16 Apr - Early Op-Eds

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Europe Imports Torture From US
By David Cronin

BRUSSELS, Apr 14, 2010 (IPS) - A U.S. company has admitted for the first time that it exports equipment designed to inflict pain on prisoners to Europe.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51033

Hill: What Americans get in return for their taxes
http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2010-04-15/blog/a-more-perfect-union/hill-what-americans-get-in-return-for-their-taxes
A few years ago, an American acquaintance of mine who lives in Sweden told me that, quite by chance, he and his Swedish wife were in New York City and ended up sharing a limousine to the theater district with a southern U.S. senator and his wife. This senator, a conservative, anti-tax Democrat, asked my acquaintance about Sweden and swaggeringly commented about “all those taxes the Swedes pay.” To which this American replied, “The problem with Americans and their taxes is that we get nothing for them.” He then went on to tell the senator about the comprehensive level of services and benefits that Swedes receive.

“If Americans knew what Swedes receive for their taxes, we would probably riot,” he told the senator. The rest of the ride to the theater district was unsurprisingly quiet.

The fact is, in return for their taxes, Europeans are receiving a generous support system for families and individuals for which Americans must pay exorbitantly, out-of-pocket, if we are to receive it at all. That includes quality health care for every single person, the average cost of which is about half of what Americans pay, even as various studies show that Europeans achieve healthier results.

But that’s not all. In return for their taxes, Europeans also are receiving affordable child care, a decent retirement pension, free or inexpensive university education, job retraining, paid sick leave, paid parental leave, ample vacations, affordable housing, senior care, efficient mass transportation and more. In order to receive the same level of benefits as Europeans, most Americans fork out a ton of money in out-of-pocket payments, in addition to our taxes.

Barber: Who gets squelched when it comes to education?
http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2010-04-01/columns/barber-who-gets-squelched-when-it-comes-to-education
The Ninth District ruled that the Scottsdale [Arizona] Unified School District had discriminated against Joseph J. Hills, who ran a Christian summer camp that included courses called “Bible Heroes” and “Bible tales,” despite allowing other nonprofit organizations to advertise their summer camps through the school system.

Box Harvests Water in the Driest Places 

http://news.discovery.com/tech/box-harvests-water-in-the-driest-places.html

Last fall, a community in Peru began using nets to collect the water from fog, which they could then use for farming instead of shelling out additional money for municipal water.
Now, according to a piece by Jim Witkin in the New York Times Green Inc. blog, a prototype for a "water battery" promises to work similar wonders in the desert.
Dutch entrepreneur Pieter Hoff retired from exporting flowers and turned to invention. His Groasis Waterboxx is basically a 20-inch by 10-inch polypropylene box that captures water from the air. Somehow this escaped the Times, but the inspiration for this box is actually...bird poop. Yep. It's modeled after the way excrement protects seeds that birds have digested, providing humidity and shelter from the elements so they can grow.

 Pro-Life Killers

By Mary Hamer

http://www.countercurrents.org/hamer150410.htm
 *PRO-LIFE is a FALSE CLAIM: This essay is about the False claim humans make in stating that they are: Pro-Life. Homo Sapiens are Not Pro-Life, they are Pro-Life Killers. My mission statement is to break the Code of silence that humans hide behind: Humans pretend that they are the Superior species -- when the truth is that Humans are a Violent species – Humans are violent to other humans, to animals & the Earth. We say we are Pro-Life: As we eat a hamburger, we swear at a motorist, we slap our children, we throw a pop bottle out the window and we grab our guns & go hunting to shoot a deer – Where is the logic in this kind of Pro-Life thinking? Humans kill & they kill & they kill – whether it be physical killing of a living being, killing of an ecosystem or spiritual killing.

Palestine Today News - Yahoo! group news
Ethnic cleansing/Settlement/Destruction of Land and Property
*'Settlers' desecrate W Bank
mosque*<http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/04/2010414111011560524.html>
Officials say graffiti scrawled on walls of mosque in Huwara near Nablus.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/04/2010414111011560524.html

*Report: Israel destroys Bedouin tents,
huts*<http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=276242>
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israeli police and Israel Land Authority officials
destroyed dozens of tents and huts belonging to Bedouin families in the
Negev, the Association for the Support and Defense of Bedouins' Rights in
Israel said. The demolitions were carried on the families' lands in the
Al-Arakib and Tawil Abu Jarwal area, the association said, adding that
eviction orders were stuck on additional dwellings.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=276242

*Israel resumes demolishing Palestinian homes in O.
Jerusalem*<http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7TAvvsdpNafd0kuWUNZkDZ1KIVkvT%2faIXt5gJjHJrRqS2GpaE442l45UH91mZTBFoGw1A4nRIAekt%2f%2bpEtvBHEsUkhlX8uwtMbEZGBDP69qg%3d>
The Israeli municipal council in Jerusalem declared its intention to resume
on Wednesday the demolition of Palestinian homes at the pretext of
unlicensed construction in all areas of the holy city.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7TAvvsdpNafd0kuWUNZkDZ1KIVkvT%2faIXt5gJjHJrRqS2GpaE442l45UH91mZTBFoGw1A4nRIAekt%2f%2bpEtvBHEsUkhlX8uwtMbEZGBDP69qg%3d

