Ministry of prisoners holds Fatah responsible on lives of hunger strikers in Jericho

[ 03/12/2010 - 03:33 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- The PA ministry of prisoners in Gaza has held the authority of Fatah in the West Bank fully responsible for the lives of six Palestinian prisoners who went on hunger strike for the tenth day now in the infamous Jericho jail in the West Bank.

In a statement it issued over the matter, the ministry published the names of the hunger strikers, asserting they were maltreated and tortured while in detention.

A year ago, the six kidnapped Palestinians won a ruling from the PA high court dismissing their case and ordering their immediate release, but the PA security refused to implement the court order and kept the six in detention prompting their decision to go on hunger strike till they are released or die for their freedom, the ministry confirmed.

The ministry added that the detainees of the Jericho jail were exposed to incarceration condition worse than the imprisonment conditions in the Israeli jails, explaining that the detainees were maltreated, and denied their right a stroll and exercise.

Furthermore, the ministry said, families of the detainees in the said jail were maltreated and humiliated when they visit their detained sons, quoting the mother of one of the detainees as saying that the prisoners are exposed to slow execution process in the jail.

Relatives of the prisoners asserted that their sons committed no crime or law violation, adding that their sons were tortured and jailed for political reasons for supporting the Islamic Movement in Palestine, adding that many of them were jailed in Israeli jails for many years for the same reasons.

Moreover, the ministry underlined that hundreds of Palestinian citizens were detained and tortured in the PA jails in the West Bank, urging Arab and Muslim countries not to finance the “collaborator” government of Salam Fayyadh, the illegitimate PA prime minister in the West Bank.

Meanwhile, the director of the Jericho jail Tareq Sharbati threatened to break the strike even if half of the hunger strikers are killed, prompting wide criticism from human rights organizations, including the Arab Organization for Human Rights in Britain.

According to organization, the jail administration is launching strong psychological war against the hunger strikers in a bid to end the strike, even by force. The hunger strikers rejected Sharbati’s threats, and insisted on continuing their strike.

According to the Arab organization, international law bans the use of force to break the strike, holding the PA security forces responsible for lives of the six prisoners, urging media outlets to keep the focus on the issue till they are freed and the court order is heeded. It also called on the EU to dispatch fact-finding committee to check what is happening in the Jericho jail.

• Abu Zuhri: Fatah authority crimes in WB reflect total allegiance to IOA
• Prof. Dhouqan goes on hunger strike in Abbas's jail
• Hamas accuses PA, Israel of cooperating to remove it from W. Bank
• Health condition of isolated prisoners worsening due to hunger strike

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“Wikileaks Cable Proves US Controlling STL”

03/12/2010 Day after another, more “secrets” are revealed through the Wikileaks documents recently released, uncovering the “conspiracy” of some Lebanese with the West to target the Resistance.

One of the documents released was focusing on talks between former US ambassador to Lebanon Michele Sison and Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Danielle Bellemare.

The mentioned cable, dated September 2008 and obtained by website WikiLeaks and published by Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, quoted Bellemare as asking then-US ambassador Sison for intelligence information as he was investigating the 2005 assassination of Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. "Bellemare showed a good understanding of the problems associated with complying ... but his frustration was nonetheless evident: 'You are the key player. If the U.S. doesn't help me, who will?,'" read the cable.

According to the member of the Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc MP Hasan Fadlallah, the mentioned cable was a proof that Washington is manipulating the probe. "The information leaked on meetings between the prosecutor general of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the former US ambassador confirms what we have always said, that the US administration is using the court and the investigation committee as a tool to target the resistance," MP Fadlallah told Agence France Presse.

"This is a direct result of the failure of Israel's US-backed military offensives against Lebanon," the Hezbollah MP pointed out.
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Breaking news: Hezbullah foils an Israeli trial to spy on its Telecommunications Network

When discovered by Hezbullah the Israel remotely destroyed their spying device ( Al-Manar TV)

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Operation Cedar Sweep: Lebanon Requests US Reconnaissance Flights over Territories

Local Editor

As-Safir Lebanese daily mentioned that Wikileaks leaked diplomatic cables issued on Thursday revealed secret US spy flights taking place from the UK's Cyprus airbase.

Codenamed "Cedar Sweep", the Lebanese defense ministry had asked Washington to conduct this operation over a period extending from April to August 2008 at least.

This was the phase during which internal political conflict was escalating in Lebanon in light of the Seniora government.

The leaks, by disclosing "espionage" American missions over Lebanon and uncovering the blatant breach of Lebanon's sovereignty, and the compliance of these missions with the daily "Israeli" aerial violations, grew concerns of Britain that the request for reconnaissance flights may have been made by the Lebanese Minister of Defense, rather than the entire Lebanese government.

In addition, while these cables describe the main aim behind the missions of the Cedar Sweep as "fighting terrorism", yet it does not determine the Lebanese areas over which the US flights were conducted over, neither did the cables determine the "terrorist" sides which are the aim of the operation.

The use of RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus for US U2 spy plane missions over locations in Lebanon, prompted an acrimonious series of exchanges between British officials and the US embassy in London, according to the cables released by WikiLeaks.

The then foreign secretary David Miliband said the planes gathered intelligence that was then allegedly passed to the Lebanese authorities to help them "track down Hizbullah, reported the Guardian.

He further stated that in the past, such flights have also been carried out on "Israel's" behalf by the US.

The British Government believed that the Lebanese government is denying statements that it had requested aerial reconnaissance flights.

British Foreign Office official, John Hillman said if the Lebanese government denied the said request, then the British government will face difficulties in exploiting British territories in the Cedar Sweep mission.

Hillman clarified that the Human Rights department in the British Foreign Ministry, has referred that in spite of Lebanon's Defense Ministry's guarantees, it will not exploit the exchanged intelligence information in an illegal way.

Furthermore, Human Rights Watch, and the US Foreign Ministry has documented cases of torture and arbitrary arrest by the Lebanese armed forces.

Hillman stressed that the Human Rights reports will be evaluated by the first of May, referring that the approval on the Cedar Sweep mission had been discussed in the War and Foreign Ministry, and was finally approved by then Minister of State for Middle East Affairs Kim Howells.
 The wikileaks cables also confirmed the presence of data including the scheduled Cedar Sweep reconnaissance mission in the period of 1 May - 31 August 2008, also confirmed that there had been reconnaissance planes covering northern Iraq and Turkey.

On its part, the US Embassy in Britain considered the additional conditions demanded by the British government were "not only burdensome but unrealistic".

US War and Foreign Ministry Officials also tried to convince British counterparts that "Excessive conditions such as described above will hinder, if not obstruct, our co-operative counter-terrorism efforts", as came in the cables, stressing that the British government supports the Seniora government.

