Land Theft and Destruction
*Israeli army and settlers violently obstruct Palestinians from harvesting
their lands in Safa*
Villagers from the Southern West Bank village of Safa, north of Hebron, have
tried to harvest their lands that are located closely to the settlement of
Beit Ayn, on Saturday morning. The Israeli army violently pushed the
villagers of their lands, as settlers were gathering on near by hilltops.
Later in the morning settlers came down and attacked a group of women and
children, a local witness reported to IMEMC.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60597

*Settlements Activities over the Last
Month*
In light of the recent meeting between Presidents' Abbas and Obama, the team
at Palestine Monitor collected a set of headlines from the Ma'an News
Agency. We hope that this small sample will provide a window for the
international community into the realities of settlements on the daily life
of those living in the West Bank.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article965

*German FM calls for halt to Israeli settlement
expansion*
Bethlehem - Ma'an/Agencies - Germany's foreign minister on Saturday demanded
that Israel stop expanding illegal settlements in the West Bank and East
Jerusalem. In two interviews in Berlin on Saturday, the country's foreign
minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said that founding new settlements or
expanding existing ones in the occupied Palestinian territories is "not
acceptable."
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38189

*Arab League Chief: Settlements make two-states
impossible*
The Arab League's secretary general says it will become impossible to
establish a Palestinian state unless Israel halts settlement construction in
the West Bank immediately.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1088984.html

*Barghouthi: IOA is misleading the world on
settlements*
Palestinian legislator MP Dr. Mustafa Al-Barghouthi has accused Thursday the
Israeli occupation government of misleading the world on the construction of
more Israeli settlement in the West Bank.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s77GImbuwfko9q%2fBDjsovBTBh8nJrbFtCYiGLS2XiGkgAca1F6VyimEglx%2fyJAvlNffxdyIX9nivQ%2f1oLE76lckCzjEbnpQtlrGj6jWsUm3MI%3d

*Bi'lin marks 40 days since Abu Rahma
killing*
Demonstrations in Ni'lin and Bi'lin were met with more violence this week.
Five were injured in Ni'lin and three in Bi'lin, and dozens more suffered
from tear gas that Occupation forces showered on the protests. Protestors in
Bi'lin carried shields and posters of Basem Abu Rahma to mark the 40 days
since his death.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/1962.shtml

*Ni'lin: Weekly protest against the
Wall*
In Ni'lin, where 300 Palestinians and international supporters gathered to
march in protest against the Apartheid Wall, snipers were deployed in an
under-construction building and armed soldiers in the fields and streets.
Occupation forces fired excessive rounds of tear gas and young men and boys
responded by throwing stones. More tear gas and live ammunition followed,
ultimately preventing the march from taking place.
http://stopthewall.org/video/1964.shtml

*Al-Ma'sara demonstration continues to gain
strength*
Yesterday, like every Friday at al-Ma'sara, the weekly protest in this
village near Bethlehem was met by armed soldiers who had blocked the village
exit road with razor wire, denying the people their right to access their
land. This week around 80 people marched to show their support for
al-Ma'sara's struggle against the Wall. Locals were joined by Israelis and
internationals, among them a French group of elected members of town
councils in Normandy.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/1961.shtml

*Umm Salamuna / Al Masra nonviolent resistance in the southern Bethlehem
streets
regardless*
Al Ma'sara, which lays to the south of Bethlehem, is a village on the
frontline of land confiscation and settlement expansion.
The village itself is the size of 22,000 dunams, with 20,000 dunams set to
be confiscated for settlement construction. Farmers are losing their lands,
and then they are forced to lose them for the construction of illegal
settlements on their land which is their only source of income. That is why
every Friday in Al Ma'sara and Umm Salmamuna they march. They march under
the banner of nonviolence.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5525

*Arab Jahalin: Return to Tal Arad*
The Arab Jahalin are the biggest Bedouin tribe in the West Bank, living
primarily in the areas around Jerusalem. Originally from Tal Arad, near Bir
Saba' in historic Palestine, the Jahalin were violently expelled from their
homes during the 1948 Nakba (catastrophe) and forced to live as refuges in
the West Bank. Following the 1967 occupation, Israeli military forces again
targeted the Jahalin, expelling them from land confiscated for Jewish
settlement. This campaign of ethnic cleansing continues into the present, as
the Wall and expanding settlements around Jerusalem threatens to displace
the Jahalin once again. This documentary is a collection of interviews with
members of the Jahalin, who narrate the histories and experiences from 1948
until the present.
http://stopthewall.org/video/1963.shtml

