Big ol' Israel/Palestine News Review

This week, Israel voted to democratically steal 7% more of the West Bank from the Palestinians.  As an email from the Council for the National Interest states,

Hiding behind a 17-5 decision announced today to evacuate all Israeli settlements from Gaza, the Israeli Cabinet also officially signaled its intent by a vote of 20-1 to annex another 7% of Palestinian territory.  On February 21, the cabinet published the new route of the Apartheid Wall, indicating that the huge settlements of Maale Aduminim and a large cluster of settlements called Gush Etzion lying east and south of Jerusalem would enclosed by the Wall and thus become part of Israel.

Under the new route, it is reckoned that 10,000 Palestinians, not 93,000 as originally envisaged, would be put under direct Israeli rule. But the 177,000 or more Palestinians living in East Jerusalem will be cut off from the rest of the West Bank.  The Palestinians are still expecting to name their capital in Jerusalem.

To see a map of the official version of the path of the wall, click here.  (Click on the map at the bottom to enlarge it.)  Since the Legend of the map is only in Hebrew, here are some rough translations (from Sam):

Brown: Area A   

Tan: Area B   

Green stripes: Nature reserve   

Blue line: [Route as per] Gov't decision August 2003   

Connected black dots: Unknown Hebrew acronym [best guess: some kind of security strip or barrier]   

Connected purple X's: Deep fence or [depth fence] to be cancelled   

Dotted purple line: Temporary route   

Thin purple line: The route for the completion of detailed [unknown abbreviation]  Yellow-brownish line: Defense for a road or Defense on a road [exact meaning not clear]   

Red line: Revised route   

Blue dot: Israeli town/village 

Red dot: Palestinian town/village

After the Israeli vote on the Wall, the PLO announced it will be taking Israel to the UN Security Council for it's continued violations of international law and for ignoring the ruling of the International Court of Justice, which found the Wall the be illegal and demanded its demolition.  (Wait on the edge of your seat while the US vetoes another resolution critical of Israel, proclaiming yet again that countries like Iraq have to follow the rules, but Israel gets a free pass.)

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has slammed the Israeli cabinet's decision on Sunday to resume the construction of the expansionist Wall as having "very dangerous strategic consequences," while it called for US and international intervention and said it will approach the UN Security Council "to stop this capital crime."

Want to know where your Congressmembers stand on the issue?  Check out the US Campaign to End the Occupation's newly revised Congressional Report Cards.  (There isn't much info for the 2005 session yet, but you can look at the 2004 votes as well.

International Solidarity Movement activist Brian Avery arrived in Israel today to attend a hearing at the Israeli Supreme Court on his petition to have an criminal investigation opened into his shooting last year. 

Nearly two years after being shot in the face by Israeli soldiers, Chapel Hill activist Brian Avery is heading back today to argue before the Israeli Supreme Court that the accused assailants should be brought to justice.

Avery, 26, is an activist with the International Solidarity Movement, a nonviolent organization that supports the Palestinian opposition to Israeli occupation. On April 5, 2003, he says, he was shot by Israeli soldiers while standing with his hands in the air on a street in the West Bank town of Jenin.

A bullet pierced Avery's face, shattering his jaw and nose. He spent nine weeks in an Israeli hospital before coming home to recuperate. He said he has endured numerous facial reconstruction surgeries.

Dozens of people rallied outside a Florida jail to support Dr. Sami al-Arian, who has been imprisoned without trial for two years now.

Singing protest songs and reading poetry written by Sami Al-Arian, about 60 people on Sunday commemorated the former professor's two-year anniversary in jail.

"The American People will not stand for this injustice,"' University of South Florida professor Peter Erlinder said.  "We will not allow people at the top to tell us who we can associate with and who we cannot."

Finally, Link TV has a unique program called Mosaic that features daily news clips from stations in North Africa and the Middle East.  Even better, you don't need a satellite to see it, you can watch the segments on the internet here.

Comments

[Scott1]

This week, Israel voted to democratically steal 7% more of the West Bank from the Palestinians.

*“Palestine” doesn’t exist, yet. It’s Israeli territory. Israel is only planning for a future with a bad neighbour ensuring its security is advantaged. When any undertaking like this is performed there will inevitably be those who will get the rough end of the pineapple. Governments compulsorily acquire land all around the world. Many Jews living in Israel now, know first hand what its like to be persecuted and kicked out of their homes especially from Arab countries– with the only compensation (if lucky) being your life. Its tough for the PLO Arabs, but they help make it that way.

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“Proclaiming yet again that countries like Iraq have to follow the rules, but Israel gets a free pass”

*The UN is dead. It has become a partisan entity for Israel’s enemies.
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I support Brian Avery’s attempts to examine the circumstances surrounding the cause of his injuries. If it can be proven to be a deliberate attack – the offender should be punished severely. However, that said, he was in a dangerous place at the time and it doesn’t stretch the imagination too far to realize that this kind of situation could happen as a result of mistaken identity or intent – the wrong decision can be made under pressure. I understand he felt the need to be there, but he must also accept the risk.

I don’t agree with his politics; but he’s a brave guy. The same goes for you too AWK, I don’t like what you say either, but I would fight for your right to fill your blog with shit, day after day.