The US cables leaked documents also confirmed that the planes used in Cesar Sweep mission were flown from British Royal Air Force Akrotiri base in Cyprus.

Documents refer that the Foreign Office's director general for British war and intelligence, Mariot Leslie, demanded imposing conditions on launching the reconnaissance planes, and differentiated between the normal reconnaissance planes and those seeking for operations that Cedar Sweep mission.


British Foreign Secretary David Miliband (L)
shakes hands with Lebanon's Prime Minister Fouad Siniora
at the government palace in Beirut November 19, 2008.

Leslie referred that the Americans had not been obedient to the conditions agreed upon by both parties, stressing that Cedar Sweep mission flights were operational and concerned with gathering information.

The cable read, in reference to Mariot Leslie, "She explained that because CEDAR SWEEP was an operational flight, as well as intel-related, "all sorts of additional UK legal obligations come into play," including the EU Convention on Human Rights".

In the cable sent on 20 May 2008, Leslie stated that the British government "desperately needs" its Akrotiry base in Cyprus for its intelligence operations, also committing to keeping the base available for the US and France.

On the other hand, Leslie referred that the Cypriots are hypersensitive concerning the British presence on their territories, which could result in turning off the utilities at any time.

Leslie expressed annoyance from John Hillman's stance referred to in the cable sent on May 14, where she confirmed that the British stance"merely meant to lay out that the HMG approval for CEDAR SWEEP was based on the U.S. assurance that the operation had been requested by the Government of Lebanon and was being conducted in a permissive environment", the cable read.

The Wikileaks revealed cables also included one saying that Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr gave "Israel" advice on how to occupy Lebanon.

According to a secret March 2008 conversation revealed in a diplomatic cable revealed by WikiLeaks, Lebanon's Defense Minister Elias Murr told Americans the Lebanese army would stay out of the way if "Israel" tried to wipe out Hizbullah.

"Making clear that he was not responsible for passing messages to "Israel", Murr told us that "Israel" would do well to avoid two things when it comes for Hizbullah," the cable read.

"One, it must not touch the Blue Line or the UNSCR 1701 areas as this will keep Hizbullah out of these areas," the cable read, in reference that the southern Lebanese area are being patrolled by international troops.

"Two, "Israel" cannot bomb bridges and infrastructure in the Christian areas," Murr was cited as saying.

The US cable also added, "Murr is trying to ascertain how long an offensive would be required to clean out Hizbullah... The LAF will move to pre-position food, money, and water with these units so they can stay on their bases when "Israel" comes for Hizbullah - discreetly, Murr added".

"For Murr, the LAF's strategic objective was to survive a three week war ‘completely intact' and able to take over once Hizbullah's militia has been destroyed", the leaks further added.

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The Chilcot Inquiry: Britain’s 9/11 Commission

by Maidhc Ó Cathail / January 5th, 2010

All too often, official inquiries are conducted by the very people who should themselves be under investigation.

In this respect, Britain’s Chilcot Inquiry on the Iraq war bears a distressing similarity to the 9/11 Commission.
In a remarkable symmetry, both inquiries involve a Jewish Zionist historian, who not only advised his country’s leader to go to war against Iraq, but actually provided the ideological justification for that unnecessary war.

Preemptive Wars

Perhaps Philip Zelikow was one of the few people who was not surprised by his appointment as executive director of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, better known as the 9/11 Commission. After all, the Professor of History at the University of Virginia had shown uncanny prescience in foreseeing an event such as 9/11 itself. In 1998, as project director of the Catastrophic Terrorism Group, Zelikow had written:

“An act of catastrophic terrorism that killed thousands or tens of thousands of people … would be a watershed event in America’s history.… Like Pearl Harbor, such an event would divide our past and future into a ‘before’ and ‘after.’”

Yet despite his awareness of an imminent threat of “catastrophic terrorism” against the United States, in the Bush administration Zelikow was instrumental in downgrading the status of the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Richard Clarke.¹ Effectively cutting off his direct access to the President, this prevented Clarke from discussing al-Qaeda with George W. Bush before September 11.

In an even clearer conflict of interest, as a member of Bush’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, Zelikow had authored the 2002 National Security Strategy of the United States. Dubbed the “Bush Doctrine” by the Washington Post’s hawkishly pro-Israeli columnist Charles Krauthammer,² it advocated the necessity of “preemptive war.” Based on a policy first mooted in 1992 by two other Jewish neoconservatives, Paul Wolfowitz and Lewis Libby,³ the Zelikow Doctrine provided the justification for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
While Bush probably believed he was “ridding the world of evil,” Zelikow knew exactly why Iraq was being targeted. In a rare moment of candour, he told an audience at the University of Virginia on September 10, 2002:

“Why would Iraq attack America or use nuclear weapons against us? I’ll tell you what I think the real threat (is) and actually has been since 1990—it’s the threat against Israel. And this is the threat that dare not speak its name, because the Europeans don’t care deeply about that threat, I will tell you frankly. And the American government doesn’t want to lean too hard on it rhetorically, because it is not a popular sell.”
Nevertheless, as executive director of the 9/11 Commission Zelikow did his very best to “sell” the Iraq war to the American people. The first expert witness he called had “no special expertise on the events of September 11,” but that didn’t seem to matter too much. Instead of discussing 9/11, Abraham Sofaer, a board member of the pro-Israeli Koret Foundation, made an impassioned speech in support of the “preemptive war” against Iraq.⁴

An even more controversial “expert” witness called was Laurie Mylroie. Known as the “neocons’ favourite conspiracy theorist,” the American Enterprise Institute scholar had made a career out of seeing the hand of Saddam Hussein behind every anti-American terrorist attack during the previous decade. Her 2000 book, Study of Revenge, in which she laid out her flimsy case against Saddam, acknowledged the assistance of Wolfowitz and Libby, and was blurbed by Richard Perle as “splendid and wholly convincing.”

Exercising a scepticism toward Mylroie’s “batty” theories lacking in much of the media coverage, one of the 9/11 widows lambasted Zelikow for this transparent “sales pitch for the Iraq war.”
Zelikow’s persistent efforts to rewrite the Commission staff’s reports to give the impres
sion of a link between al-Qaeda and Iraq “horrified” some of his staff, many of whom considered him a “White House mole.”⁵ Little did they suspect, however, that Zelikow’s loyalties might lie much further afield.

Humanitarian Wars

If British Prime Minister Gordon Brown were genuinely interested in finding out why his predecessor followed George Bush into the Iraq quagmire, his appointment of Sir Lawrence Freedman to the five-member Chilcot Inquiry was an odd choice. As the political editor of the BBC’s Newsnight programme, Michael Crick, pointed out, “Critics of the war might argue Sir Lawrence was himself one of the causes of the war!”

