Revealed: how Israel offered to sell South Africa nuclear weapons

Guardian 24th May 2010

Secret apartheid-era papers give first official evidence of Israeli nuclear weapons

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/23/israel-south-africa-nuclear-weapons

Israelis and Egyptians are Killing Youth Who Challenge the Siege of Gaza

Gaza Death Zone

By Anne Wright.  May 2nd 2010   

The Palestinians in the Death Zone called Gaza are being slaughtered again as Israel and now Egypt kill and wound more innocent civilians who challenge their illegal siege, blockade and quarantine.

In the past four days, one young Palestinian man has been killed and two young women and a young man have been wounded by Israeli snipers as they protested the Israeli bulldozing of 300 meters of Palestinian land into an Israeli “buffer zone.” Four young Palestinian tunnel workers have been killed by suffocation and 6 injured as Egypt sprayed a crowd disbursal gas into a tunnel.

Read more. . .  http://www.counterpunch.org/wright04302010.html

Israeli report claims $2bn stolen from Palestinians.                                                      
By Jonathan Cook, Jerusalem.  2nd Feb 2010

http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=15727

Those who failed to protest against the Israeli slaughter of Gaza a year ago, are now mobilising to ensure Israelis won’t be arrested for their war crimes.
 
For example, Stephen Pollard, the editor of the Jewish Chronicle [JC], wrote last week that the UK government was under obligation to immediately pass new “Legislation to prevent magistrates issuing arrest warrants for high-profile foreign visitors accused of war crimes”. See his article “War crimes: Will the government ever act?” of 28 Jan 10 at http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/26593/war-crimes-will-government-ever-act
 
Zionists also lobbied MPs: “More than 200 people attended the lobby day, the biggest ever organised by the Zionist Federation and Christian Friends of Israel”, in which they claimed “Politicians from across the spectrum have shown their support for a change in the current universal jurisdiction laws at a Zionist lobby of Parliament on Wednesday”. See “Record lobby day for Zionists” of 21 Jan 10 at: http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/26272/record-lobby-day-zionists referring to a Zionists lobby in parliament on 20 Jan 10.

Israeli officials have been demanding the change in the UK law to suit them, and British ministers have been promising to oblige.

Israel and its supporters seek legal guarantees so that it can continue and intensify its attacks on Gaza without even fear of being arrested for war crimes. Those seeking to hinder Israeli attacks on Gaza and siege are working relentlessly against removing the power from British judges to issue arrest warrants for war crimes.
 
The power of British judges to issue arrest warrants for war crimes is important for seeking justice for the Palestinians, including Yibna, who were subjected to 22 days of carpet bombing, and especially for the 1417 victims massacred during the 22 days bombardment by Israel.

Israeli government convenes working group to battle BDS
by Ben White.  December 16, 2009 ·

This week, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs is sponsoring a conference aimed at “combating antisemitism” in Jerusalem. It’s interesting to see a conference apparently about tackling racism being co-chaired by Avigdor Lieberman. The other co-chair is a Likud MK who lives in a settlement in the Occupied West Bank.

One of the conference’s working groups is aimed at BDS (you can view the group’s members here). This is from the group’s description:

“The BDS campaign must be taken seriously, for it seeks to escalate, but we should not be defensive in combating it. As Israeli Prime Minister reportedly said when responding to the U.N. Human Rights Council’s vote to send the Goldstone Report to the Security Council, “We are now setting out to delegitimize those who try to delegitimize us.”
The GFCA recognizes the urgent need to combat this campaign as earnestly and vehemently as possible. As a result we have convened this working group to try and come up with imaginative, effective and successful solutions to counter this evil. We will be focusing on how to analyze the problem in North America, Europe, and the rest of the world, as well as how to play both “defense” and “offense” in forging overall strategies.”

Another 10,000 Israeli settlers to flock into West Bank
Fri, 11 Dec 2009

An Israeli minister says the population of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank will bulge by 10,000 despite a temporary settlement freeze announced by Tel Aviv.

Benny Begin, a minister without a portfolio, said on Thursday that the construction of 3,000 homes already started would be completed regardless of the freeze, adding that about 10,000 more settlers would move in.

Read more: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=113467&sectionid=351020202

UN body adopts Goldstone report

Thalif Deen, The Electronic Intifada, 19 October 2009

UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – The 47-member Human Rights Council (HRC) approved a resolution Friday endorsing war crimes charges against Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, as spelled out in a report by a four-member international fact-finding mission headed by Justice Richard Goldstone…

The Geneva-based Council not only endorsed the recommendations of the Goldstone report but also strongly condemned Israeli policies in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), including those limiting Palestinian access to their properties and holy sites, particularly in occupied Jerusalem.