*Israel demolishes a house in West
Bank*<http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/west-bank/5465-israel-demloishes-a-house-in-west-bank>
April 14, (Pal Telegraph) The Israeli occupation force demolishes a house
under construction and a number of greenhouses in the village of “Hares”
north of Salfit. Local sources in the village reported that the Israeli
occupation forces, accompanied by a number of bulldozers, stormed the
village in the early morning hours today, and demolished the house of Maher
Hassan Odeh, 40, which is a two-storey house under construction sitting on
140 square meters, without a permit. Bulldozers also demolished a number of
agricultural greenhouses west of the village, owned by David Ghannam,
without a permit.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/west-bank/5465-israel-demloishes-a-house-in-west-bank

*Israeli Forces Demolish three houses in the West
Bank*<http://www.imemc.org/article/58440>
Israeli military demolished three houses in the West Bank on Wednesday in
Al-Khader and Beit Sahour near Bethlehem and the village of Hares near
Salfit.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58440

*Arrests and eviction orders in Sheikh
Jarrah*<http://palestinenote.com/cs/blogs/blogs/archive/2010/04/14/arrests-and-eviction-orders-in-sheikh-jarrah.aspx>
Jerusalem - about 200 people took part in the weekly protest against the
Jewish colonization of Sheikh Jerrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem. Among
them were New Israel Fund President Naomi Hazan, former Knesset speaker
Avrum Burg, and author David Grossman. During the protest, several
activists, among them Grossman, marched near the area of the four houses
already occupied by settlers. Four protesters were arrested. Throughout the
rest of the demonstration activists occasionally tried to break into the
closed area and were pushed back, somewhat violently, by police and border
police forces.
http://palestinenote.com/cs/blogs/blogs/archive/2010/04/14/arrests-and-eviction-orders-in-sheikh-jarrah.aspx

*Jerusalem Mayor Wants More Palestinian Homes Demolished
*<http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/west-bank/5471-jerusalem-mayor-wants-more-palestinian-homes-demolished>
Palestine, April 14, 2010 (Pal Telegraph, by Saed Bannoura) - Jerusalem
Mayor, Nir Barkat, issued orders instructing municipality engineers to
demolish more Palestinian homes at a number of neighborhoods in Silwan town
in East Jerusalem.
The municipality will start the demolishing of Palestinian homes in Silwan
on Wednesday and could also demolish homes in other Arab neighborhoods.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/west-bank/5471-jerusalem-mayor-wants-more-palestinian-homes-demolished

*Israeli Demolition Campaign in Tree Towns Across the West
Bank*<http://palsolidarity.org/2010/04/12031?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+palsolidarity+%28International+Solidarity+Movement%29>
In an aggravation of Israeli policy of home demolitions, a house and two
shops were razed in the Central West Bank village of Hares this morning. An
additional house was reduced to rubble in the village of alKhadder, West of
Bethlehem and a 1,000 square meters factory was demolished in the town Beit
Sahour.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/04/12031?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+palsolidarity+%28International+Solidarity+Movement%29

*On Pathological Lies, Murdering the Dead, and a Museum of
Hate*<http://mohannadelkhairy.blogspot.com/2010/04/on-pathological-lies-murdering-dead-and.html>
“Mohannad, even the dead do not rest in peace in Occupied Palestine”, my
father tells me as we discuss Zionism’s latest criminal exertion. The
Israeli government, in partnership with the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC)
based in Los Angeles, is planning the destruction and desecration of the
ancient Ma’man Allah (God Worship) Cemetery in Jerusalem, also known as
Mamilla Cemetery, to build a “Museum of Tolerance” named the Centre of
‘Human Dignity’ in its place. The cemetery has been a Muslim burial ground
since the 7th century AD; some of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuH)’s companions
are reportedly buried there.
http://mohannadelkhairy.blogspot.com/2010/04/on-pathological-lies-murdering-dead-and.html

*The right to deport* < http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1162980.html>
Amira Hass - Haaretz - " The goals are to limit the population growth of
Palestinians in the West Bank; to complete the process of severing the
Palestinian population in Gaza from West Bank society (in violation of the
Oslo Accords); and to deter foreign nationals joining the popular struggle
against the occupation (see: IDF raids in Ramallah in search of
foreigners)...When one takes into account Israel`s policy of disconnecting
East Jerusalem from the West Bank, it is quite possible that the military
ban on Palestinian East Jerusalemites entering areas controlled by the
Palestinian Authority without a permit will be renewed. "
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1162980.html

