Middle East

NOVANEWS By Nadia Hijab They hail from opposite parts of the globe, but they have much in common: Jewish; experts on and passionate defenders of international law; and pummeling bags for Israel and the Palestinian Authority. And the future of the law of war lies at the heart of the campaigns against them. Richard Goldstone, whose international stature was cemented as chief prosecutor in the Yugoslavia and Rwanda tribunals, has been excoriated by Israel and its allies ever since his team submitted the report on the Gaza war requested by the United Nations Human Rights Council in September 2009. The steady stream of invective (the report is "full of lies," and he has "used his Jewishness to jeopardize the safety and security of Israel" are just two of the milder attacks) has also targeted hi...

NOVANEWS Five victims of the Holy Land Foundation witch hunt, including Ghassan Elhashi (left) and Shukri abu Baker (right) sentenced to 65 years in jail in a modern U.S. witch trial.  More on Democracy Now.   

NOVANEWS Richard Falk, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, said on Monday the Palestinian Authority (PA) urged him to step down after he criticized the PA’s treatment of a UN war crimes report." See: www.angryarab.blogspot.com

NOVANEWS  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1155132.html  By Merav Michaeli Abir Kopty, 34, a graduate of the City University of London, is a member of the Nazareth City Council and works for the Palestinian Government Media Center. Abir Kopty, do all Israeli Arabs stand by what Scandar Copti said? I very much hoped he would say that. Why? To spoil the celebrations a little, because it's impossible to continue sweeping things away. This person expressed the feelings of a million or so citizens who say this all the time, but no one wants to listen. Everyone rejoiced that there was a film nominated for an Oscar, but no one thought that the person behind the film also has views and finally, he expressed them. He said the truth: The state does not represent us. Where does it not represent yo...

NOVANEWS Al Jazeera English, Apr 1, 2009 As the child of Palestinian refugees who moved to Brooklyn, New York at the age of five, award-winning poet and author Suheir Hammad's early life was infused with the city's bustling hip-hop scene and the angst of Arab dispossession, much of which reveals itself in the depths of her poetry and writing. Although she was born in Amman, Jordan, her childhood was constantly filled with her parents' stories about their ancestral home in Palestine before becoming refugees, and the Muslim Quran to Suheir was God's own epic poem. These stories continued even after Suheir Hammad moved to New York, and were instrumental in cultivating her creative talent. Read more about Suheir Hammad © 2009 Al Jazeera

NOVANEWS What are we doing to babies in Gaza? Published on 8 March 2010 in Israel. 0 Comments Tags: Gaza, Judaism, Palestine, Zionism. An email from an employee of the Tuesday’s Child NGO: According to the Bethlehem maternity hospital, premature neonatal mortality over 26 weeks, 37 percent in Gaza in comparison to 1.4 percent in Bethlehem. Shocking, a genocide in itself.

NOVANEWS Haaretz      Biden: East Jerusalem plan undermines peace talks   http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1155171.html  By Nir Hasson, Avi Issacharoff and Natash Mozgovaya   Israel's decision to approve 1,600 new homes in an ultra-Orthodox East Jerusalem neighborhood is undermining Middle East peace talks, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said in Jerusalem on Tuesday. Earlier Tuesday, the Interior Ministry approved the building of 1,600 new housing units in Ramat Shlomo, with a ministry official saying the plan will expand the ultra-Orthodox East Jerusalem neighborhood to the east and to the south. "I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem," Biden said. The American vice president added that the "substance and timing of...

NOVANEWS Paul Howes is national secretary of the Australian Workers’ Union. He loves Israel like it’s a woman he’s dying to take to bed. In other words, any flaws are utterly ignored. His latest piece, in yesterday’s Sunday Telegraph, totally backs Israel’s murder of a Hamas operative in Dubai: Let’s be clear: the death of al-Mabhouh is a positive outcome for those who believe in peace and justice. es, I accept that a liberal conscience will worry about the compelling moral arguments against extrajudicial killings. But we’re talking about a man who has turned Palestinian children into human bombs to murder and terrorise Israeli civilians, not to mention the terror Hamas has waged against Palestinians who are deeply worried about Hamas’ fundamentalism being imposed by authoritarian diktat....

NOVANEWS Freedom House is the least qualified organization to speak about freedoms, especially in the Middle East because they are politically tainted. I am too sick with a terrible cold to respond to everything here but will cite this: "The report, published last week by US democracy watchdog Freedom House, found that Algeria, Kuwait and Jordan had taken large steps forward in improving women's rights. In contrast however, Iraq, the Palestinian Territories and Yemen had fallen behind." Posted by As'ad at 7:45 AM www.angryarab.blogspot.com

NOVANEWS "As the world celebrates International Women's Day, Iman Muhammad Hassan Ghazawwi marked her ninth year in Israeli custody on Monday. Ghazawwi, 33, was sentenced to 13 years, accused of planting an explosive device near an Israeli military patrol, said Detainees' Support Committee spokesman Riyad Al-Ashqar. He added that Ghazawwi is one of the longest-serving female prisoners in Israeli detention." Posted by As'ad at 7:40 AM www.angryarab.blogspot.com