Violence against Palestinians
*Israeli troops attack Nil'in's weekly protest and injure three
people*
Israeli soldiers attacked Palestinian and international peace activists
during the weekly non-violent protest against the wall in Ni'lin village,
west of the central West Bank city of Ramallah, on Friday.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60591

*Bil'in: Three injured, and scores suffered gas inhalation at the weekly
demonstration*
Residents of Bil'in, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah marched on
Friday after midday prayer in the weekly protest. They were joined by
international and Israelis activists.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60590

*Israel's army attacks anti-wall rally at Bethlehem-area
village*
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israel's military attacked a group of Palestinians and
French peace activists in the Al-Masara village near the West Bank city of
Bethlehem on Friday. The demonstrators were protesting the Israeli wall and
settlements that eat into the village's territory.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38178

Detentions
*Hamas says Fatah arrests 22 of its
activists*
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Hamas Islamists said on Saturday Fatah
forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrested 22 of their activists
in the West Bank.
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSTRE54T0ZB20090530

* Israeli police release photojournalist after five-hour
interrogation*
Jerusalem - Ma'an - Israeli police released a Palestinian photojournalist,
Ahmad Jalajil, and his assistant, Raed Sarhan, who were seized filming a
documentary about the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday evening. Jalajil was
released on bail of 3,000 israeli Shekels (750 US dollars) and he received a
police order to stay away from the Al-Aqsa Mosque for two weeks.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38183
*
Three Israeli solidarity activists, two Palestinians
detained*
Hebron - Ma'an - Israeli forces on Saturday detained three Israeli
solidarity activists and two Palestinian boys during a peaceful rally
against the expansion of an Israeli settlement in Beit Ummar on Saturday.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38200

War Crimes
*Israel refuses cooperation with UN inquiry into Gaza 'war
crimes'*
The UN announced from Geneva Friday that the four-member team, headed by
South African war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone, will head to the
region this weekend, and wants to begin work next week.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/270925,israel-refuses-cooperation-with-un-inquiry-into-gaza-war-crimes.html

*UN rights inquiry team to arrive in Gaza
Monday*
AFP - A United Nations mission will arrive in the Gaza Strip on Monday to
gather information for its inquiry on Israel's offensive there, the office
of the UN human rights chief said.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/af...
*
Defending Israeli War
Crimes*
In response to a series of reports by human rights organizations and
international legal scholars documenting serious large-scale violations of
international humanitarian law by Israeli armed forces in its recent war on
the Gaza Strip, 10 U.S. state attorneys general sent a letter [.pdf] to
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defending the Israeli action. It is
virtually unprecedented for state attorneys general - whose mandates focus
on enforcement of state law - to weigh in on questions regarding the laws of
war, particularly in a conflict on the far side of the world. More
significantly, their statement runs directly counter to a broad consensus of
international legal opinion that recognizes that Israel, as well as Hamas,
engaged in war crimes.
http://original.antiwar.com/zunes/2009/05/29/defending-israeli-war-crimes/

Humanitarian Issues, Human Rights Violations, Discrimination
*Exploitation of Gaza
* Would anyone ever
imagine that the people of Gaza and Palestine own vast reserves of oil and
gas in their own territorial waters? Is it possible that Israel wanted this
conflict in order to get its hands on those reserves? Well the answer to
both these questions is simply yes.
http://blogs.amnesty.org.uk/blogs_entry.asp?eid=3248

*West Bank rights violations on the
rise*
RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - "I heard voices, I turned around to
look, and saw a group of Israeli settlers assaulting my brother Hammad,"
says Abdallah Wahadin, 82, a Palestinian farmer from Beit Ummar near the
southern West Bank city of Hebron. "Three of them surrounded me, while a
fourth threw a rock at the back of my head. Lots of blood ran down onto my
clothes. Other settlers then joined them," Wahadin told the Israeli human
rights group B'Tselem.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10564.shtml

*Gaza housing, water situation still
dire*
TEL AVIV (IRIN) - Reports published recently by various organizations paint
a grim picture of life in Gaza more than four months after the 23-day
Israeli offensive ended on 18 January. At the end of April 2009, UNRWA and
the UN Development Programme (UNDP) completed their assessments of damage
caused during the offensive: Some 3,500 houses were totally destroyed or are
beyond repair and many others have yet to be repaired.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10565.shtml
*
Gaylard: The Israeli siege thwarts UN efforts to help
Gazans*
UN humanitarian coordinator Maxwell Gaylard stated that the Israeli siege on
the Gaza Strip hinders the efforts made by the UN and its partners to help
the Palestinians in the post-war Strip.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7aND1H%2bRacZKdexbhDpyWKCPMmA5Bhddfzhi445LOOQmHY%2fkYn19ZibHgGDAwYPUtcM5HbdQs5F22JoWtpGqKwOUVf4zzamHGKRwtrB1ahaY%3d