*AL to refer Israel's West Bank deportations order to
UN*<http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-04/14/c_13249967.htm>
CAIRO, April 13 (Xinhua) -- The Arab League (AL) Council decided on Tuesday
to take a series of measures to tackle Israel's decision to expel thousands
of Palestinians from the West Bank, Egypt's official MENA news agency
reported. In a statement issued after an extraordinary meeting at the level
of permanent delegates at its Cairo headquarters, the AL council called on
the UN Security Council, the Middle East Quartet and regional and
international organizations concerned to adopt a decisive stance toward
Israel's "racial" decision.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-04/14/c_13249967.htm

*Riz Khan - A partner for
peace?*<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1Q0Mc-c8O4&feature=youtube_gdata>
The dilemma over settlements in East Jerusalem has created a stalemate in
the Middle East peace process, further straining the relationship between
Israel and its closest ally, the US. Can the Netanyahu government withstand
the pressure to move in opposite directions: Those policies demanded by
Washington, and those desired by his coalition partners?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1Q0Mc-c8O4&feature=youtube_gdata

Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment
*Grassroots organizer targeted by PA, Israeli forces, Nora
Barrows-Friedman*<http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11203.shtml>
Mousa Abu Maria, father of a newborn baby and co-coordinator of the
grassroots Palestine Solidarity Project (PSP) in the occupied West Bank
village of Beit Ommar, was used to the sound of boots running on the ground
and surrounding his home in the middle of the night. Awakened once again at
2:00am on Tuesday, 6 April, Abu Maria told an international volunteer with
PSP who was sleeping in his house not to worry but that they should start
moving the computers out of the rooms. Weeks earlier, PSP's office was
raided by Israeli forces; computer hard drives and printers were confiscated
as Abu Maria's entire family was forced to stand outside in the freezing
cold. But when Abu Maria looked outside the window this time, it wasn't
Israeli forces shouting at him to come outside. It was a squadron of
heavily-armed Palestinian Authority (PA) police.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11203.shtml

*Palestinian demos continue non-violent against a violent Israeli
army*<http://ingaza.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/palestinian-demos-continue-non-violent-against-a-violent-israeli-army/>
Beit Hanoun, April 13 demonstration against the Israeli-imposed
“buffer zone<http://ingaza.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/where-is-the-buffer-zone/>”
and the Israeli army brutality which comes with it. For many months,
Palestinians have been marching in Beit Hanoun and other border regions,
stretching down to the south-eastern Rafah border. Armed with flags, voices,
spirit, and very aware of the dangers from the Israeli soldiers, Palestinian
women, men, and youths march, singing, chanting and proclaiming their right
to live, work and be on Palestinian land.
http://ingaza.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/palestinian-demos-continue-non-violent-against-a-violent-israeli-army/

*Noam Chomsky endorses Berkeley
divestment*<http://www.kabobfest.com/2010/04/noam-chomsky-endorses-berkeley-divestment.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kabobfest%2FGrillMe+%28KABOBfest%29>
Noam Chomsky writes student senators at UC Berkeley, urging them to continue
their support for Berkeley's divestment bill, which had been vetoed by the
student body president.
http://www.kabobfest.com/2010/04/noam-chomsky-endorses-berkeley-divestment.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kabobfest%2FGrillMe+%28KABOBfest%29

*Divestment at Berkeley: Tutu weighs
in*<http://justworldnews.org/archives/003959.html>
Archbishop Desmond Tutu has written a wonderful
letter<http://www.salem-news.com/articles/april112010/desmond-tutu-dt.php>in
support of the student activists at U.C. Berkeley who are working to
get
their student Senate-- and beyond that, hopefully, the wealthy University of
California system as a whole-- to divest from companies that support
Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
http://justworldnews.org/archives/003959.html

*You Will Not Be Alone, Judith
Butler*<http://live.thenation.com/doc/20100426/butler>
Editor's Note: What follows is the text of a speech Professor Butler will
give on Wednesday, April 13, to the students of the University of
California, Berkeley. On March 18, Berkeley's Student Senate voted 16-to-4
to divest from General Electric and United Technologies because of their
role in harming civilians as part of Israel's illegal occupation and the
attack on Gaza. A week later, the Senate president vetoed the bill. The
bill's opponents have been waging a fierce campaign of misinformation;
student senators have been flooded with letters and Alan Dershowitz may
visit the campus. More information about the bill can be found*
here<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/301/p/dia/action/public/?%20action_KEY=2747>
.*
http://live.thenation.com/doc/20100426/butler

