The death of five Israeli servicemen in a helicopter crash in Romania this week raised scarcely a headline. [...] What is Nato doing when it plays war games with an army accused of war crimes? Or, more to the point, what on earth is the EU doing when it cosies up to the Israelis? In a remarkable, detailed – if slightly over-infuriated – book to be published in November, the indefatigable David Cronin is going to present a microscopic analysis of "our" relations with Israel. I have just finished reading the manuscript. It leaves me breathless. As he says in his preface, "Israel has developed such strong political and economic ties to the EU over the past decade that it has become a member state of the union in all but name." Indeed, it was Javier Solana, the grubby top dog of the EU's foreign policy (formerly Nato secretary general), who actually said last year that "Israel, allow me to say, is a member of the European Union without being a member of the institution".

An Israeli soldier detains a Palestinian boy during
clashes with Israeli settlers, not seen, on the outskirts
of Borin village near Nablus.

Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)

● IOF shot and killed a Palestinian worker in the northern West Bank.

● IOF continued to use force against peaceful protests in the West Bank.

Four international human rights defenders and one Palestinian photojournalist were injured.
- IOF arrested twenty-one civilians, including twelve international human rights defenders, one of whom is Luisa Morgantini.

● IOF continued to fire at Palestinian farmers and workers in border areas of the Gaza Strip.

One Palestinian civilian was seriously wounded in the northern Gaza Strip.

● IOF bombarded tunnels and civilian property in the Gaza Strip.

IOF destroyed a plastic and iron pipe store in the central Gaza Strip.

● IOF conducted twenty-five incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and five limited incursions into the Gaza Strip.

IOF arrested thirteen Palestinian civilians.

● Israel has continued to impose a total siege on the OPT and has isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.

Israeli troops stationed at military checkpoints and border crossings in the West Bank arrested nine Palestinian civilians, including six children and one woman.

● Israel has continued to take measures aimed at creating a Jewish demographic majority in Jerusalem.

The Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem has continued to chase and confiscate goods of Palestinian street vendors.

●· IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property.

IOF ordered the halt of construction works n six houses in Ethna village near Hebron.
Israeli settlers continued to attack Palestinian civilians.

GENEVA (Reuters) - Israel must lift its military blockade of the Gaza Strip and invite an independent, fact-finding mission to investigate its raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, a United Nations rights body said on Friday. The U.N. Human Rights Committee also told Israel to ensure that Palestinians in the occupied territories can enjoy the fundamental civil and political freedoms that Israel had pledged to uphold in the main international human rights treaty.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli war ministry has refused to pay the cost of medical treatment for an American-Jewish activist who lost an eye when border police officers fired a tear gas canister at her during a demonstration. Emily Henochowicz, who also holds Israeli citizenship, took part in a protest on May 31, shortly after Israel killed nine pro-Palestinian activists in a raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla. The Henochowicz family said that a policeman shot a canister directly at her face, shattering her jaw and causing her to lose her left eye. Following her treatment at Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem, Henochowicz's father, who had traveled from the U.S., was handed a bill for almost 3,500 dollars. Under advice from his lawyer, he asked the ministry to cover the expense, but officials refused. In justifying the refusal, the ministry claimed the tear gas was not fired directly at Henochowicz. "The canister ricocheted at her after it rebound off a concrete barrier and changed direction - it was not shot directly at her," the ministry said in a statement, which was contested by Haaretz as one of its reporters was a witness to the incident.

Israeli settlers squatters "took over" a Palestinian home in the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem's Old City today, evicting about 45 members of an extended family which has occupied the building for more than 70 years. The settlers squatters claimed to have documentation to prove they had purchased the building from the owners. The Palestinian tenants, who have been fighting attempts to evict them for many years, were challenging the takeover in court. A police spokesman said the Israelis had entered the home "based on [forged] documents claiming that they owned the property". Antiwar: Settlers Seize 9-Family Jerusalem Home.

The Israeli parliament is considering several new laws that could seriously impact the ability of citizens to criticise the government, according to rights groups. Human Rights Watch is reporting a crackdown on political activists who criticise Israeli’s treatment of the Palestinians. In what rights groups consider part of an alarming pattern, Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, recently admitted to spying on a young Australian activist in the West Bank. Al Jazeera’s Sherine Tadros reports from Jerusalem.

AWIP/International Solidarity Movement: Two dead and four children injured in Israeli nail bomb attack in Beit Hanoun, Gaza.

Germany joins NATO forces in using Israeli spy drones 27 Jul 2010 Worried by insurgent ambushes on its soldiers in Afghanistan and return fire that sometimes kills civilians or local allies, Germany last year ordered a small fleet of Israeli Heron spy drones designed to provide real-time images above a battlefield. That has brought German jet pilots to coastal Ein Shemer air base for accelerated retraining on the unmanned propeller planes, already daubed with their flag and Iron Cross emblem.

Israeli Interior ministry forces demolish unrecognized
Bedouin village in the Negev; dozens of families left
homeless. December 2008 (PIWP)

Netanyahu calls Bedouin citizens of Israel "real threat" – and next, an entire village in the Negev is demolished. Early this morning police raided the "unrecognized" Bedouin village of al-Arakib in the Negev, destroyed all 40 of its houses, and evicted more than 300 residents. The residents, mostly children, were left homeless. The unprecedented raid began at about 4:30 in the morning, residents were surprised to wake up surrounded by a huge force of 1,500 police with guns, stun grenades, helmets and shields, including hundreds of Special Riot Police (Yasam) as well as mounted police, helicopters and bulldozers. At the residents’ call, dozens of left-wing activists and volunteers arrived from all over the country, helping them to offer non-violent resistance. Several residents were bruised and beaten by police, thjough not needing medical attention. One woman demonstrator was detained by the police. The police removed the residents’ property into prepared containers, and bulldozers demolished the residential buildings and sheepfolds and destroyed the residents’ fruit orchards and olive tree groves. The villagers, mostly children and old people, were left stunned near the destroyed village, shelterless and waterless under the blazing sun PressTV: Hamas slams Israel's Negev demolitions. Al Jazeera: Israel demolishes Bedouin village. The Guardian: Ethnic cleansing in the Israeli Negev.

British Prime Minister David Cameron is facing a massive backlash today following his criticism of the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip. Cameron insisted the blockade ‘has to change’ and that the strip “must not be allowed to remain a prison camp.” Israeli Ambassador to Britain Ron Prosor expressed outrage at the statement, insisting that Cameron should have focused instead on Gilad Shalit, the captured Israeli soldier being held by the Hamas government. A number of Israel enthusiasts also complained that it was unfair of Cameron to mention the Israeli blockade of Gaza without insisting that it was entirely the fault of Hamas, and a number suggested that Cameron, a long standing pro-Israel hawk, had “turned” on Israel with the comments. Cameron also used his speech today in Ankara, Turkey to reiterate his opposition of the Israeli attack on the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish aid ship that was bound for Gaza. Israeli commandos boarded the ship and killed nine aid workers.

TEL AVIV - Thousands of women are being smuggled into Israel, creating a booming sex trade industry that rakes more than USD one billion a year, a parliamentary committee said on Wednesday. The Parliamentary Inquiry Committee, headed by Knesset member Zehava Galon of the left-wing Yahad. party, commissioned the report in an effort to combat the sex trade in Israel. Findings showed that some 3,000 and 5,000 women are smuggled to Israel annually and sold into the prostitution industry, where they are constantly subjected to violence and abuse. The report, issued annually, said some 10,000 such women currently reside in about 300 to 400 brothels throughout the country. They are traded for about USD 8,000 – USD 10,000, the committee said. The U.S. State Department ranks Israel in the second tier of human trafficking around the world, saying the Jewish State does not maintain minimal conditions regarding the issue but is working to improve them.

Christ, what an a**hole. Zachary Chesser, an unemployed 20-year-old man in Virginia who this year threatened South Park's creators over an episode featuring the Prophet Muhammad dressed in a bear suit, has been arrested on federal charges "after speaking openly to the FBI about his connection to a terror organization and his plans to travel overseas to fight with the group." The organization known as Al-Shabaab (the longer version of their name means "Movement of Warrior Youth") is identified by the US as a terror group affiliated with al-Qaeda. Mr. Chesser was Jewish, but converted to a wacked-out, militant crazystrain of Islam that involves uploading jihadi videos to YouTube and invoking assassination unto the creators of Cartman and Butters. AWIP/04/23/10: Islamists post warning on web to South Park creators after they depict Prophet Muhammad in anniversary episode. + AWIP/04/25/10: The Radical "Muslim" Group That Threatened South Park Creators Was Founded and Run by Joseph Cohen, a Former Israeli Radical Who Used to Live in a Settlement in the West Bank.