*Hope convoy leaves Gaza Strip; says siege must be immediately
lifted*
The PA government committee for breaking the siege has announced Thursday it
had achieved the full program that was prepared for the Hope convoy, which
departed the Gaza Strip.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7CbkM8TISbSw9xqYaTb5VHR6piiECYMugw3QRnb%2bX0A%2fRsjSk2OATvWduXh5yYzzs%2b9g%2bkt8i0KdgpFmNLdhx2eLY4NBrFGKWY5Fr%2fcVbGx4%3d

*Israel greets literature with machine
guns*
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Ramattan) - Renowned authors from all over the world
were welcomed by an armed squad of Israeli police in Jerusalem last Saturday
at the opening of the prestigious Palestinian Festival of Literature.
http://english.ramattan.net/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=40464

*International human rights workers to accompany Gazan farmers in ‘buffer
zone' despite Israeli threats*
Saturday, 30 May 2009: Five international human rights workers from the
ISM-Gaza Strip will be accompanying farmers from Khoza'a as they harvest
crops next to the Green Line. In the morning, human rights workers will
join Palestinian farmers in Khoza'a village, located east of Khan Younis in
the southern Gaza Strip, to farm land 400 meters from the ‘Green Line'.
http://palsolidarity.org/2009/05/6891

*Farmers under fire*
A compilation video from real incidents when Palestinian farmers came under
fire from Israeli soldiers shooting with live ammunition from jeeps and
towers along the border to Gaza. All of the incidents occurred in the
south-eastern border region east of Khan Younis, within the months since the
‘cease-fire' following Israel's war on Gaza. All the attacks have been
against unarmed Palestinian farmers, including women and children, and
internationals accompanying them. The practise of firing at farmers and
civilians in the area up to 1km from the border has been a consistent
occurrence, with attacks increasing after Israel's 3 weeks of massacring
Gaza.
http://palsolidarity.org/2009/05/6894
*
De facto Health Ministry receives 13 ambulances from
UAE*
Gaza - Ma'an - The de facto Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip held a
ceremony on Friday after it was given 13 new ambulances from a United Arab
Emirates-charitable society.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38176

*Threat of the 'thought police' alarms Israel's Arab
minority*
Israeli Arab leaders have called an emergency meeting today to discuss their
growing alarm over a series of "racist and fascist" bills being promoted by
right-wing members of the country's parliament. One of the bills has already
brought fierce accusations from two prominent Jewish Knesset members that
its backers are trying to create a "thought police" and "punish people for
talking".
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/threat-of-the-thought-police-alarms-israels-arab-minority-1693157.html

*Israel Threatens to Outlaw Palestinian
Memory*
JERUSALEM - Israel is set to approve a radical new bill that threatens to
legalize discrimination against its sizable Arab minority for the first
time. The bill, approved this week by the ministerial committee for
legislation, would make it illegal to relate to the creation of the state of
Israel on May 15, 1948, as a day of mourning, thereby banning Arab Israeli
citizens from marking what Palestinians call the Nakba - their "Great
Catastrophe."
http://original.antiwar.com/kessel-klohendler/2009/05/29/israel-threatens/

*Islamic-Christian Committee: Israeli rabbis flame extremism in
Israel
*
Jerusalem, May 30, 2009, (Ramattan)- The Islamic-Christian Committee in
Solidarity wit Jerusalem warned of the growth of the extremist role of the
rabbis inside the Israeli society.
http://english.ramattan.net/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=40465

Fatah Collaborators and Propaganda
*Fatah at fault*
The chronic and brewing crisis within Fatah is not only creating tension --
even conditions of implosion -- inside the Palestine Liberation Organisation
(PLO) mainstream faction. It is also hindering a breakthrough in national
reconciliation talks with Hamas.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2009/949/re4.htm

*Fatah rejects Palestinian joint forces in Rafah
only*
Gaza, May 30, 2009 (Ramattan) - Fatah movement on Saturday rejected a Hamas
proposal on sharing power with Fatah only at the border crossing between the
Gaza Strip and Egypt.
http://english.ramattan.net/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=40466

*Out touch and out of his
mind*
Many people with their heads in the clouds anticipated that the Obama
administration would finally swing US foreign policy towards advocating
justice, rather than capitulation, for the Palestinians. In diplomatic
circles, the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah has repeated ad nauseum its
belief that President Obama would finally listen to both sides and take into
consideration the huge imbalance in concessions demanded from Israel and the
PA.
http://www.kabobfest.com/2009/05/out-touch-and-out-of-his-mind.html

