U.N. Sounds Alarm on Unsecured Uranium Waste in Tajikistan

The United Nations warned Friday that nearly 55 million tonnes of radioactive waste from old Soviet-era uranian mines remain in unsecured sites in northern Tajikistan.

The former Soviet republic, where Stalin's empire once mined uranium to create its first nuclear bomb, is still stuck with about 54.8 million tonnes of unsecured waste from the now mainly abandoned mines, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) said.

The waste is "not treated, not confined, not secured," agency spokesman Jean Rodriguez told reporters in Geneva.

In its second environmental performance report for the country, the U.N. agency lamented the lack of progress made to clean up the radioactive waste, which it said appeared to remain at the same level as in 1990.

"The state of radioactive waste storage is one of the main problems in Tajikistan," it said, noting that a number of the unsecured sites are near Khujand, Tajikistan's second largest city.

The largest single dump site contains 12 million tonnes of radioactive waste and is in the town of Taboshar, north of Khujand, the report showed.

The uranium used when the first Soviet nuclear bomb was successfully tested on August 29, 1949, was extracted in northern Tajikistan.

Uranium from Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan was also processed for decades near Khujand, and 35,000 cubic metres of low-level radioactive waste accumulated there, according to UNECE

The health risks associated with exposure to uranium are well-known. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, sustained exposure can result in kidney damage and an increased risk of cancer.

UNECE praised the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for trying to set up projects to help the country manage its radioactive waste, but stressed that "due to the magnitude of the problem, it is hard to envisage that this issue will be solved in the foreseeable future."

(Source) AFP

Fanatic Lieberman Charged with Breach of Trust, fraud

Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said he will resign after the Israeli attorney general decided to press charges of fraud and breach of trust.

Israeli Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein made his decision yesterday, saying the foreign minister received confidential information on a police investigation against him from the former ambassador to Belarus, who pleaded guilty to the charge in May, according to an e-mailed Justice Ministry statement.

Liberman, 54, heads the second-largest party in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud-led coalition government and struck an agreement with the prime minister to run on a joint ticket in next month’s election. Netanyahu issued a statement by text message yesterday congratulating Liberman on the reduced charges and expressing the hope that he’d be acquitted.

Liberman lives in the Palestinian Occupied Territory of a West Bank settlement and Netanyahu close political ally despite the fact that Lieberman joined the Olmert government.

According to EIR, Lieberman also has strong Russian mafia connections. One of his patrons is Michael Cherney, the other Russian "tycoon" based in Israel, who is also wanted by the Russian authorities. Cherney finances the "Jerusalem Summit," which organizes an annual security conference whose advisory board includes Daniel Pipes and Britain's Baroness Caroline Cox, U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan), and Yuri Shtern, a Knesset member for Yisrael Beitenu.

Israeli FM Weeping for Holocaust, Threaten Europe, Vow to Eliminate the Palestinian People.

Israeli soldiers should respond with lethal force to attempts by Palestinian protesters to harm them, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said on Tuesday.

Liberman also compared international 'silence' on Hamas to Europe’s inaction before and during the Holocaust.

His comments were the harshest response thus far to a number of incidents in the West Bank last week that saw Israeli troops forced to retreat from Palestinian protesters. In Hebron on Thursday, troops were caught in a melee with Palestinian policeman and some 250 other protesters, with one soldier suffering injuries after being punched in the face by a Palestinian policeman.

“It is unacceptable that Palestinian policemen slap and punch soldiers and remain alive,” Liberman told Israel Radio. 

Liberman ignored calls to withdraw to pre-1967 borders from the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, for peace treaty with the Palestinians accusing Europe of ignorance. 

“Europe is ignoring calls to destroy Israel, just as they knew what was happening to the Jews in the 1940s and didn’t exactly do anything about it,” Liberman said.

The foreign minister, playing Samson with Europe, threatened Europe will be next in case anything wrong happens to Israel. “Whoever sacrifices the Jews and Israel today, must understand that they’re next,” he said.

Meretz chairwoman Zahava Gal-on called Liberman’s Holocaust comparison “despicable,” and said that Netanyahu and Liberman were leading Israel deeper and deeper into International isolation.

Hatnua MK Yoel Hasson also slammed Liberman’s comments, which he called “scandalous.”

“It’s a dangerous populist move intended to prop up the far right at the expense of Israel’s good and important ties with its friends,” he said in a statement.

Netanyahu Mocks Legitimate Governance

Netanyahu never met a non-Jew he considered equal, a peace plan he didn't spurn, a law he didn't violate, or truth he didn't turn on its head.

