Palestine Affairs

NOVANEWS   By Eileen Fleming [Gaza Palestine-Israel-USA] - On February 19, 2006, Gideon Levy wrote for HA’ARETZ: “The team, headed by the prime minister’s advisor Dov Weissglas and including the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, the director of the Shin Bet and senior generals and officials, convened for a discussion with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on ways to respond to the Hamas election victory. “Everyone agreed on the need to impose an economic siege on the Palestinian Authority, and Weissglas, as usual, provided the punch line: “It’s like an appointment with a dietician. The Palestinians will get a lot thinner, but won’t die,” the advisor joked, and the participants reportedly rolled with laughter.” [1] It has been said that the day will come when those who laughed will laug...

NOVANEWS by Gilad Atzmon   THE TIDE HAS CHANGED We are touring all over Europe at the moment I met Underyourskin in my hotel room in Vienna just before our concert.We spoke about everything…politics, Palestine, Zionism, Left, Jewish Left, Islam, resistance…:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2cOMHRi3wY   YouTube - Veterans Today -   and also about music, art funding, the art of resistance,  beauty.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iccWsQHjFf0 YouTube - Veterans Today -   This is where we play (and talk) this month: Gilad Atzmon & the OHE Europe March  6,  su        Vienna/AU                   Porgy & Bess March 7, Mo         Paris/Fr                        Libraire Résistances (talk & concert) March  8, tue        Redange/Lux                L’inouï March ...

NOVANEWS Dear All I have now confirmed with the UK's Channel 4 TV that they only have distribution rights for their 4 part series on the closing years of the British Mandate in Palestine, known as 'The Promise', in the UK and Eireland. That explains why it has not been possible to download it from abroad: apparently they have blocking software which identifies in which jurisdiction you have logged on. However, when doing a Google search earlier today I found that the four episodes have been uploaded on U Tube, as per the hyperlink below: with the dates given,somewhat confusingly, as 4, 12, 7, and 18 February. To distinguish it from other films of the same name, make sure only to download productions showing Peter Kosminsky as director: and don't be put off by the few minutes of adverti...

NOVANEWS   Dear Friends, Somewhat more than usual tonight.  But while there are 10 items below, there are at least 10 more that I omitted from the message.  Some days there is more to report than on other days. Item 1 reports that Palestinian prisoners in Ashkelon prison are dissatisfied with their conditions, and are threatening a hunger strike.  Palestinian prisoners are not treated as are Jewish prisoners.  For instance, visits are allowed but once in 3 months, and only immediate family members are allowed to visit.  But even that is conditional.  If a family member (father, mother, brother, sister) has been imprisoned by Israel, that person is not allowed to visit.  The subject of Israel’s treatment of Palestinian prisoners is quite long.  If you wish to know...

NOVANEWS   Samer Abdelnour The “Palestine Papers” reveal fully the extent to which Palestinians have neither genuine leadership nor a partner for peace. At the foreground is an unrepresentative "authority" prepared to compromise the most fundamental of Palestinian aspirations for an unrelenting colonizer and its imperious supporter. In the background lies a key mechanism enabling Palestinian deprivation: the aid industry. Palestinians are among the most aid-subsidized people on earth. Anne Le More’s International Assistance to the Palestinians after Oslo demonstrates how $8 billion of post-Oslo aid made its way to Palestinians between 1994 and 2006. Much of this claimed to build the institutions necessary for a two-state peace process and to support socioeconomic development (...

NOVANEWS   by Howard Friel On Friday, February 18, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution which, upon condemning Israel’s settlements in Palestinian territory, had the unanimous support of the 14 other Security Council members and over one hundred state sponsors. Although Rice’s veto in this instance was certainly outrageous, she is no stranger to voting contrary to U.S. obligations under international law, in support of Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights, and against the clear consensus of U.N. member states, since, as U.S. ambassador, she (or her office) has consistently voted against huge majorities in the U.N. General Assembly seeking to reaffirm Palestinian rights.  In December 2009, the U.N. General Assembly passed 18 r...

NOVANEWS   The publication of over 1,600 secret documents leaked to Al Jazeera which cover peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine in the period between 1999 and 2010 shatter any illusions that Israel will ever agree to a two-state solution. BOB SHEPHERD reports on how the documents expose the spineless and cowardly nature of the PLO/Fatah negotiators who have gone to almost any length to appease Israel.   No matter how much the Palestinian leaders conceded, it has never been enough for Israel or for its imperialist backers. In fact the various peace talks are shown to have been little more than an exercise by imperialism to develop and foster a pliant pro-imperialist Palestinian leadership committed only to building a police state to suppress Palestinian resistance. For the Zionis...

NOVANEWS   Al Jazeera created an uproar across the Arab world when it leaked 1,684 documents on Jan. 23 pertaining to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Today, on Feb. 15, the Jerusalem Fund held a very informative panel discussion on the contents of these leaks and the effect they may have on the future of negotiations. We recommend that you invest an hour and watch this vital discussion which features Khaled Elgindy, who served as an adviser to the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah on permanent status negotiations, Georgetown adjunct professor Noura Erakat, a Palestinian human rights attorney and activist, and journalist Mark Perry, a frequent guest commentator on Al Jazeera. In this candid discussion of importance to the worldwide Palestinian Diaspora, as well as to Palestinians living ...