*'Abbas is trying his best' 28 May
09*
Nabil Abuznaid, the former chief of PLO mission in Washington, defends the
Palestinian president against criticism from the Hamas group over his
policies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfXS6c6ESZc

Egyptian Collaborators
*Gibsons volunteer faces Gaza border
frustration*
Sechelt - From the Sunshine Coast to the Middle East is a long way to go to
help people in a war-torn area, only to be turned away at the border. But
that is what Gibsons resident Anita Couvrette was facing when she arrived in
Egypt on Monday.
http://www.coastreporter.net/article/20090529/SECHELT0101/305299980/-1/SECHELT/gibsons-volunteer-faces-gaza-border-frustration

Political Developments
*Palestinians differ on US
promises*
Palestinian Fatah has said it was "encouraged" by the meeting between
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, and his US counterpart in the
White House, while Hamas said the encounter would lead to nothing.
"Palestinians are encouraged by the commitment President Obama and his
administration have shown to Middle East peace," Saeb Erakat, a Fatah member
and the Palestinians' top official said on Friday.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2009/05/200952923332214478.html

*Obama tells Israel to halt
expansion*
WASHINGTON - President Obama received Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at
the White House yesterday with an invaluable welcoming gift: a toughly
worded, categorical US demand for Israel to stop expanding settlements in
the West Bank.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2009/05/29/obama_abbas_talks_look_toward_a_viable_palestinian/

*Abbas cannot be trusted with Palestinian interests, Hamas
says*
Hamas said on Friday that nothing new has emanated from the meeting between
Mahmoud Abbas and US President Barak Obama and that the meeting was
disappointing for the Palestinian people.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7L8HaMB1WxLcoYLTdieycc%2bFrtu5HKZr4p%2fn7%2fjAnC9Lq%2b2X4TxS%2fC6CHdYGOdNqzvs5ckCknd%2bzvBqo22x66VylTjn1z1%2b1kDV%2fCilYNq1M%3d

*'Palestinians expect Obama peace push will unseat
Netanyahu'*
Palestinian Authority officials expect U.S. pressure on Israel to restart
the peace process will slowly force Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from
office, the Washington Post reported on Friday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1088980.html

*Obama "can never dictate to Israel" US Sen. Frank
Lautenberg*
"If Israel were able to get rid of Iran's nuclear bomb-making capability,
I'm sure that America would not send Israel a chastising e-mail message. We
have to give Israel the courtesy of [allowing it to] make its own
"decisions."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1243346493164&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

*Abbas to meet with Egypt's Hosni Mubarak on
Saturday*
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to meet
with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday afternoon after Abbas
arrives from Washington in Cairo.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38184
*
Hamas: Abbas mustn't relinquish our rights for a 'U.S.
illusion'*
Palestinian factions in exile in Damascus on Saturday warned Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas against giving up on the "rights of the Palestinian
people" in exchange for a "U.S. illusion."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1089015.html

*Abbas: U.S. is committed to ending settlement
construction*
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak in Cairo on Saturday, and briefed him on his recent trip to
Washington, saying that the U.S. was committed to bringing about an end to
Israeli construction in the West Bank settlements.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1089012.html

Other News
*Report: PNA suffers from severe financial
crisis*
RAMALLAH, May 30 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) has
been recently passing through a severe fiscal crisis with a deficiency of
530 million U.S. dollars, a local Palestinian daily reported on Saturday.
The Ramallah-based al-Ayyam daily quoted a senior foreign official as saying
that "the PNA suffers from a severe fiscal crisis that hit to 483 million
U.S. dollars since the beginning of this fiscal year."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-05/30/content_11457891.htm

*U.S. man gets no jail time in 'mysterious' case of spying for
Israel*
An 85-year-old former civilian employee of the U.S. Army was fined but given
no prison time on Friday after earlier pleading guilty to giving classified
documents to Israel in the 1980s, in a case the sentencing judge said was
"shrouded in mystery."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1088991.html

Media Restrictions against Palestinians/Western Media Bias against
Palestinians
*Palestinian media forum slams Israel for barring journalists from entering
Gaza*
The forum of Palestinian media workers denounced Israel for preventing
journalists of occupied Jerusalem and the 1948 occupied lands from entering
the Gaza Strip or covering events in the holy city.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7X0Orgx%2fGhdCFBTSX%2bcHaQBWd627maZANyeeRD70hEp0t7%2f2RQkZJBgwRu2SIxWtZSz8Vp2RBUa%2bmACaFsAaKvFygGtMIhGIJ4Bb00dn7NaE%3d