He reveals Israel's true face. He's contemptuous of Palestinians, other Arabs, and Iranians. He considers them subhuman enemies. More on his latest outburst below.

by Stephen Lendman

New York Times columnist Tom Friedman is notoriously pro-Israeli. At the same time, he calls the "far-right group running Israel today so arrogant." He omitted lawless, racist, hawkish, and menacing.

Palestinians wanted liberation and peace for decades. They agreed to relinquish plenty for it. Israel enforces occupation violently. On Saturday, half a million Gazans massed in Gaza City's Kateba Square.

They commemorated Hamas' 25th anniversary. More than 3,000 foreign guests joined them. They came from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Malaysia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Algeria, Britain, and several other European countries.

A main stage was erected for speakers. Two empty chairs were positioned on it symbolically. They represented Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Qassam Brigades head Ahmad Jabari.

Israel murdered them in cold blood. They're two of many Palestinian martyrs. They're lionized as heroes. Rogue killers remain unaccountable. Justice has miles to go.

Political Bureau Chairman Khaled Meshal said occupation never will be recognized. Freedom depends on resistance. He urged regional country support.

He called resistance a means, not an end. He added that "should the world find a means (to) liberate Palestine, liberate Jerusalem, and achieve the right of return without resistance, let them try."

Sixty-four years of trying produced nothing. History teaches that liberation depends on resistance. He vowed to keep working for free Palestine.

Electronic Intifada co-founder Ali Abuninmah discussed one example of how media scoundrels misreport what Hamas leaders say.

The London Observer sister publication to the Guardian misquoted Meshal. It claimed he said:

"We don’t kill Jews because they are Jews. We kill the Zionists because they are conquerors and we will continue to kill anyone who takes our land and our holy places….We will free Jerusalem inch by inch, stone by stone."

He actually said:

"We do not fight the Jews because they are Jews. We fight the Zionist occupiers and aggressors. And we will fight anyone who tries to occupy our lands or attacks us. We fight those who fight us, who attack us, who besiege us, who attack our holy places and our land."

The difference is stark. Fight or struggle for liberation isn't kill. The Observer also called his speech "uncompromising."

Other mainstream reports also distorted his comments. Readers and viewers don't know they're being systematically lied to.

Abuninmah said none reported Meshal saying he welcomes peaceful conflict resolution if world leaders find ways to achieve it. Don't blame us for resisting without it, he added.

"If we found another way without war we would have seized it, but the history of nations shows that there is no victory or liberation without war, without battles, without sacrifice."

As long as Israel, Washington, and other Western nations oppose Hamas, they'll continue to be unjustly vilified.

Prime Minister Ismail Haniyya said liberation depends on Palestinian solidarity and unified resistance. "The power of Gaza is (Palestinian) power." It's ready and willing to continue struggling for freedom and dignity as one nation.

On Sunday, Arab League ministers agreed to provide Palestine hundreds of millions of dollars in aid. Qatari prime minister and Arab League secretary-general Hamad Al Thani criticized failed Quartet efforts. He called for reevaluating its performance and ways to help Palestine.

On December 9, Haaretz headlined "Netanyahu: Palestinians have no intention of compromising with Israel."

Like media scoundrels, he distorted Hamas leaders' comments. He lied, saying they'll never recognize Israel. Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Meshal, Haniyya, and other Hamas officials want peace with dignity, not conflict.

They want decades of lawless occupation and repression ended. They want Palestinian self-determination universally recognized. They want treatment equal to Jews. They'll tolerate nothing less nor should they.

Meshal and Haniyya expressed willingness numerous times to recognize Israel in return for self-determination in peace inside pre-1967 borders. It represents 22% of historic Palestine.

The 1947 UN partition plan gave Palestinians 44%. Jerusalem was declared an international city. Netanyahu said wanting what's rightfully theirs "exposed the true face" of Israel's enemies.

"They have absolutely no intention of compromising with us." Israel's idea of compromise is what it says goes. For over 64 years, virtually all Palestinian rights were spurned.

Compromise isn't in Israel's vocabulary. Netanyahu represents the worst of rogue governance. "They want to destroy the state," he claimed. "They will of course fail. The nation of Israel will overcome these hostile enemies."

Israel is its own worst enemy. It governs through the barrel of a gun. Netanyahu is a world class thug. He gives chutzpah new meaning. He makes lesser rogues almost look respectable. He hastens Israel's demise.

He criticized Abbas for not condemning Meshal's remarks. "The interesting thing is precisely that (Abbas) did not issue a condemnation, not against words calling for Israel's destruction, just as he did not condemn the firing of missiles at Israel."

Meshal and other Hamas officials don't call for Israel's destruction. Israel and media scoundrels claim otherwise. Missiles fired in self-defense are legal and essential.

Israel provokes conflict repeatedly. Past and present rogue Israeli officials call self-defense terrorism. Palestinians are condemned for doing the right thing.