David Cameron used a visit to Turkey to make his strongest intervention yet in the intractable Middle East conflict today when he likened the experience of Palestinians in the blockaded Gaza strip to that of a "prison camp". Although he has made similar remarks before, his decision to repeat them on a world stage in Turkey, whose relations with Israel have deteriorated sharply since it mounted a deadly assault on the Gaza flotilla, gave them much greater diplomatic significance. Cameron's comments, in a speech to business leaders in Ankara, prompted the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to issue another strong condemnation of how Israel dealt with the flotilla. Erdogan likened the behaviour of Israeli commandos, who shot dead nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists, to Somali pirates.

A pro-Palestinian American group [USTOGAZA] has reportedly initiated a humanitarian campaign to sail an aid vessel to the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip. The "US Boat to Gaza" has begun attracting funds for the purchase of the vessel, Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post wrote on Monday. The vessel, which could carry 40 to 60 crewmembers, is expected to depart in autumn with the ultimate aim of challenging the four-year-long Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip. The Israeli-imposed restrictions have deprived the 1.5-million Palestinian residents of the impoverished coastal sliver of food, fuel and other necessities.

"...together we will contribute to the great effort to end the blockade of Gaza and the illegal occupation of Palestine",

the organizers have said on their website. The boat is reportedly to be named as "The Audacity of Hope," synonymous with President Barack Obama's popular book. The Indypendent: Activists Launch Campaign for U.S. Boat to Gaza. Indian Express: Indian ship to join anti-Gaza blockade campaign.

Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira, head of the Od Yosef Hai Yeshiva and author of "The King's Torah," was arrested early Monday morning at his home in the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar. His book describes how it is possible to kill non-Jews according to halakha (Jewish religious law). The preface of the book, which was published in November, states that it is forbidden to kill non-Jews - but the book then apparently describes the context in which it is permitted to do so. According to Shapira, it is permissible to kill a non-Jew who threatens Israel even if the person is classified as a Righteous Gentile. His book says that any gentile who supports war against Israel can also be killed. Killing the children of a leader in order to pressure him, the rabbi continues, is also permissible. In general, according to the book, it is okay to kill children if they "stand in the way - children are often doing this."

[Editor's Comment:] These ideas have gone mainstream long ago. The Israeli army has killed, tortured & maimed thousands of Palestinians for years, without this hairsplitting and quasi-religious verbiage. They should all be in prison, both the yeshiva lunatics and the bigwigs in the army. -A deep, dark dungeon with no escape possible.

An Israeli military helicopter carrying six Israeli soldiers and one Romanian crashed on Monday in mountainous terrain near Brasov, in central Romania. According to local sources, seven bodies had been recovered by rescue forces at the crash site by nighttime. The Israelis on board the chopper included four Israeli army pilots and two airborne mechanics. The Israeli occupation army released on Monday night the names of the six Israeli crew members. According to Bucharest media reports, the Romanian Defense Ministry said the helicopter, a CH-53 Sikorsky, crashed during Blue Sky 2010 – an 11-day joint Romanian-Israeli aviation exercise. The exercise began on July 18 and is set to conclude on July 29.

The international aid agency Oxfam demanded Monday that Israel compensate Palestinians in a northern Jordan Valley village after soldiers destroyed at least $29,000 of aid. In a statement, the charity said villagers in Al-Farisiya were forced into poverty when soldiers demolished 79 structures in the village, including homes, stables, sheds, water tanks, two tons of animal fodder, fertilizer and wheat. An initial assessment by Oxfam and other NGOs in the area calculated that the demolitions affected 113 Palestinians, half of them children and identified as some of the poorest in the area. Water tanks and irrigation pipes provided by Oxfam were among the damaged goods. Oxfam’s advocacy officer, Cara Flowers, said the area looked "a natural disaster had taken place,” adding that “With no access to shelter, water or fodder for their goat and sheep herds, an entire community is being forced to leave their land.”

Israel war planes have launched an airstrike on the southern Gaza Strip, targeting Palestinian tunnels across the border between the blockaded enclave and Egypt. Missiles from Israeli aircraft destructed two tunnels early on Monday, but left no casualties, AFP quoted Palestinian security officials as saying. Israel frequently strikes the tunnels in the Hamas-run coastal enclave while an Israeli blockade has pushed the populated territory on the verge of a humanitarian crisis with almost half of its 1.5 million residents depending on food aid handouts. Tel Aviv's crippling siege has left Gazans with no other option but to set up a network of tunnels on the border with Egypt, which in collaboration with Israel keeps the Rafah border crossing -- the only terminal not in Israel control -- sealed off.

Saber Kushour, an Arab convicted of 'rape by deception' of a Jewish woman, gives his side of the story in an exclusive interview. Saber Kushour apologises as he asks his guests to move the plastic chairs on his breeze-block balcony a little closer to the door to his house. If he were to sit where they are now, he explains, the electronic tag attached to his ankle would set off an alarm. Kushour's edginess is understandable – he is recalling a 15-minute encounter almost two years ago which he says "has destroyed my life". Last week the married father of two from east Jerusalem was sentenced to 18 months in jail for the "rape by deception" of a Jewish woman who claimed she would not have had sex with him had she known he was an Arab. What might have been a tawdry episode – casting neither Kushour nor the woman in a favourable light – exploded into a debate in Israel about racism, sexual mores and justice. "I am paying the price for a mistake that she made," Kushour, 30, told the Observer. "I was shocked at the sentence – it shows a very vivid and clear racism." The message from the judge, he says, was that "because you are an Arab and you didn't make that clear, we are going to punish you".

Did you everwonder how manipulation and brainwashing works?

Did you ever wonder how could people take part (even by their silence) in acts of genocide?

This is a collection of items below will give you an idea.

These items are for sale, on a UK website, CafePress

The items include -in their own words- " Baby Bodysuits > Anti Islam Baby Bodysuits " and "Anti Islam designs available on 1,760 products"

"Jew designs available on 4,420 products"

Browsing through the collection, I guess you would know which items come from the "anti- Islam" section and which come from "Jewish" collection

Just to get an idea how "wonderful" freedom of speech might be, please replace:

Muhammed" with "Rabbi"
Islam with Judaism
Muslim with Jew
Qur'an with Talmud
Jew with Muslim

Then read what you see out loud, then tell me how it feels!

Anger has arisen in Palestinian areas over reports that millions of tax-exempt dollars from the U.S. are being funneled towards Israel's illegal settlement building in the Palestinian West Bank -- in flagrant violation of international law. This is happening under the nose of the U.S. administration despite its claims of support for a two-state solution and criticism of Israel's continued settlement building. The Palestinian Authority (PA) based in Ramallah has expressed outrage. "Adhering to international law is a big step towards holding Israel accountable for its actions," PA spokesman Ghassan Khatib told IPS from the Muqata (government) headquarters in Ramallah. "Settlements violate international law, and the United States is supposed to be sponsoring a two-state solution, yet it gives deductions for donation to the settlements," said Saeb Erekat the PA's chief negotiator. According to a recent report in The New York Times 40 U.S. groups have raised more than 200 million dollars in tax-deductable donations for Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the last ten years. U.S. tax rules prohibit the use of charitable funds for political purposes at home or abroad.

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Fathiya Suwais, 57, has been subjected to cruel interrogation rounds and severe torture at the hands of Israeli investigators in Jalama detention center ever since her incarceration five days ago, the Ahrar center for prisoners' studies and human rights reported. Fuad Al-Khafsh, the center's director, said in a press release on Saturday, that the Shabak investigators deprived the old woman from sleep and forced her to stand for long hours while blindfolded and handcuffed without any consideration for her age or health condition.

NABI SALAH, Occupied West Bank, Jul 23, 2010 (IPS) - Palestinian activists are being jailed, Israeli activists are under surveillance, and the Israeli military is increasingly targeting journalists who cover West Bank protests. The Foreign Press Association (FPA) in Israel issued a statement recently condemning what it sees as a change in Israel Defence Forces (IDF) policy in their treatment of journalists covering the growing number of West Bank protests against Israel's separation barrier, illegal settlements and land expropriation.

"We would appreciate it were the authorities to remind the various forces involved, that open, unhindered coverage of news events is a widely acknowledged part of the essence of democracy. "Generally speaking this would not include smashing the face of a clearly marked photographer working for a known and accredited news organisation with a stick, or for that matter aiming a stun grenade at the head of a clearly marked news photographer or summarily arresting cameramen, photographers and/or journalists," said the FPA.

In Israel, an Arab man has been sentenced to 18 months for 'rape by deception'. Sabbar Kashur tricked a woman into having sex with him, by claiming to be Jewish. He plans to appeal the decision. And as RT's Paula Slier reports, even couples who choose to have interfaith relationships face hostility.

Twenty-three year old rushed to hospital unconscious after being beaten with heavy metal object at Tiberias gas station, sustaining serious injuries. Suspect yet to be apprehended. The attack occurred on Tuesday night in a gas station in Tiberias. Superintendent Jacky Dan of Tiberias Police told Ynet that the investigation indicates that the young Arab man, who resides with his family in the city, was talking to a girl he knew prior to the assault. The suspect arrived at the site and the two got into an argument. The suspect angrily asked on what right was the victim talking to the woman and proceeded to hit him in the head.