*Judith Butler joins Chomsky, Tutu, Klein and a growing chorus worldwide in
support of Berkeley divestment, Adam
Horowitz*<http://mondoweiss.net/2010/04/judith-butler-joins-chomsky-tutu-klein-and-a-growing-chorus-worldwide-in-support-of-berkeley-divestment.html>
*
*The fight over divestment is coming to a head in Berkeley. The student
Senate is expected to vote on Wednesday to possibly override the Student
President's veto of the divestment bill. As can be expected both sides have
been rallying their supporters. Following notable endorsements from* **Desmond
Tutu* <http://www.salem-news.com/articles/april112010/desmond-tutu-dt.php>*,
**Noam Chomsky*<http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/publish/article_1287.shtml>
* and Naomi Klein<http://www.naomiklein.org/articles/2010/03/open-letter-berkeley-students-their-historic-israeli-divestment-bill>,
*an ad appeared in the Daily Californian today with signatures from over 260
Jewish supporters of the divestment action. Below after the jump is a handy
resource put together by Jewish Voice for Peace outlining all the support
the bill has received, including from Benjamin Netanyahu's own
sister-in-law.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/04/judith-butler-joins-chomsky-tutu-klein-and-a-growing-chorus-worldwide-in-support-of-berkeley-divestment.html

*Take Action NOW: Support Divestment at UC
Berkeley!*<http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=2613>
Almost a month ago the Associated Students of the University of California
(ASUC) Berkeley voted 16-4 to divest from two corporations profiting from
Israeli occupation and apartheid practices. The ASUC president then vetoed
the resolution. Now we have one last chance to override the veto, please
take action NOW.
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=2613

*British trade union federation launches campaign against Israeli products
from West Bank*<http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/main/showNews/id/9254>
The British umbrella body of trade unions, the Trades Union Congress (TUC),
has launched a campaign calling for an import ban for goods produced in
Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The campaign was launched together
with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, an anti-Israel group that advocates
a complete economic boycott of Israel and international sanctions against
the Jewish state, according to the ‘Jerusalem Post’.
http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/main/showNews/id/9254

*We can't afford to give $3 billion to
Israel*<http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=14926411>
In January, President Obama requested a record $3 billion in military aid to
Israel. The House of Representatives is about to grant the $3 billion in
additional military aid to Israel. (The request is currently with the House
Appropriations Committee.) See: "US military aid to Israel violates
domestic, international law" PDA opposes the unconditional granting of these
funds. Now is the time to let your congressional representatives know that
you too oppose the unconditional granting of such aid.
http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=14926411

*Restoring What Settlers
Destroyed*<http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1357>
Qarawat Bani Hassan, in the area of Wadi Qana, between Salfeet, Nablus and
Qalqiliya (North of the West Bank); Palestinian, international and even
Israeli activists have begun to restore ancient wells and a collapsed cave
that were destroyed eight months ago by Jewish settlers from the Nofim
settlement. The Palestinians want to enjoy the wonderful area as a family
park, where the spring of Neweitef al-Majur, central source of water for the
village, is located.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1357

*Short film : Bassem Abu Rahma (el Pheel) - A Friend To Us
All*<http://blip.tv/file/3471631>
Our dear friend Bassem Ibrahim Abu Rahma, known to many of us as Pheel, was
murdered by ITF soldiers during a non-violent protest in the Palestinian
village of Bil`in on April 17th, 2009.
http://blip.tv/file/3471631

*20 Palestinian fatalities at demos against the apartheid
wall*<http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2010/04/14/20-palestinian-fatalities-at-demos-against-the-apartheid-wall/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SabbahsBlog+%28Sabbah+Report%29>
http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2010/04/14/20-palestinian-fatalities-at-demos-against-the-apartheid-wall/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SabbahsBlog+%28Sabbah+Report%29

Violence/Aggression and Provocations
*Youth shot in the leg by Israeli Soldiers near the Nahal Oz border crossing
*<http://palsolidarity.org/2010/04/12033?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+palsolidarity+%28International+Solidarity+Movement%29>
Mahmoud Shawa a 19 year old resident of Shaja’iyya district of Gaza City,
received a wound from a live round in his leg while participating in a
peaceful demonstration near Nahal Oz border crossing. Mahmoud was urgently
transported by an ambulance to the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City bleeding
heavily and suffering from shock.The bullet entered at the back of the knee
area and exited at the other side and the x-ray shows that it nearly missed
the bone.
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/04/12033?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+palsolidarity+%28International+Solidarity+Movement%29

*Three Palestinians wounded by Israeli gunfire in Beit Ommar
town*<http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7y9krCewjHTs8VkMoblNulro%2fuIvFZWIPf%2btjWB7kv8hj4XFAy%2b00hu1wd6el2XGswLfqlWk1XXAuQHH048FaLYnwAXHJYAl%2fbCeo2QRH1T8%3d>
Three Palestinians were wounded by Israeli gunfire Tuesday during an attack
carried out by Israeli troops and armed settlers on a march organized in
Beit Ommar town, north of Al-Khalil.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7y9krCewjHTs8VkMoblNulro%2fuIvFZWIPf%2btjWB7kv8hj4XFAy%2b00hu1wd6el2XGswLfqlWk1XXAuQHH048FaLYnwAXHJYAl%2fbCeo2QRH1T8%3d