Israel calls naked aggression its divine right. Disbelievers are attacked and killed. Netanyahu is Israel's worst ever leader. He belongs in prison, not high office.

He lied saying Israel "want(s) true peace with (its) neighbors." He attacks Palestinians viciously multiple times daily.

He lied claiming Meshal wants Palestine to have all Israeli territory. He and other Hamas leaders agreed to accept 22% of historic Palestine within pre-1967 borders.

Haaretz lied. It said "Hamas rejects dialogue with Israel." Its "charter calls for the destruction of Israel."

Hamas leaders endorse legitimate negotiations on equal terms. They reject one-way Israeli demands. They want peace, not confrontation and violence. They don't call for Israel's destruction.

Even Haaretz turns truth on its head. It knows better but willfully distorts. If Israel's best broadsheet betrays readers, imagine how low the rest of its major media stoop.

In the mainstream, truth is the rarest commodity. It's mostly targeted head on, misrepresented, and avoided. It's the first casualty of war. It's a weapon of war when used to support it.

Misreporting is virulent censorship by misinformation or omission. It's fundamentally unprincipled and duplicitous. AJ Liebling (1904 - 1963) once said press freedom is "guaranteed only to those who own one."

He added that "people confuse what they read in newpapers (or see on television) with news."

Big Lies launch wars. They also justify unconscionable violence and other lawless acts. Haaretz shares guilt with other scoundrel media. Maybe conscience pangs one day will produce change.

Journalistic ethics and professional conduct stress public trust, credibility, accuracy, truth, avoiding bias, fairness, integrity, independence and accountability.

Nothing short of those qualities measure up. Most Israeli and Western media lack them entirely. Instead of accurate full disclosure, readers, listeners, and viewers are systematically lied to.

Hamas, other resistance groups, and many independent ones fall victim. Fundamental wrongs triumph over right. Things don't change. Innocent people suffer. They deserve better. Hamas and other groups like them want Palestine liberated.

They won't surrender like Fatah did at Oslo and subsequent agreements. Israel got everything it wanted. Palestinians sacrificed all rights.

Conditions are much worse now than earlier. Hamas wants historic wrongs reversed. All oppressed people feel the same way.

On December 6, Al Haq headlined "Gaza Strip: Palestinians Under Continuous Israeli Fire in the Buffer Zone."

Memorandum understanding of ceasefire terms stipulated these attacks would end. Israel committed violations straightaway.

Children are still shot for target practice. Farmers are attacked in their fields. Fishermen are accosted at sea. Some are shot. Others have their vessels damaged or confiscated.

From late November though early December, Al Haq reported numerous lawless Israeli attacks. Gazans are no safer now than before ceasefire terms were agreed.

Israel is a serial violator. Agreed terms called for "facilitating the movements of people, refraining from restricting residents' free movements, and (not) targeting residents in border areas."

Israel "continued to enforce the movement restrictions in place before the ceasefire and did not hesitate to open fire directly on Palestinians in the buffer zone on land and at sea."

Palestinian lives and welfare are as much at risk now as before. They're still terrorized daily. Dozens of West Bank homes are accosted and ransacked pre-dawn. It happens weekly. Residents are arrested. Their crime is praying to the wrong God.

Excessive force is official Israeli policy. So is targeting women, children and infants. Murdering them while they sleep is standard practice. Pillar of Cloud killed dozens for eight days. Over 1,000 were wounded, many seriously.

Fighting slowed but hasn't stopped. Hamas and other resistance groups unilaterally observe truce terms. Expect a greater Israeli provocation to produce a response Netanyahu calls terrorism.

His notion of peace is none at all. His idea of truth is avoid it. His governing style is hardline. His type security is naked aggression. Palestine's liberation has miles to go. It's well worth struggling for.

-###-

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour

PA approves Hamas celebration in West Bank

The Palestinian Authority on Monday granted Hamas permission to mount a 25th anniversary celebration in the West Bank, Ma'an News Agency reported.

The festival, to take place on Thursday, will feature speeches from Hamas leaders. Hamas had earlier approved plans for Fatah, its rival that controls the PA, to celebrate its own anniversary in Gaza.

The most recent sign of reconciliation between the factions follows Fatah's participation in the Gaza version of Hamas's 25th anniversary celebration on Saturday.

(Source) JPost

Abbas urges settlement freeze during talks with Israel

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas urged the Arab League on Sunday, Dec 9, not to withdraw its 2002 peace initiative as he called instead for renewed negotiations with Israel for six months.

He told the League in Doha he would demand that Israel freeze West Bank settlement construction and Jewish building in east Jerusalem during that time.

Abbas’s comments came in response to statements by Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jasem al-Thani, who called on the Arabs to reconsider their 2002 peace initiative.