Full Report: http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10835.shtml

 To see photo evidence of Israeli attacks on UN and UNWRA facilities in Gaza, click here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/colmcille32/sets/72157619512505975/show/

Israel denies essential water supplies to Hebron   Press release 26 Sept 2009

 Despite “closed zone” declaration a hundred peace activists entered the South Hebron Hills area, transfering 25 tons of water to villagers denied water supply by the State of Israel

This morning the IDF declared the area of the Palestinian villages in the South Hebron Hills to be “a closed military zone” in order to prevent the entry of a Water Convoy organized by Israeli peace movements – but nevertheless, the activists managed to break through the military cordon and pass the convoy as planned. The Water Convoy included about a hundred activists who arrived in buses from Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem as well as in private cars and large water tankers carrying about 25 tons of water.

About 10.30am the convoy was blocked by military forces which spread spikes on he road near the Israeli settlement of Carmel and the officer in charge forbade them to enter the “closed military zone.”

The organizers explained that they were involved in a vital humanitarian activity, bringing water to where there is severe lack of it, but the army persisted in denying access. Thereupon, the organizers instructed activists to leave the buses and proceed on foot, bypassing the military roadblock.

In a long line the activists walked along the southward road, under the desert sun, followed by military jeeps. TV crews of international networks walked alongside and documented the protest march. After they walked about three kilometers there came to the activists inhabitants of the Palestinian villages, driving tractors with platforms on which the Israelis climbed, traveling on unpaved tracks deep into the desert area.

Meanwhile the water tankers succeeded to arrive via desert bypass roads, accompanied by a bulldozer which removed obstacles on difficult spots, thus allowing the tankers to pass.

About 12.30, the activists, the Palestinian inhabitants and the tankers all reached the pre-arranged rendez-vous point. They proceeded on the water distribution, traveling among the small hamlets in the area, stopping at each and giving inhabitants their share. What impressed the urban activists above all was how in one village, Jinaba, the cattle trough was filled directly from the tanker, and the thirsty sheep started drinking immediately.

Suddenly there arrived the military jeeps with the soldiers trying to arrest the Palestinian bulldozer driver, claiming that he had “opened blocked routes” and thereby “harmed security.” Dozens of Israelis surrounded the bulldozer, some of them climbing on it, with their bodies blocking the soldiers from approaching the driver – himself an inhabitant of one of the nearby villages. “Shame on you! Shame!” activists shoutled at the soldiers. “Shame on you for denying the inhabitants here water, for blocking the roads and filling up their wells! One day all of you will be ashamed to tell your sons and grandsons where you have been, and what you have done!”

The convoy organizers made clear to the commander of the military force that by no means will they leave the territory as long as the army continues the threat of arresting the bulldozer driver and confiscating his vehicle. After a  two hours stand-off the commander gave in and let the bulldozer depart. Several of the activists accompanied the bulldozer until it came back safely to its origin.

For several months the peace organizations are acting to protest the Policy of Thirst. The State of Israel is taking about 80% of the water from the West Bank aquifers for the needs of its citizens and of the settlers, leaving only about a fifth to the Palestinian inhabitants whose land it is. In so doing the State of Israel is perpetrating a severe violation of international law, according to which an occupying state is not allowed to use the natural resources of the occupied territory.

The inhabitants of the South Hebron Hill are in a worse situation than the rest of the West Bankers. They are not at all connected to water pipes, the army is deliberately filling up their wells, and their only way to obtain water by tankers arriving from far. Water, therefore, is for them very expensive, 50 to 60 Shekels (US$16-19) per cubic meter, as compared to some 4 shekel for an Israeli who gets it delivered to his tap. And, these Palestinians already live below the poverty line. Moreover, the army is making difficulties and deliberately blocking roads in order to prevent arrival of the tankers.

In fact, we have here a deliberate effort to make life so difficult so that they will leave the South Hebron Hills, making it possible to annex the area to Israel “free of Arabs” – as is the declared desire of the particularly aggressive and extremist settlers who have established themselves throughout this area. In 1999 the army carried out a mass deportation of these Palestinian inhabitants, but the Supreme Court ruled that this was illegal and ordered the government to allow them back to their modest homes (some living in caves).

Now the authorities try to achieve the same result by the indirect way of making their life into hell, in the hope that they will leave “voluntarily” the land where they lived for generations and where they find their scant livelihood as shepherds.

The Thirst Policy of the government against the Palestinians in general and these South-Hebroners in particular is highly despicable, racist and inhuman.

We have no illusion that with our own resources we can provide all the water which Palestinians need. Our limited action is meant in the first place to express protest and fury and make people aware, in Israel and everywhere.
Israeli representatives:
Yaakov – 09-7670801 / 050-5733276
Shai – 052-3727602
Yehuda – 050-4402350
Adam – 054-2340749

Representatives of the South Hebron Hills area:
Othman – 054-7426591
Hader – 059-8014491
Partner organizations in the protest convoy: Anarchists Against the Wall, Humans without Borders, Banki, Bat Shalom, Gush Shalom, ICAHD, Public Committee against Torture in Israel, AIC, Tarabut – Hithabrut, Hadash, Yesh Gvul, Combatants for Peace, Machsomwatch, Maki, Meretz, Sadaqa-Reut, New Profile, Coalition of Women for Peace, Physicians for Human Rights, Taayush – Arab Jewish Partnership;

Palestinian organizations supporting the water campaign:
House of Water &Environment, Life Source, Medical Relief Society, Palestinian Environmental NGOs Net work (PENGON), Palestinian Farmers Union, Palestinian Hydrology Group, Palestinian Institute for Water Issues Training, Palestinian Peasants Union, Union of Agricultural Work Committees;

International organizations supporting the water campaign:
International Solidarity Movement, International Women’s Peace Services, Michigan Peacemakers Team,  CCIPPT-France Civil for Palestine

UNRWA chief: Palestinian refugee crisis unparalleled
24th Sept 2009
No current world refugee crisis has gone unresolved longer than the Palestinian exodus, said the UN Relief and Works Agency’s commissioner-general, Karen Abu Zayd, in New York on Thursday.