Crick was referring to a Freedman memo which formed the basis of Tony Blair’s 1999 Chicago speech, “The Doctrine of the International Community.” In what became known as the “Blair Doctrine,” Freedman had offered an answer to the specious question: “When was military action justified for liberal, humanitarian reasons?”

In addition to the Freedman Doctrine’s justification of military intervention in “rogue states” such as Iraq, Freedman has admitted that he “instigated” a pre-war seminar for the British Prime Minister, because he was “aware of misgivings among some specialists in Iraq about the direction of policy.” Clearly, Freedman has no such “misgivings” himself about the illegal invasion of Iraq. It was, he claims, motivated by “rather noble criteria.”⁶

In his recent book, A Choice of Enemies: America Confronts the Middle East, Freedman is dismissive of those who suspect less “noble” motives for the war.

“Another popular theory,” he writes, “is that U.S. foreign policy was effectively hijacked by a group of neoconservatives with a grand design to reshape the Middle East. A conspiratorial version of this theory argues that the aim was to help Israel, by removing a leading rejectionist state from the scene.”
Presumably, the consistency of the prescriptions that runs from Oded Yinon’s “A Strategy for Israel in the 1980s,” through Perle, Feith and Wurmser’s “A Clean Break,” to the so-called “Bush Doctrine” is merely coincidental. Evidently, the learned Professor of War Studies needs to read “The Israeli Origins of the Middle East War Agenda” in Stephen Sniegoski’s　The Transparent Cabal.

Perhaps it is also “conspiratorial,” or worse, to wonder about the media’s hyping a book which obscures why America “confronts” Israel’s enemies in the Middle East, while one which exposes the Zionist agenda gets the silent treatment.⁷ But it certainly is cause for concern when Freedman’s book, which also opts for the euphemism of a “security fence” to describe Israel’s Apartheid Wall, and repeatedly refers to the illegally occupied West Bank as Judea and Samaria,⁸ is given such credence.

Just as the Zelikow-directed 9/11 Commission suppressed evidence that the main motive for the September 11 attacks was American support for Israel,⁹ Freedman’s presence on the Chilcot Inquiry is a clear indication that there will be no inquiry into the role of Zionist insiders in taking Britain to war against Iraq—a country that posed a threat not to British interests but to Israel’s regional hegemony.

1. Philip Shenon, The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation, p. 63. [↩]
2. Charles Krauthammer, “Charlie Gibson’s Gaffe,” Washington Post, September 13, 2008. [↩]
3. “1992 Draft Defense Planning Guidance,” RightWeb, March 12, 2008. [↩]
4. Shenon, p. 104. [↩]
5. Shenon, p. 322, 107. [↩]
6. Richard Ingrams, “The insistent doubts about Chilcot’s tame professor,” The Independent, December 5, 2009. [↩]
7. Paul Gottfried, “The Transparent Cabal,” Taki’s Magazine, September 17, 2008. [↩]
8. Jason Burke, “From Washington to Kabul the hard way,” Guardian, September 21, 2008. [↩]
9. “What motivated the 9/11 Hijackers? See testimony most didn’t,” Representative Press, You Tube video. [↩]

Maidhc Ó Cathail is a freelance writer. His work has been published by Al Jazeera Magazine, Antiwar.com, Dissident Voice, Khaleej Times, Palestine Chronicle and many other publications. Read other articles by Maidhc.

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NGO Monitor Targets Truth for Israel

by Stephen Lendman

Its web site (ngo-monitor.org) says it "was founded to promote accountability, and advance a vigorous discussion on the reports and activities of NGOs claiming to promote moral agendas, such as humanitarian aid and human rights."

In fact, it's a Jerusalem-based pro-Israeli front group, disseminating propaganda and hate, debasing legitimate human rights organizations, independent journalism, and other advocates for truth, equity and justice.

Its director, Gerald Steinberg, is a Bar Ilan University political science professor, a fellow of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, a steering committee member of the Forum on Antisemitism at the Office of the (Israeli) Prime Minister, and various other organizations promoting a pro-Israeli agenda.

His report titled, "Trojan Horse: The Impact of European Government Funding for Israeli NGOs" was jointly prepared with the Institute for Zionist Strategies, headed by Israel Harel, co-founder of the fundamentalist Gush Emunim (Bloc of the Faithful), a militant pro-settlement group, wanting Palestinians dispossessed to provide more land for Jews.

In it, they targeted international NGOs "continu(ing) to exploit moral, legal and humanitarian principles in order to promote political warfare against Israel. Many of the claims in (their) reports are not supported by credible evidence, and reflect double standards. Through this systemic bias regarding Israel, (they've) lost respectability, and the European governments that fund such attacks share responsibility for this abuse."

No matter that respected human rights organizations, jurists, activists, independent journalists, and other critics universally condemn decades of Israeli crimes of war and against humanity, documenting them extensively in articles and detailed reports, calling for accountability.

In September, NOG Monitor (NGOM) published a report titled, "Experts or Ideologues: Systematic Analysis of Human Rights Watch, (HRW)" saying its Israeli/Palestinian conflict coverage:

"shows a consistent pattern of ideological bias, lack of professional qualifications, and unsupported claims based on faulty evidence and analysis. These are then replicated by governments and international organizations, including the United Nations, that adopt these allegations."

HRW called the accusation "misleading," reflecting a "deep misunderstanding of its role." Indeed so given its very mixed record. Too often it's failed to fulfill its mandate to "protect the human rights of people around the world....stand(ing) with victims and activists... upholding political freedom (and) bring(ing) offenders to justice."

Instead, it more often serves imperial interests, mostly America's and why not given its funding from establishment organizations like the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations. Also billionaires like George Soros and Edgar Bronfman, Jr. But even occasional Israeli criticism is too much for NGOM. It tolerates none, attacking truth when it surfaces.

NGOM's War on The Electronic Intifada (EI)

Like Palestine Chronicle, Palestine Telegraph, and similar web sites, EI is an "independent publication committed to comprehensive public education on the question of Palestine, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the economic, political, legal, and human dimensions of Israel's (decades long) occupation of Palestinian territories."

Sooner or later, that dedication is assaulted, recently against EI by NGOM, an attack dog for Israel. On November 30, EI responded in an article titled, "Why NGO Monitor is attacking The Electronic Intifada," saying:

"NGO Monitor has launched a campaign targeting a Dutch foundation's (ICCO) financial support to (EI), accusing the publication among others things of 'anti-Semitism.' " Along with Holocaust denial and other spurious aspersions, it's how Israel vilifies critics.

At issue is an attempt to cut off EI's funding to silence it. "NGO Monitor has pressured the Dutch government, which subsidizes ICCO, to end its support for (EI). (Unsurprisingly), Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal has apparently lent public credence to NGO Monitor's campaign...."

ICCO supplies about one-third of EI's funding. Readers provide the rest besides small amounts from private foundations. Governments provide none.

