Faith of Ibrahim Redeemed: Texas Family Released from Hutto Prison

Faten and Maryam Ibrahim

Greg Moses, The Electronic Intifada, 3 February 2007

For three painful months while his brother's family was imprisoned by USA immigration authorities, Ahmad Ibrahim, a United States citizen of Palestinian heritage, kept his faith that "the people of America are good people."

But Ahmad did not know that the one good American who would finally orchestrate the dramatic release of the family had himself been exiled by USA immigration authorities to China. So Ahmad's faith in America had to hold strong from the beginning of November through the sacred Eid al-Adha season of early January, until the exiled American could return....more

Adalah: First High School to open in Unrecognized Villages

Report
3 February 2007

On 23 January 2007, the Supreme Court of Israel approved a settlement reached between the Ministry of Education (MOE) and Adalah, according to which the MOE will establish a high school in the unrecognized Arab Bedouin village of Abu-Tulul - El-Shihabi in the Naqab (Negev). This will be the first high school to be established: to date, no high schools exist in any of the unrecognized villages in the Naqab. Under the settlement, the state is obliged to begin the school's construction in 2008, and to open and operate it from 1 September 2009. It was also agreed that if the school is not opened for any reason, the petitioners retain the right to approach the Supreme Court again in order to secure its opening. [MORE]

Campaigners to picket Israeli Company importing Valentine's Day Flowers

Report
2 February 2007

The Boycott Israeli Goods campaign is planning a mass picket of the depot on Saturday February 10th at 1pm in opposition to the sale of Israeli goods and in support of Palestinian farmers who are not able to market their goods internationally The aim is to draw attention to this company's sale of flowers from occupied Palestinian land on Valentine's day. We are asking the British public not to buy blood stained flowers for their loved ones this year. Carmel Agrexco is the largest importer of illegal settlement goods into the UK. The Valentine's day period is one of their busiest as the company deals with large amounts of fresh flowers from Israel and the settlements. [MORE]

RE: The Gazafication of the West Bank
http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8633476

Dear Editor,

Regarding The Gazafication of the West Bank : The point I think, of this Israeli made mess, is simply demoralize Palestine in every way possible. Segregate and divide and demoralize and impoverish in every way possible and then let them destroy themselves. Zionists approach from every side, wrap every argument in barbed wire and then twist it like a tourniquet. Every "talk" is more torture... When please will Palestine simply be free... and when will all our children be able to grow up in and of promise, in a civilized world that sincerely cares about nurturing peace and true community.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab


http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8633476

The Palestinian territories

The Gazafication of the West Bank

Feb 1st 2007 | HEBRON, NABLUS AND RAMALLAH
From The Economist print edition

Despite a fragile truce in Gaza, factional disputes are spreading

NASSER JUMAA blinks sleepily as he sits on the maroon fake-leather sofa in his downtown office in Nablus, the biggest town in the West Bank. A legislator from the Fatah movement who used to head the Nablus chapter of its military wing, the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, he has been up all night, trying to talk his former comrades out of retaliating for attacks by the rival Hamas movement on their brethren in Gaza. “I try to convince them that any rash action will backfire on Fatah,” he says.

A Martyr Brigadier in avuncular mood

To no avail, it seems. A little later the rattle of automatic gunfire fills the street below. Mr Jumaa and Sari Hussein, an al-Aqsa Brigades commander who has joined the conversation, rush to the windows to watch. Mobile phones spread rumours that the Islamists of Hamas started it. Within an hour, some of Mr Hussein's colleagues have kidnapped several men linked to Hamas.

The Gaza Strip has seen the bulk of the conflict between the two parties since Hamas ousted Fatah from the Palestinian Authority (PA) in a general election last year. Clashes there in the last few days of January killed some 30 people, including several bystanders and children. But now the trouble is seeping into the West Bank. Nablus has seen several tit-for-tat kidnappings in recent weeks. Mr Hussein and his men abducted a Hamas deputy mayor after Hamas forces attacked a Fatah commander in Gaza; they also captured a dozen young men who, Mr Hussein says, confessed that they had been training to join Hamas's “Executive Force”.

Hamas's men are more disciplined than Fatah's: the al-Aqsa Brigades are little more than bands of brigands united only by their hatred of Hamas. (Though Fatah condemned the atrocity, an al-Aqsa cell claimed joint responsibility for this week's killing of three Israelis in a bakery in Eilat, the first suicide-bombing inside Israel for nine months.) But Hamas is much weaker in the West Bank than in Gaza, where, in addition to its ordinary militiamen, it has created the 3,000-strong Executive Force under the aegis of the PA—illegally, insists Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), the Palestinian president. Mr Hussein says he is only trying to stop Hamas from creating such a force in Nablus because “we're against moving the conflict between the parties from Gaza to Nablus”.

