Middle East

NOVANEWS David Cameron’s paradise is allowing privatisation to run wild Times just hopes and prays Israel will listen to its pleasant request We are failing in Afghanistan and most reporters don’t see why David Cameron’s paradise is allowing privatisation to run wild 30 Oct 2010 What a damn shame. One private firm that engages in thuggery is shunned by the British government: The private security firm G4S said tonight that it was “extremely disappointed” to lose a multimillion-pound government contract to forcibly deport foreign nationals. A decision to award the lucrative contract to a rival firm was announced today, two weeks after G4S guards were arrested by police investigating the death of an Angolan deportee at Heathrow. The company that will now deport detainees from n...

NOVANEWS Dear All, This evening’s message is rather long—6 items.  But as usual there are many more items that are not included.  Tonight is one of these times when it was truly difficult to decide what to include below, what to slip back into its folder. Items 1, 2, and 3 are about the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and about the impact of Israel’s misdeeds on Palestinians.   I include these to keep you abreast of why being a Palestinian in Israel or in the OPT is very difficult.  None of us would wish to live their lives. Item 4 is a repeat.  I originally transmitted it about July this year.  In the light of the new Who Profits study about Israeli banks being complicit in the Israeli occupation, colonization, and expansion (http://www.whoprofits.org/articlefiles/WhoProfits-IsraeliB...

NOVANEWS 10/30/2010 ‘New York Times’ is clueless Exclusive excerpt from the important new book A Country Called Amreeka: U.S. History Retold Through Arab-American Lives Naked conspiracy: Ackerman says ‘first class team’ of 5 Jewish, pro-Israel congressional chairs has ‘major, major, major influence’ on Obama Cambridge debater set out to ‘nail’ others on his side IDF bars Palestinian children from Tel Aviv film festival Obama missed his chance to start a pullout from Afghanistan Is he a reliable narrator? A certain type of namedropping Does chosen mean unequal? Apartheid South Africa’s big mistake: no t-shirts with slogans ‘New York Times’ is clueless Oct 29, 2010 Philip Weiss  "New York Times execs visit West Bank city "Publisher, senior editors of...

NOVANEWS Racheli Gai <racheli@sonoracohousing.com> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eve-ensler/the-gift-of-cancer_b_774641.html This is so powerful, painful, moving - hold on to your seat! Racheli. I gave this speech on Tuesday, October 26 at The Women's Conference in Long Beach, CA. It happens like this The doctor walks towards me His face is ashen He says we have found something It does not look good There is a trap door in the seat of the waiting room And I am falling And as I fall I hear The echo of him saying Cat scan As big as a mango We can't be sure This falling goes on for days Even though I appear to be walking And giving speeches and riding on airplanes I am falling As the new doctor at the new hospital says it says CANCER As I wait to hear where it's coming from An...

NOVANEWS Balance isn’t what we’re seeking here Rejecting Arabs from “Jewish” towns New York Times editors get a nice tour of the West Bank by colonists Abe Foxman doesn’t want to talk about BDS, Arab rights, real democracy etc etc It’s not easy backing death squads in Iraq Wolfensohn: “no-one particularly likes the Jews, no-one particularly likes the Palestinians” Israel has an Arab “problem” So we pay contractors in Afghanistan and have no idea what they’re doing?   29 Oct 2010 Following my article on Israel/Palestine in the Sydney Morning Herald this week and the response the day after, today’s paper has the following comment by the letter’s editor: Arguments about Israel and Palestine often seem to go on in parallel tunnels with no connecting passages, and that...

NOVANEWS Dear Friends, Win some, lose some.  Item 1 reports a loss.  Notwithstanding Desmond Tutu’s eloquent plea to the Cape Town opera not to perform Porgy and Bess in Israel, not to perform at all in Israel until it ended its apartheid regime, the opera company has rejected his appeal.  I must say that this surprised me.  I thought that if there is one country, or opera company in that country, that Tutu’s appeal and those of others not to come would stir to act on it, it would be a South African opera company.  Of course there is no question that to break a contract would have cost the company money—very likely a great deal, but is that all that counts? Item 2 consists of reports about several recent occurrences in the West Bank—things that you should know.  None of these is long.  Jus...

NOVANEWS Dear Friends, Tonight’s message is almost entirely reports and commentary about Israeli racism.  Even the first item, which is about a massacre, can ultimately be posited under Israeli racism.  Items 2-4 are reports about racist incidents.  Item 5 is commentary that furnishes background. Item 6 is satirical.  When Israeli racism becomes material for satire, we know not only that it really exists, but also that it has become extreme. Dorothy ======================================== 1.The report below about the Kfar Qassem commemoration leaves out more than it relates, namely the details of the massacre.  In brief, it occurred when a curfew was imposed on the village by the military government, at which time many of the villagers were in their fields and unaware of the curfew.  When...

NOVANEWS 10/29/2010 Meltdown of the Macher: Abe Foxman loses it, calls Israeli interviewer a bigot and condemns the Seinfeld ‘Soup Nazi’ ‘In my opinion, every Jewish town needs at least one Arab. What would happen if my refrigerator stopped working on a Saturday?’ Anas E., age 9, attacked and beaten by five settlers in Jerusalem Israel goes to war against its own citizens Heilbrunn says that Israel lobby ‘crucified’ George HW Bush over settlements Makhoul accepts plea deal; supporters point to the ‘continuing rush towards fascism’ in Israeli politics Glasnost: ‘Forward’ publishes four pieces by the ‘other,’ including Palestinian-American Alia Malek Jewish organizations debate BDS in online forum What is the best way to engage with ideological opponents o...

NOVANEWS 10/28/2010 Report: Israeli soldiers burned Quran during nighttime arrest in occupied Jayyous Dear John Dennis: Here’s what a progressive campaign stance on Israel/Palestine looks like Goldberg regrets his story linking Saddam to al-Qaeda but says ‘everybody’ got it wrong Sheikh Jarrah activists confront Jerusalem mayor over the ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Silwan The ADL’s ‘top ten’ list is consistent with its history of muzzling dissent on Israel at all costs Abu Ben Tzahali An open letter to Hebrew University Israeli siege kept baby girl from leukemia treatment Noah Feldman says that those who seek to bring ‘pure justice’ to negotiations stand in the way of peace Cambridge debate on Israel is undermined by wily neocon (is that redundant?)   Rep...

NOVANEWS President Assad–America has sown chaos across the globe October 29, 2010 by crescentandcross By The Associated Press October 27, 2010 “Haaretz” –  Bashar Assad told Al-Hayat newspaper in an interview published Tuesday that the U.S. created chaos in every place it entered. “Is Afghanistan stable? Is Somalia stable? Did they bring stability to Lebanon in 1983?” Assad asked, referring to U.S. intervention in Lebanon’s 15-year civil war that ended in 1990. In Washington, the State Department issued a strong rebuttal. Spokesman P.J. Crowley charged that Syria is destabilizing Lebanon by supplying arms to militants and issuing arrest warrants for Lebanese officials. “These activities by Syria directly undermine Lebanon’s sovereignty and directly undermine Syria’s stated commitments ...