of war crimes in Gaza, and urged President Obama to oppose U.N. endorsement of its findings.

The House acted despite a written protest to lawmakers by South African jurist Richard Goldstone, who said his report on the December-January war in the Gaza Strip was misrepresented.

Opponents of the House move warned that although it was non-binding, it would hurt U.S. credibility as a broker of Middle East peace.

But sponsors of the House resolution, approved 344-36, said it was necessary to formally denounce the document because it displayed a bias against close U.S. ally Israel.

The report "paints a distorted picture," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. It "epitomizes the practice of singling Israel out from all other nations for condemnation."

Jewish Settlers Move Into East Jerusalem Home, Evict Arab Family

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:22:11 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Israel has built homes for more than 180,000 Jews in new east Jerusalem neighborhoods since the 1967 annexation.

The U.S. and others have criticized Israeli settlement in east Jerusalem and urged Israel to stop evicting Palestinians and demolishing their homes there, saying such moves disrupt peace efforts.

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Sovereignty over the traditionally Arab sector is one of the most explosive issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel captured the area in the 1967 Mideast war and immediately annexed it – a move recognized by no other country. The Palestinians consider east Jerusalem the capital of their hoped-for state.

Palestinians and their Israeli supporters clashed with the Jewish settlers after they took over the building, and police intervened to restore calm, arresting one of the Israeli protesters, a police spokesman said.

Tags: palestine, israel, jerusalem, theft, conquest, settlers

More USA-ME Double Talk

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:37:40 GMT

clipped by: citizenbfk
clipper's remarks: The USA pretenses for ME peace stumbled a few days ago when Sec. of State Hilary Clinton was praising Israeli's latest sham offers to maybe-someday-for a while, perhaps slow down construction on new settlements.

She called this sham an "unprecedented offer," and then tried to press the Palestinians into accepting it as enough good faith to renew so-called peace talks.

But even the puppet Palestinian government said no: Freeze all settlement expansion now is their condition to restart so-called peace talks.

This Israeli favoritism also angered every Arab who could read.

So Clinton had to backtrack, double-talk and was given a script to read: this clip.

The truth is Israeli's policy is to kill as many Palestinians as necessary, destroy their homes, farms, industry, water and power supplies, sacred sites -- hinder travel and work, starve the Gaza strip to death until all Palestinians give up and move out.

That IS the policy. Negotiations should be called: Eviction Talks,

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Clinton eases praise of Israel after Arab concerns

But after making little headway with the Israelis in recent months, Clinton urged Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in a face-to-face meeting in Abu Dhabi on Saturday to renew talks, which broke down late last year, without conditions. Abbas said no, insisting that Israel first halt all settlement activity in the West Bank and east Jerusalem — lands the Palestinians claim for a future state.

"Successive American administrations of both parties have opposed Israel's settlement policy," she said. "That is absolutely a fact, and the Obama administration's position on settlements is clear, unequivocal and it has not changed. As the president has said on many occasions, the United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements."

Tags: usa, israel, palestine, me, charade