The result, of course, is to do precisely that. And the West Bank is starting to resemble Gaza in another way too. As the PA crumbles under fratricidal conflict and the pressure of foreign economic sanctions, the lawlessness has prompted the powerful Palestinian clans (which are not generally loyal to any one party) to see to their own security. Nablus's Dweikat clan recently posted flyers warning that it will retaliate for any attacks on members of the extended family, and has drawn up a list of young armed men that it can call on.

That is a recipe for something nasty. A clan like the Dweikats, with 30,000 members, can be a militia in itself. Clan feuds now drive a lot of the seemingly political fighting in Gaza, and they seem to be intensifying in the West Bank too. Aid workers in Hebron, the main town in the southern bit of the West Bank, say that political clashes there are still rare but arms prices have rocketed, as people buy more guns to protect themselves. In December the police shooting of a teenager prompted his relatives to burn down the police station and kidnap several officers, whose own families then sent in reinforcements, leading to a stand-off that took a week and the intervention of presidential troops to end.

How to defuse things? The two sides have been trying to agree on a unity government for months. After this week's deaths, they accepted an invitation from the Saudi government to hold talks in Mecca. But each accuses the other of sabotaging the deal. And while Fatah says that Hamas has to take its Executive Force off the streets, Hamas men typically accuse not all of Fatah but Muhammad Dahlan, a former security chief in Gaza, of stirring up all the trouble; he was recently appointed by Mr Abbas to shake up both Fatah and the security services loyal to it.

When that was put to him, Mr Dahlan shrugged it off: “If someone in Hamas gets the flu, I'm the reason.” But, he said, in a surprising show of bravado, “I don't care what Fatah or Abu Mazen says in this regard: if Hamas kills someone from Fatah, I will confront them.” Mr Hussein denies he is taking orders from anyone, Mr Dahlan included; but, he says, “we follow the same principle. We cannot stand by.”

http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8638838

Israel

A miserable lot

Feb 1st 2007 | JERUSALEM
From The Economist print edition

Why Israelis feel their country is suffering from a malaise

FROM time to time, regular visitors to Israel comment that the people who live there have lost their usually insatiable appetite for talking politics. It last happened in 2002, when the waves of suicide-bombings at the height of the second Palestinian intifada shocked Israelis into numbness. Now it is happening again.

As in 2002, Israel feels itself to be facing new threats. The collapse of the Palestinian Authority into factional fighting (see article) offers no reliable partner for a peace deal. Iran's pursuit of a nuclear capability creates a potential existential threat. The recent war against the guerrillas of Hizbullah in Lebanon highlighted the shortcomings of the mighty Israeli army in this new kind of warfare.

But as Ari Shavit, a columnist for the liberal daily, Haaretz, wrote last autumn, Israel now faces an “intra-Israeli threat”. The prime minister, Ehud Olmert, is under investigation for allegations ranging from dishonest property trading to trying improperly to influence the privatisation of a bank. The finance minister is being probed for embezzlement, the tax-authority head for fraud. The president faces multiple charges of rape. This week a former justice minister was convicted of forcibly kissing a young woman soldier, which could land him in jail for up to three years. The army chief of staff has resigned over the Lebanon war; this month a commission of inquiry is set to shine a harsh light on the performance of army and government.

Mr Olmert's plan to pull settlements out of the West Bank unilaterally to make way for a Palestinian state, on which he was elected less than a year ago, is dead for now, but he has no other programme. The angst-ridden newspaper commentariat throws around words like “rudderless”, “corrupt”, “wretched” and “vacuum”. And in this vacuum, one of the most popular public figures is not a politician but Arkady Gaydamak, a populist billionaire who spreads his money around like water and unashamedly proclaims his desire to be a kingmaker behind the scenes.

In such straits, politicians are sometimes open to new ideas. Some intellectuals who favour peace talks with Syria as an alternative to the “Palestinian track” are calling on the government to give it a try. Mr Olmert, however, brought the right-wing nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party into his coalition last autumn, which shields the government from collapse but also blocks serious pro-peace moves.

What makes for general gloom is that no obvious alternative is in sight. If elections were held now, according to a poll this week for the Ynet news website, Mr Olmert's Kadima party and Labour, its coalition partner, would each collapse to nine Knesset seats from 29 and 18 (out of 120) now. The right-wing Likud, led by Binyamin Netanyahu, would jump from 12 seats to 32. However, it is far from clear what programme he would offer instead.

A Labour leadership battle in May could bring back Ehud Barak, the prime minister who led Israel into the ill-fated Camp David talks in 2000 and the second intifada. He may have matured since then; but a prospective rerun of the 1999 race between him and Mr Netanyahu gives many an uncomfortable feeling of déjà vu.

Students demand justice, UNC-Chapel Hill protest hate crime

9 19 pm

Students demand justice
Updated: 2/2/2007 5:41 PM
By: Ashley Smith

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- A group of UNC-Chapel Hill students held a solidarity vigil to support three Palestinian students involved in a campus brawl that happened January 20th at Guilford College. Six of the school's football players were charged with assault.