Two Spanish activists have filed a court case against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Manuel Tapial and Laura Arau, who were arrested in the Israeli attack on a Gaza-bound humanitarian convoy in May, lodged their complaint against Netanyahu, six of his cabinet members and the Israeli navy commander at Spain's National Court on Friday. The activists say they were illegally arrested in international waters, tortured and forcibly returned to Turkey. Nine civilian activists were killed and many others were wounded after Israeli commandos attacked the Turkish-flagged flotilla on May 31. The brutal attack sent shockwaves across the world and raised global calls for an international investigation into the incident as well as an immediate end to the more than three-year-long blockade of Gaza.

A former Israeli lecturer has said the entity depends on wars for its existence, warning that the hostility only invites disaster for Tel Aviv. It is only constant confrontations and standoffs which keep the Israeli society from falling apart, said Ilan Pappe, who used to work as a senior lecturer at the University of Haifa in northern Israel. He also said that the current Israeli government is the result of a colonialist movement. Colonialists, who did not have a country anywhere across the world, were obliged to remain here. The Israeli regime, therefore, is constantly seeking to ignite new wars; against Lebanon and maybe soon against Iran, but future wars would not succeed and would instead lead the entity into disaster, he added, speaking to the German daily junge Welt last month.

junge Welt: Ein Staat des Dialogs. Die israelische Gesellschaft ist alles andere als homogen. [...] In der israelischen Gesellschaft gibt es keine Solidarität. Es herrscht Kapitalismus pur. Für gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalt sorgen lediglich die permanenten Konflikte, in denen sich das Land befindet. Deshalb zettelt das Regime ständig neue Kriege an. Gegen den Libanon und vielleicht bald gegen den Iran. Doch die künftigen Kriege werden keine erfolgreichen sein, sondern das Land in die Katastrophe führen.

[...] Aber noch einmal: Die israelische Gesellschaft ist nicht homogen. Im übrigen gibt es bei uns den einen Staat bereits – in Form eines Apartheidstaates. Und es ist wahrscheinlich leichter, einen Regimewechsel in einem Staat durchzuführen, als zwei Staaten zu schaffen. Es wird schwieriger werden als in Südafrika, und es wird auch nicht gleich im ersten Anlauf gelingen. Aber ich glaube nicht, daß das an der Geschlossenheit der israelischen Gesellschaft liegt. Es ist die Vorstellung, sich ständig im Krieg zu befinden, welche die Gesellschaft so geschlossen erscheinen läßt.

New details have emerged regarding the 2004 death of Egyptian-born scientist Muhammad al-Azmirly at a prison at a U.S. air base in Baghdad. Al-Azmirly died after his arrest by U.S. forces during the 2003 invasion. He is believed to have been a close confidant of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. A specialist in the field of chemistry, al-Azmirly was considered one of world's leading experts on polymers at the time of his death, and when the war began, was listed among the 200 people closest to the regime of Saddam Hussein. He was a member of the science faculty at the University of Baghdad before being arrested and taken from his home on April 26, 2003. His private office was set alight by American occupation forces after all of his books, papers, computers and family photos were confiscated. Zionist Intelligence [Israeli intelligence, the Mossad] then analyzed the information. He was held at the Abu Ghraib prison for ten days during which U.S. forces tortured him. Then he was transferred to a secret prison under the control of Zionist intelligence for questioning about his scientific activities.

There has been a strong revival in recent years of support among Palestinians for a one-state solution guaranteeing equal rights to Palestinians and Israeli Jews throughout historic Palestine. One might expect that any support for a single state among Israeli Jews would come from the far left, and in fact this is where the most prominent Israeli Jewish champions of the idea are found, though in small numbers. Recently, proposals to grant Israeli citizenship to Palestinians in the West Bank, including the right to vote for the Knesset, have emerged from a surprising direction: right-wing stalwarts such as Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin, and former defense minister Moshe Arens, both from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party. Even more surprising, the idea has been pushed by prominent activists among Israel's West Bank settler movement, who were the subject of a must-read profile by Noam Sheizaf in Haaretz ("Endgame," 15 July 2010). Antiwar: One-State Debate Explodes Myth About Zionist Left. Gilad Atzmon: On The Israeli Right's New 'Peace' Agenda.

[Editor's Comment:] We're posting these three links with some hesitation because none of the writers seem to understand that this talk about granting Israeli citizenship to Palestinians in the West Bank is nothing but a tactical maneuver to gobble up all of the West Bank (and later Gaza). The Zionists still intend to ethnically cleanse Palestine of the Palestinians. Until that happens, the Palestinians will not be granted full citizenship rights. They have been second-class citizens in the past, this is what they are now and this is what they'll be in any future Zionist-ruled state. -Let us be clear about this: People in Palestine have the right to define their own future and people on the left & right in both the "shitty little state" and in the West ought to shut up and desist from arrogantly talking about "solutions". This is for the Palestinians to decide upon and nobody else.

Amnesty International has today called on the Israeli authorities to stop the demolition of Palestinian homes and other buildings in the West Bank, after a further 74 were destroyed in the Jordan Valley earlier this week. The demolitions were carried out by the Israeli military in the villages of Hmayyir and 'Ein Ghazal in the area of al-Farisiya on Monday, displacing 107 people, including 52 children. According to UN figures, at least 198 Palestinian structures in the West Bank have been demolished this year, resulting in the forced displacement of almost 300 Palestinians, half of them children, while 600 others have also been affected. "These recent demolitions intensify concerns that this is part of a government strategy to remove the Palestinian population from the parts of the West Bank known as Area C, over which Israel has complete control in terms of planning and construction," said Philip Luther, Amnesty International's Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa. Among the property destroyed by the Israeli military on Monday were residential tents, separate kitchens and washrooms, agricultural buildings, and animal pens.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli government has refused to provide the United Nations assurance to discontinue its illegal usage of internationally banned white phosphorus bombs, which it used heavily in its latest war on the Gaza Strip, causing hundreds of Palestinian deaths, in addition to serious environmental damage. Israel submitted an official report to the UN this week admitting its use of white phosphorus bombs in its war on Gaza after having previously denied such allegations, and assuring that it would use the bombs in a “restricted” manner, but refusing to assure complete discontinuation. The report said: “The army has taken measures to minimize civilian injuries and damage to their property in future military conflicts, including restricting the use of white phosphorus bombs in populated areas.”

AWIP/Stephen Lendman: Palestinian Children Under Occupation

At least one Palestinian has been killed and eight others have been wounded in an Israeli attack in northern parts of the Gaza Strip, medics and witnesses say. It was not immediately clear why the Israeli soldiers opened fire on Palestinians in the town of Beit Hanun near the Israeli border. Three of those injured are reported to be in critical condition with hospital officials saying that the death toll could further rise. A 10-year-old girl is among those injured. Most Palestinians in the area are farmers and they have to risk their lives to go to their farms near the Israeli border as their soldiers frequently open fire on them, accusing them of trying to approach the security fence. Mondoweiss: Israeli report on shootings of ‘4 civilians’ fails to state that they were three sisters, 3, 5, and 9, and their grandmother.

Israel demolishing Palestinian villages in the West Bank while financing and encouraging Israeli illegal settlements Since 1967, Israel has prevented the growth of Palestinian communities in the Jordan Valley by cutting off their water supply or declaring large areas as live fire zones. The IDF's Civil Administration destroyed a Palestinian village Monday morning that had earlier been cleared out when its water supply was cut off. The IDF demolished about 55 structures in the West Bank village of Farasiya, including tents, tin shacks, plastic and straw huts, clay ovens, sheep pens and bathrooms. These structures served the 120 farmers, hired workers and their families who lived in the Jordan Valley village. AWIP/WSWS: Israel land-grab escalates in East Jerusalem.

As if his marital challenges were not enough cause for concern, "Sarco the Sayan" has suddenly emerged as the most infamous accolade of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The influential French daily Le Figaro last week revealed that the French leader once worked for -- and perhaps still does, it hinted -- Israeli intelligence as a sayan (Hebrew for helper), one of the thousands of Jewish citizens of countries other than Israel who cooperate with the katsas (Mossad case-officers). A letter dispatched to French police officials late last winter -- long before the presidential election but somehow kept secret -- revealed that Sarkozy was recruited as an Israeli spy. The French police is currently investigating documents concerning Sarkozy's alleged espionage activities on behalf of Mossad, which Le Figaro claims dated as far back as 1983.

A court in Jerusalem has made international legal history by jailing Sabbar Kashur, a 30-year-old delivery man from East Jerusalem, for 18 months. He was convicted of "rape by deception" following a criminal trial that has drawn criticism from across Israel. The court heard accusations that Mr Kashur misled the woman, whose identity has not been disclosed, by introducing himself with the traditionally Jewish name during a chance encounter on a street in central Jerusalem in 2008.