*The crude Zionist propaganda of Ethan
Bronner*
I strongly and enthusiastically recommend Ethan Bronner for a top job at
MEMRI or any any organization run by Zionist hoodlums. When Zionists feign
sensitivity they are at their worst. You want to beg them to not show any
sensitivity and to not pose as humane. So in the article on Gaza today, he
begins with a clear and categorical (and in passing) justification of the
Israeli terrorist assault on Gaza: "Four months after Israel waged a war
here to stop Hamas rocket fire..." So he establishes the justification and
then he moves on...
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/05/crude-zionist-propaganda-of-ethan.html

Solidarity/Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment
*Ging: World leaders have at last come to Gaza, and seen that the people are
'civilized to the
core'*
GingThis is John Ging, the head of UNWRA, the United Nations Works and
Relief Agency, in Gaza. Today two western delegations comprising nearly 60
people met with him in Gaza City compound. Ging was surprised by the
turnout, but thanked us for coming.
http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/05/ging-world-leaders-have-at-last-come-to-gaza-and-seen-that-the-people-are-civilized-to-the-core.html

Analysis/Op-ed
*During His Trip to Egypt, Obama Should Visit
Gaza*
Obama will give a major policy talk at Cairo University on June 4, intended
to start mending the rift between the United States and the Arab world.
During the Bush years, many Arabs turned against the United States because
of the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the abuses at
Guantanamo and Abu Graib. But the issue that is really at the crux of the
tensions with the United States is the intractable conflict between Israel
and Palestine, and what many perceive as a one-sided U.S. policy in support
of Israel.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/05/29

*Beyond dissidence*
Noam Chomsky speaks with Nermeen Al-Mufti about Gaza, capitalism and the
responsibilities of the intellectual.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2009/949/re8.htm

*According to WaPo, Obama has turned Abbas into a
hardliner*
Bruce Wolman writes: President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority
came to Washington yesterday to meet President Obama. As a warm-up for his
big event at the White House, he sat down for an interview with the two
editors of the Washington Post Editorial Page, Fred Hiatt and Jackson Diehl.
After reading the result, one has to wonder who manages Palestinian media
affairs. The Israeli Embassy?
http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/05/according-to-wapo-obama-has-turned-abbas-into-a-hardliner.html

*'The Hill' covers Obama-Abbas meeting with a Likudnik
spin*
Yesterday, the well respected Capitol Hill newspaper *The Hill* ran an
article entitled "Before Obama-Abbas meeting, members chime
in."
The article, written by online editor Bridget Johnson, offered a state of
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict inside the beltway leading up to the
Obama-Abbas meeting. It primarily focused on an AIPAC-backed letter that
collected 329 signatures in the House before being delivered to President
Obama. The article did briefly mention the proposal that Abbas was expected
to bring the meeting which focused on the Arab Peace
Initiative.
However it had an odd way of describing the Initiative.
http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/05/the-hill-covers-obamaabbas-meeting-with-a-likudnik-spin.html

*Update from New Profile: Israel 'is very far from the democracy [it] claims
to
be.'*
*We have been
followingthe
ongoing
intimidationof
the Israeli anti-militarism organization New
Profile by the Israeli government.
Today the organization sent out an update that places their experience
squarely within a broader trend in Israeli society - the "systematic
deployment of police and the military to stifle protest and paralyze civil
activism." Here is the update...
http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/05/update-from-new-profile-is...
*

*Palestinians wonder: Will Obama make good on his
promises?*
Though pleased with Obama's meeting with Palestinian President Abbas
Thursday, they are waiting to see if the US president will break from
decades of failed US policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0529/p06s17-wome.html

*Netanyahu's New Quest: The Game is
On*
"We've accomplished quite a few things, and I think the most important one
is to cement the principle that the path to peace is through negotiations
and not through violence." These were the 'encouraging' words modestly
uttered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during a joint press
conference with the US president. The President was then Bill Clinton, and
the date was October 2, 1996.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=15150

*A Two-State Scam?*
So, here we are. One of the most right-wing governments has taken over
Olmert's Apartheid duties in Israel; Benjamin Netanyahu at the helm of what
can only be deemed as a fascist and openly racist administration with the
likes of Avigdor Lieberman and Co. forming the majority in a coalition
government. Back in 2003, when holding the post of Transportation Minister
under Sharon's reign, Lieberman declared to the Knesset that all Palestinian
prisoners in Israeli jails should be drowned. I suppose the Israeli people
have spoken.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=15148

