Palestine – Features

by Iqbal Jassat

"While Jewish analysts at the time may have held the view that Obama’s speech validated an Arab and Muslim narrative; Muslims and Palestinians in particular remain convinced that the new kid on the block holds as much promise of a “just world” as his war-mongering predecessor."

Read More »Obamas cairo outreach to muslims evaporates in the heat of settlement activity

 By Gilad Atzmon

(source:  www.gilad.co.uk)

London is ‘angry’ over the use of stolen identities by the Dubai assassins and points its finger at the Jewish state and its notorious Mossad espionage agency. The Israeli ambassador to Britain, Ron Prosor, was summoned yesterday by the foreign minister to "share information". In practice Britain has stopped short of accusing Israel of involvement in the scandalous assassination, however to signal its displeasure the Foreign Office ignored an Israeli plea to keep the summons secret. "Relations were in the freezer before this. They are in the deep freeze now," a British official told the Guardian.

The British anger at Israel would be a positive signal in the right direction if we were not aware of British Foreign Secretary David Miliband investing enormous efforts trying to amend Britain’s ethical stand just to appease Tzipi Livni, Ehud Barak and other Israeli leaders.

Read More »The tide has changed

By Amira Hass

(source: Haaretz)

A new military order aimed at preventing infiltration will come into force this week, enabling the deportation of tens of thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank, or their indictment on charges carrying prison terms of up to seven years.

When the order comes into effect, tens of thousands of Palestinians will automatically become criminal offenders liable to be severely punished.

Given the security authorities’ actions over the past decade, the first Palestinians likely to be targeted under the new rules will be those whose ID cards bear home addresses in the Gaza Strip – people born in Gaza and their West Bank-born children – or those born in the West Bank or abroad who for various reasons lost their residency status. Also likely to be targeted are foreign-born spouses of Palestinians.

Until now, Israeli civil courts have occasionally prevented the expulsion of these three groups from the West Bank. The new order, however, puts them under the sole jurisdiction of Israeli military courts.

Read More »Idf order will enable mass deportation from west bank

Israeli men arrested upon arrival on island by officers claiming they came to spy on Dubai citizens

By Itamar Eichner

(source: YNet News)

Three Israeli men have been turned out of Mauritius on suspicion they were there on a secret mission to spy on tourists from Dubai, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Monday.The three arrived on the island, an exotic tourist destination in the Indian Ocean, in order to conclude their trip to the Soccer World Cup.

But they never made it to the turquoise beaches. As soon as they landed immigration officers, who were convinced they were Mossad agents who had come to the island to disturb the peace, placed them under arrest and submitted them to hours of intensive interrogations.

The three 30-year old men all reside in Tel Aviv. Ido and Roee Reicher, a pair of twins, are computer engineers and their friend, Avi Levinstein, owns a sushi restaurant. They had been planning their trip for six months.

"We heard it was paradise. It’s cold in South Africa, and we were told it’s hot in Mauritius, so we decided to spoil ourselves and come back with a tan," Roee said. He said they had arrived Saturday on a British Airways flight, and were held up at passport control. "They looked at our passports, flipped through them, and then began to speak in French, saying, ‘Israelis, Israelis’," Roee said.

Read More »Mossad agents expelled from mauritius