Al Jazeera Blogs: Is being Arab Israel’s criteria for rape? As Gideon Levy, an Israeli commentator, said after the ruling: "I would like to raise just one question with the judge. What if the guy had been a Jew who pretended to be a Muslim and had sex with a Muslim woman? Would he have been convicted of rape? The answer is: of course not." If the definition of democracy is equal rights for all people then surely the selective application of the law against Arabs is just plain racism.

Controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders has said he is forming an international "freedom alliance" to amplify his anti-Muslim message across the West. Mr Wilders will launch the movement later this year in five countries: the United States, Canada, France, Germany and Britain. The aim of the alliance is to end immigration of people from Muslim nations. "The message: 'Stop Islam, defend freedom', is a message that's not only important for the Netherlands but for the whole free Western world," Mr Wilders told the Dutch parliament. The far-right politician identified the five nations as "ripe" for his message as they already have a large number of Muslim immigrants and face a threat from Islamic terrorists.

Wilders and Israel: Wilders lived in Israel for two years during his youth and has visited the country 40 times in the last 25 years. Wilders stated about Israel:

"I have visited many interesting countries in the Middle East – from Syria to Egypt, from Tunisia to Turkey, from Cyprus to Iran – but nowhere did I have the special feeling of solidarity that I always get when I land at Ben Gurion International Airport." Wilders told an audience during the report that "We [in the West] are all Israel". He has also said "Israel is the West's first line of defence" against what he perceives to be a threat posed by Islam. [Wikipedia]

Dutch public TV channel Nederland 2's daily news programme Netwerk reported that numerous American supporters of Israel financially supported Wilders' Party for Freedom (PVV) and openly approved of his message towards Islam and Islamic terrorism. [Wikipedia]

In 1991 Geert Wilders allegedly told the following to M.B. Kwint-de Roos, the lady sitting next to him at a traditional Christmas dinner:

He was in a tipsy told [me] that he was recruited by Israeli intelligence, in Israel and received a harsh education in that context even tortured and that his career not [was handled] by himself but by others. The separation from his first wife and [the marriage with] his current [one] [was arranged] without his intervention. [misdaadjournalist]

She later added in a formal statement that Wilders also has an Israeli passport.

BRUSSELS, (PIC)-- The European campaign to end the Siege on Gaza announced Monday that Freedom Flotilla 2 will be delayed until late September or early October due to expansion in participation from European countries. The campaign noted that the fleet will have extensive media coverage at an unprecedented level, given the number of vessels and the 9,000 and counting international activists from around the world who have requested to participate in the mission. More than thirty-five media organizations have requested to participate in the Freedom Flotilla 2, the Brussels-headquartered campaign said, asserting that it intends to have the largest possible number of media on board to detect any new follies Israel may commit against international peace activists.

An Israeli female soldier admitted in a TV show entitled "soldiers behind the scenes" that she helped once her comrades to kill a Palestinian child in cold blood, but she did not disclose when and where the crime took place. "I was monitoring through the camera at the command center the movements of Palestinian children throwing stones at the army and directing soldiers to move towards the kids, and under my guidance through the walkie-talkie, they killed a Palestinian kid," the soldier said. She added that she, afterwards, received congratulations from the soldiers on the killing of the child and claimed she was shocked by this news and felt her directions were the direct cause of the death of this innocent child. She also confessed that the slain child did not constitute any threat to the heavily-armed soldiers.

Hundreds of Israelis managed to overcome years of bureaucratic battles in only two and a half months – without ever leaving the house. The viral activists used blogs, emails and social networks in order to pressure authorities to connect a Palestinian village to running water. "We wracked our brains over how to reach people beyond the bureaucracy. We thought about the typical Israeli and how to appeal to him, and then decided to open a blog and act through the internet." Ehud Uziel from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel told Ynet. The group, in cooperation with Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights Foundation, launched a blog entitled 'One action a day', with the aim of getting the Palestinian village of al-Tawana, located on Israeli territory south of Mount Hebron, water.

Tonight, Bil'in was subjected to yet another Israeli Occupation Forces terror raid at 1.30 am when an unusually heavy number of IOF soldiers entered the outskirts of the village to arrest a local youth; 17 year old Ahmad Abed Al-Fatah Burnat - which unfortunately was effected. At least twelve jeeps were spotted most of which hovered as backup at the nearby Apartheid-Annexation Wall which coupled with a heavy IOF presence at last Friday's peaceful demonstration - peaceful that is, until the protesters were viciously deluged with salvoes of tear gas as soon as they reached the Wall which the shabab, commendably, fiercely resisted with stones - has given rise to well founded speculation that the IOF are currently blooding new recruits to occupation methods; heavy on violence, light on human rights.

New Israeli citizens may soon be required to swear an oath of loyalty to a "Jewish and democratic " state, a step that has drawn harsh criticism from human rights groups. Israel's Cabinet, which meets tomorrow, is expected to approve this and extend a raft of existing measures that make it harder for Palestinians to achieve citizenship. The wording of the oath, which would apply to new applicants for citizenship, was slammed by Arab advocacy groups, who accused Israel of "racist" policies that attempt to link citizenship to ideology. "It's another step in the direction of getting the Arabs out of Israel," said Uri Avnery, a former MP and founder of the Israeli Gush Shalom peace movement. "Parliament has become a lynching mob."

A recently-revealed tape has shown Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, discussing ways to undermine the Oslo Accords and calling the United States "easy" to manipulate. The video was filmed in 2001, apparently without Netanyahu's knowledge, during a meeting with Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. It aired on Friday night on Israel's Channel 10, and several translations have been posted online. At one point on the tape, Netanyahu threatens a "broad attack" against the Palestinian Authority. "The main thing, first of all, is to hit them. Not just one blow, but blows that are so painful that the price will be too heavy to be borne," Netanyahu said. "A broad attack on the Palestinian Authority." The tape was shot during the early stages of the second intifada, when violence between Israelis and Palestinians was escalating. Netanyahu was speaking with settlers who lost family members to Palestinian attacks. Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister at the time, had recently deployed additional Israeli troops in the West Bank. Netanyahu - who did not hold political office when the recording was made - was dismissive of the United States, calling it easily manipulated.

"I know what America is," Netanyahu said. "America is a thing you can move very easily, move it in the right direction. They won't get in the way."

AWIP/Xymphora: 4 Netanyahu quotes. The National: Netanyahu admits on video he deceived US to destroy Oslo accord.

See Max Blumenthal's shocking footage of the reaction by some Israelis and American Jews in Jerusalem to Obama's speech to the Muslim world. Co-produced by Joseph Dana, aka Ibn Ezra: ibnezra.wordpress.com and Mondoweiss, a blog that covers the Israel-Palestine conflict and the Middle East from a progressive Jewish perspective.

HEBRON, Palestinian Territories — Two Palestinian news photographers were hospitalised on Saturday after being attacked by Israeli troops during a weekly protest in the occupied West Bank, one of them said. An AFP photographer said a soldier hit him in the face and leg with a baton and that another photographer lost his hearing after a stun grenade exploded near his head. The two were covering a weekly demonstration against Israel's controversial separation barrier attended by dozens of Palestinian, foreign and Israeli activists near the southern West Bank town of Beit Umar, outside of Hebron.

4 Bibi quotes from 2001, speaking to illegal settlers, while he thinks the cameras are off:

1) On the proper way to deal with the Palestinians: "beat them up, not once but repeatedly, beat them up so it hurts so badly, until it's unbearable".
2) Discussing whether the Americans would block a large-scale attack on the Palestinians: "I know what America is. America is a thing you can move very easily, move it in the right direction. They won’t get in their way.”
3) “They asked me before the election if I’d honor [the Oslo accords]. I said I would, but … I’m going to interpret the accords in such a way that would allow me to put an end to this galloping forward to the ’67 borders. How did we do it? Nobody said what defined military zones were. Defined military zones are security zones; as far as I’m concerned, the entire Jordan Valley is a defined military zone. Go argue.”
4) Describing how he forced former U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher to agree to allow Israel to unilaterally determine which parts of the West Bank were military zones (note that the Jews have since, under Netanyahu, reclaimed Hebron): "They didn't want to give me that letter so I didn't give them the Hebron agreement [the agreement giving Hebron back to the Palestinians]. I cut the cabinet meeting short and said, 'I'm not signing.' Only when the letter came, during that meeting, to me and to Arafat, did I ratify the Hebron agreement. Why is this important? Because from that moment on, I de facto put an end to the Oslo accords."

Pretty much sums up why there is no peace agreement. Bibi is America's Partner For Peace! PT: Netanyahu Brags About How Easy It Is To Manipulate The United States.

An Israeli man accused of killing four Palestinians has claimed he was encouraged by the Israeli security agency Shin Bet to commit violent acts. Chaim Pearlman's associates have released new recordings of alleged conversations between Pearlman and his handler. The recordings reveal that a Shin Bet agent allegedly tried to persuade Pearlman into assassinating the head of the Islamic Movement in Israel Sheik Ra'ad Salah. Pearlman maintains that he recorded all his conversations with the man and that has 20 hours of recordings. Pearlman was arrested earlier this week. He is suspected of killing four Palestinians and carrying out a series of attacks against other Palestinian victims over the last 12 years. The Shin Bet denied the claim, saying the exchanges recorded in the tapes represented a legitimate method of extracting a confession from a suspect.