Criticizing Israel is world journalism's third rail. In EI's case, like others, it's "part of a well-financed, Israeli-government endorsed effort to silence (unfavorable) reporting...." Targeted writers are denounced as anti-Semites, Jewish ones called self-hating. Publications are attacked as "delegitimizers."

Supporting Palestinian sovereignty, the right of return, equity and justice, and campaigns like the global BDS movement (boycott, divestment and sanctions) are heretical for pro-Israeli ideologues.

NGOM is in "the forefront of a campaign to crush internal dissent by Jewish groups in Israel that want to see (its) human rights record improved." Like America, it's appalling with no regard for international law or dozens of UN resolutions condemning or censuring its treatment of Palestinians, deploring it, or demanding, calling on, or urging it ends and the rule of law be enforced. Israel ignores them all, remaining unaccountable.

For its part, NGOM masquerades "as a project concerned with" NGO accountability when, in fact:

"It is a partisan operation that suppresses its perceived ideological adversaries through the sophisticated use of McCarthyite techniques - blacklisting, guilt by association and selective filtering of facts," according to human rights activist/journalist Didi Remez.

On November 6, in the Jerusalem Post, NGOM's Gerald Steinberg and Jason Edelstein headlined, "Turning the tables on BDS," discussing the formation of the Israel Action Network as "a vital resource to combat (anti-Israeli) assaults." Allied with the Jewish Council of Public Affairs (JCPA) and Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), NGOM is part of a deep-pocketed smear campaign to "name and shame the groups that lead and fund demonization."

Key is cutting off their funding to silence them, EI saying it aims "to shut down independent media (like themselves), as well as human rights advocacy groups in Israel," Occupied Palestine, and globally.

In their article, Steinberg and Edelstein "specifically named (EI) and its co-founder and executive director Ali Abunimah, as well as Sabeel, the Palestinian Christian, ecumenical justice and peace movement, and its founder Reverend Naim Ateek, as targets of the campaign."

Early successes were cited in Canada and European countries, governments there cutting funding "for some of the more poisonous NGOs involved in BDS." In other words, those most effectively spreading truth, the kind NGOM declared war on, "abusing terms like 'apartheid,' 'ethnic cleansing,' " or calling for a "one-state solution, meaning the elimination of Israel."

Besides EI, many other organizations have also been attacked, including Amnesty International (AI), HRW, Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, MSF), Adalah, Al-Haq, Mada al-Carmel (Arab Center for Applied Social Research), B'Tselem, Breaking the Silence, HaMoked, the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), and the Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights.

Responding to NGOM, EI said it's "built a global reputation since its founding, and states on its website that 'our views on the conflict are based firmly on universal principles of international law and human rights conventions, and our reporting is built on a solid foundation of documented evidence and careful fact-checking."

The same is true for publications like Palestine Chronicle, Palestine Telegraph, and many other independent voices of truth against hate, lawlessness, and pro-Israeli front groups like NGOM, maliciously spreading propaganda to debase free expression, thought, and dissent, exposing Israeli crimes of war and against humanity.

EI says it's "closely tied to Israel's far-right, its government and military as well as leading anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim activists in the United States."

Its International Advisory Board is a rogue's gallery of warmongers, neocons, and racist Islamophobes, including Alan Dershowitz, Elliott Abrams, James Woolsey, and Elie Weisel, a shameless self-promoter, Holocaust exploiter, and apologist for the most outrageous Israeli crimes.

With greater public awareness producing growing support for Palestine, "Israel's leaders and apologists (like NGOM) are becoming more desperate and unscrupulous than ever," clueless that no matter how great their flack, nothing will deter momentum for peace, equity and justice until inevitably it's achieved, the power of truth in the vanguard promoting it.

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

posted by Steve Lendman @ 2:39 AM  

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Zionist Officer: Carmel Fires Prove “Israel” Learned Nothing from Lebanon July 2006 War

Local Editor 

The pine tree didn’t adapt to the Israeli climate
as much as
the Israelis failed to adapt to the Middle East.
Gilad Atzmon



An official from the Zionist Fire and Rescue Service, which was in charge during the 2006 July war on Lebanon, criticized the Zionist enemy's failure to put off the Carmel fire. He noted serious lack in equipment as well as coordination between the concerned apparatuses.



In a statement to the "Israeli" channel, he Zionist official said "The officials learned nothing from the 2006 July war, where the firemen at the time faced serious problems in controlling the blaze that were set in several areas that were open to missiles.

He also added that during the Second Lebanon War, which exposed how pathetic the civil defense system was, we pointed out the problems we faced, and clearly stated there was a coordination problem between the concerned systems.

On a similar note, Zionist experts and officials acknowledged that "Israel" is not prepared for any war on the different levels, which will be a lot more difficult than past experiences, precisely the July war.

Fire-fighting aircrafts from Britain, Greece and Cyprus landed in "Israel" early Friday, the first arrivals of a planned international aid drive to battle the massive brushfire that has been searing its way through a large area of the Occupied Palestinian territories since Thursday morning.

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Murr Dismisses WikiLeaks Leaks He Spied to US on Hezbollah as “Inaccurate”

03/12/2010 Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr was reportedly giving U.S. diplomats advice to pass on to Israel for any Israeli attack on Hezbollah, the Los Angeles Times quoted a leaked WikiLeaks cable as saying.

"Israel cannot bomb bridges and infrastructure in the Christian areas," Murr was quoted as saying in the cable, sent by a U.S. diplomat to the State Department in Washington.

"The Christians were supporting Israel in 2006 until they started bombing their bridges."

Murr has dismissed the cables as "incomplete and inaccurate."

The cable says United States officials collaborated with Murr to spy on and allow Israel to potentially attack Hezbollah in the weeks that preceded the bloody May 2008 confrontation in Beirut when Hezbollah took control of most of west Beirut.

According to classified U.S. State Department dispatches provided to news organizations by WikiLeaks, the American military flew planes over Lebanon in 2008 to identify Hezbollah positions and provide the information to friendly elements within the Lebanese government, specifically the Ministry of Defense, the Los Angeles Times said.

It said that in a separate American cable, Murr is described as giving American diplomats advice to pass on to Israel for any Israeli attack on Hezbollah and vowing that the Lebanese army would stay out of such a fight.

"Murr is trying to ascertain how long an offensive would be required to clean out Hezbollah," said the March 2008 cable from former U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michele Sison to Washington. The Lebanese army "will move to pre-position food, money, and water with these units so they can stay on their bases when Israel comes for Hezbollah — discreetly, Murr added."

The secret spy plane missions, called "Operation Cedar Sweep," came in several cables dated April and May 2008.

