copyright: Tangents 2010
(compiled by Dore Stein)
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Foreign Press Association in Israel Condemns "Recent Policy Change" by the IDF and Border Police in Regards to Journalists Covering Events in the West Bank (Haaretz 7/17/10)
Generally speaking this would not include smashing the face of a clearly marked photographer working for a known and accredited news organization with a stick, or for that matter aiming a stun grenade at the head of a clearly marked news photographer or summarily arresting cameramen, photographers and/or journalists."
(The latter refers to two Palestinian photojournalists injured during a protest in the southern West Bank town of Beit Umar, near Hebronon July 17.)
"Israel Imprisoned My Father for Nonviolently Resisting the Occupation" Electronic Intifada 7/16/10
also Aljazeera 7/10/10
How to Win with Hamas Opinion by Bradley Buston
Haaretz 7/2/10
Demolitions, New Settlements in East Jerusalem Could Amount to War Crimes according to U.N. Expert U.N. News Service 6/29/10
Jewish Settlers Target 'Shared Cities' Aljazeera 6/21/10
"There are 498 court cases to kick people out of their homes. Of these all but one are against Arab families. Gentrification is being used as a means of ethnic cleansing, in effect".
Nothing short of the full lifting of Israel's blockade on Gaza would allow the territory to be rebuilt, the UN agency responsible for Palestinian refugees said, a day after Israel said it would ease its siege.
ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) video of Beatrice Megevand-Roggo, the ICRC's head of operations in the Middle East (6/14/10)
excerpt:
B'Tselem (Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories) Annual Report 2009-2010
Malian Bambara Guitarist Lobi Traore RIP 1961-2010
Gaza Blockade Fact Sheet (Foreign Policy 6/3/10)
who was on the Mavi Marmara Aljazeera 6/6/10
Egypt: Gaza Blockade a Failure, Border Stays Open Guardian UK 6/7/10
Israeli Military Diverts Rachel Corrie Aid Ship to Ashdod New York Times 6/5/10
Gaza flotilla attack: Autopsies reveal intensity of Israeli military force (Guardian UK 6/5/10)
At least 4 Palestinian flotilla passengers remain under house arrest
French Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says 16 journalists being held at Beer Sheva detention center. (en.rsf.org 6/2/10)
Inside the Israeli PR Machine (Guardian UK 6/4/2010)
Under Scrutiny, IDF Retracts Claims About Flotilla's Al Qaeda Links (Max Blumenthal, 6/3/10)
N.Y. Times Op-eds Recycle Israeli Propaganda on the Gaza Flotilla Attack
Window into Palestine 6/4/10
Video testimony of British survivor Sarah Colborne who was on Mavi Marmara Guardian UK 6/3/10
Eye witness video from Al Jazeera correspondent Jamal Elshayyal who was on the Mavi Marmara
"No doubt from what I saw live ammunition was fired before any Israeli soldier was on deck, firing (live bullets) almost indiscrimiately from a helicopter.
When the Israeli soldiers came on board, they stood outside the cabin where eveyone was gathered and people put up signs in English and Hebrew saying these people are injured and waved white flags. An Israeli Knesset member (Haneen Zou’b) approached the soldiers saying there are injured people please come and take them but the Israelis refused. 3 hours later all 3 of those people ended up dying on the spot because no one came to take them."
Nine people - eight Turks and a US national of Turkish origin- were killed in Monday's raid on the Mavi Mamara. Turkish media estimates 15-20,000 mourners poured onto the streets around the Fatih Mosque in Istanbul. Turkish president Abdullah Gul said Israel's military raid on civilian aid ships bound for the Gaza Strip has caused "irreparable" damage to his country's relations with Israel, and will "never" be forgiven. Aljazeera.net 6/3/10
The leader of the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation or, İHH, Bülent
Yıldırım, said he saw Israeli soldiers shoot a photographer and an activist who
had already surrendered.
"We were witnesses to premeditated murders," said Swedish historian Mattias Gardell. Hurriyet Daily News 6/3/10
15-20,000 mourn flotilla deaths in Istanbul; "Irreparable damage to relations with Israel"
Nine people - eight Turks and an American citizen were killed in Monday's raid on the Mavi Mamara. Reports in the Turkish press identified the American as Furkan Dogan, 19, who was born in the United States before returning to Turkey with his family as a young child. The Cihan news agency reported that Mr. Dogan had one bullet in the chest and four bullets fired into his head from close range.
Turkish media estimates 15-20,000 mourners poured onto the streets. The demonstration came as Turkish forensic experts confirmed that the nine activists had been shot dead.
Gaza Links for most up-to-date information:
Live blog coverage: Aftermath of Israel's flotilla raid via Ajazeera
Free Gaza Twitter Feed
Stream Aljazeera TV via Livestation
Aljazeera
TV features outstanding indepth coverage. It is only available via free
computer download in the U.S., as cable companies refuse to carry it.