The UNC-Chapel Hill student group is called “Solidarity with Palestine through Education and Action at Carolina” and the student organization formed just one week after the Palestinian students on Guilford college's campus say they were attacked. Freshman international studies student Haley Koch helped organize Friday's rally at The Pitt at UNC.

"No other universities have come out and supported these students and this has been a very difficult time for them and so we want to express that support to them," explained Koch.

		WATCH THE VIDEO
	Student rally An alleged Guilford College beating is sparking student protest at another college campus.

The goal of the rally was to respond to the violence at Guilford College by showing support for the three accusers. Earlier this week, Greensboro authorities said there was not enough evidence to continue an investigation. Although there have been conflicting accounts of the January 20th fight, students at UNC believe an assault did take place and that it was racially motivated.

"Granted, it is an alleged hate crime currently but whenever something like this happens, it’s important for people to stand up and speak out about it," said UNC senior Stephen Lassiter.

They're also encouraging other UNC students to get involved by signing a petition. The petition is asking Guilford College to fully investigate and recognize the incident as a hate crime. It’s also calling for changes to the college’s Code of Conduct.

“Because right now there is nothing about hate crimes in their code of conduct,” Koch continued. “So even if it was determined that the event was a hate crime, there would be nothing they could do in their judicial proceeding."

That's troubling for students who think more should be done to ensure all minority students feel safe on their campus.

Meanwhile, Guilford College says it’s reviewing all of the evidence to see if the incident can be classified as a hate crime. The college also says it will make changes to current judicial polices and procedures if appropriate. Prosecutors say they are waiting for the college to complete its investigation before deciding how to proceed.

Right of Return Ring of Blogs 2-2-2007

Right of Return Ring of Blogs

2-2-2007

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umkahlil

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Dr.Abu Sitta: The Geography of Occupation

...almost all Zionists/Israelis advocating "peace" fail the Litmus test: supporting the Right of Return. Which tells you that the purpose of this "peace" is to legitimize Nakba and all its evil consequences. They will not succeed. Dr. Salman Abu Sitta
Author, Atlas of Palestine

Video: The Geography of Occupation

Dr. Salman Abu Sitta begins the video The Geography of Occupation with a description of how he became a refugee. He was ten when the headmaster of his boarding school, which was about forty-sixty kilometers (24-36 miles) from Abu Sitta's house, told the students, six weeks before the end of the term, that he could no longer protect them and that they would have to return home.

Dr. Abu Sitta relates how he and an older cousin began the trek home through a path frequented by Zionists in jeeps outfitted with machine guns in the front and in the back. They terrorized the local farmers and shot anyone on the road. Dr. Abu Sitta and his cousin agreed that they would hide in the wheat fields when they heard a jeep.

Once he reached home he slept for two days. Six weeks to the day the Zionists in twenty-four tanks assaulted his house and destroyed the school which his father built in 1920.

"What did we do to them?" he asks. "I'd never seen a Jew before in my life."

Dr. Abu Sitta notes that the Balfour Declaration stated that the Jews would have a "home," not a "state," "in" Palestine, not "of" Palestine....more

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RAFAH TODAY

2 February 07

Palestinian children carrying posters STOP VIOLENCE
during children's demonstration protest in Gaza City

Sitting in his chair inside his small shop where he used to sell groceries, Abu Ahmed, age 42 and father of six has closed his store. “I fear to open the doors of my shop now. Bullets from Hamas and Fateh militants shooting at each other are flying all over the place. I really hope this will stop, but this is only because of some hidden agenda and some collaborators who try to find a gap between political factions by interrupting the gunfire clashes"...more

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Annie's letters

• Rafah Today's Mohammed Omer: Gaza Children Demonstrate Against Continueing Violence
• 
  
• America may not be perfect, but... Andy Martin 's "Israel loses, again, in U.S. courts"
• 
  
• Freedom, Justice, Equality, PEACE.
• Please remember full respect....
• 
  
• US and Other Countries Should Help Resettle Palestinian Refugees
• 
  
• from August 1999 : Palestinian refugees get wired
• 
  
• UNWRA MAP of Palestine & Palestinian refugees
• 
  
• Massive Attack Announce Shows in Support of Palestinian refugees
• 
  
• Israeli army kills four Palestinians in West Bank... & more from IMEU
• 
  
• Oh, Palestinian Dracula, have you had enough blood yet? by Rashid Shahin
• 
  
• I’m safer in Jordan than a Palestinian in America By David M. DeBartolo
• 
  
• What 'Israel's right to exist' means to Palestinians
• 
  
• Artist's Statement: Emily Jacir's "ENTRY DENIED"
• 
  
• Israel's economic siege a silent killer & more from IMEU
• 
  
• Iraqis abandon their homes in Middle East's new refugee exodus

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peacepalestine

Friday, February 02, 2007

Gilad Atzmon - Being and Time

Being and Time, Jewish Political Discourse and the Palestinian Struggle

The modern discourse of the “political” Jew is a discourse of the orphaned, a self-imposed state of being motherless and fatherless children.