*Justice Must Prevail: An American Doctor's Account from
Palestine*
Following up upon a Christmas donation to Palestine Children's Relief Fund
in 2006, I offered my services as a retired oral and maxillofacial surgeon
for one of their future cleft palate missions to Palestine/Israel. I was
looking for an opportunity to fulfill a sense of not having done quite
enough during my professional career to justify the self indulgent life I
was living as an affluent American retiree; and in my research of looking
for worthy causes, I had uncovered a disturbing scene of utterly neglected
children devoid of medical care, living in the desperate conditions of
refugee camps in a time warp of 1948 when their grandparents and great
grand- parents were forced to flee their farms and homes.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=15149
*
Growing stronger*
The right to return is not up for negotiation, reports Anayat Durrani from
the Al-Awda conference. "Freedom for Palestine, Growing Our Global Movement"
was the theme for the seventh Annual International Al-Awda Convention 22-24
May in Garden Grove, California, attracting some 1,000 attendees. The
convention marked the 61st year of the ongoing Nakba, or catastrophe, and 61
years of the struggle to return. "Our objective is to keep the right of
return at the centre of any discussion of the Palestinian cause," said Zahi
Damuni, co-founder of Al-Awda.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2009/949/re5.htm
*
Prioritizing Peace over
Settlements*
A short while after his victory in the 1977 elections and his appointment as
prime minister, Menahem Begin announced: "There will be many more Elon
Morehs [an early ideological West Bank settlement]." And he went on to say,
"So that a left-wing government will not be able to return the
territories." In order to give weight to this announcement, the Begin
government declared the settlements to be areas of national priority. This
meant that the government viewed the construction and development of
settlements in the occupied territories as a supreme Israeli interest. And
in fact, since then and until today the settlers receive extensive benefits,
far beyond what is allocated to any other population in Israel. This is also
true for industrialists and business people who build their factories and
businesses in the occupied territories.
http://justworldnews.org/archives/003582.html
*
US Out of the Israeli-Palestinian
Conflict*
Hillary Clinton's blunt public statement that President Obama "wants to see
a stop to settlements - not some settlements, not outposts, not natural
growth exceptions" made for good headlines. The Israelis were shocked and
upset that their slavish ally had acted slightly less obsequious and engaged
in a public spat with them.
http://original.antiwar.com/eland/2009/05/29/us-out-of-the-israeli-pales...
*
The Facts We Cannot
Refute*
Sometimes, reading commentaries on articles is more interesting than reading
the articles themselves. It gives an extremely lucid perspective on what
goes on in the average person's mind - at least people who take the time to
actually express their views in an email. As a result, one is met with a
slew of opinions, ranging from the logical and supportive, to the hateful
and downright crazy.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=15147
*
Palestine: Like Never Before (Never Before
Campaign)*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iplwg842mk8&feature=channel_page

Lebanon
*Lebanon charges 4 with collaborating with
Israel*
The official says military prosecutor Saqr Saqr also charged the four
Saturday with providing Israel with information about civilian and military
positions and political figures in Lebanon.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3723433,00.html

*Tensions high ahead of Israeli
drill*
Israeli military officials claim Hezbollah is better armed than it was in
2006 as Lebanese forces go on high alert ahead of Israeli border exercises.
http://www.upi.com/Emerging_Threats/2009/05/27/Tensions-high-ahead-of-Israeli-drill/UPI-19311243445339/

*Sayyed Nasrallah: Hezbollah Faces New and Dangerous
Challenges*
In the framework of celebrating the ninth anniversary of the liberation of
most of Lebanon from the Israeli occupation, Hezbollah marked Resistance and
Liberation Day in the city of Baalbek. Tens of thousands of people,
including religious, political and military figures attended the festival
and waited with strong enthusiasm Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed
Nasrallah to appear and address them live through a giant screen.
http://www.almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=87654&language=en
*
Hezbollah leader promises stronger
Lebanon*
BEIRUT, Lebanon, May 29 (UPI) -- Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah told
supporters Friday in Beirut his group will strengthen the Lebanese Army if
it wins political power. Nasrallah also said Lebanon and Israel could
become involved in armed conflict again, although he called the possibility
"far off," Ynetnews reported.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/05/29/Hezbollah-leader-promises-stronger-Lebanon/UPI-88101243648503/

*Nasrallah: Lebanese resistance ready to counter any future Israeli
attack*
In a public speech, and while thousands of supporters chanted "death to
Israel", Hezbollah leader Hasan Narsallah in Lebanon said that the Lebanese
resistance is ready to counter any Israeli military aggression, and added
that Iran is willing to arm the Lebanese army with missiles and
fighter-jets.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60596