*IOF shooting wounds three Palestinians east of
Gaza*<http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7B7v7LdYhX69WF7zoofSY7QF2NVUroyrTu%2fXe%2bf0LyyzW65l07zgibjITkSnsZCROuoVUD6KyC1PN7bei7TX2ikWjYUExPybqBDFms8OaJKk%3d>
Three Palestinian citizens were wounded, at the hands of Israeli occupation
forces (IOF), while taking part in a peaceful march east of Gaza city on
Wednesday against the buffer zone.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7B7v7LdYhX69WF7zoofSY7QF2NVUroyrTu%2fXe%2bf0LyyzW65l07zgibjITkSnsZCROuoVUD6KyC1PN7bei7TX2ikWjYUExPybqBDFms8OaJKk%3d

*Several Palestinians wounded in Hebron
clashes*<http://www.imemc.org/article/58437>
Three Palestinians were wounded by rubber-coated bullets fired by the army
at a group of Palestinian protesters on Tuesday, while several other
residents received medical treatment after inhaling gas fired by the
soldiers in Beit Ummar town, north of the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
http://www.imemc.org/article/58437

*Gazans Gassed by Silent Killer, Mel
Frykberg*<http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51022>
GAZA CITY, Apr 13, 2010 (IPS) - "You feel very sleepy and dizzy. You put
your head down and all you want to do is sleep. Everything feels very
peaceful, you are not even aware what is happening and if there is no
immediate intervention you are dead within minutes," Enaam Abu Nada told
IPS.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51022

*PCHR condemns Gaza 'honor
killing'*<http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=276180>
Bethlehem - Ma'an - The death of a Beit Lahiya woman, said by police to have
been a criminal matter, killed to "maintain family honor," a Palestine
Center for Human Rights report said Tuesday. At approximately 11:50 on
Monday, the body of Sherin Khamis Zayed (Al-Attar), 32, was brought to
Martyr Kamal Udwan Hospital in the northern Gaza city of Beit Lahiya, having
sustained a number of gunshot wounds to the head and chest, according to a
PCHR field follow-up.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=276180

*Clashes reported in Beit
Ummar*<http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=276255>
Hebron – Ma'an – Discord erupted between Israeli forces and students in Beit
Ummar, northern Hebron, on Tuesday, who rallied in protest of settler
assaults against local farmers. According to Palestine Solidarity Project
spokesman Muhammad Ayyad Awad said clashes broke out near the Karmi Zur
settlement, when settlers fired in the air and threatened a farmer, Ahmad
Abu Hashem into leaving his land near the settlement.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=276255 <http://www./>

Humanitarian Issues/Human Rights/Restriction of Movement/Siege
*Industrial Fuel – Needs Vs. Supply – Mar 14 – Apr
10*<http://www.gazagateway.org/2010/04/industrial-fuel-needs-vs-supply-mar-14-apr-10/>
http://www.gazagateway.org/2010/04/industrial-fuel-needs-vs-supply-mar-14-apr-10/

*Goods – Needs Vs. Supply – Mar 14 – Apr
10*<http://www.gazagateway.org/2010/04/goods-needs-vs-supply-mar-14-apr-10/>
http://www.gazagateway.org/2010/04/goods-needs-vs-supply-mar-14-apr-10/

*Nativity Church deportees applaud PA
aid*<http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=276273>
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Jihad Ja'ara, a Nativity Church deportee, on Tuesday
expressed gratitude to the Palestinian Authority for assisting he and his
fellow exiles in Europe after suffering for years without financial means to
pay rent and other needs.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=276273

* Sleepless Gaza Jerusalem* < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfjHSN_9O6E>
Day 43 b: Special Edition from Jerusalem & Ramallah: So what is this new
Israeli military law about? Learn who can be affected and how from Palestine
Radio journalist Mohammad Abed Rabbo who has studied the law and its
possible consequences. The law gives the occupation forces illegal powers
that people are now reminded of the 1948 catastrophe! Anyone without an
Israeli permit to reside in the West Bank is deemed an "infiltrator" and
Israel can either imprison them up to 7 years or deport them! The law allows
Israel's occupation forces to arrest and deport foreigners including the
American and European spouses of Palestinians living in the West Bank or
even Israelis who may go to the West Bank to support Palestinians or protest
against the Wall for example! In other words, the Palestinian Authority has
lost what it gained through Oslo & Madrid in jurisdiction on the areas it
controls! Ashira hears that PLO Leader Nabil Shaath is giving the foreign
and Arab diplomats a "no media allowed" briefing, so she heads to Ramallah
and crashes on it. Meet Father Manuel Musallam, the retired priest who was
in charge of Gaza for 14 years. 72-year-old father Manuel is originally from
Ramallah but holds a Gaza ID card. He lives with his sister at their family
home and fears he will be deported back to Gaza and be separated from his
sister and home! What is the South African top diplomat reminded of by the
new law? Nabil Shaath describes the military law as a major act of terror
and ethnic cleansing. So what will he do if the Israelis deport him to Gaza
and his wife to Nablus? He accepts an Israeli prison before he would allow
that to happen!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfjHSN_9O6E