“The Palestinians make up the world’s largest refugee group, and their plight has gone on longer than any other,” the AP quoted Abu Zayd as saying during an event marking 60 years since UNRWA was established.
“Theirs [refugees'] is a life interrupted, a life half-lived. Hours wasted at checkpoints, another workday lost, another paycheck canceled, worried about what the family will eat… praying for an aid parcel,” she added.

 http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=227500

Israeli defence depends on attacking the messenger
by Alan Philps 17th September 09
When Judge Richard Goldstone was appointed in April to lead a United Nations inquiry into Israel’s war in Gaza, some of the first reports noted with approval his closeness to Israel. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency pointed out that he was a governor of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Others reported that the judge’s daughter speaks fluent Hebrew.

Now that Judge Goldstone’s 574-page report, highly critical of Israel and Hamas, has been published, the tone has changed. The internet is filled with lurid denunciations of him as a “self-hating Jew” who “should go back to South Africa.” The government of the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which refused to co-operate with the inquiry, dismissed his report as a “kangaroo court” – harsh words for the work of one of the world’s most celebrated jurists.

Read More: http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090918/OPINION/709179888/1080

  UNRWA Calls on Israel to Lift Book Blockade of Gaza Schools.  10/9/2009

The main United Nations agency caring for Palestinian refugees today called on Israel to lift its blockade of Gaza to allow in educational materials for schools, stressing that these can serve as a major weapon in promoting tolerance and peace.

http://english.wafa.ps/?action=detail&id=13053

Deputy Israeli PM: Settlement freeze is ‘strategic delay’   6th Sept 09

Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai called the planned freeze in settlement construction a “strategic delay,” implying the move would not be a long-term Israeli policy. 

“The postponement in construction is a strategic delay,” said Yishai at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting. “We won’t give up on building in Jerusalem and will still build hundreds of construction units. We are looking ahead, here.”

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1112679.html

 New Settlement Being Built in Jordan Valley    6/9/2009

Peace Now Secretary-General Yariv Oppenheimer said, ‘on the ground not only are the settlements being expanded, but new ones are being built. The discussed freeze has nothing to do with the reality on the ground.’

http://english.wafa.ps/?action=detail&id=13028

Militant Jewish settlers set up 11 outposts in the occupied West Bank  Defying calls from the US to freeze settlements, young Israelis set up tents and huts on hilltops.           Guardian 28th July 2009.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/28/jewish-settlements-west-bank

Israeli authorities threaten demolition of 500 church buildings in Jerusalem
 Sunday June 28, 2009

The Greek Orthodox and Catholic churches in Jerusalem released a statement Saturday that the Israeli authorities have threatened to force the demolition of 500 buildings owned by the churches in the Old City of Jerusalem.           

 Read more: http://www.imemc.org/article/60960

Israeli military attacks weekly Bil’in protest – 17 injured including 7 journalists March 29th 2009

Four protesters were injured when Israeli troops attacked the weekly non-violent protest in Bil’in village, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, on Friday.

The protesters demanded halt of the Israeli settlement activities and construction of the “Separation Wall”.

Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and rubber-coated bullets.

Report and video: http://hub.witness.org/en/node/4695

What you can do: Go to TAKE ACTION page for details.

Founders of US Muslim charity jailed for 65 years for funding Hamas 28.05.09
Two founding members of what was once the largest Muslim charity in America have been sentenced to 65 years in prison for funnelling millions of dollars to the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The group was not accused of violence, but of bankrolling schools and social welfare programmes the government says are controlled by Hamas.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/5396739/Founders-of-US-Muslim-charity-jailed-for-65-years-for-funding-Hamas.html

ISRAEL SHUTS DOWN PALESTINIAN PRESS CENTRE AHEAD OF POPE’S JERUSALEM VISIT 11.05.09                                           http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37720

PROSECUTION DROPS INDICTMENT AGAINST SETTLER FILMED SHOOTING PALESTINIANS        http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m54969&hd=&size=1&l=e

MOSSAWA CENTER RACISM REPORT 2009
The report comprehensively documents 271 racist incidents that occurred inside Israel over the past year                                                                                                                                                           Racism report pdf 

SETTLERS RAMPAGE IN WB, SAVAGE PALESTINIANS (AGAIN!)

http://uruknet.info/?p=m54830&hd=&size=1&l=e