Three relatives also wounded in shelling on Gaza border, as family say no rockets were heard being fired before attack. A mother of five was killed by Israeli artillery fire when she went to fetch her two-year-old son from outside her village home close to the "buffer zone" created by Israel along its border with Gaza. Three of her relatives were wounded in the shelling earlier this week, but Red Crescent ambulances were not permitted to reach the family for several hours. According to the woman's husband, Nasser Abu Said, 37, the attack began without warning at about 8.30pm on Tuesday with two shells being fired as the family of 17 sat outside their house in the village of Johar a-Deek. Apart from Nasser and his 65-year-old father, the entire group was women and children. "It was completely quiet, there were no rockets being fired or we wouldn't have been sitting outside," he said, referring to Qassam missiles launched by militants into Israel.

Plan aimed at ridding Israel of any responsibility for Strip calls to lift blockade entirely, rehabilitate Hamas-ruled territory with European assistance. Five years after Israel's unilateral disengagement from Gaza, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has proposed a new plan aimed at ridding Israel of any responsibility for the coastal enclave, the Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported Friday. Lieberman is troubled by the fact that despite the evacuation of all Israeli settlements in Gaza and a full IDF withdrawal, the disengagement was not acknowledged by the international community, which still demands that Israel provide the Strip's residents with their basic necessities.

[Editor's Comment:] This hardly is anything new. The Zionists have been planning for years to sever all connection between the West Bank and Gaza and to continue the illegal squatting activity ("settlements") in the West Bank. Having finished the "legal" framework for the expulsion of Palestinians from the West Bank, they will transfer them all to Gaza. Finally the aggressive Zionists will start squatting within Gaza proper, stealing even this sliver of land, bit by bit. Eventually the desperate Palestinians will be given to choose between jumping into unseaworthy dinghies and fishing boats or be loaded like cattle on to ships requisitioned by the colluding UN.

Passing through the Suez, many of them will be dumped in Al 'Aqabah and forced into camps under the new regime in Jordan. (The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan will be overthrown by the Zionists well ahead of this.) "Festung Europa" will most likely receive none of the remaining, destitute Palestinians. Some will be left to fend for themselves in a hostile Egypt. -Extremely bleak prospects as far as we can tell. Those who keep their silence and do nothing will be complicit in these unforgiveable crimes. The stain on their ignoble souls will be indelible.

I have written extensively in the past about Noam Chomsky and the reasons I an not an admirer of his. My main criticisms of the man can be found in THIS post. He continues to ‘add insult to injury’ every time he opens his mouth lately. He sees himself as a supporter of the Palestinian cause, as an activist. Nothing is further from the truth. At one time he might have been the glorious ‘Knight’ he thinks he is, but his armor has been tarnished beyond recognition. The time is long overdo for him to take it off and stop playing at this game of his.

Xymphora: Up to their old tricks: I think it odd that primitive tribalism is considered to be downright embarrassing in modern society unless the tribesman is Jewish, in which case it is so common, and so expected, we don't even notice.

JERUSALEM (RNS) An Israeli feminist was arrested Monday (July 12) when she carried a Torah scroll at the Western Wall, the holiest site in Judaism. Jerusalem police detained Anat Hoffman, co-founder of the Women of the Wall, for five hours, fined her $1,300 and ordered her to stay away from the Western Wall for 30 days, according to the statement released by Hoffman's group. Hoffman was arrested during a procession from the Wall to Robinson's Arch--a secluded section of the Western Wall where the Israeli Supreme Court permits women to read the Torah. The court ruled that women are prohibited from reading from the Torah at the Wall itself because doing so goes against traditional norms of Jewish prayer and could incite ultra-Orthodox Jews to violence.

EL-ARISH, Egypt — A Libyan ship with aid for Gaza has docked in an Egyptian port after Israel's navy stopped it from reaching the blockaded Palestinian territory. The director of the port of el-Arish, Gamal Abdel Maqsoud, says the ship will unload its cargo Thursday and hand it over to the Red Crescent for delivery to Gaza by land. Israeli missile ships stopped the aid vessel from reaching Gaza, which has been blockaded for three years. The Gadhafi foundation, headed by the son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, said the ship, the Amalthea, left Greece on Saturday carrying 2,000 tons of food and medical supplies. The standoff followed a botched Israeli raid on a similar Gaza-bound ship in May in which nine pro-Palestinian activists were killed. EuroNews: Egypt awaits go-ahead to transfer Gaza ship aid.

A group of journalists has announced that it plans to sue Israel over its deadly raid on a flotilla of aid ships bound for the Gaza Strip in May. Lawyers have already begun preparing lawsuits in several European countries, according to several of the journalists, who met in Istanbul on Wednesday. The group accused Israel of violating international law. One of the nine people killed on board the Mavi Marmara, the main ship, was Cevdet Kulclar, a Turkish journalist. Reporters who were on board the ships say the Israeli government never returned their equipment or passports, and that Israeli soldiers later used their credit cards. An Italian journalist, Manolo Luppichini, told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz in June that his credit card was used to make NIS250 ($65) worth of purchases in Israel.

In a rare move, Israeli courts have punished soldiers involved in the shooting of an unarmed, blindfolded and handcuffed Palestinian in the West Bank village of Ni’ilin. A commander and staff sgt. were found criminally guilty for illegal use of a weapon and inappropriate behavior. The incident, caught on tape by a Palestinian using a camera provided by the Israeli human rights organization Btsleem, took place after one of the weekly demonstrations against the separation wall in Ni’ilin. A soldier is seen firing at a blindfolded and handcuffed Palestinian from very close range. The Palestinian is then seen on the ground in obvious pain. This type of humiliation and punishment is routine in the West Bank however the clear video footage in this case has been difficult for the Israeli court system to ignore.

In their own words, Israeli leaders paint a picture of Israel - born of terror...

Israeli navy boats forced the Libyan aid ship "Hope" to sail to the Egyptian harbor of El-Arish instead of Gaza Strip, Reuters news agency reported on Wednesday. The AFP earlier today quoted Mashallah Zawi, the representative of the Gaddafi Foundation which chartered the vessel, as saying that the solidarity activists on board the ship were adamant on heading to Gaza and that their morale was high. He told the French news agency via satellite phone that the ship stopped at sea for 12 hours due to "technical difficulties". Zawi said that the ship was surrounded by eight navy boats. The international campaign to break the siege on Gaza in a statement on Wednesday morning urged the world community to immediately act to protect the Libyan aid vessel. The world must assume its responsibility in protecting the ship and to enable it to reach Gaza especially when it is on a humanitarian mission. PIC: Egypt blocks entry of Jordanian aid convoy to Gaza.

Washington observers may feel there is no obvious shortage of pro-Israel lobbyists in the city – but a group of leading American conservatives thinks otherwise and has set up a new campaign group to attack President Obama over his "anti-Israel" stance, U.S. website Politico reports. The Emergency Committee for Israel presents a potent combination of Republican Party neoconservatives and Evangelical Christians. The new group’s board includes Weekly Standard Editor William Kristol and Gary Bauer, a former Republican presidential candidate who leads the group American Values, as well as Rachel Abrams, a conservative writer and activist.

A Libyan aid ship bound for the Gaza Strip was stopped and surrounded by four Israeli vessels about 60 kilometers from the Gaza Strip, said Youssef Sawani, director of the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, which organized the aid ship. Sawani spoke in a telephone interview from Libya. BBC: Libyan ship with Gaza aid 'heads to Egypt', Israel says.

PressTV: Israeli Navy surrounds aid vessel. The Israeli Navy reportedly blockades a Libyan-chartered aid vessel which has set sail for the blockaded Gaza Strip, issuing threats against the convoy. "Israeli warships are surrounding and threatening the cargo ship. There is a real threat," said Yussef Sawan, the executive director of the Tripoli-based Gaddafi International Charity and Development Association, AFP reported. The organization tasked the seaborne mission on board the Moldova-flagged cargo ship, Amalthea, to break Tel Aviv's years-long siege of Gaza. The vessel is carrying 12 crewmembers and 2,000 tons of relief supplies from Greece to the impoverished sliver. Communications with the ship are being jammed, Sawan added, pointing at possible electronic obstructions against the humanitarian effort.

ACTION ALERT: MK Haneen Zoubi (BALAD) faces death threats as the Israeli Knesset House Committee votes to revoke her Parliamentary privileges for participating in the Gaza-bound humanitarian aid Flotilla and protesting against the blockade.

