http://www.uruknet.info :: uruknet.info :: E :: en-us Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:03:35 ECT Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:03:35 ECT http://rss.uruknet.info Weblog Editor 2.0 mail@uruknet.us mail@uruknet.us http://www.uruknet.info?new=85211 January 27, 2012 - Don't call me homeless, because I have a home thousands of years old. I have a home in Jrash which you demolished, erased from your map. I have a home whose stones still stand as witness to your crimes, still stand witness to what once was and to what will be. I have a home that will be rebuilt with the same stones and on the same spot where it originally was and where it should be. I have a home in Jerusalem which you occupy, a home that will be liberated. I have a home in Hebron which you closed, a home that will be reopened. I have a home in Gaza which you bombed, a home that will be rebuilt. I have a home carved in my heart. I have a home in An-Naqab, I have a home in Tabaria, I have a home in Bisan, I have a home in Jenin, I have a home in Jerusalem, I have a home in Safad. Every part of Palestine is my home; every olive field is my sitting room, every hilltop is my balcony, every meadow is my playground, every stone is my chair, every bit of shadow beneath a fig tree is my bed. The land of Palestine is my ground, the sky over Palestine is my roof. All of Palestine is my home, my one and only home.... Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:03:35 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85211 http://www.uruknet.info?new=85209 January 27, 2012 - I had spent the prior month in Gaza and actually left Gaza to join the flotilla sailing from Greece. I was hoping to use my modest skills as an EMT in the event that Israeli naval forces began shooting people on board as they did in May 2010, when they killed nine people on board the Mavi Mamara. Many of these victims, including 19-year-old US citizen Furkan Doðan, were shot point-blank in the head. Doðan was shot five times from less than 45 cm (1.5 ft), in the face, in the back of the head, twice in the leg and once in the back. He was filming the attack when he was murdered. He was unarmed.... Sat, 28 Jan 2012 16:58:21 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85209 http://www.uruknet.info?new=85208 January 27, 2012 - ...On January 22, London Guardian writer Harriet Sherwood headlined, "The Palestinian children - alone and bewildered - in Israel's Al Jalame" Prison, saying: Young children are physically and verbally abused. It's nightmarish. Cell 36 and others like it are "where Palestinian children are locked in solitary confinement for days or even weeks. One 16-year-old" said he'd been isolated for 65 days. Cells are "barely wider than the thin, dirty mattress that covers the floor. Behind a low concrete wall is a squat toilet, the stench from which has no escape in the windowless room. The rough concrete walls deter idle leaning; the constant overhead light inhibits sleep."... Sat, 28 Jan 2012 16:40:46 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85208 http://www.uruknet.info?new=85207 Sat, 28 Jan 2012 07:52:44 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85207 http://www.uruknet.info?new=85206 January 27, 2012 - A motion to rule inadmissible the confession of 14 year-old Islam Dar Ayyoub from the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh was denied by a military judge yesterday. The motion was part of a trial-within-a-trial procedure at the Ofer Military Court, where the boy is being charged with throwing stones. During the trial, it was proven that the boy's interrogation was fundamentally flawed and violated the rights set forth in the Israeli Youth Law in the following ways: 1. The boy was arrested at gunpoint in the dead of night, during a violent military raid on his house. 2. Despite being a minor, he was denied sleep in the period between his arrest and questioning, which began the following morning and lasted over 5 hours. 3. Despite being told he would be allowed to see a lawyer, he was denied legal counsel, although his lawyer appeared at the police station requesting to see him.... Sat, 28 Jan 2012 07:49:05 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85206 http://www.uruknet.info?new=85205 January 27, 2012 - Much of Dawood Boy's village in northern Afghanistan is empty. More than 1,000 families from Alburz in Balkh Province abandoned it 4-6 months ago after a drought affecting nearly half the country left 2.8 million people in need of food assistance, according to the World Food Programme. The drought destroyed the crops Boy had planted, killed his livestock which no longer had animal feed, and left his family without seeds for next season. "We lost everything," he told IRIN. Now he, his two wives and 11 children live on the outskirts of Mazar-i-Sharif, some 85km away, in rented homes without water or electricity.... Sat, 28 Jan 2012 07:33:38 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85205 http://www.uruknet.info?new=85204 January 27, 2012 - ...It is clear that Israel has no plans to reach any form of lasting peace with Palestinians or concede to a two-state solution. Its spread of illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory has created new facts on the ground that make it impossible to form a contiguous Palestinian state, even on the 22 percent of historic Palestine that Palestinians have been reduced to and agreed upon. In light of this continuing Israeli policy of outright aggression and negation of Palestinian rights, Israelis should prepare themselves for the next generation of Palestinians, a much more savvy generation interlinked with a global world and a region that values rights over an artificial border.... Sat, 28 Jan 2012 06:55:22 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85204 http://www.uruknet.info?new=85203 