Abbas’s offer marks the first time that he has placed a time-frame on his consistent call for Israel to halt Jewish building over the pre-1967 line since Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu took office in March 2009. They come on the heels of an Israeli announcement that it plans to build thousands of new settler homes, including the development of E1 in the Ma’aleh Adumim settlement.

Israel has insisted that direct talks with the Palestinians should be held without preconditions.

Abbas issued new conditions for renewed negotiations with Israel at the Doha meeting in Qatar, less than two weeks after the UN General Assembly upgraded the Palestinian status to that of non-member observer state.

Negotiations should start from the point where they ended during the era of former prime minister Ehud Olmert in 2008, Abbas said.

The negotiations would lead to agreement on the core issues and an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines, Abbas told the Arab League.

Abbas and Netanyahu are sharply divided on the issue of the pre-1967 lines, with Israel insisting that any agreement must modify that line to accommodate the settlement blocs. Olmert in contrast had said that a final-status agreement would be based on the pre-1967 line with land swaps.

On Sunday, Abbas told the Arab League that only a full six-month settlement freeze, including Jewish building in east Jerusalem, could jumpstart negotiations.

He told the delegates, “We want to discuss with you a mechanism that would lead to an Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian and Arab territories, including Jerusalem, the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails and halting settlement construction.”

“If this happens, there could be feasible negotiations. Also, we could return to the point where we stopped during the era of Ehud Olmert’s government, when we put all the final-status issues on the table. We reached many understandings on over these issues,” Abbas added.

Abbas said that the two sides reached understandings on the borders, Jerusalem and the refugees.

The PA will not agree to return to the negotiations from point zero, he stressed.

(Source) PanARMENIAN.Net 

Netanyahu sheds crocodile tears: Hamas Wants to Destroy Us

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu referred to Hamas head Khaled Mashaal’s declarations in Gaza during Sunday’s cabinet meeting. “They have no intention of compromising with us,” he said. “They want to destroy us.”

Netanyahu called on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to denounce this. Israeli PM, playing dump, is responsible for launching a military operation, Pillars of Defense, on 14 November for 8 days resulted in killing 190 and around 1,700 others wounded. 

Nevertheless  Israeli PM approved building 3,000 housing unit in expanding Jewish settlements over occupied Palestinian land in response to the latest UN general assembly vote to recognize state of Palestine as an observer member state in the UN. 

Fatah hails Hamas chief Meshaal’s unity calls

The Fatah movement of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Sunday welcomed comments from rival Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal on the need for renewed efforts for reconciliation.

Azzam al-Ahmed, head of Fatah’s central committee and its pointman for reconciliation talks, told AFP that the party “strongly welcomes the speech of Khaled Meshaal, which was very positive on the issue of the Palestinian division.”

“The speech was positive on the issues of one president for the Palestinian people, and one authority and one law, and we do not disagree with him at all on these issues, which are the focus of the reconciliation agreement that was signed by Fatah and Hamas and the other factions to end the division,” he said.

(Source) AFP

Hamas leader calls for 'all Palestine', national unity

Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal rejected ceding "an inch" of Palestinian territory to Israel or recognizing the Jewish state, in a speech in Gaza marking the 25th anniversary of the Islamist group's founding.

"Palestine is our land and nation from the (Mediterranean) sea to the (Jordan) river, from north to south, and we cannot cede an inch or any part of it," he said of the borders currently held by Israel and the Palestinian Authority, at a rally.

"Resistance is the right way to recover our rights, as well as all forms of struggle - political, diplomatic, legal and popular, but all are senseless without resistance," he said.

On Palestinian unity, he said: "We are a single authority, a single reference, and our reference is the PLO, which we want united." He was referring to the Palestine Liberation Organisation which, in the eyes of the international community, is the sole body that purports to speak for all the Palestinian people."

(Source) AFP

Palestinian prisoners' rights activist detained, tortured in Israeli prison

Ayman Nasser (courtesy of Addameer)

Ayman Nasser, a researcher for the Palestinian prisoners’ rights NGO Addameer, has himself become a detainee in an Israeli prison, having been charged with several counts of membership in an illegal organization and of partaking in illegal assembly. According to Physicians

for Human Rights, he has been tortured during his 39-day-long interrogation.

By Haggai Matar 

Nasser, 42, was arrested on October 15 in a nighttime raid by armed soldiers and attack dogs on his house in the village of Saffa in the Ramallah district. According to Physicians for Human Rights, Nasser was taken into custody after a prolonged search in his house and a brief interrogation, during which his wife and four children were held at gunpoint in a different room.