The Knesset voted Tuesday to revoke diplomatic privileges from Palestinian-Israeli MK Hanin Zoabi over her participation in the May 31 flotilla, Haaretz reported. With a 34-16 vote in favor of the measure, Zoabi loses three main privileges afforded all members of the Knesset. Most importantly, Zoabi will be barred from leaving the country, which supporters of the measure say will prevent her from fleeing charges that might be brought against her over her actions. Zoabi denounced the vote, accusing her fellow lawmakers of acting purely out of vengeance. "It's not surprising that a country that strips the fundamental rights of its Arab citizens would revoke the privileges of a Knesset member who loyally represents her electorate." Zoabi represents the predominantly Palestinian Balad party and was the first woman representative for her party. Zoabi continued her condemnation, saying the vote represented a dangerous precedent for Israel’s Palestinian citizens. She also accused Israeli legislators of implementing racist laws against the country’s minority Palestinian population. "In a civilized country, the people who incite against and threaten [me] would be punished and have sanctions imposed against them,” Zoabi said in the report. "When you threaten the Arab MKs and the Arabs' protectors, you threaten democracy and co-existence between Jews and Arabs."

Lawyers from 60 countries, including Indonesia, will gather in Istanbul, Turkey, from July 15-16, to prepare a legal suit against Israel for its attack on the Gaza-bound humanitarian flotilla on May 31, Antara news agency reported. There are a number of lawyers from 60 countries who will take legal steps to sue the attackers of Mavi Marmara," Mahendradatta, patron chief of the Indonesian Muslims' Lawyer Team (TPM) said here, Monday. Mahendradatta said he would represent six Indonesians who became victims of the Israeli soldiers' attack, where two Indonesians namely Surya Fachrizal and Oktavianto were injured. The lawyers, among others from Turkey, Britain and other European countries, will sue Israel in international legal forum as well as bilateral forums. TPM, he said would consistently fight the Israeli arrogance.

NAZARETH // It is called Spot and Shoot. Operators sit in front of a TV monitor from which they can control the action with a PlayStation-style joystick. The aim: to kill. Played by: young women serving in the Israeli army.

Spot and Shoot, as it is called by the Israeli military, may look like a video game but the figures on the screen are real people – Palestinians in Gaza – who can be killed with the press of a button on the joystick. The female soldiers, located far away in an operations room, are responsible for aiming and firing remote-controlled machine-guns mounted on watch-towers every few hundred metres along an electronic fence that surrounds Gaza. The system is one of the latest “remote killing” devices developed by Israel’s Rafael armaments company, the former weapons research division of the Israeli army and now a separate governmental firm. Antiwar: Israel’s ‘Spot and Shoot’ System Aims to Perfect Joystick Based Warfare Killing Gazans by Remote Just Got a Lot More Convenient.

On July 7, 2010, at “The Spy Museum,” in Washington, D.C., the IRmep sponsored a panel discussion. It was titled: “Israel’s Nuclear Arsenal: Espionage, Opacity and Future.” One of the speakers was the IRmep’s Director, Grant F. Smith. He is the author of the books, “Spy Trade,” “America’s Defense Line” and “Foreign Agents.” Smith underscored in his remarks that President John F. Kennedy tried to stop Israel from developing nuclear weapons. And, that his brother, Robert F. Kennedy, the then-U. S. Attorney General, had “ordered” a then-leading Israeli front group in this country “to register as a foreign agent.” For background on this event and its sponsor, The Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy, go to: irmep.org/Defaults.asp (29 minutes, 04 seconds) AWIP: Obama backs Israel on nuclear conference.

The IDF is preparing for the forceful interdiction of a Libyan sponsored ship allegedly headed for the Gaza Strip, despite lingering criticism over the handling of the interception of a Gaza-bound flotilla on May 31 in which nine people were killed, military sources told Haaretz yesterday. An internal military probe into the incident released yesterday found only professional mistakes in planning and carrying out the operation against the Mavi Marmara. The Libyan ship could come within range of the Gaza-shore tonight, but at this stage it is still unclear whether its captain will opt to head for the Sinai port of El Arish, where it will instead aim for Gaza. In its official log the ship has El Arish as its destination.

Malaysian Volunteer to Gaza claimed Arsenic poisoned on food by Israel military. Noorazaman Mohd Shamsuddin Lifeline For Gaza Malaysia Mission Chief- http://www.lifeline4gaza.org/

We all know that Israeli made products have the numbers 7 2 9 on the BarCode. We know those are the products to boycott….BUT….. what about American and European products that are sold in Israel….. shouldn’t those companies be boycotted as well? I think YES! Below the image is a list of foreign products that I found in a Jerusalem Supermarket recently….. These companies MUST be boycotted as well. Haaretz: Council approves construction of 32 new homes in East Jerusalem. Salem-News: Meet the Dead of the Mavi Marmara. Palestine Monitor: MK Haneen Zoubi: I Joined The Flotilla To Show Israel Is Not A Democracy. PCATI: Exposed
The Treatment of Palestinian Detainees during Operation “Cast Lead” (Full Text).

Israel's diplomatic and defense establishments will hold several meetings this week on how to contend with what some officials described as a "barrage" of international investigations into Israel's conduct. The most disconcerting among them, officials said, is the United Nations committee charged with examining the credibility of Israel's court system in the wake of the Goldstone report on last winter's conflict in Gaza. Two other international probes are soon set to begin over Israel's May raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla - one appointed by the UN's secretary general and the other by the organization's Human Rights Council. The inquiry into the Israeli court system was decided on at a March meeting of the UNHRC in Geneva as part of its continuing effort to monitor Israel's response to the Goldstone report. The panel is charged with examining the efficiency, independence and professionalism of Israel's court system and its adherence to internationally accepted standards. Some Israeli officials have already begun describing it as "a second Goldstone committee."

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - An Israeli military inquiry found no wrongdoing or negligence in the navy's raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, but said intelligence and operational mistakes led to the deaths of nine Turkish activists. A civilian panel is conducting a separate inquiry into the May 31 raid that triggered an international outcry, strained Israel's relations with its once-close Muslim ally Turkey and forced the Jewish state to ease its land blockade on Gaza. "The inquiry found that on the one hand there were no wrongdoings and no negligences in any fundamental areas during a complicated and complex operation," Giora Eiland, a retired Israeli general who headed the military inquiry said on Monday. "But on the other hand there were mistakes that were made in decisions, including some taken at relatively high levels, which meant that the result was not as had been initially anticipated," Eiland told reporters at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, where he released his report into the incident.

"[I]f Washington initiates war with Iran over the nuclear issue, it will be primarily in response to pressure from Israel and the more Likudnik parts of the pro-Israel community in the United States." Israel wants the U.S. to attack Iran. This is Netanyahu's wish, the wish of his government, above all, and of American Likud promoters and agents. And if it happens, the disaster will have been brought to us by Israel.

Ireland objects to EU-Israel data deal Irish minister for justice Dermott Ahern has confirmed that Dublin is seeking to block a new European Commission initiative that would allow the free transfer of personal data on EU citizens to Israel. The minister's statement over the weekend, reported in Israeli daily Haaretz on Monday (12 July), follows recent media reports that Ireland is concerned the data could be misused after eight fake Irish passports were allegedly used by Israel's intelligence agency Mossad in the assassination of Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh earlier this year. As a result, Irish officials last week called for the scrapping of commission plans to declare Israeli data protection standards as being sufficient to allow the transfer of personal data. Without the formal declaration, the broad transfer of the personal information such as bank and telephone details between the two sides is forbidden. "Personal data provided innocently to Israeli officials by Irish citizens was used in forging passports. Other EU countries, particularly the UK, had similar experiences and that is a matter of the gravest concern." Al-ManarTV: Ireland: Israel Shouldn’t Have Access to Data on European Citizens.

Let us have a dose of reality by remembering that 24,145 Palestinian homes have been demolished by Israel. How many Israeli homes have Palestinians demolished? Answer=Zero! Now let's look at this in the context of other Israeli aggression, shall we? Like the endless bombings in Gaza, more homes destroyed, along with Hospitals, schools and places of worship. Not to mention all those dead civilians and children. How about all the businesses that have had to close, thanks to the evil rogue state? How about all the people who have died needlessly because they can't get out for medical treatment that could easily save their lives? What about the children being born sick due to the chemicals Israel showered down upon the entire population? What about the disfigured and burnt people, or those now confined to life in a wheelchair because their legs are missing, thanks to Israel. This is one big massive ethnic cleansing project, be it removal of homes, death or disfigurement. It's all meant to take land off of Palestinians and reduce their population. Ethnic cleansing by removal or murder. Remember these statistics below, never forget, never stop caring, never stop fighting for justice, never stop working for a free free Palestine!! In addition to the homes demolished by Israel, thousands of Palestinian homes have been destroyed or significantly damaged by Israeli bombing and shelling. On the flip side, while Palestinians have not demolished any Israeli homes, there is one known case of a Palestinian destroying an Israeli home in an explosion.

