http://www.sott.net Signs of the Times, featuring news and commentary on world events. Never wavering in our unending search for the light of truth in a pathocracy driven world! en-us Original content Copyright 2009 by Signs of the Times. For other content, see our Fair Use Policy at www.sott.net Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:38:34 -0500 http://www.sott.net/images/sottlogo_rss.jpg SOTT.net http://www.sott.net http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196353-7-Afghans-killed-during-missing-U-S-troops-search KABUL (Reuters) - NATO forces mistakenly killed seven Afghan soldiers and police in an air strike during a battle while searching for two missing American soldiers in Afghanistan, the Afghan Defense Ministry said on Saturday. The NATO-led force said none of its troops were killed but five were wounded, along with at least 20 Afghans, in a battle that took place on Friday during a manhunt for the two soldiers who went missing on Wednesday. "Yesterday, in a NATO air strike, seven Afghan (soldiers and police) were martyred in Badghis province," Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman General Zaher Azimy said, adding that other members of the Afghan security forces were wounded. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196353-7-Afghans-killed-during-missing-U-S-troops-search Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:31:50 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196345-Return-to-the-Middle-Ages When you read a news story saying that "the United Nations called on Israel to stop demolishing Palestinian homes and put an end to the policy of forced evictions in East Jerusalem, warning that there are 60,000 Palestinians threatened of becoming homeless," you cannot but wonder about the role of the international organization today and about the goal for which it was created on the eve of the victory of the forces of freedom against Nazism and Fascism and whether it is the same organization authorized by history and the world's peoples to guarantee the right to 'self determination'? Is it the same organization charged with "putting an end to colonialism"? Is it the same organization which believes in the right of all peoples to freedom without discrimination in terms of race or religion? If it is the same organization, why does it allow Palestinian civilians suffer from the brutality of armed settlers? The evasive and shameful language of the UN's call comes in the context of the submission of the Security Council to the Zionist will, and consequently commits a historic disgrace in the form of ignoring the legitimate political, civil and human rights of the Palestinian people including their right to life and freedom. For the UN not to take any initiative or measure which leads to giving the Palestinian people the right to self determination will remain a disgrace in the history of the organization which will never be removed. The Palestinians have been under a racist settler form of colonialism for over sixty years; and they are targeted with a campaign of ethnic cleansing launched by armed gangs of settlers supported by Israel's police and army. This is unparalleled in the 21st century in terms of the crimes which include siege, murder, food poisoning, starvation, assassination, demolishing houses, scorching crops, destroying farms, raping prisoners, trafficking in the organs of captives and preventing Palestinians from moving between their villages, farms and schools. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196345-Return-to-the-Middle-Ages Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:13:27 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196327-Hezbollah-Iran-and-Syria-disown-arms-shipment Israel displays hundreds of tonnes of weapons it says were bound for Lebanese militia disguised as bulldozer parts Hezbollah and its Iranian and Syrian backers have flatly rejected Israeli claims that a shipment of arms and ammunition intercepted at sea was destined for the Lebanese militia group. As Israel moved quickly to exploit the propaganda value of the find to highlight the role of Iran, Hezbollah "categorically" denied any connection to the case. The Israeli government spokesman, Mark Regev, said he hoped the weapons seizure would be a "wake-up call to those few in the international community who up until now have still held illusions about the true character of the extremist, radical regime in Tehran". Arab commentators and Iran suggested Israel's announcement of the weapons find was an attempt to undermine or divert attention from the Goldstone report, which accuses Israel of war crimes in its attack on Gaza this year. Israel is working to highlight the danger of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons that could challenge its own nuclear monopoly. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196327-Hezbollah-Iran-and-Syria-disown-arms-shipment Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:50:12 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196323-UN-chief-to-bring-Goldstone-report-before-Security-Council-after-General-Assembly-vote UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday said that he will transmit the Goldstone report to the UN Security Council at the request of the General Assembly. "As requested by the General Assembly, I will transmit the report of the Fact Finding Mission to the Security Council," Ban told reporters here after he briefed 15-nation Security Council on the current situation in Afghanistan. "I know that all of you have recently followed the vote yesterday in the General Assembly concerning the UN Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict that was led by Justice (Richard) Goldstone," a former prosecutor at the UN war crimes tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, he added. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196323-UN-chief-to-bring-Goldstone-report-before-Security-Council-after-General-Assembly-vote Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:16:03 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196321-Cry-Weapons-Smuggling-And-Let-Slip-The-Dogs-Of-Deception 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. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196321-Cry-Weapons-Smuggling-And-Let-Slip-The-Dogs-Of-Deception Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:53:10 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196309-Israel-May-Begin-New-War-in-Lebanon-in-Spring-2010 Israel could begin a new military operation in Lebanon in spring 2010, Jordan's Ad-Dustour daily wrote on Friday, citing French parliamentary and military sources. According to anonymous sources in the French parliament, plans of possible military operation in Lebanon in spring 2010 were discussed in France, at a meeting of French, U.S. and Israeli military experts. The paper said a recent report from the UN secretary general could serve as an indirect indicator of a possible military operation in Lebanon. The report concerns the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which prohibits storing weapons in the security zone between the Litani River and the Blue Line, which is the Lebanese-Israeli border. The area is under the observation of UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). In the report, "only [Shiite armed group] Hezbollah is accused" of violating the provisions of the resolution, while "Israel is freed from any responsibility." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196309-Israel-May-Begin-New-War-in-Lebanon-in-Spring-2010 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:19:39 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196278-Palestinian-Women-Suffer-as-Israel-Violates-CEDAW Palestinian women continue to suffer abuse and denial of basic human rights at the hands of Israeli settlers and soldiers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This is in flagrant violation of Israel's obligations as a signatory to the UN Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). CEDAW is the first international human rights treaty devoted to the rights of women. According to the Convention, discrimination against women represents a violation of the principles of equality and human dignity, and is considered an obstacle to the participation of women, on an equal footing with men, in the political, social, economic and cultural life of their country. The Convention obliges all state parties to take appropriate measures, legislative and non-legislative, to prohibit all forms of discrimination against women. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196278-Palestinian-Women-Suffer-as-Israel-Violates-CEDAW Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:13:14 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196269-Israel-s-right-or-not-to-exist-The-facts-and-truth Prime Minister Netanyahu opened the Knesset's winter session by blasting the Goldstone Report that accuses Israel of committing war crimes and vowing that he would never allow Israelis be tried for them. But that was not his main message. It was an appeal, delivered I thought with a measure of desperation, to the "Palestinian leadership", presumably the leadership of "President" Abbas and his Fatah cronies, leaders who are regarded by very many if not most Palestinians as American-and-Israeli stooges at best and traitors at worst. Netanyahu again called on this leadership to agree to recognise Israel as a Jewish state, saying this was, and remains, the key to peace. And he went on and on and on about it. "For 62 years the Palestinians have been saying 'No' to the Jewish state. I am once again calling upon our Palestinian neighbours - say 'Yes' to the Jewish state. Without recognition of the Israel as the state of the Jews we shall not be able to attain peace... Such recognition is a step which requires courage and the Palestinian leadership should tell its people the truth - that without this recognition there can be no peace... There is no alternative to Palestinian leaders showing courage by recognising the Jewish state. This has been and remains the true key to peace." As Ha'aretz noted in its report, Netanyahu's demand for Palestinian acceptance of Israel as a Jewish state is for him "a way on ensuring recognition of Israel's right to exist as opposed to merely recognising Israel" (my emphasis). This, as Ha'aretz added, is the recognition which Netanyahu and many other Israelis see as the real core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196269-Israel-s-right-or-not-to-exist-The-facts-and-truth Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:01:22 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196243-Shattered-Minds-and-the-Children-of-Gaza It's the most terrifying place I've ever been in... it's a horrifyingly sad place because of the desperation and misery of the way people live. I was unprepared for camps that are much worse than anything I saw in South Africa. - Professor Edward Said 1993 [1] They may be living but they're not alive. - Journalist Philip Rizk [2] Gaza is a place that needs a million psychologists. - Ayed, a psychotherapist from Northern Gaza [3] Over 40 years of Israeli military occupation have had a devastating effect on Gaza; airstrikes, artillery shelling, ground invasions, jet flybys and their sonic booms have all led to an epidemic of suffering among Gaza's most vulnerable inhabitants.[4] http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196243-Shattered-Minds-and-the-Children-of-Gaza Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:40:20 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196242-The-Daily-Harassments-at-Qalandiya-Checkpoint Qalandiya Monday afternoon, 2.11.2009 Phyllis W. and Natanya G. (reporting) 15:30: We drove past Atarot CP on our way to Qalandiya. Twenty-five vehicles were wending their way slowly past the CP. 15:40 - Qalandiya: Already on our arrival a Palestinian ran to ask us to go into the checking area where an elderly couple from Gaza had had their permit to return home confiscated. We found them and discovered that the man had had an operation (we think he had a stent inserted). A taxi to take them to Erez CP was waiting on the Jerusalem side of Qalandiya, but when they tried to go through the CP, their permit was taken from them and they were told to return to Ramallah. They had no where to go and no money left -- the woman was in tears. Phyllis phoned operations headquarters and asked to be connected with the DCO representative. It turned out that the couple was expected and after a short interval they were allowed into the DCO area. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196242-The-Daily-Harassments-at-Qalandiya-Checkpoint Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:16:03 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196208-Organized-Piracy-Israeli-Navy-Hijacks-Ship-Steals-Arms-Cargo Israeli Navy commandos seized a cargo ship early Wednesday in the Mediterranean Sea that Israeli officials said was carrying rockets and ammunition bound for Hezbollah militants. Israel intercepted the ship, which was sailing under an Antiguan flag, near Cyprus, 100 miles west of the Israeli coast, and took it to the Ashdod harbor in southern Israel. "As of now, what we know is that this was a smuggling attempt to arm Hezbollah with terrorist means against civilians," Shaul Mofaz, a member of the Parliament and a former defense minister, told Israel Radio. "The intent was to send arms, mainly missiles and launchers, meant to strike civilian targets." News reports quoted the Israeli president, Shimon Peres, and other officials saying the ship had been carrying the arms from Iran to Hezbollah forces in Lebanon, but officials released no evidence to support those claims. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196208-Organized-Piracy-Israeli-Navy-Hijacks-Ship-Steals-Arms-Cargo Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:11:03 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196205-South-Africa-s-legal-war-over-Gaza The Goldstone report on last winter's Gaza war has become something of a fixture in the media since its publication in September. But for South Africans, it is another investigation carried out by the distinguished judge Richard Goldstone - a commission that exposed the brutality of Apartheid security forces in the early 1990s - that looms large in their minds. That investigation, which came as South Africa moved towards democracy, gave Goldstone hero status in the country. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196205-South-Africa-s-legal-war-over-Gaza Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:27:31 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196200-Gazans-not-allowed-to-rebuild-their-lives Azzam Salim used to be one of the leading construction contractors in the central Gaza Strip. Today, however, he spends most of his days idly chatting with other unemployed friends near a bank that he helped build several years ago. "As a human first and foremost, I need to live normally like before. This situation is unprecedented -- before the siege was enforced here, I didn't have time to sit. But now things have changed, now we are professional talkers." What prevents Salim from returning to work is the lack of raw building materials in the Gaza Strip, due to Israel's crippling Israeli blockade of the territory since June 2007. In March 2009, international donors including the US, Europe and Saudi Arabia met in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm al-Sheikh pledging at least $4 billion to reconstruct Gaza following last winter's 22-day Israeli invasion of the territory. However, the promised funds have yet to reach Gaza as the international community continues to boycott the governing Hamas party. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196200-Gazans-not-allowed-to-rebuild-their-lives Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:21:22 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196187-UN-General-Assembly-debates-Goldstone-report The United Nations General Assembly is debating a UN-sponsored report which says Israel committed war crimes during its military assault on the Gaza Strip. The Goldstone report, which accuses both Israel and Hamas of war crimes, has already been endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council, which sponsored the fact-finding commission. The draft under debate at the UN calls on both Israel and the Palestinians to investigate accusations of human-rights violations during the 22-day conflict in December and January. The resolution, if adopted, would call upon Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, to take the report to the UN Security Council. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196187-UN-General-Assembly-debates-Goldstone-report Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:13:59 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196183-Israeli-commandos-seize-huge-Iranian-arms-shipment Open crates from a cargo ship seized Wednesday by Israel revealed dark green missiles inside. Containers from the vessel bore writing in English that said "I.R. Iranian Shipping Lines Group." Israel alleged that the shipment of hundreds of tons of rockets, missiles, mortars, grenades and anti-tank weapons - the largest it ever seized - was headed for Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon. Israel stopped the ship, named the Francop, off the coast of Cyprus and towed it to the port of Ashdod. It carried orange, red, white and blue containers piled three deep on its deck. Rows of crates from the vessel were displayed on the dock, and inside were rockets, hand grenades, mortars and ammunition. At least 3,000 missiles were on board, the Israeli military said. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196183-Israeli-commandos-seize-huge-Iranian-arms-shipment Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:54:51 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196138-Report-Palestinians-denied-water Israel is denying Palestinians access to even the basic minimum of clean, safe water, Amnesty International says. In a report, the human rights group says Israeli water restrictions discriminate against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. It says that in Gaza, Israel's blockade has pushed the already ailing water and sewage system to "crisis point". Israel says the report is flawed and the Palestinians get more water than was agreed under the 1990s peace deal. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196138-Report-Palestinians-denied-water Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:34:21 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196136-Palestinians-accuse-U-S-of-killing-peace-prospects Pointing an accusing finger at the United States, the Palestinians on Sunday said Washington's backing for Israeli refusal to halt Jewish settlement expansion had killed any hope of reviving peace negotiations soon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, buoyed by new-found support from the Obama administration, urged the Palestinians to "get a grip" and drop their settlement freeze precondition for restarting talks suspended since December. On a one-day Middle East visit on Saturday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton endorsed Israel's view that settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank should not be a bar to resuming negotiations -- contradicting the Palestinian position. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196136-Palestinians-accuse-U-S-of-killing-peace-prospects Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:12:22 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196132-Video-Iraq-oil-wealth-eludes-poor The Iraqi government has been busy signing a series of billion-dollar deals with major international oil companies who are attempting to gain access to Iraq's vast oil wells. But in poverty-stricken areas of the oil-rich southern city of Basra, residents say they have not seen any of the wealth generated by the deals. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196132-Video-Iraq-oil-wealth-eludes-poor Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:02:11 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196119-Palestinian-anger-as-Hillary-Clinton-praises-settlement-concessions- The Palestinian leadership accused the US of caving in over Israeli settlements after Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State, praised Israel for making concessions. Having failed to force Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, to meet US demands for a total settlement freeze, Mrs Clinton switched tack during a one-day visit to Jerusalem when she called on both sides to resume peace talks. "What the Prime Minister has offered in specifics of a restraint on the policy of settlements . . . is unprecedented," Mrs Clinton said. She did not give details of the concessions but even under the Oslo peace talks in the 1990s Israel never halted the expansion of settlements. The first serious reversal came in 2005 when Ariel Sharon forced thousands to leave the Gaza Strip. Comment: This action was hardly a reversal. Read From Occupation to Invasion: The Siege of Gaza, to understand the nefarious rational behind that particular chess move. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196119-Palestinian-anger-as-Hillary-Clinton-praises-settlement-concessions- Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:56:27 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196050-Farmers-struggle-under-settlers-harrassment-in-Bethlehem-and-Salfit-to-pick-olives With the olive harvest beginning this month, farmers and their families across the West Bank will spend their days picking, cleaning and sorting olives. They will also face settler attacks and restricted access to their groves, which are often isolated behind the Wall, in settlements or adjacent to military bases and closed zones. Despite restrictions, several villages in the Bethlehem area were able to successfully pick some of their olives on Saturday. 35 farmers and international supporters harvested olives in al-Ma'sara, but were unable the 3,500 dunums isolated by the Wall and settlements. The following day, 70 farmers and their supporters undertook another successful harvest in Um Salamuna, near al-Ma'sara, where they managed to cover 200 trees. The land is located near the Afrat settlement, and soldiers stationed in the area questioned farmers about the work and remained in the area to monitor the situation throughout the day. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196050-Farmers-struggle-under-settlers-harrassment-in-Bethlehem-and-Salfit-to-pick-olives Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:54:18 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196049-Blair-s-eight-year-old-niece-sees-the-real-Palestine Eight-year-old Alexandra Darby, the niece of Quartet envoy Tony Blair, toured the West Bank this week on a bicycle, peddling an estimated 200 kilometers from Amman to Jerusalem. Asked what she will tell her school friends about the Peace Cycle journey, Alex reflected, "I'll tell them that the people here are very nice, not like they say in the newspapers." The West Bank is not a usual vacation site for most eight-year-olds. But, as mother, journalist and activist Lauren Booth explained, "She's been asking me for the last five years why she can't go to Palestine, and despite the fact that the Israelis can make it bloody trying to get in and out, the greeting here I knew would be so sensational for her that I didn't have a reason not to bring her." Why doesn't Alex think other kids get to come to Palestine? "Because, of course, the telly, which says Palestinians are not like us, that they are a revolting people, a violent people, a nasty people, it's mad. In fact it's the exact opposite, it's the Israelis." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196049-Blair-s-eight-year-old-niece-sees-the-real-Palestine Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:53:43 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196040-Iran-claims-to-have-neutralised-CIA-hit-on-top-official- Iranian security forces say they have twice foiled a plot, masterminded by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), to assassinate a top Iranian official. "Based on the confiscated evidence and documents, mercenary terrorists had planned to, with the support of the CIA and its scheme, assassinate a political official within the establishment," read a statement by the Intelligence Ministry on Monday. The plan, aimed at creating chaos in line with the unrest and riots that sparked following the presidential election in June, was thwarted through following up on intelligence, the statement added. Although the details of the terror plan was not revealed, the ministry said the terrorists had failed to eliminate the unnamed official when the Parliament (Majlis) was approving President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's ministers for his new term. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196040-Iran-claims-to-have-neutralised-CIA-hit-on-top-official- Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:12:27 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196000-Iran-says-UN-backed-nuclear-deal-is-not-dead Iran said Monday it has not rejected a U.N.-backed plan aimed at limiting the country's ability to make nuclear weapons as it called for a technical panel to review its terms. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters in Kuala Lumpur that Iran conveyed its stand to the International Atomic Energy Agency two days ago. Mottaki is in Malaysia to attend a meeting of foreign ministers of eight Islamic countries. His statement could be seen as a softening of Iran's stand after senior Iranian lawmakers rejected the plan on Saturday. Earlier last week, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also said his government will persist with its nuclear program despite international concerns. Asked if this meant Tehran has rejected the deal, Mottaki simply said, "No." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196000-Iran-says-UN-backed-nuclear-deal-is-not-dead Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:30:55 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195975-Top-IDF-officer-warns-Settlers-radical-fringe-growing The extremist fringe of West Bank settlers is growing, a senior officer on the Israel Defense Forces General Staff warned this week. Though most West Bank settlers are law abiding, the officer said, recent years have seen an upswing in violent attacks by extremist settlers against both IDF troops and neighboring Palestinians. The officer blamed individuals "formerly in positions of power, who are now unemployed and setting up all kinds of committees," for fanning the flames of radical sentiment among settlers. He did not name names, but top army officials suggested he might be referring to former Kedumim mayor Daniella Weiss. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195975-Top-IDF-officer-warns-Settlers-radical-fringe-growing Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:29:24 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195974-Psychopathic-Israeli-settler-finally-arrested-after-series-of-terror-attacks Israeli police have arrested a Jewish settler whom they say has confessed to a string of high-profile hate attacks. These allegedly include the killing of two Palestinians 12 years ago, and the bombing last year of the home of the Israeli academic, Zeev Sternhell. Yaakov Teitel, a 37-year-old American immigrant who lives in the West Bank, was detained last month after handing out leaflets condemning homosexuals. Police said they believed Mr Teitel had acted alone during the hate campaign. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195974-Psychopathic-Israeli-settler-finally-arrested-after-series-of-terror-attacks Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:24:06 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195971-Illegal-Jewish-Squatters-Beat-Elderly-Palestinians-95-89 Bethlehem - Right-wing Israeli settlers attacked the Salah family on their way to Friday prayers in a bid to take over their home in the East Jerusalem community of Beit Safafa on Friday, Israeli and Palestinian officials said. The settlers, 12 according to Palestinian sources, six according to Israeli media, and three according to the Jerusalem police chief, pulled up in a car with an eviction order for the family home of Ali Ibrahim Salah and his children. Salah said the buildings shelter 55 residents, 30 of which are under 12 years old and include his children, Ismail, Mohammad, Mahmoud, Ahmad. He said the settlers claimed they bought the homes from their Armenian owners. The Palestinian News Network quoted Sheha Salah as saying that her husband had purchased the buildings from its owners in 1966, and had the documents to prove the validity of the sale. Israel's High Court issued an eviction order on the home in August, giving the family one month to vacate the premises. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195971-Illegal-Jewish-Squatters-Beat-Elderly-Palestinians-95-89 Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:17:32 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195966-Kuwait-Court-ruling-is-a-victory-for-civil-liberties Kuwait's decision that MPs need not wear the hijab shows Gulf societies are tolerant Kuwait's Constitutional Court has decided that wearing the hijab is not a legal prerequisite to become a member of parliament. The landmark ruling, believed to be the first of its kind in the conservative Gulf region, was prompted by a lawsuit initiated by a Kuwaiti citizen, who asked the court to annul the parliament membership of Rola Dashti and Aseel Al Awadi, two female liberal MPs. The court decision may not put to rest the attempts of conservatives to challenge the inclusion of women in the political and decision-making process, especially those perceived as challenging the prevailing Islamist views of major political groups in Kuwait and some other GCC states, but it certainly set a precedent by upholding the personal freedom of women who choose not to wear the hijab. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195966-Kuwait-Court-ruling-is-a-victory-for-civil-liberties Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:00:52 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195951-Family-Who-Lost-29-Members-in-Gaza-War-We-Envy-the-Dead Richard Goldstone visited the Gaza City neighborhood of Zaytoun in late June to tour the compound of the extended Samouni family, the subject of coverage here in recent weeks ("'I fed him like a baby bird,'" September 17; "Death in the Samouni compound," September 25). Twenty-nine members of the family, all of them civilians, were killed in the Israel Defense Force's winter assault - 21 during the shelling of a house where IDF soldiers had gathered some 100 members of the family a day earlier. Salah Samouni and the owner of the house that was shelled - Wael Samouni - took Goldstone around the farming neighborhood, showing him its devastated homes and uprooted orchards. In a telephone conversation this week, Salah described how he had shown Goldstone a picture of his father, Talal, among the 21 killed in the house. He told the Jewish South African judge and head of the United Nations inquiry team into Operation Cast Lead, that his father "had been employed by Jews" for nearly 40 years and that whenever he was sick, "the employer would call, ask after his health, and forbid him to come to work before he had recovered." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195951-Family-Who-Lost-29-Members-in-Gaza-War-We-Envy-the-Dead Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:28:54 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195946-US-Senate-Banking-Panel-Passes-Iran-Sanctions-Bill The U.S. Senate banking committee Thursday passed legislation authorizing stringent new sanctions against Iran and the firms that conduct business with the nation, particularly targeting the energy sector. The bipartisan bill - which sailed through the panel on a 23-0 vote - is part of a larger effort to try to halt Tehran's nuclear enrichment program. Committee chairman Sen. Chris Dodd (D, Conn.), said lawmakers hope to "send an overwhelmingly clear signal of our resolve here in Congress that Iran must finally come clean on its nuclear program and rejoin the community of responsible nations." "The President has rightly adopted a two-track policy of engagement backed by the prospect of further sanctions, and I support his approach," Dodd said. "Our legislation strengthens what has come to be known as the "pressure track." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195946-US-Senate-Banking-Panel-Passes-Iran-Sanctions-Bill Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:43:09 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195943-Palestinians-homeless-again-after-eviction-29-Oct-09 The United Nations is calling on Israel to immediately stop demolishing Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem. The UN says 60,000 Palestinians may be at risk of being forcibly evicted. Israel says the houses are built without construction permits, which Palestinians say are almost impossible to obtain. Our correspondent Jacky Rowland is in Sheikh Jarrah where Israeli police dismantled a tent set up by a Palestinian family already evicted by Israeli orders in August. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195943-Palestinians-homeless-again-after-eviction-29-Oct-09 Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:28:51 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195935-Iranian-general-Wahhabi-terrorism-helps-West-achieve-goals A top Iranian army commander says the West is using 'Wahhabi terrorism' to sow seeds of discord among Muslims around the world. Chief-of-Staff of Iran's Joint Armed Forces, Major General Hassan Firouzabadi, says Wahhabi terrorists are helping arrogant powers achieve their goals in the region. "Today Wahhabi thought is paving the way to legitimize the presence of US and NATO forces [in the region] but the United States and NATO will be burnt in this plot," Mehr news agency quoted Firouzabadi as saying. The Iranian commander's comment came two weeks after at least 41 people, including seven senior commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), were killed in a bombing during a unity gathering of Shia and Sunni tribal leaders in the town of Pishin on the Iran-Pakistan border. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195935-Iranian-general-Wahhabi-terrorism-helps-West-achieve-goals Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:02:39 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195928-Iran-buys-2-million-doses-of-swine-flu-vaccine Iranian officials say the country has ordered two million doses of the A/H1N1 flu vaccine, to immunize some one million individuals. Deputy Health Minister Hassan Emami-Razavi said the European and Chinese pharmaceuticals have promised to hand in some of this stock in February or March. Emami-Razavi added that the government has allocated some $20 million for buying the vaccine, stressing that another $10 million will also be added to this amount soon. The Deputy Health Minister stressed that pregnant women, seniors and those suffering from chronic diseases including asthma, heart diseases, diabetes and cancer along with healthcare workers are the first priorities to receive the vaccine. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195928-Iran-buys-2-million-doses-of-swine-flu-vaccine Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:23:43 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195919-Lower-Profiles-Look-and-Work-Better In the fog of war, chance or willful misperceptions often happen for ideological or partisan reasons. By late 2005, the "al-Qaeda in Iraq" group was getting out of hand and on some Sunni tribal militias' nerves. There was also inter-group rivalry in the smuggling trade, with one tribe allied with al-Qaeda putting another out of business. The Sunni tribal groups in Anbar province not allied with al-Qaeda then came together against random terrorist attacks while generally complementing the US military role. In time this "Anbar Awakening" had the effect of reducing incidents of spontaneous violence, but the US-led occupying forces took the credit for themselves. In early 2007 the Bush administration announced a "surge" in US troop numbers, saying this would help keep violence in check. Over the following months the US mainstream media reported faithfully, echoing the administration line even when UN figures based on hospital and morgue reports saw rising numbers of casualties. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195919-Lower-Profiles-Look-and-Work-Better Sun, 01 Nov 2009 01:51:48 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195910-Water-authority-warns-of-groundwater-depletion-in-Gaza The Palestinian water authority has warned Saturday of the depletion of underground water supplies in the Gaza Strip within the next 10 years, calling for taking serious action to save these supplies. In a report, the water authority said that Gaza suffers from an annual water deficit up to 70,000,000 cubic meters as a result of the natural increase in Gaza population who live on the coastal aquifer to meet their needs of water. It pointed out that the overlap between the Mediterranean Sea and the aquifer caused a high rate of salts in water in addition to high concentration of nitrates due to the leakage of sewage and irrigation water into it. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195910-Water-authority-warns-of-groundwater-depletion-in-Gaza Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:15:39 -0400 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195908-Iran-says-EU-firms-in-talks-to-bring-its-gas-to-Nabucco-pipeline-project An Iranian official said on Saturday that European firms are in talks for Iran to join the EU's flagship Nabucco gas pipeline project, which aims to reduce the bloc's reliance on Russia, Mehr news agency reported. "At the moment some European companies have started unofficial talks for Iran to join this pipeline," Mehr quoted Reza Kasaizadeh, managing director of National Iranian Gas Exports Company, as saying. He gave no details. The European Union is planning to build the 3,300-kilometre (2,050-mile) Nabucco pipeline to transport gas from the Middle East and Central Asia to its energy-hungry consumers in Europe while bypassing Russia. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195908-Iran-says-EU-firms-in-talks-to-bring-its-gas-to-Nabucco-pipeline-project Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:13:36 -0400 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195907-US-gift-to-Iraq-A-booming-funeral-market With deadly attacks still claiming more lives in the war-torn country, the funeral market in Iraq has turned from a simple work into a booming business. "Before US-led invasion, I had one ceremony to take care," mourner Ali Abdel-Kareem al-Shuwafi, 48, told IslamOnline.net on Friday, October 30. "But in the last four years, I had to hire 12 employees and other 15 who are used when we have many ceremonies to hold in the same day." Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been killed in violence plaguing Iraq since the US invaded the country in 2003 to topple the Saddam Hussein regime. "Violence in Iraq changed my life. I know that it isn't a nice sentence to say but it is the true," said Shuwafi. "The continuing killings in my country helped me become a wealthy man and able to give a very good life to my family who years ago were suffering with the need of everything." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195907-US-gift-to-Iraq-A-booming-funeral-market Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:07:44 -0400 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195876-Iranian-parliamentary-speaker-Larijani-US-behind-terrorist-attack-in-Iran In the wake of a terrorist attack in southeastern Iran, Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani has accused the United States of helping terrorist carry out acts of violence in Iran. "Reliable evidence shows the US played a role in the recent move," Larijani said referring to the recent bomb blast in Sistan-Baluchistan Province. At least 41 people, including seven senior commanders of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), were killed in the bombing on October 18 during a unity gathering of Shia and Sunni tribal leaders in the town of Pishin on the Iran-Pakistan border. The Jundallah terrorist group claimed responsibility for the deadly attack. Larijani criticized Washington's policies on Iran and said the US acts against Iranian interests despite making offers to hold talks with the country. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195876-Iranian-parliamentary-speaker-Larijani-US-behind-terrorist-attack-in-Iran Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:15:06 -0400 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195873-Israel-demolishes-more-Palestinian-homes Israeli soldiers demolish two Palestinian residents in East Jerusalem Al-Quds, while illegal settlers destroy olive groves as part of efforts to Judaize the city. Israeli authorities claim that the houses were built without permits, but the Palestinians complain that the Israeli municipality does not issue any permits. They also accuse Tel Aviv of using demolition tactics to tighten its hold on the occupied territory, and again with the aim of destroying the Islamic identity of Jerusalem Al-Quds. Residents said that Israel, "which is a racist entity", is ignoring the international concerns over the practice. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195873-Israel-demolishes-more-Palestinian-homes Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:01:00 -0400 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195871-Falk-Gaza-report-puts-Israeli-officials-on-trial The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights says the Goldstone Gaza report paves the way for indictment of Israeli officials by international courts. Richard Falk, a special UN rapporteur, talked about the possibility of Israeli officials being tried in countries which abide to rules of international justice. The top UN official, however, predicted that the United States will try its best to influence the International Criminal Court not to bring Israeli officials to the dock. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has meanwhile demanded that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights drop support for Goldstone Gaza report and spare no efforts to convince his European counterparts to oppose its adoption. His attempts have however proved futile. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195871-Falk-Gaza-report-puts-Israeli-officials-on-trial Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:47:16 -0400 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195870-The-Slippery-Slope It is, of course, all the fault of Judge Richard Goldstone. He is to blame for it, as he is to blame for all the other ills that are befalling us now. He is to blame for the trouble we are having at the UN, both in New York and in Geneva. For the conspiracy to bring our political and military leaders to trial in The Hague. For the ongoing crisis between us and Turkey. For the many initiatives throughout the world to organize a boycott of Israel. Now he is to blame also for the existential danger facing Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen). http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195870-The-Slippery-Slope Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:26:33 -0400 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195848-Lebanon-warns-UN-Israel-planning-to-attack-us-again Lebanon's ambassador to the United Nations has warned that Israel is exhibiting signs of an imminent attack on his country, the Lebanese newspaper Al-Hayyat reported on Friday. Ambassador Noaf Salaam sent missives to the United Nations secretary general and to the Security Council condemning Israel's recent artillery fire on the village of Houla, the site where a Katyusha rocket was fired at the Upper Galilee last week. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195848-Lebanon-warns-UN-Israel-planning-to-attack-us-again Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:51:34 -0400 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195803-Iran-finds-new-evidence-on-deadly-blast After a series of intensive investigations into the deadly bomb blast in southeastern Iran, new revelations show that the 24-year-old culprit was trained and equipped in Pakistan. "Based on our latest findings, the bomber was none other than Abdolvahed Mohammadizadehhad, who had recently gone to Pakistan to recieve specialized terrorist training," Jalal Sayyah, Deputy Chief for security affairs in the Sistan-Baluchestan Province, said early Saturday. Sayyah said the findings were confirmed following the confession of those who were arrested for having links with the Jundallah group. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195803-Iran-finds-new-evidence-on-deadly-blast Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:11:31 -0400 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195799-Iraq-arrests-60-security-forces-over-blasts Iraq has arrested some 60 security forces over the weekend twin bombings which targeted government buildings in Baghdad, killing up to 153 people. Army spokesman General Qasim Atta said the suspects were arrested on Thursday, saying that those arrested were deployed in the Salhiya section of the capital at the time of the blasts. "The commission of inquiry into the double attack on Sunday ordered the arrest of 11 officers of various ranks and 50 members of the security forces responsible for the protection of Salhiya," the spokesman for Baghdad military command added. Health Ministry spokesman Sabah Abdullah on Thursday announced the final toll was 153 people dead, adding that of the more than 500 people wounded six or seven remained hospitalized. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195799-Iraq-arrests-60-security-forces-over-blasts Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:57:06 -0400 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195789-Israeli-military-gives-settlers-free-rein The IDF is offering ever more support to settlers as its influence by religious-nationalist politics increases During a swearing-in ceremony at the Western Wall in Jerusalem last Thursday, two soldiers held up a banner that sparked a wave of condemnation by soldiers and civilians alike. The slogan on the banner - "Shimshon [Brigade] does not evacuate Homesh" - referred to the prospect of the soldiers being ordered to evict settlers from an illegal outpost on the site of the former Homesh settlement. Homesh was dismantled during the disengagement of 2005 but since then settlers have repeatedly returned to the site and erected makeshift homes, asserting their claim of a God-given right to live there, as well as throughout the rest of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank). http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195789-Israeli-military-gives-settlers-free-rein Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:13:35 -0400 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195758-Video-Israel-demolishes-Palestinian-homes Israeli authorities have demolished five Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem, saying they were built illegally without permits. But Palestinians say Israeli authorities have made it nearly impossible to obtain such permits. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195758-Video-Israel-demolishes-Palestinian-homes Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:03:51 -0400 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195756-Israeli-activist-sentenced-to-30-days-for-opposing-demolition-of-Palestinian-home Ezra Nawi, an Israeli activist who stood in the way of Israeli soldiers demolishing a Palestinian home, was sentenced earlier this week to 30 days in jail for allegedly 'attacking' the Israeli police who arrested him. Despite video evidence disproving the soldiers' accounts, Nawi was found guilty and convicted. The incident took place in the village of in the village of Um el-Hir in February, 2007, an area south of Hebron, in the southern West Bank, where right-wing Israeli settlers have continually expanded their settlements and attacks on Palestinians in violation of both Israeli and international law. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195756-Israeli-activist-sentenced-to-30-days-for-opposing-demolition-of-Palestinian-home Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:54:24 -0400 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195741-European-Human-Rights-Lawyers-To-Sue-Israeli-Officers-For-War-Crimes A number of European lawyers and human rights activities stated that they obtained names of Israeli army officers suspected of committing war crimes during the war against the Gaza Strip earlier this year. The lawyers said they would be filing lawsuits against the officers for committing war crimes against the Palestinian people. Israeli paper Haaretz said that the lawyers collected testimonies from residents of the Gaza Strip in preparation to file the lawsuits. The lists are being filed in Britain, Spain, Norway, Belgium and Holland as the legislation in these countries allow arrest warrants against war crimes suspects. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195741-European-Human-Rights-Lawyers-To-Sue-Israeli-Officers-For-War-Crimes Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:09:37 -0400 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195692-Self-defence-Stories-from-Gaza According to Amnesty International, some 1,400 Palestinians were killed in the 22-day Israeli offensive between 27 December 2008 and 17 January 2009, which agrees broadly with Palestinian figures. More than 900 of these were civilians, including 300 children and 115 women. Two-year old Amal Abed Rabbo, one of the 300 children casualties, died in an Israeli attack outside her house in the village of Izbit Abed Rabbo, Gaza, on 7 January 2009. The UN Human Rights Council's Goldstone report called Israel's military assault on Gaza "a deliberately disproportionate attack designed to punish, humiliate and terrorize a civilian population, radically diminish its local economic capacity both to work and to provide for itself, and to force upon it an ever-increasing sense of dependency and vulnerability". Gabriela Shalev, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, quickly rejected the report, saying it failed to take into account that the operation was in "self-defence". http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195692-Self-defence-Stories-from-Gaza Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:32:22 -0400 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195650-Ethnic-cleansing-Israel-denying-Palestinians-access-to-clean-water As a result of Israel's 'discriminatory' policies, Palestinians' access to water supply is far below the minimum recommended by the World Health Organization. Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Israel of preventing Palestinians from receiving adequate clean and safe water while allowing the "unlawful Jewish settlers" of the occupied West Bank almost unlimited supplies. According to the report, Israelis consume four times as much water as West Bank Palestinians whose water consumption at best reaches 70 liters per capita a day. The report also says that in some areas of the West Bank, Palestinians are surviving on as little as 20 liters of water per capita a day, which is below humanitarian disaster response levels recommended to avoid epidemics. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195650-Ethnic-cleansing-Israel-denying-Palestinians-access-to-clean-water Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:28:38 -0400 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195649-Ahmadinejad-Israel-is-a-threat-to-all-nations The Iranian president says nations cannot be deprived of their right to peaceful nuclear energy while Israel possesses nuclear weapons. "When an illegal regime [Israel] has atomic weapons, one can not deny the right of other nations to acquire peaceful nuclear energy," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a Tuesday meeting with visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Tehran. Ahmadinejad described Israel as a 'threat to all nations', saying Tel Aviv would 'annex all the countries in the region if it had the chance'. "Your clear stance towards the Zionist regime had a positive effect in the world, especially the Islamic world, and all nations were undoubtedly satisfied," he added. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/195649-Ahmadinejad-Israel-is-a-threat-to-all-nations Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:25:48 -0400