< http://www.paltelegraph.com/photo-story/palestinian-stories/5460-gazans-pick-pebbles-to-rebuild-their-city>
*Gazans collect pebbles to rebuild their
city*<http://www.paltelegraph.com/photo-story/palestinian-stories/5460-gazans-pick-pebbles-to-rebuild-their-city>
Gaza, April 14, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) – Number of Palestinian workers choose
Gaza shore to sift for pebbles and stones.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/photo-story/palestinian-stories/5460-gazans-pick-pebbles-to-rebuild-their-city

*The nightmare of death engulfs Gaza patients due to electricity
shortage*<http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7H77%2feaxJGfu%2fqoe6WMHzfWzBRP3M2tLGWnZrqO0EKjad7Q12RStSGe9czZGQJL%2f%2fHjkTmXJrJeXxtG%2b9sEcrgXG3PRDC%2bA2SNMXo6eV65yE%3d>
Palestinian doctors have warned that the nightmare of death was engulfing
hundreds of Palestinian patients lying in the hospitals due to the reduction
of electricity supply to the besieged Gaza Strip.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7H77%2feaxJGfu%2fqoe6WMHzfWzBRP3M2tLGWnZrqO0EKjad7Q12RStSGe9czZGQJL%2f%2fHjkTmXJrJeXxtG%2b9sEcrgXG3PRDC%2bA2SNMXo6eV65yE%3d

*FEATURE-Light at the end of Gaza tunnel could be a new
car*<http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE63D1D3.htm>
RAFAH, Gaza Strip, April 14 (Reuters) - Israel wants to close down the
smuggling tunnels between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, but the tunnelers have
become so good it's now possible to drive a car through them, literally.
Time was that a car had to come through the tunnels piece by piece, but
Hamdi Abu Karesh recently got a 2010 Hyundai Elantra delivered to him
intact.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE63D1D3.htm

Israeli War Criminals and Their Enablers
*Spanish court shelves Israeli probe
(AP)*<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100413/ap_on_re_eu/eu_spain_israel_probe>
AP - Spain's Supreme Court has upheld a lower court decision to shelve a
probe of an Israeli air force bombing that killed a Hamas militant and 14
civilians in Gaza in 2002.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100413/ap_on_re_eu/eu_spain_israel_probe

*How to Market Gaza as an Israeli success story: The complete
guide*<http://coteret.com/2010/04/14/how-to-market-gaza-as-an-israeli-success-story-the-complete-guide/>
*
Cross-posted from **Gaza
Gateway*<http://www.gazagateway.org/2010/04/how-to-market-gaza-as-an-israeli-success-story-the-complete-guide/>
*, an analytical blog recently launched by the Israeli human rights
group **Gisha
— The legal Center for Freedom of Movement <http://www.gisha.org/>.** Gaza
Gateway provides up to date data and analysis on access to the Gaza Strip
and is an essential tool for for fact-checking and contextualizing
information provided by other sources.*
http://coteret.com/2010/04/14/how-to-market-gaza-as-an-israeli-success-story-the-complete-guide/

*Obama Reluctant to Answer Questions on Israeli Nuclear
Program!*<http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=133469&language=en>
U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday urged all countries, including
Israel, to sign the international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, or NPT.
"Whether we're talking about Israel or any other country, we think that
becoming part of the NPT is important," Obama said. "And that, by the way,
is not a new position. That's been a consistent position of the United
States government, even prior to my administration." Israel operates a
policy of 'nuclear ambiguity', refusing to confirm or deny having atomic
weapons - but has not signed the treaty and is believed to posses between
200 and 300 nuclear warheads. Obama, who was hosting an international
conference on nuclear security in Washington, was at first reluctant to
answer journalists' questions on Israel, whose prime minister, Benjamin
Netanyahu had at the last minute canceled plans to attend.
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=133469&language=en

Media Restrictions/Censorship
*Court aggravates Kam's detention
conditions*<http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3876013,00.html>
Supreme Court Justice Ayala Procaccia rules former soldier charged with
stealing classified documents, handing them over to journalist, to remain
under 24-hour house arrest for duration of legal proceedings, under family's
supervision. Kam also ordered to report to police station once a week.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3876013,00.html

*Kam affair: Grave suspicion of illegal
killings*<http://www.btselem.org/english/Press_Releases/20100408.asp>
Following the removal of the gag order imposed in Israel on the publication
of details about the charges against Israeli Journalist Anat Kamm, B'Tselem
wishes to reiterate that the case hinges on documents that raise grave
suspicions that the Israeli military conducted assassination operations in
the West Bank, under the guise of arrest operations. This, in contrast to
official Israeli statements, and in violation of an Israeli High Court
ruling.
http://www.btselem.org/english/Press_Releases/20100408.asp

