Middle East

NOVANEWS Hi All, Gideon Spiro hits the nail on the head above.  When the word ‘security’ is uttered in court, the judges jump to attention at the service of the military and the Shin Bet—not only in the Vanunu case, but in general.  When ‘security’ is claimed by the military or Shin Bet, then the defendant and his/her lawyers can be denied knowing the evidence against the client and even knowing the charges brought against the person.  Doors can be closed so that the only persons present are the judge and the prosecuting lawyers and their ‘witnesses.’  Then the wheels of non-justice turn, and an accused can be stuffed into an isolation chamber or other cell for years on end, never knowing what it is that he/she has been accused of.  Nice.  If you wish to learn more about Administrative Det...

NOVANEWS What Wikileaks should cause; rage at our criminal leaders ABC offers nice PR for complicit Israeli car firm Better Place Baltzer speaks on Palestinian rights Saddam taught them well (and we knew) Privatising wars is cosy for all concerned (except dead civilians) Mapping every Iraqi death (officially recorded) How the MSM loves to smear Assange The Wikileaks story step by step What Wikileaks should cause; rage at our criminal leaders 25 Oct 2010 Wow. The kind of column that most Western newspapers would never run. But here’s Yasmin Alibhai-Brown in yesterday’s Independent on the justified and burning rage caused by Wikileaks: Bad boy Julian Assange, the pretty, blondish founder of the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks was hugely admired when he uncovered opp...

NOVANEWS  Welcome to Israel, the land of White Slavers, Body Snatchers and Drug Mules October 26, 2010  Amnesty: Israel failing to deal with white-slave trade JERUSALEM POST – Israel has failed to take adequate measures against human rights abuses of women who have been brought here and forced to provide sexual services, Amnesty International charged. “This is so,” a special Amnesty report on the trafficking of women from the former Soviet Union said, “even though many of them have been subjected to human rights abuses such as enslavement or torture, including rape and other forms of sexual abuse, by traffickers, pimps, or others involved in Israel’s sex industry.” Amnesty International also criticized Israel for not providing a procedure to grant asylum to women who have b...

NOVANEWS October 26, 2010    A Palestinian refugee walks in an alley in a camp in Beirut October 24, 2010  Besides mass slaughter and destruction, wars create refugees, millions at times, uprooted, displaced and homeless, on their own somehow to survive. Israel’s “War of Independence” was no different, dispossessing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, a story Western media reports don’t explain or even mention. In his book, “My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story,” Ramzy Baroud recounted his father Mohammed’s story. Born in 1938 in Beit Daras village, he saw it conquered, leveled and erased, except from the memory he took to his grave. A captive in his own land, he lived years as a Gaza Nuseirat camp refugee, raising his family including son Ramzy, dreaming ...

NOVANEWS 10/26/2010 ‘I do not support U.S. gov’t war guarantees or military aid to any country’ — John Dennis Resolved: Noah Feldman should be open about his views on the two-state solution Comedy tonight– Jenin Freedom Theatre benefit in NYC! David Frum’s world is scary Cut, cut, cut the budget (just don’t touch Israel) One good reason Iranians might hate us Israel begins work on 600 new homes in West Bank settlements ‘There is no such thing as tourism in an occupied city’ ‘AP’ grants prominence to hasbara re Catholic bishops Doron Spielman Doron Spielman ‘I do not support U.S. gov’t war guarantees or military aid to any country’ — John Dennis   Oct 25, 2010 John Dennis Over the weekend we ran a post criticizing the Israel-Palestine stance of John...

NOVANEWS Israel embraces corruption and yet the world embraces Israel Wikileaks revelations? Nothing to see here, says WPost UK shows us civilised folk how to enforce nakedness Aussie Zionist leader is mates with radical settler and peace is never on their minds Finding Serco staff involved in unaccountable abuse; all in a day’s work Almost funny hearing how the Pentagon does damage control Let’s hope that Australia’s war aims are negatively affected by Wikileaks Why can’t the US just kill Assange (asks caring Fox man) We have seen the Iraq war and America is to blame How is life at Villawood detention centre? Israel embraces corruption and yet the world embraces Israel   26 Oct 2010 So Israel is racist and corrupt, that’s quite a combination. Must make so many...

NOVANEWS Dear Friends, The statement above is so true, yet so seldom heard or regarded.  It at once puts things in order and allows us to decide whether we are Zionist, Jewish, or both.  Israel includes Jewish customs, but it is clearly a Zionist state rather than a Jewish one.  Read Lawrence Davidson below (item 1) to see the logic behind the division.  Rest assured, this division enables you to be as critical of Israel as you believe necessary yet remain a good Jew, or Christian, or Muslim, or secular!  Zionism is one thing, religion or ethnicity another.  Zionism is a political movement.  It has nothing to do with religion or culture or ethnic customs.  The Zionism that is Israel is militaristic, nationalistic, and colonialist.  No wonder it has to fight so many wars. There are 3 additi...

NOVANEWS Karma Nabulsi is an academic at Oxford, and used to be a representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization. She is giving the 13th Eqbal Ahmad lecture a week from Thursday at Hampshire with Amira Hass (if you're in the area, go). She is also, as far as I know, the first Palestinian voice to appear in the London Review since Edward Said died. By turns, I found the essay below intriguing, bewildering, mesmerizing, rending. It is rare to read a writer being so blunt and so beautiful about the reality that faces her people: "The Palestinians are stuck fast in historical amber...No one cares any longer for talk of liberation." The common parlance is talk of managed capitalism and global social democracy. The left speaks too much about withdrawal into the interstices of capitalist...

NOVANEWS 10/25/2010 Israeli forces attack Silwan with tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets while distributing demolition orders Vatican synod comes out strong for Palestinian rights When will US publications follow ‘Haaretz’ in describing the ‘terrorism’ of the occupation? My pacifist lament Michael Moore and Catholic church are new front in effort to mainline opposition to Israeli occupation The Israel lobby is just icing on the imperial cake Int’l visitors to Gaza lecture Hamas about Gilad Shalit, but fail to protest Israel’s 8000 Palestinian prisoners Rosen: ‘rogue apartheid Jewish state is not viable in current form’ Israeli forces attack Silwan with tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets while distributing demolition orders Oct 24, 2010 Kate  And m...

NOVANEWS 10/25/2010 Israeli forces attack Silwan with tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets while distributing demolition orders Vatican synod comes out strong for Palestinian rights When will US publications follow ‘Haaretz’ in describing the ‘terrorism’ of the occupation? My pacifist lament Michael Moore and Catholic church are new front in effort to mainline opposition to Israeli occupation The Israel lobby is just icing on the imperial cake Int’l visitors to Gaza lecture Hamas about Gilad Shalit, but fail to protest Israel’s 8000 Palestinian prisoners Rosen: ‘rogue apartheid Jewish state is not viable in current form’ Israeli forces attack Silwan with tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets while distributing demolition orders Oct 24, 2010 Kate  And more news ...