His interrogation by Shin Bet agents went on for 39 days, with sessions lasting up to 20 hours a day, all through which Nasser had his hands tied to the back of the chair and his legs tied to the legs of the chair. Nasser later reported to his lawyers that throughout this period he was held in isolation, he did not receive sufficient medical care for his pain nor for the lapses of disorientation from which he suffered. PHR has so far not been allowed to send an independent doctor to examine Nasser.

About a week ago, the military prosecution filed an indictment with fairly mild accusations against Nasser. The main charge was his alleged membership in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which is considered an illegal organization by Israel. Evidence for this membership is derived from the other four charges, which state that Nasser allegedly assisted in organizing and participating in two “illegal” PFLP rallies in Ramallah, one in support of Palestinian prisoners, and the other in memory of former PFLP leader, Abu-Ali Mustafa, assassinated by Israel in 2001.

Nasser, who works as a researcher for Addameer, rejects accusations of membership in the PFLP, stating that he had no part in the Mustafa rally. He confirmed his participation in the Palestinian Prisoners’ Day rally – which was not a PFLP event but rather a national day of protest and solidarity and has been for quite some time. This year’s rally took place in the midst of a prolonged hunger strike of administrative detainees in Israeli prisons, and marked the start of a new collective hunger strike of more than 1,000 prisoners. Nasser called for all factions of Palestinian society take part in the prisoners’ day.

“The evidence the army has really amounts to nothing,” says Nasser’s attorney Mahmud Hassan. “They have but two main witnesses. One admits to having taken part in planning the Abu Ali Mustafa event, and only says that he consulted Ayman on his planned speech at the rally, which Ayman told him was too extreme. The second witness says he told Ayman about a planned shooting attack (on Israelis, H.M.), for which Ayman yelled at him and told him he mustn’t go through with it.

“This is all they have after a long investigation, when for weeks they got the detention warrant prolonged solely on their statement that they suspected him of armed resistance – even though there is not a shred of evidence of anything like that in the file, and the indictment we now see has no mention of it. So yes, he did participate in the Prisoners’ Day rally, but that is an official national and public event, and who better to go there than a worker from Addammeer?”

In the passing weeks, Addameer and PHR have voiced their concerns that Nasser’s arrest is an assault on human rights defenders, in blatant disregard for international treaties. The two NGOs have for the past year been leading campaigns in support of Palestinian prisoners such as Ayman Sharawni - who is now on the 153rd day of his hunger strike - in the face of multiple hunger strikes within Israeli prisons.

“Ayman is a colleague of ours,” says Amani Dayef from PHR, “perhaps it is easier to pick on an NGO in the West Bank than it is on an Israeli NGO, but it is still an attempt to hinder the struggle for prisoners’ rights. As in other cases, we see how part of the interrogation process is to isolate a detainee from all outside contact, including physicians, and even at the cost of lesser medical care. We plan to file an appeal and demand to allow an outside doctor to see him.”

Nasser’s lawyer has filed an appeal against the latest resolution by the military court to prolong his detention until the end of proceedings. The appeal will be heard on December 17.

The IDF spokesperson unit has directed all questions regarding Nasser to the Shin Bet security service (Shabak), which issued the following response: “Ayman Nasser has been arrested on suspicion of activity within the PFLP. During his interrogation his was examined several times by a physician who found his medical condition allows for further interrogation. Medical instructions given by the examining doctor were followed to the full.

“Nasser’s claims regarding torture have no grounds to stand on! His interrogation was carried in accordance with the law, and he received all the rights which he deserves.

“Following the end of his interrogation Nasser, was and charged with membership in the terrorist organization PFLP, which is an illegal organization, and with offering this organization services and partaking in its rallies. The military court has ordered his detention until the end of legal proceedings.”

(Source)  +972 Magazine

Japan Offers $ 12.5 Million Donation to Palestinian Authority

Palestinian Prime Minister Sallam Fayyad conferred here on Saturday with Japan's ambassador of Palestinian Affaire Junien Matsuura who is also his country's representative in Ramallah.

During the meeting the Japanese official announced that the Japanese government made two donations totaling 12.5 million to help the Palestinian Authority government to improve waste management and buy industrial equipment.

A statement from Japan's representative office to the PA said 800 Million Yen, about 10 million was donated to expand a landfill site in Jericho and buy waste management equipment.

In addition, 200 Million Yen (2.5 million) was donated to the PA to buy industrial products, "including medical equipment and vehicles made by Japanese companies which suffered from the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred in March 2011," the statement said.

Since 1993, Japan offered assistance to the PA totaling 1.25 Billion of which 70 million in donation to the PA in 2011.

(Source) Qatar News Agency

Hamas Weighs to Establish Ministry of Defense

Gaza government plans to organize and develop the Palestinian resistance military capabilities to confront the coming Israeli government which was described to be most fanatic "stupid" extremist Israeli government since establishment of Israel.