The political man kills his father.

I am not referring here to the Oedipus Complex, nothing libidinal. He is not jealous of his father, for you see, he doesn’t like his mother either.

This metaphysical murderous tendency applies to the left and to the right as well; to the Zionist and his opponent, the so-called socialist 'anti-Zionist'.

The rightwing Zionist is there to execute his Diaspora Father.

The leftwing anti-Zionist is there to eradicate Father Lord.

They both kill their fathers. They want to join a new family, a better one, so to say.

For the Zionist it is the Nation that becomes his new family. He wants to become a Nation like other Nations.

For the leftist anti-Zionist it is the ‘working class’. He wants to be a man like other men.

But they both fail.

Rather than just Being in the world, they indulge themselves in Becoming. They insist upon Becoming that which they aren’t.
...more


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Blue Fog

About Me

Name: Khaled Nazzal

Location: Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, JO

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

In my way...

Before writing a word in this word, I know it will affect me only for few hours, then I'llbe Khaled, again!

During the last period I used to think alot about my future and things I have to achieve to consider my self as a living person, who deserves his life!

The great issue that occupies my mind is floating around the idea: "I'm 25 years old... still a student, with a temporary job, or let me say with a recently lost job... And I don't even dare to think what will happen to me in the next few years, although I need to!"
... more
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DesertPeace

Friday, February 02, 2007

LIVE FROM PALESTINE~~ DYING WITHOUT DIGNITY

(Ben Heine © Cartoons)
Remember the phrases "I was just taking orders" or " I was just going by the book"? One hears them often today in Israel, from soldiers guarding the checkpoints separating the Palestinians from many life/death situations.
People are dying because of these checkpoints.... children are born without medical personel present because of them.
The Israeli government promised to ease the situation.... just two weeks ago they showed how serious they are about this promise by 'removing' 44 non existant barriers on roads.
'HOW MANY DEATHS WILL TAKE TILL HE KNOWS THAT TOO MANY PEOPLE HAVE DIED....'?? The answer is NOT BLOWIN IN THE WIND... it's happening in reality every day. Too many people have already died. It's our responsibility not keep these reports to ourselves...
This one is from the Magazine section of this weekend's HaAretz....

DYING WITHOUT DIGNITY
The Twilight Zone / By the book By Gideon Levy
...more

SEND YOUR CONDOLENCES TO BASSAM ARAMIN

Condolences to Bassam Aramin and his family can be sent via THIS PETITION ON LINE. Bassam is the father of the Palestinian child, Abir, murdered last week by Israeli Border Police.May her memory be a blessing for all of us.
Image by David Baldinger

CANADIAN MINISTER BLIND TO THE HORRORS OF OCCUPATION

(Ben Heine © Cartoons)
Peter MacKay, Canada's Foreign Minister, was in Israel this week. Unlike the visits of Condi and other such 'prominent' guests from the States, his visit went practically unnoticed. That was not the only thing that went unnoticed as the following article will explain.
Ignoring issues and problems will not make them go away... this is an established fact. Canadians, whose taxdollars were wasted by this trip, should not let this pass without protest. MacKay MUST present to his Parliament what he saw in Israel/Palestine.... but more importantly, what he DID NOT SEE OR REFUSED TO SEE.
The following report from the Electronic Intifada speaks of the visit....

Canadian Foreign Minister in Israel and Palestine
...more








Thursday, February 01, 2007

LIVE FROM PALESTINE~~ A CHILD'S FIRST WORDS

(Ben Heine © Cartoons)
There is a whole generation of Palestinian children that have no concept of what peace is. Since birth they have seen shootings, witnessed funerals, witnessed home demolitions, etc. To these children, this is the norm.
Television is not a medium to watch cartoons or childrens shows, it is a window to the horrors of war. Walking to school and back is not the pleasant walk with friends, it is a 'risk your life' situation. When a child does not show up in class the others do not assume that he is home sick, they assume that he was shot dead on his way to school.
These pressures are taking their toll on the children in the Occupied Territories, a toll that will take years to undo.
The following report from the Palestine News Network deals with this situation......

A CHILD'S FIRST WORDS
Shoot, shoot: a familiar phrase on the lips of Palestinian children
(Qalqilia) Palestine News Network
Wednesday, 31 January 2007
“When I grab the newspaper he says 'tahk' and when I turn on the TV he says 'tahk' and when I bought him a game he said 'tahk.'” The word “shoot” is repeated in Mustafa Abdullah's home with the same frequency of other Palestinian households with small children who live under occupation. His youngest child of seven, Abdul Azziz, just turned two.

Having seen too much in such a short time from Israeli soldiers since his birth, and recently from internal fighting, Abdul Azziz repeats sounds most familiar to him.