U.S. diplomats complained in the cables that Britain wouldn't allow Americans to stage the flights from an airbase it controls in Cyprus. Britain, U.S. diplomatic officials bristled, wanted assurances that the entire Lebanese Cabinet, which included Hezbollah, and not just Murr had signed off on the missions and that captured Hezbollah members would not be tortured. They also worried that Cypriots would be outraged to learn of the missions and "could turn off the utilities at any time."

The cable depicts him as saying that the Lebanese army's "strategic objective was to survive a three-week war 'completely intact' and able to take over once Hezbollah’s militia has been destroyed."

Murr, according to the leaked documents, reportedly told the Americans that Israel should avoid conducting attacks in southern Lebanon and not "bomb bridges and infrastructure in the Christian areas."

"Murr offered some ideas aimed at avoiding turning the Christian population against Israel when the next war with Hezbollah occurs," Sison recalled. "Murr also outlined his orders to the Lebanese Army when/if Israel invades to counter Hezbollah."

Murr recommended via the U.S. that the Israelis hit Hezbollah rocket locations in east Lebanon's Bekaa Valley and elsewhere.


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Just in case you're still interested in the 'Hariri Tribunal' ....

Via-Friday-Lunch-Club

"... Details on a possible deal remain murky, but several scenarios are possible: Lebanon could request the Security Council to halt STL activities once indictments have been issued, for the sake of domestic stability. It could condition further cooperation with the tribunal on its taking certain steps (e.g., foregoing the option of trials in absentia; agreeing to look into Hizbollah’s “false witnesses” claim or Israeli spy-ring affairs). Or cooperation could continue even as Lebanon expressed serious doubts as to the basis of the STL’s findings.

A compromise should be accompanied by a collective agreement to allow the prime minister to govern more effectively (aka. free hand in running the economy any which way he pleases... Lebanese sources say that will be HARD TO ATTAIN, even if Syria were to sign off on the 'deal') – something he systematically has been prevented from doing..."

Posted by G, Z, or B at 3:33 PM

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Lebanese Defense Minister and Former Minister of Telecommunications were US Informers

Some Lebanese Figures were US Informers

Al-Akhbar Citing Wikileaks:

02/12/2010 Al-Akhbar newspaper started on Thursday to release texts of correspondences between the American embassy in Beirut and the US Department of State in Washington concerning political and security details being published on the Wikileaks website.

“The scandalous details of the meetings that took place between the US ambassador in Lebanon and Former Lebanese Minister of Telecommunications and Lebanese Defense Minister Elias el-Murr unveil they were collaborating with a foreign side like informers instigating against other Lebanese side without limits,” the daily said.

It also revealed that if the list of expenses which was spent by Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman in Beirut was uncovered, “then one can understand the reason behind these officials’ enthusiasm and immoderation in submitting information to the US embassy.”

Al-Akhbar said that these documents prove the extent of politicization in the UN investigation in the assassination of former premier Rafiq Hariri.

“It also proves the internal involvement in the open war on Hezbollah and [Free Patriotic Movement leader] General Michel Aoun and the West’s indifference in anything in Lebanon except what is related with Israel’s security,” it added.

The daily ended up by saying that “who wants to look into these documents should be ready first to accept that the majority of governments in our Arab World are ready to sell anything in order to stay in its power place… and then they tell you about freedom sovereignty and independence.”


********************
In case you missed it:


Meet the Lebanese " Deffence " Ministor


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Wikileaks Shocker: Lebanese Defence Minister Reveals Plan to Stay out of Israel’s Way in Next War

If you haven’t yet seen them, be sure to check out the latest Wikileaks cables released to al-Akhbar, at least one of which is tremendously damning and could have major implications for the Lebanese political scene. (See here for the Lebanon-specific ones).  In the cable mentioned, the Lebanese Minister of Defense Elias al-Murr discusses with U.S. Embassy officials his preparations for an impending war with Israel, which involved sequestering the Lebanese Army in its bases until Hizbullah is destroyed. You should read the entire cable, but I’ll post the juiciest bits below.



Defense Minister Elias al-Murr (R) with
Lebanese President Michel Sleiman.

 What makes this leak especially damning is the fact that al-Murr specifically mentions his meeting with General Michel Sleiman (who, in March 2008, was  still the commander of the Lebanese Army, and not yet the President of Lebanon) and talks about sharing his plans with him.

Today, al-Murr is considered to be one of the President’s key ministers, so it’s quite possible that the toxic nature of this scandal will spread beyond the Ministry of Defense all the way to the Presidential Palace.

There has been a lot of noise over the past few weeks from March 8 circles to the effect that President Sleiman is no longer considered a “consensual” president (because of his support for Hariri’s bid to table the false witness file until after the STL indictment is released).

The Wikileaks scandal is going to provide the perfect excuse  for Hizbullah and Aoun to go on the offensive again against the STL and the March 14 camp. I would not be surprised if Sleiman demands al-Murr’s resignation, just to save his own position.

Anyway, enough from me. The cable is posted below (with my emphasis in bold), and the floor is open.

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18. (S) Making clear that he was not responsible for passing messages to Israel, Murr told us that Israel would do well to avoid two things when it comes for Hizballah. One, it must not touch the Blue Line or the UNSCR 1701 areas as this will keep Hizballah out of these areas. Two, Israel cannot bomb bridges and infrastructure in the Christian areas. The Christians were supporting Israel in 2006 until they started bombing their bridges. If Israel has to bomb all of these places in the Shia areas as a matter of operational concern, that is Hizballah’s problem. According to Murr, this war is not with Lebanon, it is will Hizballah. Murr also told us that the number of overflights recently (reftel B and C) are the highest number since 1982. The last time there were this many overflights was just prior to Israel invading south Lebanon in April 1982, he stated flatly.


19. (S) Murr said that he had summoned LAF Commander General Sleiman to discuss preparations for a Hizballah conflict with Israel on March 7. Murr was especially concerned for members of the 1st and 8th Brigades in the Beka’a valley. Murr thinks that these units will be cut off from LAF HQ support while Israel is conducting operations against Hizballah in the Beka’a. As such, they will have to turn to the local populace for food, water etc. Since the populace is mainly Hizballah supporters, Murr is afraid that these two units could be dragged into the fight, the ultimate disaster that Murr hopes to avoid. As such, Murr is trying to ascertain how long an offensive would be required to clean out Hizballah in the Beka’a. The LAF will move to pre-position food, money, and water with these units so they can stay on their bases when Israel comes for Hizballah–discreetly, Murr added.


