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Palestine – Features

Israeli conscientious objectors visit south Africa

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By Sayed Dhansay

(source:The Palestine Telegraph)

South Africa, October 10, 2009, (Pal Telegraph)- The term Shministim translates to twelfth-graders in Hebrew, and refers to a small but growing movement of conscientious objectors – young Israeli school leavers who refuse to join their country’s armed forces. I met with three such Shministim during their visit to South Africa, and was pleasantly surprised by their strong conviction and political maturity.

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It is easy to mistake Omer Goldman (20), Yuval Ophir-Auron (20) and Sahar Vardi (19) for ordinary teenagers. But their youth belies the long and hard personal journeys these young objectors have travelled. For they have done the unspeakable in Israel – refused to serve in the army. In a country where military conscription exists, time served in the IDF is a rite of passage for all young Israelis, and is accepted as a normal part of growing up and being inducted into society.

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Hamas turns 22

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(source: VOCfm Online)

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In December 1987, Palestinians challenged the brutal occupation in their continued resistance to the cruel Israeli invasion of their homeland. This was the first uprising or intifada. Hamas, as a resistance movement, arose from this intifada and has since become the most popular and influential Palestinian political movement, said Dr Feroz Osman, secretary general of the Media Review Network, upon the 22th anniversary of Hamas.

The group’s short-term aim has been to drive Israeli forces from the occupied territories, through attacks on Israeli troops and settlers in the Palestinian territories. This grass-roots organisation – with a political and a military wing – has a large number of active members with tens of thousands of supporters and sympathisers.

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Where are the rulers of arab muslim countries? joe bidens empty desert

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By Bouthiana Shabaan

(source: Rise For The Truth)

Vice President Biden’s speech in Israel on March 11 sounded like an official American statement, providing absolute support to all the crimes committed by Israel. Biden’s speech was full of anachronisms aimed at polishing the image of Zionism tarnished by the blood of civilians, particularly children. Biden was not hypocritical like most Western politicians. He was candid and transparent.

In his speech, Biden said: “I had said in a speech in the United States some years ago for which I got some criticism, if I am not a Jew, I would be a Zionist. And it got a lot of national publicity, how could I say that, until I was reminded by my father you need not be a Jew to be a Zionist”. I do not know why the Vice-President should feel proud about being a Zionist and what are the achievements of Zionism that make Biden want to belong to it. Is it the displacement of millions of Palestinians from their homeland, Palestine, the incarceration of millions of others in the big prison called Israel, where they are subjected daily to ethnic cleansing and where their children, women and elderly killed and imprisoned?

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Australia expels Isaraeli diplomat over dubai hit

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(source: Reuters)

Australia’s government said on Monday it had ordered the expulsion of an Israeli diplomat over the use of fake passports in the assassination of a top Hamas militant in Dubai  in January.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said a police investigation had left no doubt Israeli intelligence services had been behind the forgery of four Australian passports used by suspects in the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel room.

"These investigations and advice have left the government in no doubt that Israel was responsible for the abuse and counterfeiting of these passports," Smith told Australia’s parliament. "These are not the actions of a friend.

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