The four year old sons of Riyad were subjected to fire during a dawn trip to the mosque in the northwestern West Bank two weeks ago. He explained, “All they said was 'tahk' and 'baruda' after the type of gun.”

Another Qalqilia father says, “Several months ago I was arrested by the Israeli army. When my son saw the army he started screaming 'tahk, tahk,' and fled into his mother's arms.”

In July 2006 area Director of Communications for UNICEF, Monica Awad, said that Palestinian children are living difficult lives. “The children in all ages are scared. They have nightmares. In Gaza they do not want to leave their mothers and are afraid to go out of the house.”

Studies conducted by Gaza Mental Health during the month of October showed that 94.6 percent of Palestinian children watch funerals, 82.2 percent of them had seen a shooting, and 66.9 percent had seen someone injured or dead. The study noted that exposure to such tragic events on a regular basis leads to a rise in the rate of psychological disorders in children.

Gaza Mental Health reported that 32.7 suffer from severe psychological disturbance requiring psychotherapy, while 49.2 percent suffer moderate levels. The majority of Palestinian students are said to be distracted in the classroom and while studying due to psychological trauma.

posted by DesertPeace @ 8:54 AM

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Peace For Palestine

Friday, February 02, 2007

Dangerous time for Middle East

Photo illustration: Nino Jose Heredia/Gulf News

February 2, 2007

By Patrick Seale, Special to Gulf News

All the ingredients are coming together for a new war in the Middle East. War-fever is being whipped up against Iran by an ignorant and bullying American president and by Israeli hawks shamelessly exploiting the paranoia lying never far beneath the surface of Israeli opinion.
...more

Gaza fighting escalates as Hamas seizes Fatah bases

Hamas and Fatah agree to a truce

February 2, 2007

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) -Fighting between Palestinian factions escalated across Gaza on Friday, killing at least 15 people as Hamas overran compounds used by President Mahmoud Abbas's forces and two major universities were set ablaze.
...more

US warns of worsening Iraq crisis

President Bush is sending 21,500 extra US troops to Iraq

2 February 2007

The security situation in Iraq will get worse unless action is taken to reverse increasing communal and insurgent clashes, a US intelligence report says.
...more

Israel's Flag is Not Mine

Dear Alfred:

... I wholly agree that American partisanship in the Arab-Israel conflict is dangerous to both the United States. and the Free World. My program merely calls for using the power of the President to bring the parties themselves to an agreement. For too long a time, this dispute has been a bitter cause of friction between the Arab nations and Israel. I would hope that both would be friends of the United States... With every good wish, ...

Sincerely,

John F. Kennedy — 1960


Dear Mother:

I brought you my hurts and troubles when both they and I were little: in that same spirit I bring them to you today....more

What Makes a Freedom Fighter?

Christians offer prayers for peace in Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon during a special mass in Amman, January 23, 2007. REUTERS/Ali Jarekji (JORDAN)

Israel Nuclear Threat (Iran)

A BBC News Broadcast:

Turki Meets Bush

George W. Bush and Prince Turki Al-Faisal

WASHINGTON, 2 February 2007 - US President George W. Bush met with outgoing Saudi Ambassador to the Untied States Prince Turki Al-Faisal at the White House on Thursday. During their meeting, Bush underscored the importance and strength of relations between the Kingdom and the United States.

The president also commended the efforts of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, in solving the problems that threatened security in the Middle East. Bush also appreciated the services of Prince Turki as his country's ambassador. Prince Turki conveyed the greetings of King Abdullah and Crown Prince Sultan to the president.

posted by Housewife4Palestine at 6:14 AM

Three dead following Israeli invasions of northern West Bank

February 1, 2007

Nablus - Ma'an – An operative in the Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Brigades, has been killed on Thursday. Jasir Abu Zghaib from the Tulkarem refugee camp in the northern West Bank was killed, and six others were injured, when Israeli military forces invaded the refugee camp...more

50 dead in January from inter-Palestinian clashes;

February 1, 2007

Gaza - Ma'an – The January death toll in inter-Palestinian clashes reached 50, with over 304 injuries. Tolls of the recent clashes have mounted to 6 deaths and 89 injuries. ..more

Thursday, February 01, 2007

"Muslims In America: Surviving After September 11th" by Siraj Wahhaj

"It seems as if we're always in the position to defend ourselves. While people strike blow after blow we continue on the ropes defending ourselves"

Listen to an Audio Clip

A lecture that looks at the climate of fear and conditions of prejudice that has been brought upon the Muslim community as a result of September 11th.
...more

Holding the Truth

Febuary 1, 2007

by Housewife4Palestine

Every once and while I am reminded how strange truth actually is....more

Global Peace & Unity 2006

A few Nasheeds by Dawud Wharnsby Ali, Muhammad Al Husayan and Zain Bhikha at the 2006 Global Peace & Unity Event.