*Case involving military documents roils
Israel*<http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/Fyex_vgCbjc/la-fg-israel-secrets14-2010apr14,0,5434777.story>
Anat Kam is accused of secretly copying 2,000 military documents during her
service as a soldier and of passing some of them to a journalist. The case
has also opened a debate on press freedom. Is Anat Kam an Israeli hero or a
traitor?
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/Fyex_vgCbjc/la-fg-israel-secrets14-2010apr14,0,5434777.story

*Judith Miller & Shep Smith On Smearing Israel's Critics
*<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR-2NrF1hrk&feature=player_embedded>
Fox News interviews reporter Judith
Miller<http://antonyloewenstein.com/2010/04/06/the-israeli-story-that-the-israeli-press-cantwont-report/>recently
on the Anat
Kamm case <http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=38430>. Host Shep
Smith seems outraged that supposed democratic Israel would censor
information and put an individual under house arrest. “This is very Fidel
Castro”, he says. He tells viewers that when anybody says anything even
mildly critical of Israel they are accused of anti-Semtism. Miller quickly
says that she’s not “anti-Israel” for writing about the case.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR-2NrF1hrk&feature=player_embedded

*Suppressing book bolsters settlers | Seth
Freedman*<http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/apr/14/israel-palestinian-territories>
The threat of boycotts is usually the preserve of radical forces from
abroad, but the latest sanctions storm to hit the country is very much an
internal affair. Tzomet Sefarim, one of the nation's largest booksellers,
this week bowed to intense pressure from rightwing critics to stop selling
The National Left, a political pamphlet which heavily criticises the settler
movement.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/apr/14/israel-palestinian-territories
*

*Israel's Arab Helpers
*Hamas orders Gaza smuggling tunnels shut
(AP)*<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100414/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians>
AP - Gaza's Hamas rulers have ordered residents to shut smuggling tunnels
along the border with Egypt indefinitely, cutting off the economic lifeline
for 1.5 million Palestinians in the impoverished territory, residents and
tunnel operators said Wednesday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100414/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians

*Stirrings of less violent protest in Hamas-ruled Gaza
(AFP)*<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100414/lf_afp/mideastconflictgazademo>
AFP - They walked across shelled-out no man's land on the edge of the Gaza
Strip, drawing within 200 metres (yards) of the Israeli border before
gunshots snapped over their heads.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100414/lf_afp/mideastconflictgazademo
*PA: We uncovered Hamas weapons cache,
money*<http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3876035,00.html>
Palestinian Preventive Security Service exposes weapons cache, NIS 600,000,
discs with instructions on making rockets, explosives. Hamas cell raising
money, buying weapons from overseas uncovered in Nablus area; over 10
arrested.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3876035,00.html

*Hamas: PA responsible for Israeli expulsion
orders*<http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=276202>
Gaza – Ma'an – Hamas leader Salah Al-Bardawil condemned Israel's military
order threatening to deport Palestinians living the West Bank which came
into effect on Tuesday, and said the Palestinian Authority bore
responsibility for the latest mandate. In a statement, Al-Bardawil said "no
one has the right to make decisions on where Palestinians should live, for
it is their legislative right to live in any part of Palestine."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=276202

*Immaculate Conception? Massad skewers
Fayyad*<http://www.kabobfest.com/2010/04/immaculate-conception-massad-skewers-fayyad.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kabobfest%2FGrillMe+%28KABOBfest%29>
Good news has come from Ramallah: the Palestinian Authority is pregnant,
rather, the un-elected and American-imposed Palestinian Prime Minister
Salaam Fayyad is the one awaiting child.‬ ‪In an interview recently
published, he has announced to Israeli paper Haaretz: “This child’s hour of
birth shall arrive… we estimate that it will be in 2011.”‬ ‪Unlike female
humans, and similar to female whales, the gestation period of Palestinian
men allied with the Israeli occupation extends two years at the least, as
far as Fayyad (the one that Shimon Peres has nicknamed “the Palestinian Ben
Gurion”) declared in a document he published on August 25, 2009, under the
title, “Palestine: Ending the Occupation and Establishing a State.” He
repeated his declaration in Haaretz: “The Palestinian state’s birthday will
be celebrated as a day of joy in the entire international community.”‬ ‪It
seems that we already know the name of this child, his weight, his
ideological color, his physiological composition. We even know the political
make-up and foreign policy of this child in Fayyad’s belly: a Palestinian
statelet that recognizes Israel as a “Biblical” Jewish state
http://www.kabobfest.com/2010/04/immaculate-conception-massad-skewers-fayyad.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kabobfest%2FGrillMe+%28KABOBfest%29

Political Developments/Diplomacy
*IDF concerned over `Fayyad
intifada`*<http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=39354>
Hanan Greenberg - Ynet - " Army says escalation in West Bank violence
unacceptable, taking measures to contain demonstrations against security
barrier. `A stone can be deadly,` senior IDF officer says. "
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=39354