*Obama must respect the choice of Lebanon's
voters*
President Barack Obama is on a mission to improve America's battered image
in the Muslim world - his major address in Cairo comes three days before the
Lebanon poll - it would be a mistake to punish voters for making what the US
considered to be the wrong choice.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/04bfa642-4bb9-11de-b827-00144feabdc0.html
*
Paris to Deal Normally with Hezbollah If It Wins
Elections*
A French diplomatic source told the Lebanese daily As-Safir on Saturday his
country prefers to see a "March 14" victory on June 7. However, it would
deal normally with Hezbollah as it does with any other Lebanese party if the
national opposition wins the electoral race. "Hezbollah won't be alone in
power, there is enough diversity in Lebanon to ensure a proper equilibrium
among the next parliamentary majority regardless of who wins the election,"
French source said.
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=87791&language=en

Iraq
*An Iraqi child shot dead in restive Diyala despite massive
offensives*
BAQUBA, Iraq, May 30 (Xinhua) -- A six-year-old child was shot dead and four
Iraqi soldiers were wounded in two attacks in the volatile province of
Diyala, which witnesses a month-long security operation, a local security
source said on Saturday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-05/30/content_11457841.htm

*Six years after Saddam Hussein, Nouri al-Maliki tightens his grip on
Iraq*
The Iraqi prime minister arrives in Britain today seeking UK investment.
Ghaith Abdul-Ahad reports on how a leader once seen as weak is now being
compared to his infamous predecessor.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/30/iraqi-prime-minister-maliki

*Government 'exercising sovereignty on its
land'*
Dr Ali Al Dabbagh, Iraqi government spokesman, on Friday said that Iraq is
exercising its sovereignty on its land after the the Iraqi army thwarted a
move by Iranian Mujahedeen to go out of Ashraf camp.
http://archive.gulfnews.com/region/Iraq/10318189.html

*Dramatic plane arrest of ex-Iraq
minister*
Iraq's former trade minister has been arrested at Baghdad airport on
corruption charges as he was trying to leave the country.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8075158.stm

*Iraqi football fans take part in Ammo Baba's
funeral*
Iraqi football fans bid farewell to Ammo Baba, a prominent football coach,
as he passed away in Wednesday. Iraqi officials and football fans
participated in the funeral near international Al Shaab stadium. For more
details, click on play movie.
http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Iraq-News/1-32510-Iraqi-football-fans-take-part-in-Ammo-Baba%E2%80%99s-funeral.html

*The Mother of All Corruption Scandals, By PATRICK
COCKBURN*
Iraq plans to arrest 1,000 officials for corruption after a scandal which
has forced the resignation of the Trade Minister and is threatening the food
supply of millions of Iraqis. Corruption at the Trade Ministry is an
important issue in Iraq because the ministry is in charge of the food
rationing system on which 60 per cent of Iraqis depend. Officials at the
ministry, which spends billions of dollars buying rice, sugar, flour and
other items, are notorious among Iraqis for importing food that is unfit for
human consumption, for which they charge the state the full international
price.
http://www.counterpunch.com/patrick05292009.html

U.S.
*Holy Land Foundation trial reflects misguided US policy towards
Hamas*
From Scott McConnell: A Dallas judge has meted out heavy sentences to five
Arab American
men,
associated with the Holy Land Foundation, for funneling $12 million to
Hamas, designated by the US government as a terror organization. The
defendants maintained that their fundraising was devoted exclusively to
humanitarian ends, to alleviate Palestinian suffering, --and denied it had
anything to do with Hamas. Prosecutors did not dispute that the money went
solely to humanitarian projects, but convinced a jury of the Hamas links.
If they serve their sentenced terms, most of the men will spend the rest of
their lives in prison.
http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/05/holy-land-foundation-trial.html

*Islamophobia De Jure: Holy Land Foundation Case a
Travesty*
Just in case you happen to think that the ‘war on terror' is no more because
the Obama administration won't use that Bushian phrase, think again. The
legal and policy structures that made the war on terror so objectionable are
still in place, and they are still trampling on Arab and Muslim rights. In
this most recent case, an unfair government prosecution was enabled by the
USA PATRIOT Act and the Clinton-era Anti-Terror and Effective Death Penalty
Act (AEDPA).
http://www.kabobfest.com/2009/05/islamophobia-de-jure-holy-land.html

*US failing to investigate war crimes: UN
investigator*
*
*An independent UN human rights investigator has said that the United States
is failing to properly investigate alleged war crimes committed by its
soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10575264&ref=rss