20. (S) Murr also gave guidance to Sleiman that the LAF should not get involved “when Israel comes.” This guidance came four days after Sleiman had instructed his officers to be prepared (ref D). Murr told us that he promised Sleiman the political cover for LAF inaction. Murr’s opinion is that an Israeli action against Hizballah would not be a war against Lebanon and that Syria and Iran did not ask Lebanon’s permission to equip Hizballah with its rockets. As such, the LAF has been ordered to not get involved with any fighting and to fulfill a civil defense role, such as humanitarian support, when/if hostilities break out. Murr told us that he would personally speak to the Shia officers in the Army to make sure they understood why the Army was not going to participate. For Murr, the LAF’s strategic objective was to survive a three week war “completely intact” and able to take over once Hizballah’s militia has been destroyed. “I do not want thousands of our soldiers to die for no reason,” Murr declared.


COMMENT


21. (S) Murr’s concern over another Hizballah war with Israel appeared to be genuine. The length of time spent on this topic given the other political machinations in Lebanon during the two and a half hour conversation was indicative of his level of concern. Murr seems intent on ensuring the Army stays out of the way so that Hizballah bears the full weight of an Israeli offensive. While we have noted the increase in Israeli overflights, to include one over downtown Beirut Friday, March 7, we have not seen indications that validate Murr’s concern that an Israeli offensive might be imminent.


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Now meet Marwan Hamadeh, a false witness fabricator, a Former Minister of Telecommunications who opened the doors of Lebanese Telecommunication sector to Mosad.

08BEIRUT523 Date16/04/2008 04:42 OriginEmbassy Beirut ClassificationSECRET//NOFORN Header

SUMMARY

1. (S) Requesting a special meeting with Charge, Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh decried the establishment of a complete fiber optics network by Hizballah throughout Lebanon. The GOL has been sharing this information widely among friends of Lebanon, to include the governments of France, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the UAE.Hamadeh sees only two choices for the GOL: approach the UN Security Council, or use the "cover" of March 14-friendly municipalities to cut the lines. However, he questioned whether the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the Internal Security Forces (ISF) have the "guts" to do so, given that Hizballah already stated to Lebanese security officials that it would view this as equal to an Israeli act of aggression, and would then take action against the GOL. Hamadeh hopes that Saad Hariri, now in Geneva, will return soon to Lebanon so that March 14 can meet to formulate a strategy. End summary.


GOL HAS BEEN SHARING HIZBALLAH FIBER OPTIC MAP, REPORT WIDELY-------------
2. (S) &Iran Telecom is taking over the country!8 were the first words out of the mouth of Minister of Telecommunications Marwan Hamadeh when he met with Charge and Econoff on April 16. He was referring to the discovery of a complete fiber optic system (FiOS) installed by Hizballah throughout Lebanon - reftel. In addition, Hizballah has introduced Wi-Max in Beirut's southern suburbs. Hamadeh pointed out that although Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC) television had run a story the previous night about the Hizballah FiOS network, it was already widely known. The LBC story was not planted by the GOL, nor planned, but in Hamadeh's opinion it was no bad thing to get the story out there. Hamadeh himself has been sharing the news both within the GOL and outside, with &friends,8 which includes the Arab countries, the U.S., France (Sarkozy was &stunned") and Terje Roed-Larsen of the UN. He briefed Bernard Kouchner, Jean-David Levitte, Boris Bouillon and Michel Barnier while in Paris. In Beirut he spoke to Charge Andre Parent of France and Ambassador Abdul Aziz Khoja of Saudi Arabia. Saad Hariri, when he heard, sent a private plane from Saudi Arabia to pick up a copy of the map, which traces in detail the route of the system, to share with Saudi King Abdullah and Intelligence Chief Prince Mukrin bin Abdul-Aziz. PM Siniora briefed the Jordanians and Emiratis, as well as Arab League SYG Amr Musa on the network during his recent trip around the region, Hamadeh confirmed. Within Lebanon Hamadeh says that the first person he told, after the Prime Minister and Druze leader Walid Jumblatt was Maronite Patriarch Sfeir. Hamadeh described the strategic implications of the Hizballah plan, which he says is targeting the Christian areas, despite a denial of that by Hizballah. In addition to Hamadeh and PM Siniora, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt and Defense Minister Michel Murr have been active in the GL information campaign on the network.


INTERFERENCE IN TELECOMS LINKED TO NETWORK
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3. (S) While the confrontation over the FiOS system was taking place with Hizballah, mobile telecommunications were being subject to interference by Syria in the north, Israel in the south and possibly by the UN at sea, according to Hamadeh. The information about Israeli interference was passed &unofficially8 by UNIFIL, since, in a recurring complaint by Hamadeh during the conversation, the LAF has not reported any problems officially. The Syrian interference is similar to that occurring during the Nahr al-Barid fighting, and highlights the ability of the Syrians to communicate within Lebanon through non-Lebanese mobile systems. Because the system in the part of Syria bordering on northern Lebanon is a private company, MTM, Hamadeh believes that they offer political cover to the Syrian government, who he nevertheless believes is behind the problem. Hamadeh views these events as part of the same strategic interference in Lebanon, both internally and externally. Hamadeh has a map that delineates  BEIRUT 00000523 002 OF 004 the interference, in an arc that runs from the north to the south of Lebanon.


MARCH 14 NEEDS TO MEET, BUT SAAD SHOULD BE THERE
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4. (S) Hamadeh said that he, the Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Elias Murr are all danger, but he and Murr will take the biggest risk in exposing the Hizballah FiOS network.
Hamadeh told the PM that he could not assume the risk alone for a showdown with Hizballah. He also used the risk of physical harm as a deterrent with Jumblatt, who wanted to hold a press conference to expose the Hizballah system.
Hamadeh believes that this is a March 14 issue, and cannot be resolved without the participation of Saad Hariri. Hamadeh complained that there has not yet been either a March 14 meeting or a cabinet meeting to discuss this matter. He says he asked for such discussions in a meeting with PM Siniora April 15, and will raise it again when they meet April 16.
Hamadeh also discussed the issue with Larsen, whom he met with recently in Paris, although he did not give Larsen the map. If the GOL decides to raise the issue with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) he will then provide the map, said Hamadeh.


HIZBALLAH RESPONSE - DON'T TOUCH!
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5. (S) Hamadeh reported that LAF G-2 Brigadier General Georges Khoury and ISF Major General Ashraf Rifi saw Wafiq Safa, the Hizballah liaison to the Lebanese intelligence services, together. Khoury asked Safa to take down two parts of the network as a first step; Safa refused. Safa stated that the network is part of Hizballah's ability to defend Lebanon, and that Hizballah would regard any attack on the network as an act of aggression. However, PM Siniora only got a written report from Khoury ten days after the meeting, Hamadeh complained. Even then, the report was unsigned and thus returned to Khoury for signature. According to their report, Hizballah argued that the PM, Hamadeh and Murr are only raising the issue of the FiOS system in order to bring up the issue of Hizballah weapons. Safa stated categorically that the FiOS system is not up for discussion because it is a key part of the Hizballah arsenal. Safa freely acknowledged to Rifi and Khoury that the network exists. It could only be discussed as part of a defense strategy, he said, adding that the network has no commercial or trade implications. He maintained that it does not penetrate the Christian areas.