January 27, 2012 - In the wake of a public outcry against internet regulation bills such as SOPA and PIPA, representatives of the EU have signed a new and far more threatening legislation yesterday in Tokyo. Spearheaded by the governments of the United States and Japan and constructed largely in the absence of public awareness, the measures of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) dramatically alter current international legal framework, while introducing the first substantial processes of global internet governance. With complete contempt towards the democratic process, the negotiations of the treaty were exclusively held between industry representatives and government officials, while excluding elected representatives and members of the press from their hearings. Sat, 28 Jan 2012 06:37:06 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85203 http://www.uruknet.info?new=85202 January 27, 2012. Chaos and violence continue, a Baghdad funeral is targeted with a bombing, the media keeps undercounting the dead in Iraq since December 18th, new conditions of a national confrence in Iraq, and more... Adrian Blomfield (Telegraph of London) reports, "A suicide bomber killed at least 32 people on Friday by driving an explosives-laden vehicle into a Shia Muslim funeral procession in Baghdad, heightening fears that Iraq is in the grips of sectarian conflict." KUNA notes, "The car exploded on Markaz street, targeting a funeral of a man who was killed in Al-Yarmouk district on Thursday, a police source said."... Sat, 28 Jan 2012 06:22:59 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85202 http://www.uruknet.info?new=85201 January 27, 2012 - A massive demonstration has shaken the Damascus suburb of Saqba, that has fallen under the control of the Free Syrian Army. RT's Sara Firth traveled to the rebel-controlled area to explore how the fighters managed to overcome superior forces. Clashes between Assad's armed forces and the Free Syrian Army continue in many parts of the country including the capital. Some Damascus suburbs have seen nearly two dozen killed in the past two days, with buildings heavily shelled by regime loyalists. At least two people have been killed in the suburb of Saqba on Friday... The Free Syrian Army is now in control of the area, Firth says. They took journalists to the center of the suburb, where a massive anti-government demonstration was taking place.... Sat, 28 Jan 2012 05:43:17 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85201 http://www.uruknet.info?new=85200 January 27, 2012 - While Charles Ray - the US envoy here - portrays himself as the face of the free world, a champion of human rights and democracy and has been vociferous about his country's role in the Libyan invasion, it turns out that just like Vietnam and other illegal wars before it, Libya is turning into a major embarrassment for Uncle Sam. A report released last week by human rights groups in the Middle East presents extensive evidence of war crimes carried out in Libya by the United States, NATO and their proxy "rebel" forces during last year's invasion, that culminated in the murder of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.... Sat, 28 Jan 2012 05:12:57 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85200 http://www.uruknet.info?new=85199 January 27, 2012 - As Israel continues to defy international law, including countless United Nations resolutions, and builds more and more settlement on land stolen from the Palestinians, its reputation as a model democracy is taking a well-deserved beating. Last year, Israel took a dramatic step in violating whatever semblance of democracy it ever had. On July 11, 2011, the New York Times reported this: "The Israeli Parliament on Monday passed contentious legislation that effectively bans any public call for a boycott against the state of Israel or its West Bank settlements, making such action a punishable offense." While opponents say that this law compromises the freedom of expression, its supporters, ironically, say that it is necessary to fight the ‘global delegitimization' of Israel... Sat, 28 Jan 2012 04:37:38 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85199 http://www.uruknet.info?new=85198 January 27, 2012 - I've written several times about the coordinated smear campaign to brand writers at the Center for American Progress as "anti-Semites" in order to punish them for defying mandated orthodoxies on Israel and to deter others from doing so. While that smear campaign, having done its job, is now winding down, the predictable effects of it are only beginning: CAP is now censoring those targeted writers, and those who defended them are now being similarly smeared. First, the self-censorship at CAP: both The Weekly Standard‘s Daniel Halper and Philip Weiss document how a post written by two of the targeted CAP writers, Ali Gharib and Eli Clifton, was censored in important, substantive ways... Sat, 28 Jan 2012 04:03:32 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85198 http://www.uruknet.info?new=85197 January 27, 2012 - Forces loyal to Libya's transitional government are positioning themselves near the town of Bani Walid following clashes between militias that deepened the country's worst political crisis since the uprising against Muammar Qaddafi was declared over in October. Several hundred militiamen with pickup trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns are deployed on a main road at El Estada, a settlement of sand-colored huts 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Bani Walid.... Sat, 28 Jan 2012 03:50:08 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85197 http://www.uruknet.info?new=85196 January 27, 2012 - The recent French report denouncing Israel's water apartheid confirmed what many Palestinians already knew-water resources in the