“Any humanitarian looking at the sheer number of innocent civilians who have lost their homes can only condemn Israel’s house demolition policy as a hugely disproportionate military response by an occupation army... It is a policy that creates only hardship and bitterness, and in the end can only undermine hope for future reconciliation and peace.” – Peter Hansen, Commissioner General of UNRWA

MK Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) said Sunday that the best way to handle the Libyan ship on its way to Gaza with “humanitarian” supplies was to sink it. The ship, he said, was “a threat to Israel's independence. In order to prevent a flood of hundreds of ships and thousands of refugees gathering on our borders, the ship must be sunk. Only thus will these people realize how 'crazy' we are about how we defend our rights. The damage will be short-term, but the benefit will be long-term,” he said. AWIP: Israel warns Gaza-bound Libyan aid ship.

The day after Barack Obama praised Benjamin Netanyahu for easing the blockade of Gaza, the High Court of Justice supported the state's position that a lawyer from the Gaza Strip should not be allowed to leave it so she can study for a master's degree in human rights at Birzeit University in the West Bank. Justices Miriam Naor, Hanan Melcer and Isaac Amit wrote in a ruling they handed down on Wednesday, in the case of 29-year-old Fatma Sharif: "We are not convinced that under the present political and security situation, the personal circumstances [of the petitioner] justify intervention in the decision of the respondent [the defense minister]." Since 2000, Israel has imposed a comprehensive ban on Gaza students who want to study in the West Bank, which has been upheld by the High Court. Even before instituting the formal prohibition, by the 1990s Israel had already imposed various restrictions on travel, which have become ever more stringent and led many Gazans to decide not to study at universities in the West Bank.

The Issue of Territorial Waters: Gaza's Offshore Gas Fields Israel's blockade of Gaza is in large part motivated by the broader issue of control of Gaza's territorial waters, which contain significant reserves of natural gas. What is at stake is the confiscation of Palestinian gas fields and the unilateral de facto declaration of Israeli sovereignty over Gaza's maritime areas. If the blockade were to be broken, Israel's de facto control over Gaza's offshore gas reserves would be jeopardy. The BG licence covers the entire Gazan offshore marine area, which is contiguous to several Israeli offshore gas facilities. (See Map below). It should be noted that 60 percent of the gas reserves along the Gaza-Israel coastline belong to Palestine. The issue of sovereignty over Gaza's gas fields is crucial. From a legal standpoint, the gas reserves belong to Palestine. The BG Group drilled two wells in 2000: Gaza Marine-1 and Gaza Marine-2. Reserves are estimated by British Gas to be of the order of 1.4 trillion cubic feet, valued at approximately 4 billion dollars. These are the figures made public by British Gas. The size of Palestine's gas reserves could be much larger. The death of Yasser Arafat, the election of the Hamas government and the ruin of the Palestinian Authority have enabled Israel to establish de facto control over Gaza's offshore gas reserves.

On July 7, 2010, at "The Spy Museum," in Washington, D.C., the IRmep sponsored a panel discussion. It was titled: "Israel's Nuclear Arsenal: Espionage, Opacity and Future." One of the panelists was Professor John J. Mearsheimer, the co-author of "The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Professor Mearsheimer said: "There is no accountability for Israel on any issue!" He referenced Israel's attack on the USS Liberty, the killing of peace and justice activist Rachel Corrie, and Israel's recent assault on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. For background on this event and its sponsor, The Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy, go to: http://irmep.org/Defaults.asp To view Professor Mearsheimer's full remarks of 25 minutes, 47 seconds, go to: http://vimeo.com/13162351

What more can Assad say that he hasn't already? How long must he knock in vain on Israel's locked door? It couldn't have been spelled out more explicitly, clearly and emphatically. Read and judge for yourselves: "Our position is clear: When Israel returns the entire Golan Heights, of course we will sign a peace agreement with it .... What's the point of peace if the embassy is surrounded by security, if there is no trade and tourism between the two countries? That's not peace. That's a permanent cease-fire agreement. This is what I say to whoever comes to us to talk about the Syrian track: We are interested in a comprehensive peace, i.e., normal relations." What more can Assad say that he hasn't already? How many more times does he have to declare his peaceful intentions before someone wakes up here? How long must he knock in vain on Israel's locked door? And if that were not enough, he also called on Turkey to work to calm the crisis with Israel so it can mediate between Israel and Syria. Israel does not want peace with Syria. Period. It prefers the Golan over peace with one of its biggest and most dangerous enemies.

Israel has issued a warning against a Libyan aid ship en route to the Gaza Strip as part of its bid to hinder pro-Palestinian relief efforts. Tel Aviv lied, saying allowing the ship to go ahead with its mission will have serious consequences for "Israel's security," [nonsense] adding that it will stop [attack] the Libyan aid vessel from entering the impoverished enclave. Al Jazeer/You Tube: New aid ship leaves for Gaza.

Despite the high temperature of 103 degrees (Fahrenheit), Bibi’s ‘welcome’ to New York was quite a cold one as he was greeted by the following….

Hezbollah warned on Saturday that Israel was preparing "something" in Lebanon and that the organization has been on high alert since Israel released aerial images to highlight the militant group's activities close to the Israeli border earlier this week, the London-based Arabic language daily Asharq al-Awsat reported.

Yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu set up another illegal Jewish settlement, this time on the White House lawn. And, it appears, President Obama has agreed to serve as its armed guard. So complete was Obama’s identification with Israel yesterday that he actually referred to Israel as "us" before correcting himself:

"We strongly believe that, given its size, its history, the region that it’s in, and the threats that are leveled against us—against it, that Israel has unique security requirements."

The charity is headed by Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, the second son of the Libyan leader. One month after Israel’s deadly attack on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, a Libya-based charity group is sending another humanitarian convoy to the impoverished enclave to break the Israeli siege. The Tripoli-based Gaddafi International Charity and Development Association will send the aid ship to Gaza from Greece. The Moldova-flagged cargo ship Amalthea is set to leave Lavrio, around 60km (40 miles) south of Athens, on Friday, said the charity, headed by Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

During the weekly protest yesterday in the West Bank village of Nabi Salih, two Israeli demonstrators were violently arrested by IDF soliders. These activists, Matan Cohen and Yonathan Shapria, were standing among a group of children and other Palestinian and Israeli demonstrators when the army made a brash decision to arrest them. After the arrest, the IDF Spokesman’s unit tweeted, “2 arrested rioters in Nabi Salih who attacked an IDF soldier now in Israeli Police custody, the soldier is uninjured”.

The United States has secretly given a "written guarantee" to Israel that obliges Washington to sell Israel nuclear fission materials, Israeli sources say. The materials will be used to "produce electricity," Israeli Army radio, which is an official Israeli news source, reported. Washington has also vowed to "publicly announce" that Israel is a responsible entity and can "contain its capabilities." Haaretz: Obama administration: Israel has right to nuclear capability for deterrence purposes. + Report: Secret document affirms U.S.-Israel nuclear partnership. [In case the report is removed by Ha'aretz, we have also published it here: http://tinyurl.com/32vax68] [Redress News Blog]

[The Irish government] has moved to block a European Commission initiative to allow the transfer to Israel and storage there of sensitive personal data on European citizens. The intervention by Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern reflects “profound concern” over transfers being made following the use of eight fake Irish passports by the alleged Israeli assassins of Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. Dubai police have accused Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad of orchestrating the killing using fraudulent British, French, German and Australian passports along with the fake Irish passports. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement. The commission wanted European governments to approve a declaration that the EU recognises Israeli data protection standards as being sufficient to allow member states to transfer such personal data to Israel. Two days ago, however, Irish officials called for the termination of the procedure under which EU governments were to endorse the commission’s declaration. Without such a declaration, the transfer of personal data to Israel is prohibited.

The corporate media have been given their orders to throw the focus back on to Iran. Here is a recap of what they are trying to make you forget.

Settlements cover 42% of West Bank - Jewish settlements control more than 42% of the West Bank, and much of that land was seized from Palestinian landowners in defiance of an Israeli Supreme Court ban, an Israeli human rights group said. OCCUPIED JERUSALEM – Jewish settlements control more than 42 percent of the West Bank, and much of that land was seized from Palestinian landowners in defiance of an Israeli Supreme Court ban, an Israeli human rights group said Tuesday. The group’s findings echo what other anti-settlement activists have claimed in the past: That settlements have taken over lands far beyond their immediate perimeters, sometimes from private Palestinians. Israel’s settlements have been a much-criticized enterprise throughout the decades and a major obstacle to regional peace efforts. “The extensive geographic-spatial changes that Israel has made in the landscape of the West Bank undermine the negotiations that Israel has conducted for 18 years with the Palestinians and breach its international obligations,” the B’Tselem group said in a summary of its report. Settlers disputed the figures and said the report by the B’Tselem group was politically motivated. Israeli officials had no comment.

"The President emphasized that the conference will only take place if all countries feel confident that they can attend, and that any efforts to single out Israel will make the prospects of convening such a conference unlikely," the statement said. Antiwar: Obama and Netanyahu All Smiles. You Tube: Terrorist Israeli Government is bringing America down and Israel too.