In a fire speech laid by minister of interior – Fathi Hammad -  in Gaza Government, Hamas declared it weighs to establish a ministry of defense to develop military capabilities.

In a ceremony to honor Palestinian policemen who were wounded in the latest Israeli assault against the Gaza Strip, Hammad said that the coming Israeli elections in late January will result in an Israeli Government that enjoys the highest rank of stupidity and extremism.

Hammad warned that the next Israeli Government will take far stupid unwise decisions enough for the Palestinians to get ready, and work for it around the clock.

"I call on all Arab and Islamic countries to support the Palestinian resistance with weapons and cash," Hammad said, adding that "we don't need 'Arab Tears' and 'Arab Talks", but we need military support."

The minister called on the Arab world to withdraw their Arabic cash from the European and American Banks, and to be spent on arming the un-armed Palestinians. He also called for general boycott against Israeli and US products.

According to Hammad, money should not be stacked in the banks. He also said that this money belongs to the Muslims around the world, including the poor and civilians who are under threats of discrimination and ethnically cleansing. "This money belongs to God. It's not yours." Hammad said.

Haniyeh thanks Qatar, pledges to liberate all of Palestine

TODAY IN GAZA (Julie Webb-Pullman reports) - At an event in Gaza City today to honour former ministers and departmental heads, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said that the Strip’s Hamas-led government was the first in the region to face the transformation from running an Islamic organisation to running a state, an authority and a people.

Jewish refugees?

With astounding gall, Israel is now claiming that more Jews "fled" Arab countries than Palestinians fled Palestine, writes Saleh Al-Naami

Jawla Levy, 78, who lives in Arad settlement in southern Israel, still remembers the four Jewish Europeans who visited her family that lived in Baghdad in the summer of 1949. Levy told Israel Radio Sunday this
group of Jewish men who spoke fluent Arabic did their best to convince her father -- a leading figure in Iraq's Jewish community at the time -- to help convince Iraqi Jews to emigrate to Israel. Israel was still a nascent state, barely one year old, established in Palestine after the original inhabitants were chased out by Zionist guerrillas.

Levy said her father found it very hard to persuade many Jews to leave Iraq to go to Palestine, and she accused Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, of executing a careful plan to force Jews to leave Iraq by firebombing Jewish synagogues and businesses. This resulted in a mass exodus by Jews from Iraq to the erstwhile Palestine. She added that Mossad recruited Iraqi groups to carry out the attacks to convince Jews that Iraq was not a place they want to be.

Levy's account corresponds with what is stated in books examining Jewish presence in Iraq that documented bombings by Mossad that convinced the Jews to leave. Her testimonial is especially relevant because it comes at a time when the Israeli government launched a broad campaign to rally international support to demand recognition of Jews who emigrated from Arab countries to Israel as refugees -- just as Palestinian refugees. The testimonials of Levy and others confirm that Israel initiated plans to bring Jews into Israel and did not hesitate in using terrorism to achieve this goal.

It is evident that the campaign proposed by Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman fundamentally aims to strip Palestinian refugees of their right to return to the lands they were expelled from. Also, according to Security Council Resolution 194, demanding reparations for losses incurred as a result of the expulsion schemes by Zionist guerrillas before and after the declaration of the Israeli state.

Israel's move is based on painting Eastern Jews who left Arab states after the creation of Israel as "refugees" who were "expelled and dispossessed", which requires the world community to support Israel's position demanding compensation for these "refugees". Israel's former foreign minister and ambassador to Washington Danny Ayalon was appointed to lead the campaign, who suggested it should be called "I am a Jewish refugee." Three Israeli institutions -- the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Pensioner Affairs and the World Jewish Congress -- will cooperate in documenting and gathering data on the properties of those who lived in the Arab world and then immigrated to Israel.

So far, 20,000 cases of migrant Jews have been documented as the three institutions prepare to hold news conferences and international seminars beginning this month to coincide with the UN General Assembly gathering. To make it more believable, the Knesset will also issue laws and regulations obligating Israeli negotiators to include the issue of Jewish "refugees" from Arab states in final negotiations, as a precondition to finalise any peace plan or signing any agreements. This augments a law issued by the Knesset in 2010 stipulating that any final agreement should be linked to resolving the issue of possessions of refugee Jews and their rights as refugees.

Further still, the move also aims to embarrass the "moderate" camp in the Arab world since it demands linking the issue of Jewish "refugees" with the Arab Peace Initiative sponsored by Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah in 2002. That plan proposes the creation of a Palestinian state inside 1967 borders and a return of refugees as prerequisites for normalising relations with Israel. The campaign would mean settling the rights of Jewish immigrants as part of normalising relations, along with targeted moves to integrate the issue of Jewish refugees in talks with all countries as well as the UN, and demanding that countries around the world adopt this issue in new laws and stipulations.