Occupied Territories are controlled by Israel. Palestinians, unlike Israeli settlers, find their access to water severely restricted. While all the Palestinian communities in the West Bank face water shortages, some are more affected than others. The Bethlehem district - which is comprised of Bethlehem, Beit Jala, Beit Sahour, Ad Doha, Al Khader as well as Aida, Dheisheh and Al-Azza refugee camps - is on the top of the list...It has been estimated that Israel controls around 70% percent of the water resources in the West Bank. While Palestinians are denied access to an equitable share of water and are increasingly affected by the lack of adequate water supplies, Israeli settlers face no such challenges... Sat, 28 Jan 2012 03:26:13 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85196 http://www.uruknet.info?new=85195 January 27, 2012 - Last summer, I took part in a rebuilding camp with the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions(ICAHD). On the 24th July 2011, a group of Palestinians, Israelis and International peace activists finished rebuilding a demolished Palestinian home. Today, exactly six months later, Israeli occupation forces have, once again, demolished it. The home belonged to the Abu Omars, a large family of fifteen who, after having had their house demolished in 2005, and after living for six years in their neighbour's house, were finally able to move back into their new house last summer. Today, they are once again homeless, displaced, distraught, and helpless.... Sat, 28 Jan 2012 02:54:11 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85195 http://www.uruknet.info?new=85194 January 27, 2012 - NATO's alleged "responsibility to protect" was subterfuge. Months of terror bombings left Libya a charnel house. Africa's most developed country was ravaged. Tens of thousands were killed, multiples more injured, and millions left on their own sink or swim. When is war not war? It's when mass killing and destruction are called the right thing. It's also when terrorizing and traumatizing an entire population goes unaddressed. Add horrific torture to other crimes and abuses, according to Amnesty International (AI), Doctors Without Borders, and Human Rights Watch (HRW).... Sat, 28 Jan 2012 02:38:56 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85194 http://www.uruknet.info?new=85193 January 27, 2012 - A three-week long round of meetings in the Jordanian capital, Amman, between the Palestinian and Israeli negotiators; Saeb Erekat and Isaac Molkho, has ended without having led to a resumption in negotiations or any other steps forward for the political process. Palestinian and Israeli sources have said that in light of the PA's insistence on a halt to illegal settlement construction as a precondition to the resumption of negotiations, alongside Tel Aviv's continued refusal to comply with any Palestinian demands, the meetings in Amman yielded no progress... Sat, 28 Jan 2012 02:34:39 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85193 http://www.uruknet.info?new=85192 January 27, 2012 - A group of Syria's opposition "Free Army" has released a video showing what it was said were seven Iranians, including five members of the Revolutionary Guards, captured in the city of Homs. The video showed travel documents of the captives, some of whom appeared to be speaking Farsi. "I am Sajjad Amirian, a member the Revolutionary Guards of the Iranian armed forces. I am a member of the team in charge of cracking down on protesters in Syria and we receive our orders directly from the security division of the Syrian air force in Homs," one of the captives said.... Sat, 28 Jan 2012 02:23:38 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85192 http://www.uruknet.info?new=85191 January 27, 2012 - The Iraqi governmnet executed 34 people in a single day last week, and judicial killings are running at over 600 people a year. Extra-judicial killings by state sponsored actors are much higher, and still higher are killings by various violent factions. Meantime there are less than a third as many operational hospital beds as before the invasion, and less than 20% of the doctors. There are three million maimed people in Iraq. Available electricity in MW/h is about 30% of pre-invasion levels... Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:59:26 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85191 http://www.uruknet.info?new=85190 January 27, 2012 - Hamas has evacuated most of its administrative personnel from Syria. The justification that Hamas officials gave for the evacuation was that there is no need for these administrators to remain in Syria during a period of political upheaval and that the uprising would have hindered their ability to carry out their work and limited their movement had they stayed. Hamas has kept a staff of about 100 people in the political bureau, a fraction of the nearly 2000 that were there before. Despite these measures, Hamas strongly denies that it will transfer its politburo from Syria to Egypt or Jordan, or that it has any desire to leave Syria..... Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:52:57 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85190 http://www.uruknet.info?new=85188 January 27, 2012 - On 28 January 2011 at 6:30am, Yousef Ikhlayl, 17, went with his father Fakhri to their farmland on the outskirts of the West Bank village Beit Ommar, where they prepared the land around their grapevines. At approximately 7am, two groups of Israelis from the illegal settlements Bat Ayn and Kiryat Arba were taking a "hike" in the privately-owned Palestinian agricultural land belonging to the residents of Beit Ommar ("Palestinian killed in clashes with settlers near Hebron," The Jerusalem Post, 29 January 2011). There was no indication that the settlers were planning on shooting. Yousef's father reported that the first shot fired by the settlers hit his son in the head. The settlers then began shooting in the air and the surrounding areas to prevent others from approaching, as his father screamed desperately for help... Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:39:52 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85188 http://www.uruknet.info?new=85187 January 27, 2012 - In the long struggle to close Guantánamo, protests took place in Washington D.C. and across America on the 10th anniversary of the opening of the prison on January 11, and the newly established "Close Guantánamo" campaign (of which I am a member of the steering committee) launched a petition on the White House's "We the People" website, calling on President Obama to fulfill his promise to close the prison, which he made when he took office three years ago, and pointing out how fundamentally unjust it is that 89 of the remaining 171 prisoners have been cleared for release, and yet are still held. That petition needs to secure 25,000 signatures by February 6, to oblige the President to respond, and at the time of writing, over 4,300 people had signed it... Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:32:01 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85187 http://www.uruknet.info?new=85186 January 27, 2012 - Without confirming or denying any meeting with the Taliban, the United States has once again said its goal is Afghans talking to Afghans. "Our goal is to get to a point where it's Afghans talking to Afghans and we're not needed to facilitate this. So that's what he's working on," a State Department spokesperson said. Victoria Nuland told reporters on Thursday not to expect a blow-by-blow account of the peace negotiations with the Taliban. Nuland refused to entertain questions with regard US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman's meeting with Taliban's representatives in Qatar.... Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:14:30 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85186 http://www.uruknet.info?new=85185 January 27, 2012 - One used to be able to take the Hijaz railway from Akka to Jenin and then to Nablus. The railway, built by Sultan Abdel Hamid II at the turn of the twentieth century, was intended to consolidate his own power over the Ottoman Empire, but perhaps its more lasting impact was to unify the inhabitants of Palestine. Jenin and Akka are less than 50 kilometers away from each other, but in order to travel between the two cities one must pass through a military checkpoint positioned between the wall Israel is building in the West Bank and the rest of historic Palestine. ... Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:58:35 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85185 http://www.uruknet.info?new=85184 January 27, 2012 - Almost 1,100 Palestinians, over half of them children, were displaced due to home demolitions in the West Bank by Israeli forces in 2011 - over 80 per cent more than in the previous year - according to a United Nations report released today (Thursday January 26, 2012). "Demolitions and Forced Displacement in the Occupied West Bank," prepared by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), adds that an additional 4,200 people were affected by the demolition of structures related to their livelihoods... Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:28:27 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85184 http://www.uruknet.info?new=85183 January 27, 2012 - "Moamer is in our hearts. If someone here tells you otherwise, he is lying," said Salahuddin al-Werfelli, 19. "A revolution, what revolution? The new authorities represent (French President Nicolas) Sarkozy and some European countries, not Libyans," he said with clear contempt for the UN-mandated Western military support the rebels received during last year's uprising...."We are forced to adapt but 99 per cent of Bani Walid's population still loves Moamer," said Boubakr, a 24-year-old law student. Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:13:29 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85183 http://www.uruknet.info?new=85182 January 26, 2012 - At least 46 people have been killed and dozens injured in clashes between Houthi-led Shia rebels and pro-government Sunni Salafi gunmen in the northwestern Yemeni governorate of Hajjah, assistant head of Hajjah security department Atif Sulaiman told IRIN. Yemeni independent news website Barakish.net has also reported on the fighting and deaths which occurred there over the past couple of days. "Houthi gunmen continue to increase their dominance over several areas and mountaintop positions in the eastern parts of Hajjah in what they say is ‘their effort to liberate these areas from mercenaries [members of the pro-government Islamist Islah Party]'," Sulaiman said.... Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:05:38 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85182 http://www.uruknet.info?new=85181 January 26 2012 - The number of martyrs today rose to 65 among them were 10 children, 4 women and 8 defected military soldiers, they were martyered on Thursday by the bullets of security forces and the heavy weaponry of the military. There were 32 martyrs in Homs, 22 martyrs in Hama, 4 martyrs in the Damascus Suburbs, 3 martyrs in each of Daraa and Idlib, and a martyr in Damascus. The number of the recorded martyrs in Syria since the arrival of the Arab League Observers' committee reached thus far 1317 martyrs, including 30 women, 70 children (out of them 15 female child), 67 martyrs killed under torturing. Homs had the biggest share with an 464 martyrs followed by Idlib with 252 martyrs then Damascus and it's suburb with 164 martyrs and then Hama with 145 martyrs... Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:56:23 ECT http://www.uruknet.info?new=85181