History of The Dome of Rock

Video

posted by Housewife4Palestine at 5:48 AM

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Sabbah's

Feb1st2007

U.S. Department of State Watching Sabbah’s Blog! 19 comments

2212hrs... Part of Haitham's adventure in USA, Sabbah, Blogging, Breaking News, Middle East

More Updates Below! Just got the third email. I’m starting to enjoy this.

Following my previous post today, I was expecting to get some rants and hate emails from Zionist and pro-Zionist, as always. However, this time the surprise came from U.S. Department of State.

Following email is self explanatory:

From: Blaschke, Brent E [BlaschkeBE@state.gov]
To: [haitham .sabbah@gmail.com]
Date: Thursday, February 1, 2007, 8:34:18 PM
Subject: allegation

You state that the pictures you posted February 1 depict victims of terrorism by the United States. The U.S. does not use terror. You have no evidence to support your claim and are intellectually dishonest in doing so. If you are truly concerned about the plight of the Palestinian people you will lend your support to the “Roadmap” - which represents the fastest path to an independent Palestine - rather than making baseless and inflammatory charges.

Brent Blaschke
U.S. Department of State

My reply was the following:

No I’m not!

If you read well, you can see that text below the photo album posted there is of “Beit Hanoun” massacre, committed by Zionist of Israel.

As for evidences of U.S. terror acts, I’m not going to argue with you about this. Just watch your Fox or CNN and you will get the details of latest war crimes committed by your country soldiers in Iraq. And if you missed the news, here are some links to refresh your memory:
http://tinyurl.com/2yx535
http://tinyurl.com/ygb3qf
http://tinyurl.com/qrmux

Unless you call the above a “bachelor party”, I find no name other than terror acts by U.S. Army!

Last but not least, you ask me to support the legend “Roadmap”, I ask you first to stop your government support to the “terror state” called Israel, then only peace will be reached by default.

PS. Your email and my reply will be published in my blog.

–
Haitham Sabbah
An Uprooted Palestinian Blogger!
http://sabbah.biz/
http://palestineblogs.org/

This is what we call “ignorance and denial!”

Anyway, at least now I can confirm that Sabbah’s Blog is in the watch-list (black-list) of the U.S. Department of State, which proves the power of blogging and Graphic images!!!

Update 1: A friend of mine send me more info about Brent Blaschke. According to U.S. Department of State records, Blaschke, Brent E. (202) 647-5267, SCA/AR - Office of Afghanistan Affairs, United States Department of State. Go ahead… give him a call.

Update 2: Confirmed from the RFC-822 headers of the original email that it came from vance.state.gov. I hold the full details in safe!

Update 3: Ok, this is going to be interesting. Part two - A follow up email from the same person:

From: Blaschke, Brent E [BlaschkeBE@state.gov]
To: [haitham.sabbah@gmail.com]
Date: Thursday, February 1, 2007, 11:41:17 PM
Subject: allegation - part two

Sir: you are quick to use terms like ignorance and denial but let us review your own words.
“Graphic images of crimes present disturbing, yet factual documentation of what terrorism is, and here, I’m not talking about Al Qaeda terrorist acts only, but terrorist acts such as those committed by Zionists in Palestine and US and its allies in Iraq.” Any reasonable reader of that passage would believe that at least some of pictures relate to the United States.

The links you offer refer to cases in which individual U.S. soldiers were charged with crimes. An important point to note is that these soldiers were held accountable by U.S. authorities and were punished for their reprehensible acts. If any thing, it proves the opposite of what you allege.

And you failed to truly address my point on the “Roadmap”. It is the best option available to achieve a permanent state of peace and the creation of a Palestine state. Do you favor a two-state solution or permanent conflict?

Brent Blaschke

U.S. Department of State

Sir: Terrorism is a crime. Any crime against humanity is a form of terrorism. Occupation is terrorism. Torture is terrorism. Sanctions against civilians is terrorism. Boycotting a democratically elected government is a terrorism.

Definitions of Terrorism: (Source: United Nation)
...more

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Today in Palestine! www.TheHeadlines.Org

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Raising Yousuf, Unplugged
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American Palestinian New Generation
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Body on the Line
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Bonsoir...
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karmalised
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al-falasteenyia
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Saree Makdisi Archive
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secularavatar
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Screamer in the Matrix
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The Right To Return, a Basic Right Still Denied

http://www.al-awdasandiego.org/facts.html
http://www.palestineremembered.com/Acre/Right-Of-Return/
http://www.un.org/unrwa/index.html
http://www.badil.org/index.html
http://imeu.net/news/background-briefings.shtml
http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=10241&CategoryId=4
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/687/region_ror.htm
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/israel-palestine/returnindex.htm
http://www.ifamericansknew.org/history/ref-qumsiyeh.html
http://electronicintifada.net/bytopic/refugees.shtml



