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Middle East Madness

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UN: Israel must let Gaza rebuild before winter

Ma'an
Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:32 EST

Unable to rebuild their homes from Israel's military offensive 10 months ago, many Palestinians in Gaza could spend the winter without shelter if Israel does not end its blockade, the United Nations warned on Monday.

"The winter will be particularly hard on the children of Gaza, whose capacity to withstand the rigors of a cold, wet winter has already been severely undermined by a marked deterioration of basic services and descent into poverty," the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territories, Maxwell Gaylard, said in a news release.

Abbas may quit Fatah, PLO posts

Ma'an
Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:28 EST

President Mahmoud Abbas is considering resigning from his roles on the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee and the Fatah Central Committee, Palestinian officials said on Tuesday.

The sources, who spoke on the condition that their names be withheld, also said that Abbas' announcement last week that he will not seek reelection as president was a serious decision and not a political maneuver as analysts have said.

Abbas is also waiting for the appropriate moment to announce his resignation from the PLO and Fatah governing bodies, the sources added.

Ma'an
Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:19 EST

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner expressed his fear that Israel no longer appears prepared to pursue negotiations in the Middle East, adding that Paris remains fervently opposed to settlement construction in the West Bank, Israeli media reported on Tuesday.

In an interview with France Inter radio, Kouchner elucidated that he did not anticipate a forthcoming breakthrough in peace talks between Israel and Palestine.

"What really hurts me, and this shocks us, is that before there used to be a great peace movement in Israel. There was a left that made itself heard and a real desire for peace," Kouchner said.

Press TV
Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:25 EST

© Unknown
Israel's three-week offensive on the Gaza Strip last year killed at least 1,350 people, many of whom children, and injured thousands more.

An Israeli rabbi has supported the murder of non-Jewish babies who pose a threat to Israel in his recently released book The King's Torah.

Rabbi Yitzhak Shapiro, who heads the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva religious school in the occupied West Bank, says Jews are allowed to murder even non-Jewish babies and children if they pose a threat to Israel, Haaretz reported.

Shapiro said Jews are allowed to kill 'those who, by speech, weaken our sovereignty'.

Joe Quinn
SOTT.net
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:39 EST

The recent alleged discovery by Israel of a boatload of "Iranian weapons destined for Syria and Hizb'allah" is designed to distract from growing global public awareness that Israel is a terrorist state guilty of the most despicable war crimes.

The UN fact finding mission on the Israeli attack on Gaza from Dec 27th 2008 to Jan 18th 2009, aka "The Goldstone Report" was released on September 15th 2009. Initially the scope of the investigation was limited to violations of international and human rights law by Israeli forces alone. The official wording was:

to dispatch an urgent, independent international fact-finding mission, to be appointed by the President of the Council, to investigate all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law by the occupying Power, Israel, against the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip, due to the current aggression, and calls upon Israel not to obstruct the process of investigation and to fully cooperate with the mission.

Press TV
Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:45 EST

Israel drastically fails to meet all requirements of a tolerant pluralistic society, according to a US State Department report issued on Saturday.

The report, written by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, indicates that Israel is discriminating against Muslims, Jehovah's Witnesses, Christians, women, Bedouins, and even Reform Jews, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Sunday.

Israel does not treat ethnic groups on equal terms and also does not show any respect toward certain holy sites and other historic sites, the document added.

Press TV
Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:39 EST

Houthi fighters in Yemen say Saudi fighter jets are using phosphorous bombs to back a deadly Yemeni government offensive against them.

"Saudi combat fighter jets launched intense raids against border areas inside Yemeni territory on Sunday night," the fighters' spokesman Mohammad Abdessalam told AFP by telephone.

"The Saudi military used phosphorus bombs during those night raids, burning mountainous regions," he said adding that "The Saudi air raids resumed this morning (Monday). "

Abdessalam said that the raids targeted Malaheez, seven kilometers (3.8 miles) inside Yemen, as well as the border villages of Hassameh and Shida and several villages around Jebel (mountain) al-Dukhan straddling the border.

Palestinian leader Abbas stepping down

Patrick Martin
The Globe and Mail
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:03 EST

© Unknown
U.S. President Barack Obama watches as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas shake hands during a trilateral meeting in New York in September.

Man who had staked his career on reaching a two-state solution to the conflict with Israel will likely serve his people's needs better by leaving the scene

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas announced yesterday that he will step down as president of the Palestinian Authority, effective at the next election, scheduled for January. In doing so, he blamed Israeli and U.S. leaders for betraying the peace process he cherished.

But this man, who had staked his career on reaching a two-state solution to the conflict with Israel, will likely serve his people's needs better by leaving the scene.

While crowds gathered last night in Ramallah to protest his resignation, and members of his ruling Fatah party said they will never find anyone to replace him, most Palestinians have held no great affection for the man for some time.

He brought a yawn to people's faces more often than a smile.

That's not to say that he didn't try.

Comment: Mr. Abbas is no Arafat but still, his postion is nearly untenable. It would hardly matter who holds his office, when dealing with a psychopathic opponent

The Existential danger facing Mahmoud Abbas

Goldstone and Gaza

Jimmy Carter
The New York Times
Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:28 EST

Judge Richard Goldstone and the United Nations fact-finding mission on the Gaza conflict have issued a report about Gaza that is strongly critical of both Israel and Hamas for their violations of human rights. On Wednesday, a special meeting of the U.N. General Assembly began a debate on whether to refer the report to the Security Council.

In January 2009 rudimentary rockets had been launched from Gaza toward nearby Jewish communities, and Israel had wreaked havoc with bombs, missiles, and ground invading forces. Judge Goldstone's claim is that they are both guilty of "crimes against humanity." Predictably, both the accused parties have denounced the report as biased and inaccurate.

It is good to remember that Judge Goldstone, from South Africa, is one of the world's most widely respected jurists, with an impeccable record of wisdom, honesty and integrity. He is a devout Jew and has long been known as a fervent defender of Israel's right to peace and security.

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