HIZBALLAH ASSERTIONS UNTRUE
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6. (S) Hamadeh believes both Hizballah assertions to be untrue. He refutes the Hizballah claim that the system exists solely to give them defensive communications throughout the country, saying that there are &centrales8 or hubs in many villages along the route, and no doubt these have lines running off to other villages and residences. He also believes that Hizballah crews are only waiting for the snows in the Christian regions of Metn and Kswaran to melt before completing penetration of these regions from the east.


WORK DONE UNDER VARIOUS FORMS OF COVER
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7. (S) To complete the installations and at the same time stay below the radar, Hamadeh says that Hizballah has used the municipalities to issue local permits. For example, in Sidon they are working under the cover provided by Abdel Rahman Bizri, the mayor. In another case the Ministry of Energy issued a permit for work that was &to reinforce energy lines,8 although Hamadeh says that was clearly not true. Hamadeh says that the whole of the Bekaa valley was done with local permits, and installations were done by different groups, each unaware of what the others were doing.
However, he also says that some of the work was done with the knowledge of resigned Minister of Energy Fneish, a Hizballah member.


DISCOVERY AND REPORT
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8. (S) The first official report was from the region of BEIRUT 00000523 003 OF 004
Chouifat, which reported installation of an unknown fiber optic system, and asked the Minister of the Interior to stop it. No one did anything because, in Hamadeh's opinion, they &had no guts.8 At the time of the earlier exposure of the Hizballah telephone lines running through Beirut, and even along the wall of the French embassy, the GOL asked Hizballah to remove those lines, which Hizballah did, and Hamadeh said that he believed at the time that would be the end of the network in the south. The full Ministry of Telecommunications report on the system was compiled by engineers in the ministry and others, including Shia engineers from the south, who Hamadeh believes could be in great danger because of the report. Once again Hamadeh pointed out that there were no official reports yet from ISF Major General Rifi or LAF G-2 Brigadier General Khoury.


FUNDING FROM IRAN
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9. (S) The current installations, as per the map Hamadeh has given us, shows lines running from Beirut, around both sides of the airport, into the south below the Litani and back up through the Bekaa valley to the far north. It covers the Palestinian camps, and the Hizballah training camps in the Bekaa, and is penetrating deep into the Christian Metn and Ksarwan areas. Although Hamadeh says he has &a few names,8 he did not list the companies who are responsible for the installation, but said that information would be made available shortly. He cited the Iranian Fund for the Reconstruction of Lebanon as the source of the funding. This same group has been rebuilding roads and bridges since the July 2006 war with Israel, and has been accused before of installing telecommunications lines in parallel with new roads. Hamadeh said that he wants to get the list of companies involved and black list them with the GOL.


STRATEGIC VICTORY
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10. (S) Hamadeh highlights the system as a strategic victory for Iran, since it creates an important Iranian outpost in Lebanon, bypassing Syria. He sees the value for the Iranians as strategic, rather than technical or economic.


The value for Hizballah is the final step in creating a nation state.

Hizballah now has an army and weapons; a television station; an education system; hospitals; social services; a financial system; and a telecommunications system. As a sign of its confidence Hizballah official Safa told Khoury and Rifi that any move against the FiOS system would be taken as &an Israeli attack8 and dealt with accordingly. When Khoury and Rifi pointed out that the people in the area might not accept this and might show hostility to Hizballah in this case, Safa replied, &We don't care; we will accept hostile reactions.8 At that point, according to Hamadeh, the GOL decided it needed to inform its friends and make a decision on the next steps to be taken.


HAMADEH PREPARES INTERNAL CAMPAIGN
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11. (S) Meanwhile, Hamadeh is preparing a &very strong8 internal campaign. This campaign, he said, has the potential to &destroy8 Aoun and mobilize Christians, as well as influence those Shia who are already beginning to worry about Hizballah. He is waiting for a March 14 meeting to discuss this campaign. Saad has apparently traveled to London and Geneva this week, and is expected to be back in Riyadh by 4/20. Saad has been out of Lebanon for some several weeks and it is not known when he will return. Hamadeh sees only two choices for the GOL: approach the UN Security Council directly, or take on Hizballah by cutting lines. But do the Lebanese security forces have the "guts" for that, or are they frightened by Safa's statement that those actions would be considered an act of aggression, he wonders.


12. (S) Comment: Last year, when Hamadeh's telecommunications ministry "discovered" the well-known Hizballah telephone system, including the line strung along the wall of the French embassy, he maintained that the GOL would not tolerate the erosion of its "last monopoly" by Hizballah, However, aside from the ceremonial cutting of the French embassy line, there was no further action. This time around, it appears that by sharing as widely as possible the details of the plan, the GOL may hope that someone else will take on the challenge. End cmment.
BEIRUT 00000523 004 OF 004
SISON

Update:

Lebanon defense minister 'offered invasion advice for Israel'

Posted by G, Z, or B at 7:06 AM

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Murr & Hamadeh: "The Wikileaks are 'fabrications' intended to smear us and divert our attention from the struggle against the Israeli enemy!"

AnNahar, of course.

Posted by G, Z, or B at 7:17 AM

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Palestinian property destroyed as Israeli settlements grow

Report, The Electronic Intifada, 2 December 2010

In the Khirbet Yerza village in the Jordan Valley, members of the Anabousy family stand in front of their home one day after it was destroyed by Israeli forces, 25 November. (Anne Paq/ActiveStills)

Israeli bulldozers and armed soldiers implemented a swath of demolitions of Palestinian homes and structures for more than a week in multiple areas across the West Bank including East Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley.

On 24 November, two bulldozers and approximately 200 soldiers swarmed the farming village of Abu al-Ajaj in the Jordan Valley, destroying livestock pens and sheds. Ma'an News Agency reported that the demolition came two weeks after the state confiscated village land in preparation for the expansion of a nearby illegal Israeli settlement colony ("More Bedouin structures demolished in Jordan Valley," 24 November 2010).

The Jordan Valley Solidarity (JVS) group, a network of Palestinian grassroots community organizations from all over the Jordan Valley, stated that several baby goats were killed and Israeli settlers accompanied the soldiers as the bulldozers razed the land. "Both [the soldiers and the settlers] laughed and cheered as the destruction took place," the group reported in a news release ("The occupation forces demolished 4 barracks in the Jordan Valley," 24 November 2010).

JVS added that an Israeli court declared a settlement expansion freeze for the nearby settlement of Massua, but the destruction happened nevertheless, and the settlers are intent on building despite the freeze. "Five years ago the settlement started to expand onto a small piece of land that belongs to the Bedouin community," JVS reported. "Since then, settlers haven't stopped grabbing land from the Palestinian shepherds."