More worrying is that the campaign links the issue of immigrant Jews from Arab countries with the Holocaust and considers their deportation from Arab countries as "genocide," and thus they should be commemorated as victims at Israel's Holocaust and Heroism Memorial. The campaign further claims that the number of Jewish "refugees" exceeds the number of Palestinian refugees, and that they suffered losses worth more than $100 billion. Meanwhile, Israel's publicity machine claims that the land owned by Jewish "refugees" was far greater than the size of Palestine itself.

Supervising these fabricated facts is a US Jewish organisation concerned with the affairs of immigrant Jews that recently claimed that it would create "Justice for Jews in Arab Countries (JJAC)". It has recently established a fund to protect graves, rehabilitate synagogues and recover copies of the Torah located in Arab countries, as well as granting academic scholarships for the study of Jewish presence in Arab countries.

Tawfiq Abu Shumar, a Palestinian researcher and writer, describes the comparison of the issue of Palestinian refugees with Jewish refugees from Arab states as "invalid and baseless". Abu Shumar retorts: "Palestinians left their motherland and possessions and continue to live in exile and Diaspora, while the Jews of the Arab world have seized our homes and possessions and returned to their alleged homeland. What possessions they left behind are far less than the possessions and land they stole from us."

He continued: "Linking Jewish emigration with the Holocaust is provocative to the mind of all humanity; historic documents do not report any massacres of Jews in the Arab world. In fact, many of them still live in several Arab states as respectable citizens. Meanwhile, Arab Jews who immigrated to Israel still have fond memories of the Arab world which hosted them for many years, and did not deport them."

He explained that "many Jews in Israel still hang the portrait of Morocco's King Mohamed V; I have seen it with my own eyes. The Jews of Iraq and Egypt are still sentimental about these two countries and listen to Arabic music and speak Arabic, not Hebrew, at home, and promote Arab culture and arts."

Israel's campaign spurred Abu Shumar to criticise Palestinian institutions responsible for documenting the dilemma of Palestinian refugees. "The multitude of Palestinian refugee institutions, organisations and societies are still incapable of forming comprehensive archives with audio and video footage of the rights of refugees and their descendants, and the ramifications on life and education based on these rights," he said, noting that all these institutions and societies are good for is publishing papers on anniversaries, distributing booklets, maps, portfolios and hot meals. 

Sometimes they would hold a conference without any centralised effort to boost cooperation among refugee bodies to document all the rights of Palestinians with audio, video and document records.

Abu Shumar believes that this a much more worthy endeavour than empty political rhetoric, repetitive party slogans, and disputes over forming governments and ministries on which factions on the Palestinian arena differ.

Israel's fabrications are shamelessly provocative, foolish and superficial because official Zionist records confirm that there was no Jewish "refugee" problem. Zionist records state that the first Israeli prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, decided to bring in Jews from Arab states although the Zionist movement had ruled it out. These documents also state that the founders of the Zionist movement planned to establish the Zionist entity by relying on Western Jews only, but after World War II and what happened to Jews before and during the war, the Zionist movement decided it needed to displace Jews in Arab states in order to enhance the demographic presence of Jews in confronting the Palestinian population.

To this end, Ben-Gurion gave the following orders: First, sending Jewish Orientalists to Arab countries where Jews are present to gather information about them and then convince them to emigrate. Second, when it became apparent to Ben-Gurion that these missions were not as successful as he had hoped, he ordered Mossad to carry out terrorist attacks against Jews in the Arab world, such as booby-trapping and firebombing synagogues and assassinating Jewish leaders in order to terrorise Jews living there to persuade them to escape to the Zionist entity.

Israel is trying by all means to invent ways to justify its noncompliance with the demands of reaching a just political settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and more importantly recognising the right of Palestinian refugees to return to the homeland they were expelled from. "I am a Jewish refugee" campaign is one such attempt.

Charges dropped against pro-Palestinian protesters in Australia

Charges were dismissed against 11 pro-Palestinian protesters in Australia, while five others must wait to find out if they will be penalized for their part in a clash with police.

In dismissing the charges of trespassing and besetting, Magistrate Simon Garnett of the Melbourne Magistrates' Court said Monday that “It cannot be said that it was the actions of the protesters that caused any obstruction, hindering or impediment to members of the public.”

Multiple charges were brought against the 16 protesters, including a Melbourne Jew, following a protest last July outside Max Brenner, a franchise of the Israeli-owned chain of chocolate shops. Three policemen were injured in the protest, which was part of the global boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign.

The protesters claimed that Max Brenner’s parent company, the Strauss Group, engaged in “ongoing ethnic cleansing” by providing food packages to the Israel Defense Forces.