Hurriyet Daily News (Turkish perspective)
Two article links follow - the opinion piece by Stephen Walt is an excellent read:
Israel's Latest Brutal Blunder by Stephen Walt (Foreign Policy, 5/31/10)
Gaza Freedom flotilla carried world-renowned names and veteran activists (Guardian UK 5/31/10)
I am sickened and outraged by Israel's failure to use all peaceful means necessary to avoid the use of killing force.
1) There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. (Avigdor
Lieberman, Israel's foreign minister also states this.)
2) The flotilla activists were affiliated with Hamas, and as such, the convoy was not intended to be a humanitarian project.
3) She alleged the activists had sharp objects and clubs, and initiated light fire so the response was justified. (Her version is an activist took away a gun from a commando.)
4) She did admit that the commando raid took place outside Israeli waters.
The Israeli propaganda line denying a humanitarian crisis in Gaza is almost as offensive as folks who deny the Holocaust.
Attacking an unarmed civilian vessel in international waters is in
violation of international law. The occupation and siege of Gaza is
already in violation of international human rights law.
Turkey's İHH, Humanitarian Aid Foundation, was the main organizer of the flotilla aid shipments. The Mavi Marmara ship was the target of the commando attack. The latest count is 19 killed, including 6 Turks. This is not confirmed as Israel has refused to release details of the dead and wounded.
Of the nearly 600 people on the Mavi Marmara, roughly 400 were Turkish citizens. Among the people on the flotilla were 1976 Nobel peace laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire and European legislators.
Families of those attacked on Turkish aid ship devastated (Hurriyet Daily News 5/31/10)
Israel's obligations under international law (Btselem: The Israeli Information Cente for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories)
US journalist Lori Berenson granted parole in Peru after 15 years in jail. Sentenced to life for helping MRTA rebels, Berenson cannot leave Peru until 2015
She will be freed with her son, who was born in jail, in the next few days but cannot leave Peru until her sentence for terrorist collaboration ends in November 2015.The politically committed former student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology pleaded not guilty to all charges but, after evidence against her had been given in secret in a non-jury trial, she was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. She was not allowed to cross-examine witnesses. After an intense campaign, Berenson was retried in a civilian court in 2001 and convicted of the lesser crime of aiding a revolutionary group and her sentence reduced to 20 years.
Guardian UK 5/26/10
A Turkey-Brazil
diplomatic initiative to defuse the Iran crisis caught the Obama administration
off-guard, writes Ray
McGovern (former CIA
analyst).
Consortium News 5/19/10
Elvis Costello cancels concerts in Israel in protest at treatment of Palestinians
Singer says he acted on 'conscience', as he joins
a list of performers including Gil Scot-Heron, Carlos Santana and
Bono/U2.
Israeli
authorities prevented the Jewish American academic Noam Chomsky from entering the West Bank on May
9th to give a lecture at a Palestinian university near Ramallah. Chomsky was
told that the Israeli authorities did not like his political
views.
ISRAELI SOLDIERS SPEAK OUT ON GAZA
"A
group of soldiers who took part in Israel's assault in Gaza say
widespread abuses were committed against civilians under 'permissive'
rules of engagement" according to a 7/15/09 BBC report.
"The
troops said they had been urged to fire on any building or person that
seemed suspicious and said civilians were sometimes used as human
shields.
Breaking the Silence (click for full report) a campaign group made up of Israeli soldiers, gathered anonymous accounts from 26 soldiers."
ISRAEL AND IRAN
This
article caught my eye: "Israel may have already started a war against
Iran's nuclear program not with bunker busting bombs and cruise
missiles, but with computers." (7/8/09)
Gazans 'Live In Despair' (June 29,2009 BBC article)
The International Committee of the Red Cross has described the 1.5 million Palestinians living in
Six months ago Israel ended its 25 day assault on Gaza in which at least 1,100 Palestinians died.
The
Red Cross says residents lack adequate shelter after homes were
destroyed. Building materials, pipes and spare parts are urgently
needed. Basic medicines and reliable hospital equipment are in short
supply. The water supply is patchy and sanitation is at the point of
collapse.
Poverty is at what the Red Cross calls an "alarming" level with large numbers of children malnourished.
A
Preparing
the Battlefield: The Bush Administration steps up its secret moves
against Iran. Seymour Hersh (New Yorker Magazine, July 7, 2008)
Seymour Hersh Audio
Secretly shot film reveals how Mugabe stole Zimbabwe's election
Guardian (UK) July 5, 2008
Biofuels
have forced global food prices up by 75% - far more than previously
estimated - according to a confidential World Bank report. Guardian
(UK) July 4, 2008
Time to put the brakes on biofuels - Oxfam commentary Guardian (UK) July 4, 2008
Italy's compulsory fingerprinting of Roma (Gypsy)population is reminiscent of Mussolini and Hitler.
Independent (UK) June 27, 2008
Guardian (UK) July 1, 2008
On-line Petition
Esbjorn Svensson leader of tangential jazz trio EST dies in scuba diving accident
Guardian (UK) June 17,2008
Link for band member thoughts and book of condolences
Saban Bajramovic "King of Roma Music" dies
Independent (UK) June 12, 2008
Timesonline (UK) June 23, 2008