Most of the Jordan Valley is located in Area C, an area which comprises 60 percent of the West Bank. Under the Oslo accords signed by Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in the mid-1990s, the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip were carved up into areas A, B and C, the latter of which indicates full Israeli control. Under the Oslo regulations, Area C, which includes East Jerusalem, is administered and controlled by the Israeli government and its military. Approximately 40,000 Palestinians live in Area C.

Also on 24 November, dozens of villagers in Bani Hassan attempted to fight back against Israeli troops as bulldozers razed the village, which is near the Palestinian town of Salfit and the illegal Ariel settlement bloc. Agricultural land and land reclamation equipment was demolished, according to a report published by Ma'an ("Israel bulldozes PA-backed projects," 24 November 2010). At the same time, near Bani Hassan in the Wadi Qana area, Ma'an reported that crews from the Israeli Civil Administration and the Society for Protecting Nature in Israel "arrived with bulldozers which demolished the Wadi Qana rehabilitation project, [costing] the Palestinian finance ministry $120,000 US." A water canal was destroyed, as were parts of a reservoir and agricultural irrigation systems.

On the same day, in East Jerusalem, dozens of Israeli police flanked a bulldozer in the at-Tur neighborhood near the Mount of Olives as it destroyed the home of Abed Zablah. A father of five, Zablah had obtained a court order to halt the demolition of his home earlier in the day, according to a report by Agence France Presse. But by the time he had returned home from the court, Israeli forces had already leveled his house ("Israel razes Palestinian home in E. Jerusalem," 24 November, 2010).

Al-Araqib destroyed for seventh time

Days earlier, Israeli forces once again demolished the Palestinian Bedouin village of al-Araqib in the Naqab (Negev) desert on 22 November, the seventh time since July 2010. In a press release, human rights group Amnesty International stated that "at least 50 of the 250 residents of al-Araqib village are again living in the ruins of their homes, attempting to rebuild them. Others are camping in tents in the village cemetery ("Israel condemned over Bedouin village demolition," 25 November 2010).

Amnesty International added, "[a]s in previous demolitions, no eviction or demolition order was presented to the inhabitants. Israeli authorities have previously detained residents and their supporters when they demanded to see a demolition order ... Israeli media reported in early 2010 that the government had decided to triple the demolition rate of Bedouin constructions in the Negev. As the government does not recognize the villagers' land tenure, it maintains that their settlements are illegal."

The village of al-Araqib was razed to the ground on 27 July 2010, when approximately 1,000 Israeli riot police raided the area as dozens of homes were destroyed. Villagers who returned to their land constructed shelters after the July demolition, but those were destroyed again on 4 August, 10 August, 17 August, 13 September, 13 October, and last week. Amnesty International admonished the Israeli government in its press statement. Philip Luther, Amnesty's Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said: "We condemn these repeated demolitions that aim to forcibly evict the residents of al-Araqib from the land they have on lived for generations ... The fact that the village has been demolished seven times in four months shows that this is not some administrative mistake but a conscious Israeli government policy of dispossession."

A home in al-Isawiyye after it was destroyed by Israeli forces on 30 November. (Anne Paq/ActiveStills)

East Jerusalem

Meanwhile, in East Jerusalem on 22 November, bulldozers destroyed buildings in al-Isawiyye and Hizma. According to the same report by Amnesty International, livestock pens and small homes used by farmers were demolished.

The next morning in the Jabal Mukkaber neighborhood, also in Jerusalem, Israeli police evicted a Palestinian family from their home, following a court ruling that declared the home to be owned by Jewish settlers.

The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) stated that immediately after evicting the Qarain family, Israeli police handed the building over to settlers affiliated with the Elad settlement financing organization.

"The settler group is currently undertaking work on the premises to fortify the building," stated ICAHD in its report ("Palestinian family forcibly evicted in Jabal Mukkaber," 24 November 2010). "Elad's activities focus on moving extremist national-religious settlers into the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods in areas encircling the Old City, and particularly those neighborhoods which form the last contiguous Palestinian fabric of Jerusalem, connecting the West Bank with the Old City. This area has been eyed as a future Palestinian capital since peace negotiations in the mid-'90s, and includes the neighborhoods of Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan, Ras al-Amud and Jabal Mukkaber."

ICAHD stated that the grounds for eviction of the Qarain family "remain unclear."

"Regardless of the Israeli court order, any transfer of Israeli civilians into occupied East Jerusalem remains a clear breach of international law which absolutely prohibits the transfer of civilians into occupied territory, regardless of the method used to gain the property," the ICAHD report added.

A week later, on 30 November, Israeli forces demolished yet another home in al-Isawiyye. Jerusalem municipal bulldozers, escorted by border guards and police, destroyed a home and a printing shop, according to Ma'an News Agency. Protesters were attacked by police, who shot tear gas ("Bulldozers demolish home, workshop in Jerusalem," 30 November 2010).

Southern West Bank and northern Jordan Valley

On 25 November, the wave of demolitions continued in the southern West Bank and the northern Jordan Valley area. The Popular Struggle Coordination Committee (PSCC) released a report stating that Israeli forces raided the village of al-Rifayaia, east of Yatta in the south Hebron hills, where they demolished a 250-meter house. PSCC said the house was home to two families of twenty persons, 16 of them minors ("Israeli forces demolish mosque as West Bank demolitions wave continues for the second day in a row," 25 November 2010).

PSCC reported that hours before the al-Rifayaia demolitions, Israeli bulldozers destroyed four homes, three animal shelters and a recently-renovated mosque in Khirbet Yerza, home to more than 120 individuals. The Jordan Valley Solidarity group added that the area is "highly militarized with three military camps including Samrah, Almaleh and Kopra camp. In the past, the community has faced constant military harassment. As a result, most of the homes in the area had received demolition orders ("New demolitions in the Jordan Valley," 25 November 2010).

And on 29 November, Israeli forces handed out demolition orders to a mosque and the owners of two homes in the al-Masara village near Bethlehem. Ma'an News Agency reported that six military jeeps raided the village and took photographs of the mosque and the homes ("Israel hands demolition orders to village mosque, homes," 29 November 2010).

While Israel continued its policies of frequent demolition of Palestinian property, a settlement colony in East Jerusalem announced new construction of Jewish-only housing units.

According to a report by the Alternative Information Center in Jerusalem, Israel approved a plan to expand the settlement of Gilo, near Bethlehem, which will add 130 housing units on land in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Safafa ("130 new housing units approved in East Jerusalem settlement of Gilo," 30 November 2010).

In an address to the United Nations marking the 33rd annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon declared on 29 November that Israel's resumption of settlement expansion was a "serious blow to the credibility of the political process," and that the state was obligated to cease settlement activity under international law ("Secretary-General's message on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People," 29 November 2010).