Rob Stary, a lawyer for some of the defendants, was quoted in reports as saying following the dismissals, “This is not Syria or Iraq or Egypt where there is a repression of people. This is Australia, where we should be able to engage in robust debate in these important issues.”

Vashti Kenway, one of the protesters, wrote on a blog Monday that “We have beaten back their attempts to criminalize dissent and their attempts to silence a public pro-Palestine voice in Australia.”

But Peter Wertheim, executive director of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, described it as “disturbing” that the charges of trespassing were dismissed.

“It seems counter-intuitive to suggest that someone has the right to remain on your property, or property you are responsible for controlling, when you order them to leave, merely because they say they are expressing their political views,” he said.

The five defendants charged with assaulting police and resisting arrest will appear in court at a later date.

Israeli Incursion, 3 Palestinians Wounded

http://www.poyi.org/64/15/index.php

Israeli forces carry a cross- border military raid eastern Gaza City. So far, three Palestinians were wounded, including one in critical condition. According to eyewitnesses, Israeli forces penetrated the borders near the industrial zone into the high density populated neighborhood of Al-Shja'iya eastern Gaza City, under heavy fire from artillery machineguns. 

Palestinian medical sources said that an Israeli artillery shell hit a Palestinian civilian car. Palestinian rescue teams managed to take out 3 wounded people from the car. Palestinian medical sources reported that one Palestinian was critically wounded and two others in moderate condition.

The Israeli ongoing cross-border military raid began at early morning hours of today, Thursday 12th July 2012.

Palestinian Collaborators in a New Documentary Film on Al-Aqsa TV

By - Adnan Mustafa

Al-Aqsa satellite channel will broadcast a documentary film that includes confessions of Palestinian collaborators. Tomorrow, Thursday 28^th June 2012, at 8:30 pm (Jerusalem timing) a documentary file about Palestinian collaborators

who participated and helped the Israeli army in assassination of a group of prominent Palestinian leaders like Ismail Abu Shanab  and Ibrahim Al-Maqadma (both were pro-Islamic activists and PhD degree in the Islamic University-Gaza).

According to the attached announcement which was on air several times at the channel, some persons speak about their role in role in the assassination of some Palestinians in addition to how they've been victims of Israeli abuse, and forced to collaborate with the Israeli army.

The collaborators' faces are hidden under dark photo effects , but their voices remain clear. It is uncertain whether they were executed or whether they are still alive in detention. Also, it's not clear whether they will be sentenced to death or they were included in amnesty declaration announced by the Government to those who surrender last year.

Al Qassam: Israel kills two Palestinian minors in cold blood in Gaza

Two Palestinian minors were killed on Tuesday morning 19/6/12 by Israeli military near the Israeli military base of Kesofim east of Deir Al Balah in Central Gaza Strip.

Al Qassam correspondent reported that Israeli military forces opened fire at a group of citizens in the area that led to the killing of the two 16 year-olds, Mohammed Bassam Abu Moa’liq and Yousef At-Tilbani.

He added that medical crews who removed the bodies of the two martyrs said that they were killed in cold blood at short range.

The medical sources in Al Aqsa hospital in Central Gaza said that the two bodies were totally disfigured by shelling them after death, it seems.

Israeli military forces claimed at dawn on Tuesday the kidnapping of two Palestinians after they were shot in east of Al Maghazi refugee camp in Central Gaza Strip.

Recent Israeli escalation against Gaza has resulted in the deaths of six Palestinians: Jihad Abu Shabab, Abdullah Hassan Azanin, Mohammed Shabat, Ismail Abu Odeh, Mohammed Abu Moa’liq and Yousef At-Tilbani.

Source: Gaza.Scoop.ps

Israel Bombs Motorcycle, One Palestinian Killed in Rafah

One Palestinian was killed in the latest Israeli bombing in Gaza Strip raises death tool up to 9 Palestinians killed and 10 others wounded in the last 48 hours.

Israeli Army bombed a motorcycle in the southern city of Rafah killing one Palestinian. Egyptian Representative, Yasser Othman, to the Palestinian authority in Ramallah said Egypt is trying to broker a "calm" to end the

Israeli attacks on Gaza, especially that the latest attack from Egyptian borders was not carried out by Palestinians. 


Othan believes that Israel should seize bombing Gaza before Palestinian factions do the same. 

Pulitzer Prize-Winner Rejects Israeli Translation of Book

Writer Alice Walker says an Israeli publisher can't release a new Hebrew edition of her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "The Color Purple," because of Israel's treatment of the Palestinian people.

Walker said in a letter to Yediot Books that Israel practices apartheid. She says Israel must change its policies before her works can be published there.