Five European countries have called for the implementation of the United Nations Security Council resolution which calls for the blockade of the Gaza Strip to be lifted. On Monday, the foreign ministers of Italy, France, Germany, Spain, and Britain underlined "the need for a fundamental change of policy leading to a durable solution to the situation in Gaza, in line with the UNSC Resolution 1860," the Italian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, AFP reported. The five countries also said they hoped "the measures announced by the government of Israel will soon be implemented," referring to Tel Aviv's alleged intention to relax its restrictions on the transfer of supplies. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said earlier in the day that the Spanish, French, and Italian foreign ministers would visit Gaza this month to check on the plan.

HAR BRACHA, West Bank — Twice a year, American evangelicals show up at a winery in this Jewish settlement in the hills of ancient Samaria to play a direct role in biblical prophecy, picking grapes and pruning vines. Believing that Christian help for Jewish winemakers here in the occupied West Bank foretells Christ’s second coming, they are recruited by a Tennessee-based charity called HaYovel that invites volunteers “to labor side by side with the people of Israel” and “to share with them a passion for the soon coming jubilee in Yeshua, messiah.” “These people are filled with ideas that this is the Promised Land and their duty is to help the Jews,” said Izdat Said Qadoos of the neighboring Palestinian village. “It is not the Promised Land. It is our land.”

An international inquiry into the Israeli raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla may hurt the Turks – This is the message that US President Barack Obama has conveyed to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish sources told the London-based al-Hayat newspaper. Saturday's report said Obama told Erdogan that "such an inquiry commission may lead to accusations against several passengers on the Marmara ship, or members of the IHH organization and Turkey must know that its request could turn into a double-edged sword." [It has been clear to all and sundry for a while now that the American president is a dishonest broker. We make a note of the fact that he now also is a bag man, delivery boy, if you like, for Israeli threats against a friendly nation and fellow NATO member. It would appear that this is something new in the unending American downward spiral.]

The authors say: "Women felt trapped for fear of death from bombs falling on them or their families in the home, street, or hospital; and from childbirth if a birth attendant was not available or emergency care was not attainable. Midwives expressed their fear of assisting women giving birth under duress, and their lack of preparedness—material and psychological—to attend births outside hospitals. Women came to terms with what they had lived through by focusing on everyday life, as suggested in the writings of Veena Das, and by looking after the survival of their families, which seemed to be essential for reconstructing their fragmented existence." They conclude: "Women expressed the severe trauma they had endured, but also their heroic struggles to give or assist birth, and to survive with their families. These women were living a process of healing while surrounded by destruction, and with nowhere else to go, they had begun to remake their lives."

Turkey has for the first time threatened to break diplomatic ties with Israel over its raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in May. Turkey's foreign minister said a break could only be averted if Israel either apologised or accepted the outcome of an international inquiry into the raid. The Israeli government said it had nothing to apologise for. Ankara curtailed diplomatic relations with Israel after the naval raid, in which nine Turks were killed. Turkey - which until recently was Israel's most important Muslim ally - withdrew its ambassador and demanded that the Israelis issue an apology, agree to a United Nations inquiry and compensate the victims' families. AWIP: No apology for attack on flotilla.

Corrie, a U.S. citizen, was struck and killed in 2003 by a bulldozer as she and other activists tried to prevent the razing of Gaza homes. "We write also to inform you," the Corrie family added, "of the longstanding, U. S. government position that Israel has failed to conduct a thorough, credible and transparent investigation into our daughter’s killing and that after repeated attempts at the highest levels, U.S. officials have been unable to secure such an investigation." Rachel Corrie's parents' then said they believed it was "important that Israel’s raid on the flotilla be investigated independently," adding that "while the Israeli Government has a responsibility to conduct its own internal investigation, our experience leads us to believe that Israel cannot be counted upon to reliably investigate itself." AWIP/Yousef Munayyer: Israel cannot conduct its own investigation. Al Jazeera: The myth of Israeli morality.

In an article on Thursday entitled “Continuity in foreign affairs but questions remain”, Greg Sheridan foreign editor of Murdoch’s Australian, noted appreciatively that Gillard had, to a considerable extent, been “even more courageous than Rudd in staring down the Left of her own party.” Referring to limited criticism of her attendance at the Australia Israel Leadership Forum in 2008, he wrote: “But she defied it and gave a fine address at Jerusalem’s King David Hotel celebrating not only Australia and Israel’s friendship, but also the common values of the two countries.” Sheridan had nothing but praise for Gillard’s backing of Israel’s murderous war on Gaza in 2008-09. As acting prime minister, she “steadfastly, day by day, defended Israel’s right to self defence against overwhelming commentariat hostility”. [...] There is no doubt that Washington would have known of last week’s coup and had vetted Gillard in advance. It also cannot be ruled out that the US had a more direct hand. Interestingly, President Obama twice cancelled visits to Australia this year.

WSWS: The Australian Labor Party coup: a warning to the working class. Gillard is an unelected prime minister heading an illegitimate government lacking any public support for the assault on the social position on the working class it is about to undertake. For these very reasons, she is being urged to trigger an early election, possibly for August, thereby short circuiting any debate on how Rudd was ousted and why. Such an election campaign will take the form of yet another conspiracy against the Australian people, with neither the Labor nor Liberal parties discussing the real agenda they are preparing to implement once the election is over.

[Editor's Comment:] Our guess is that this palace coup may have something to do with the coming cataclysmic war against Iran. Nearly all the pieces are in place by now. Israel & the zionist ruled US are planning massive war crimes -exterminations and cruelties almost unheard of in modern times- even worse than the 1.2 million people they've killed in Iraq so far. A nuclear attack on Iran is part & parcel of their criminal minds. For this they need complicit politicians from wherever they can get them. We think maybe the ousted prime minister, Mr. Rudd, for all his pragmatism and pettiness, still had one human quality left that would have made it difficult if not impossible for the zionists & the neocons so "secure [their] realm": decency. -Decency is the one thing the zionists don't have and importantly, this is the one thing that now stands between them and their political goal. Decent politicians have to go. The bootlicking, toady, sycophantic, the arse-licking, unelected and illegitimate new prime minister, Ms. Gillard, appeared to fit the bill.

One more thing: The Zionist top brass in Israel & the US have been salivating over Tasmania in recent years. They have chosen this beautiful, untouched island to be their last refuge when/if everything else goes awry. They have correctly figured out that for this to ever happen, they need to control Australia. What we do know is that they have been infiltrating "Down Under" for a long time already, probably for this purpose in addition to other, more strategic considerations. We'll find out before long. Hell may break loos any day now.

Israel has ruled out any formal apology for the May 31 attack on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla that left nine Turkish activists dead. In a meeting with Israeli Trade Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer in Brussels on Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu reiterated Ankara's demands that Israel apologize for the deadly attack on the Turkish-owned ship Mavi Marmara, offer compensation to the victims, agree to an international investigation, and end the blockade of Gaza. Ankara, a former ally of Israel, recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv and cancelled military exercises with Israel. It has also twice denied Israel the use of its airspace. The international community condemned the attack on the Freedom Flotilla and several countries summoned Israeli ambassadors. On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the attack, describing it as an act of self-defense. Haaretz: Netanyahu: No apology, no compensation to Turkey over Gaza flotilla.

How Israel is using language to normalise its image lest the world finally wakes up to its racist, supremacist goals. This should help activists combat the verbal and written attacks they are likely to encounter when advocating for Palestine. Download pdf file

Israeli leftists from the Peace Now movement and Meretz political party on Thursday launched a campaign against Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, who recently backed a plan to demolish 22 Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem to make way for a tourist center. Meretz was the only party in Barkat's municipal coalition to vote against the plan, which led the mayor to expel three Meretz city council members from his coalition and fire deputy mayor, Pepe Alalu, also from Meretz. AWIP/Khalid Amayreh: Israel's new master plan Quietly, Israel is preparing the biggest illegal land grab in recent memory, all on Obama's watch. + Israel's ongoing ethnic cleansing.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says Israel is violating international law by expanding its settlements in the occupied Palestinian land, including al-Quds (Jerusalem). “Settlement construction should stop, as should measures which discriminate against Palestinian residents of the city and the ability of Palestinians to access the city,” Ban said on Thursday. He added that Israel's settlement activity also continues in the rest of the West Bank, in contravention of international law and Israel's obligations under the Roadmap — the internationally approved plan for a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict.

Ben-Eliezer denies agreeing to compensate for flotilla injuries. According to a different Turkish paper, Zaman, during the secret meeting between Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Brussels, Davutoglu threatened that Israel-Turkey relations may worsen, with Turkey closing its airspace to commerical flights, as well as military ones, should Israel fail to apologize. Huriyyet reported that Ben-Eliezer signaled that Israel is willing to apologize, and even pay the families of those inured in the IDF raid on the "Mavi Marmara." However, Ben-Eliezer has denied that Israel will compensate those injured on the flotilla. "No one intends to do that, and the minister did not promise anything," Ben-Eliezer's spokesman said.