*Obama: US can't force Mideast peace deal
(AP)*<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100413/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_us_mideast>
AP - President Barack Obama gave a surprisingly downbeat assessment Tuesday
of the chances for a U.S.-brokered peace settlement in the Middle East,
saying that the United States can't help if Israel and the Palestinians
decide they cannot negotiate.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100413/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_us_mideast

*Obama voices frustration on stalled Mideast peace
(Reuters)*<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100413/wl_nm/us_palestinians_israel_obama>
Reuters - President Barack Obama voiced frustration on Tuesday over stalled
Middle East peace efforts, saying Israelis and Palestinians may not be ready
to resolve their conflict no matter how much pressure Washington exerts.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100413/wl_nm/us_palestinians_israel_obama

*US Senators press Clinton on Mideast peace
(AFP)*<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100413/pl_afp/mideastisraelusdiplomacypoliticssenate>
AFP - An overwhelming majority of US senators urged Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton on Tuesday "to do everything possible" to shore up ties with
Israel and thaw the frozen Middle East peace process.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100413/pl_afp/mideastisraelusdiplomacypoliticssenate

*Israel faces more isolation as peace process
fades*<http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=113744#ixzz0l1l0AjCg>
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: The noted absence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
from the nuclear summit in Washington underscored Israel's growing isolation
as it lurches from one diplomatic crisis to another. In the year since the
hawkish leader took power, Israel's international ties have been plagued by
tensions with Arab neighbors, spats with Europeans nations and, critically,
a sharp deterioration of relations with key ally the United States.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=113744#ixzz0l1l0AjCg
*
Israel assures PA: We won't deport Palestinians to
Gaza<http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1163064.html>
*
Israel sent a calming message to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud
Abbas on Wednesday, assuring him that Israel does not intend to harm
residents of the Gaza Strip currently living in the West Bank, in light of a
recent Haaretz report that a new Israel Defense Forces order will enable
mass deportation from the West Bank.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1163064.html

Other News
*Obama: Israel should sign
NPT*<http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3875661,00.html>
American president lauds leaders who took part in Washington nuke summit,
says world safer as result of conference; responding to question, Obama says
all nations should sign Non-Proliferation Treaty, including Israel.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3875661,00.html

*ElBaradei: Israeli occupation only understands
force*<http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3875636,00.html>
Former IAEA chief expresses support for Palestinian resistance, calls Gaza
'world's biggest jail'.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3875636,00.html
( Piffle. What about Iraq,Afghanistan,Somalia and more ? US,UK,etc. Texas has 1 million incarcerated all by itself. )

*Israel tells its citizens to get out of Sinai
now*<http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-tells-its-citizens-to-get-out-of-sinai-now-1943779.html>
Israel issued an "urgent" warning today to its citizens to leave Egypt's
Sinai Peninsula immediately citing "concrete evidence of an expected
terrorist attempt to kidnap Israelis in Sinai."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-tells-its-citizens-to-get-out-of-sinai-now-1943779.html

*Israel tourism advert featured picture of Occupied
Territories*<http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-tourism-advert-featured-picture-of-occupied-territories-1944066.html>
The Israeli tourist office has been criticised by the Advertising Standards
Authority (ASA) for including images of the Palestinian-run West Bank in an
advert for a holiday in Israel.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-tourism-advert-featured-picture-of-occupied-territories-1944066.html

Lessons of Collateral Murder
http://contagiousloveexperiment.wordpress.com/2010/04/11/lessons-of-collateral-murder
If you watch “Collateral Murder” and are shocked, this is a perfectly natural reaction. How the discussion about it is framed however, makes a world of difference.

Speaking as a former soldier who was in the company on the ground in the video, who would have been in this video had I not angered my leaders and was left out of this mission, I am disappointed that this video has been used by some to cast such stronger moral indignation on the soldiers shown without looking at the deeper implications. It is easy to wash our hands of this blood; it is challenging but transformational to ask what we can do to provide alternatives.
There is strong evidence that the decisions made were not an illustration simply of demented murders rather than soldiers doing as they were trained to do; this is not a moral statement, it’s an observation based on:

1.David Finkel, a Washington Post reporter who was embedded with my unit, (again, the one shown on the ground in the video), wrote a detailed account of what took place during this mission shown on this video, almost describing it word for word in his popular book, The Good Soldiers. Despite the book’s success, the outrage we are seeing came over this event only when it was seen visually and out of context rather than described in words.

2.In 2008, over 200 veterans and eye-witnesses came together to testify about many of the troubling events they witnessed in the Winter Soldier Testimonies, using many personal accounts of stories like “Collateral Murder” and worse; the mainstream media and general public took little, if any notice. 
Continues

And, doing a little Blogwhoring
Quashing Technology
http://my.opera.com/oldephartte/blog/quashing-technology
I thought the Aptera was so chic I kept a photo in my files. But the story of a prospective manufacturer of automotive products getting product to market is no novelty : not after the sabotage of brands from DeLorean to Tucker. Here's another EV-1 in the making...or is it ? 

 

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