*Inflating the Guantánamo
Threat*
...a Pentagon report made public on Tuesday concluded that 74 of the 534 men
who have been freed from Guantánamo were "confirmed or suspected of
re-engaging in terrorist activities." This is a recidivism rate of around 14
percent, which was up from the Pentagon's previous estimate in January of 11
percent. But are things this bad? While we must of course be careful about
who is released, these numbers are very likely inflated. This is in part
because the Pentagon includes on the list any released prisoner who is
either "confirmed" or just "suspected" to have engaged in terrorism anywhere
in the world, whether those actions were directed at the United States or
not. And, bizarrely, the Defense Department has in the past even lumped into
the recidivist category former prisoners who have done no more than
criticize the United States after their release.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/29/opinion/29bergen.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

*The Bogus Torture Coverup
*The
Daily Beast has obtained specific corroboration of the British account,
which appeared in the London Daily Telegraph, from several reliable sources,
including a highly credible senior military officer with firsthand
knowledge, who provided even more detail about the graphic photographs that
have been withheld from the public by the Obama administration.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-05-29/torture-photos-depict-sex-rape/

*Busted, Pentagon: Why The Photos Probably Do Show Detainees Sodomized and
Raped*
The Telegraph of London broke the news - because the US press is in a
drugged stupor -- that the photos Obama is refusing to release of detainee
abuse depict, among other sexual tortures, an American soldier raping a
female detainee and a male translator raping a male prisoner. The paper
claims the photos also show anal rape of prisoners with foreign objects such
as wires and lightsticks. Major General Antonio Taguba calls the images
`horrific' and `indecent' (but absurdly agrees that Obama should not release
them - proving once again that the definition of hypocrisy is the assertion
that the truth is in poor taste).
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-wolf/busted-pentagon-why-the-p_b_209046.html

*Iraqi victims recall U.S. abuse
*The
marks on Firas al-Sammarrai's body from when he says U.S. soldiers
repeatedly electrocuted him are one reason he can't forget his abuse at
their hands.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-05-29/torture-photos...
*Afghan was taken to Guantanamo aged 12: rights
group*
An Afghan who has spent over six years at the U.S. military's Guantanamo Bay
prison was only around 12 years old when he was detained, not 16 or 17 as
his official record says, an Afghan rights group said on Tuesday.
http://www.reuters.com/article/gc05/idUSTRE54P6A420090527

*US violated Geneva Conventions, Bush Iraq commander
says*
The head of the US Central Command, General David Petraeus, said Friday that
the US had violated the Geneva Conventions in a stunning admission from
President Bush's onetime top general in Iraq that the US may have violated
international law.
http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/05/29/petraeus-geneva-conventions/
*
Ghosts of Abu Ghraib*
"How could ordinary American soldiers come to engage in such monstrous
acts?" Kennedy asks. "What policies were put into place that allowed this
behavior to flourish while protections granted to prisoners under the Geneva
Conventions were ignored?"
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22731.htm

Other world news
*The Arab Street - Beirut - 30 May 09 - Part
1*
As the Lebanese elections approach, The Arab Street takes the political
pulse of Beirut, interviewing its citizens about the state of their own
country and the wider Arab world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVFPwy5KYhE&feature=player_embedded

*The Arab Street - Beirut - 30 May 09 - Part
2*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiXoSCtBnVk&feature=player_embedded

*Egyptian reform activists wary of Obama's visit to
Cairo*
Many see his decision to deliver a major speech in Egypt as a nod of tacit
support for the regime's authoritarian rule.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0529/p06s11-wome.html
*
Cairo counts down to Obama*
"So he is coming to Cairo. Why not go to Sharm El-Sheikh? Don't they all go
to Sharm El-Sheikh? It will be heavy traffic. It is next Thursday? I will
not work that day." This was the comment offered by Anwar, a taxi driver,
Wednesday morning.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2009/949/fr1.htm

*Study Supports View That Iran Attack Unlikely To
Work*
Contrary to Israeli claims of tacit Arab support for an Israeli strike
against Iran, "Arab countries will not condone any attack on Iran under the
pretext that Iran poses an existential threat to Israel, whilst Israel has
some 200 to 300 nuclear weapons," they write.
http://forward.com/articles/106687/

*POLITICS: Where Iran Fits in the Mideast Peace
Puzzle*
ANKARA, Turkey, May 29 (IPS) - What is the relationship between the United
States' policy towards Iran and its performance on Arab-Israeli peacemaking,
including the crucial quest for peace between Israel and the Palestinians?
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47031

*Report: Iran hangs 3 for involvement in Thursday mosque
bombing*
Iran executed in public three men convicted of involvement in Thursday's
deadly mosque bombing in the southeast of the country, the official IRNA
news agency reported on Saturday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1088997.html

--
www.TheHeadlines.org