Palestinian refugees OCCUPIED TERRITORIES 2004


Palestinian Refugees in Iraq

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Forced Migration Review 26: Palestinian displacement: a case apart? The September 2006 issue includes a major feature on Palestinian displacement. Twenty-eight articles by UN, Palestinian and international human rights organisations, Palestinian scholars in the diaspora and Jewish and Israeli activist groups examine the root causes of the displacement of Palestinians, the consequences of the failure to apply international humanitarian law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Palestinian entitlement to protection and compensation. The articles in this issue discuss how failure to address the Palestinian refugee crisis represents perhaps the gravest shortcoming of the UN since its foundation. The international community has not exerted sufficient political will to advance durable solutions consistent with international law and Security Council resolutions requiring Israel to withdraw from Palestinian territory it occupied in 1967. Durable solutions for displaced Palestinians have been discussed without reference to the legal norms applied in other refugee cases. Refugee rights, entitlements to compensation or restitution and the rights to protection of those Palestinians living under continued military occupation were not central to the now-moribund Oslo peace process – nor are they part of the subsequent US-sponsored ‘Performance-Based Roadmap to a Permanent Two-State Solution’. Creeping annexation continues unchecked. Upon completion of Israel’s Wall, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip will be restricted to a series of non-contiguous enclaves which constitute an eighth of the area of historic Palestine. Despite pro-democracy rhetoric, Western response to the internationally-validated Palestinian legislative elections in January 2006 has sparked a politically-induced crisis and crippled the Palestinian economy. Ordinary Palestinians are suffering as donors freeze funding required to maintain humanitarian assistance and development programmes. This issue is being published in English, Arabic, Hebrew, French and Spanish. We hope it may improve understanding of Palestinian displacement and would welcome your support in ensuring copies reach policy- and opinion-makers in the United States, Europe and the Middle East. If you are able to assist with distribution, please email the editors.

We encourage you to circulate or reproduce any of these articles in their entirety but please ensure you cite this url: http://www.fmreview.org/palestine.htm We would also be grateful if you could let us know if you do so.

PALESTINIAN REFUGEES

Rafah Today's Mohammed Omer: Gaza Children Demonstrate Against Continuing Violence

Palestinian children carrying posters STOP VIOLENCE during children's demonstration protest in Gaza City.

Image Credit: Mohammed Omer, Rafah Today 2007-02-02.

Gaza Children Demonstrate Against Continuing Violence

Friday, February 02 2007 @ 01:16 PM EST Clashes continue with 'sounds of bullets and screams of pain and sorrow' Rafah Today via BBSNews 2007-02-02 -- By Mohammed Omer. Sitting in his chair inside his small shop where he used to sell groceries, Abu Ahmed, age 42 and father of six has closed his store. "I fear to open the doors of my shop now. Bullets from Hamas and Fatah militants shooting at each other are flying all over the place. I really hope this will stop, but this is only because of some hidden agenda and some collaborators who try to find a gap between political factions by interrupting the gunfire clashes."....more

America may not be perfect, but... Andy Martin 's "Israel loses, again, in U. S. courts "

" We showed once more that while these malicious cases conjured up by pro-Israel American prosecutors are difficult to defend against: [1} we have brave lawyers who will labor for their clients and the truth; kudos to Michael Deutsch and William Moffit. [2] We still have honest jurors, ordinary Americans who can penetrate Israel's lies and the Bush's Administration's despicable and demented Middle East politics.
America may not be perfect, but we beat anything that's in second place. Thank you, jurors!
The Chicago trial was the most devastating defeat for Israel because during the trial Israeli torture was documented in detail. For that we have to thank the hapless former N. Y. Times reporter Judith Miller, who calmly watched torture-in-progress in Israel and testified at the trial.
We had the obscene spectacle, permitted by a pliant federal judge, of Israeli torturers putting on a secret show in Chicago, with secret courtroom, and secret identities. And the Israelis still couldn't con the American people.
What does that tell you about Israel and the torturing thugs in control of that nation's destiny?


Israel loses, again, in U. S. courts
Category: Politics International Posted Fri Feb 02,2007 10:15 AM 15
The Salah/Ashqar federal court verdict in Chicago is a stinging defeat for Israeli propaganda ...Read More

Freedom, Justice, Equality, PEACE.

Israeli soldiers on patrol, background right, look on as Palestinian youths stage a protest against violence by Jewish settlers towards Palestinians in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, Thursday Feb. 1, 2007. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)

A Palestinian boy, peers from his family house window, as Israeli soldiers on a routine army patrol on the roof, watch during a demonstration against violence by Jewish settlers towards Palestinians in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, Thursday Feb. 1, 2007. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)

A Palestinian man stands next to the body of 17-year-old Taha Alhangalawi, at the hospital morgue in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2007. Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian teenager along Israel's West Bank separation barrier near the city of Ramallah. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Palestinians shout slogans and hold Palestinian flags during a demonstration against the internal fighting between the Hamas and Fatah movements in Gaza City. Four Palestinians have been killed in renewed clashes that jeopardised a three-day truce between warring factions Fatah and Hamas as shooting spread like wildfire through the Gaza Strip.(AFP/Mahmud Hams)

