The Institute for Middle East Understanding : All site additions (global feed)

How Israel won the settlement battle, again (Ramzy Baroud, The Palestine Chronicle)

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:35:08 PST

The Palestinian leadership understands that unconditional negotiations will yield Palestinians, the weak party in any negotiations, nothing but further humiliation, while the strong party will determine a solution, any solution, it finds suitable to its interests. Considering that Israel is under no serious pressure, the rightwing government of Benjamin Netanyahu has no reason to stop, or even slow down its illegal settlements project and the subsequent ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

Noam Chomsky on the movement to free Gaza ( GazaFreedomMarch)

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:30:15 PST

Netanyahu says meeting with Obama was 'important' (Natasha Mozgovaya and Barak Ravid, Haaretz )

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:06:44 PST

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday voiced confidence that his meeting Monday with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington would benefit Israel's security and peacemaking efforts, adding that "I think this visit will turn out to have been very important." Netanyahu, whose ties with Washington have been strained by Israel's settlement construction in the West Bank, met U.S. President Barack Obama in a hundred-minute closed-door meeting on Monday evening.

Israeli rabbi approves murder of non-Jews (Vita Bekker, The National)

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:03:48 PST

A book published this week by a radical Jewish rabbi from the Israeli-occupied West Bank and endorsed by prominent religious right-wing figures suggests killing any non-Jew, including children and babies, who pose a threat to Israel. The book's publication, just days after the arrest of Jewish settler Jack Teitel, who is charged with a string of killings, including two Palestinians, reflects a growing antipathy towards Palestinians among Jews living in the occupied territory.

Delusional self-defense, delusional congressional vote (Jimmy Leas and Noura Erakat, The Huffington Post)

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:01:19 PST

The 344-36 House vote last week condemning the Goldstone Report, which encourages Israel and Hamas to conduct "credible" independent investigations of war crimes committed in Gaza, may help Israeli leaders avoid prosecution in the short-term. However, the House vote and the negative US votes at the UN will have long-term detrimental effects both on Israel and on the U.S.'s moral authority.

French FM fearful Israel doesn't want peace (Ma'an News)

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:03:15 PST

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner expressed his fear that Israel no longer appears prepared to pursue negotiations in the Middle East, adding that Paris remains fervently opposed to settlement construction in the West Bank, Israeli media reported on Tuesday. In an interview with France Inter radio, Kouchner elucidated that he did not anticipate a forthcoming breakthrough in peace talks between Israel and Palestine.

Settlement construction contradicts negotiations (Ghassan Khatib, Bitterlemons.org)

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:38:45 PST

The issues of Israeli settlement activity and the need for a settlement construction freeze are again at the top of the political agenda. Abbas has explained that his decision was prompted by a US position that continues to condone Israel's settlement project, rendering the peace process that Washington is calling for meaningless.

Marking Berlin anniversary, Palestinians breach Israel's wall (haitham al katib)

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:31:56 PST

Palestinian leaders foresee bleak future (Omar Karmi, The National)

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:06:15 PST

It must be assumed that the discussion at the somewhat reluctantly and hastily arranged meeting in Washington last night between Barack Obama, the US president, and Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, would have focused almost exclusively on the future of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. Certainly, Palestinian leaders and officials are publicly declaring that future is at risk.

Obama-Netanyahu talks see no result (Al Jazeera)

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:05:59 PST

The latest attempt by the US president to salvage the Middle East peace talks appears to have come to nothing after his meeting with Israel's prime minister ended with only a brief statement from the White House. Binyamin Netanyahu left the White House on Monday after spending an hour and forty minutes inside with Barack Obama, without making the customary public appearance with his host.

Without Abbas, does doomsday loom? (Donald Macintyre, The Independent)

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:02:29 PST

When Western diplomats considered Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's announcement that he did not want to stand for re-election yesterday, they must have asked themselves the famous question attributed to Metternich about the death of a rival, "What did he mean by that?" An easy answer is, "Not very much". It isn't hard to see why Mr Abbas is fed up with pretty well everybody.

UN: Gaza needs construction material before winter (Diaa Hadid, The Associated Press)

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:52 PST

Thousands of Gaza Palestinians left homeless by an Israeli invasion face a cold and rainy winter unless Israel allows building supplies in, a senior U.N. official said Monday. Although the offensive ended nine months ago, the homes have not been repaired because Israel does not allow raw materials to enter the territory, part of its two-year blockade imposed after Hamas seized power in Gaza.

West Bank rabbi: Jews can kill Gentiles who threaten Israel (Haaretz)

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:26:42 PST

A West Bank rabbi on Monday released a book giving Jews permission to kill Gentiles who threaten Israel. Rabbi Yitzhak Shapiro, who heads the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva in the Yitzhar settlement, wrote in his book "The King's Torah" that even babies and children can be killed if they pose a threat to the nation. "It is permissible to kill the Righteous among Nations even if they are not responsible for the threatening situation," he wrote.

Palestinians break Israel's wall (Al Jazeera)

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:12:21 PST

Palestinians and foreign activists have torn down segments of Israel's separation wall in a demonstration marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. In the town of Qalandiya in the occupied West Bank, a group of masked activists using a lorry pulled down a two-meter cement block before Israeli security forces confronted them with tear gas grenades. Several of the estimated 50 demonstrators passed through the hole they had made, hoisting a Palestinian flag on the other side.

'Worse than South African Apartheid' (Gideon Levy, Haaretz)

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:35:12 PST

I thought they would feel right at home in the alleys of Balata refugee camp, the Casbah and the Hawara checkpoint. But they said there is no comparison: for them the Israeli occupation regime is worse than anything they knew under apartheid. This week, 21 human rights activists from South Africa visited Israel. Among them were members of Nelson Mandela's African National Congress; at least one of them took part in the armed struggle and at least two were jailed.

Israeli separation barrier cuts family from village (Al Jazeera)

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:34:53 PST

Pete Seeger's role in ending Israeli house demolitions (Nir Hasson, Haaretz )

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:14:58 PST

Anyone who owns a radio probably knows the song "Turn, Turn, Turn" (To everything there is a season) very well. A number of versions of this song have become permanent fixtures on the play lists of most popular music radio stations. Here's what the listeners don't know: every time this song is played, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions receives a few dollars, which accumulate to a "several thousand dollars every year," according to the committee's co-founder and coordinator.

Abbas may dissolve Palestinian Authority (Michael Jansen, The Irish Times)

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:03:28 PST

The Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas may declare the peace process dead and dissolve the Palestinian Authority. Officials in Ramallah say, however, he will not take these steps until he is certain that nothing can be done to launch meaningful negotiations. While these officials insist he is serious, Israeli commentators accuse him of bluffing. Mr Abbas said last Thursday that he did not wish to run for a second term in the presidential election fixed for January 24th.

Obama to meet Netanyahu, but friction seems to remain (Aluf Benn, Haaretz )

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:01:47 PST

Relations between Israel and the United States are in crisis. This is the conclusion that stems from the difficulty in arranging a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama. The White House wanted Netanyahu to sweat before being granted an audience with the president, and wanted everyone to see him perspire.

Abbas produces a dubious twist (Mel Frykberg, Inter Press Service)

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST

U.S. and Israeli failure to take either Palestinian rights or Israeli settlement expansion seriously has placed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority (PA) in an untenable situation, which could seriously damage peace prospects. On Thursday night Abbas announced his resignation in Ramallah. He expressed his frustration at the inability of the U.S. administration to pressure Israel to cease settlement building in the Palestinian territories.