A Palestinian youths hold signs and flags as they take part in a demonstration against the internal violence between Fatah and Hamas outside the office of Hamas lawmakers in the West Bank city of Hebron, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2007. Gunfights between Hamas and Fatah gunmen erupted across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, effectively destroying a three-day-old truce that brought a brief period of quiet to the volatile area. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)

Palestinians take part in a demonstration against the internal violence between the Palestinian factions, in Gaza City, Thursday Feb. 1, 2007. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

A Palestinian Muslim woman prays inside the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's old city, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2007. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

Palestinian Muslims walk by the Golden Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem's old city, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2007. Officials at the Al Aqsa Mosque unveiled a recreation of a 1,000-year-old pulpit on Thursday, decades after the original ornate stand was burnt down by a deranged Australian tourist hoping to force the coming of the Messiah. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

A Palestinian Muslim cleric looks at a recreation of a 1,000-year-old pulpit, center, inside Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's old city, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2007. Officials at the Al Aqsa Mosque unveiled a recreation of a 1,000-year-old pulpit on Thursday, decades after the original ornate stand was burnt down by a deranged Australian tourist hoping to force the coming of the Messiah. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

A displaced Lebanese woman stands next to her car as she continues her way to south Lebanon August 15, 2006. Jolted by last year's war between Israel and Hezbollah guerillas and the power struggles and Sunni-Shi'ite clashes that have followed, thousands of Lebanese -- many of them young and talented -- are leaving to seek jobs and new lives abroad. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

Palestinians inspect the house of an active member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades after it was demolished by the Israeli army in the northern West Bank city of Nablus. The United States hosts a meeting of the so-called Quartet of would-be Middle East peacemakers as it scrambles to illustrate a renewed engagement in efforts to revive moribund Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.(AFP/Jaafar Ashtiyeh)

Please remember full respect....

letter just sent via congress.org
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/userletter/?id=20004&letter_id=1043036161
& to Rice via the State Dept website
http://contact-us.state.gov/cgi-bin/state.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php?p_sid=SD7eQeti&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfcm93X2NudD0xMTEmcF9wcm9kcz0mcF9jYXRzPSZwX3B2PSZwX2N2PSZwX3NlYXJjaF90eXBlPWFuc3dlcnMuc2VhcmNoX25sJnBfcGFnZT0x

Dear .....

Please remember full respect for the Universal Declaration of Human rights, multiple UN Declarations and affirmations, plus endless stories and poems and pictures and millions if not billions of people, all firmly and completely respecting the Palestinian refugees inalienable legal and sacred right to return to original homes and lands.

Years and years pass by and this year will mark 60 sovereign years of an Israeli made genocide decimating the people of Palestine.... should we really make peace with that?

Israeli made hate spreads even here in America with three Palestinian students attacked and badly beaten up by a large muscled mob of trained athletes muttering racist slurs at a Quaker college, as reported by many many witnesses.

I can not help but wonder how many more Palestinians in American are targeted, insulted even beaten up but no one will speak up for them ....

PLEASE HELP STOP THE HATE !

Stop this Israeli made "clash of Civilizations" right where it starts- in Palestine, with all the many persecuted impoverished and displaced Palestinians denied full and equal rights in the land of their birth.

The news reports today that "US presents new Mideast peace initiative to Quartet partners".

Again and again and again everyone talks "peace" while racist Israel just keeps on making Palestinian refugees, freely vilifying and destroying all who dare object to the blatant injustice and brutality of political Zionism.

How many more peace proposals and processes will simply help fund and advertise political Zionism and give racist Israel more time and more ways to torment and destroy the native non-Jewish population of the Holy Land ?

For everyone's sake, we should not be arming Judaism and this insane Zionist quest to empower and prolong institutionalized bigotry and apartheid in the Holy Land.

Bless all the children, including our own, with hope and the opportunity to lead decent rewarding lives. The chance to make good choices. The freedom to love and laugh and grow up a respected member of a community - a true community that honors everyone's past, present and future- regardless of religious affiliation.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
homemaker

US and Other Countries Should Help Resettle Palestinian Refugees

RE: US and Other Countries Should Help Resettle Palestinian Refugees
http://bbsnews.net/article.php/20070201195205789

Dear Editor,

I very much appreciate seeing actual mention of the Palestinian refugees in the news US and Other Countries Should Help Resettle Palestinian Refugees which is subtitled "Syria: Give Refuge to Palestinians Fleeing Threats in Iraq"

However a brief, for the most part buried and very limited glance at Israel's obligation to, as the article states "respect requests by the UNHCR to allow those Palestinian refugees from Iraq with origins in Gaza to return to the Gaza Strip" simply is not enough !

Full focus please on full respect for basic human rights, international law, UN Resolution 194 from 1948 and the huge humanitarian, economic and spiritual crisis made by Israel's creation a