Let Gaza live: US rally lights vigils for Palestine

Hundreds of demonstrators have gathered in Washington calling for an end to Israel's blockade on Gaza. It comes after the first anniversary of the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas.

Israeli repression wave targets activists

Israel's recent wave of repression led to arrest of Jamal Juma', coordinator of Stop the Wall Campaign.

"Natural growth" of Israeli settlements

Israeli settlement construction, including "natural growth" hampers advancement of two-state solution

Gaza Under Siege - Inside Story , 28 Dec 2009

For over two years Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza's 1.5 million inhabitants. The blockade includes bans on materials needed to reconstruct the region after the israeli bombing of 2008-9. 80% of the population of Gaza survives on food aid. Inside story asks what motives are behind the restrictions? And what is the human cost?

News Analysis - Gaza 26 DEC 09

Empire - What future for 'Greater Israel'?

The Middle East 'peace process' is seriously deadlocked. Israel is determined to press ahead with the expansion of settlements. Palestinians refuse to accept anything less than their total freeze, but they are divided on the best way forward - diplomacy or resistance. The diplomatic vacuum leads to more unilateral policies and radicalisation. So how can the international community help? Is a two-state solution still possible, or one state or no state?

The world has failed Gaza: Report

Israeli policy and global inaction are directly responsible for poverty in the Gaza strip, according to a new report from sixteen humanitarian and human rights groups. The report urges the EU to suspend relations with israel unless they stop the blockade, that it claims has impaired reconstruction and sharply increased poverty. Inside story, with guests discusses the details.

Falk slams world's failure to break Gaza siege

 Thu, 24 Dec 2009   |   PressTV

A UN human rights expert has denounced world powers' "tragic failure" to break the long-running Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip.


UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Richard Falk, urged Israel's European and North American allies to press for the immediate end of the blockade "backed up by a credible threat of economic sanctions", AFP reported.

Israel floods settlements with subsidies - Aljazeera

Israel has announced a partial moratorium on settlement construction. Yet, at the same time, it has invested in those already established in a bid to solidify their existence.

In the Jordan Valley there are 22 settlements viewed as illegal under international law.But, they benefit from a system of Israeli funding specifically focused on kick-starting settler economies. 

Obama's pre-war crimes?

The US has approved legislation to impose sanctions on foreign companies that help supply fuel to Iran, a move Washington believes will stop Iran's nuclear programme.

Iran is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, but lacks sufficient refining capacity to meet domestic fuel needs, forcing it to import up to 40 per cent of its gasoline consumption.

Tehran says it is not bothered by the sanctions and it will look elsewhere. As if to make a point of its defiance, Iran has test fired one of it is longer-range missiles.

Nazanin Sadri reports.

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Warrant strains Israel-UK ties

The UK government has denounced an arrest warrant against Tzipi Livni, the former Israeli foreign minister.

On Sunday, a UK court issued the warrant against Livni for her role in alleged war crimes during the War on Gaza. The Israeli government has criticised the move.

Britain's foreign office says it is investigating the incident which is straining relations between the two countries.

Israel Votes New Funding For Settlements

By Allyn Fisher-Ilan  |  JERUSALEM, Dec 14 09 | Reuters 

-- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet voted more funding for Jewish settlements on Sunday as violence over a temporary settlement building freeze in enclaves in the occupied West Bank increased.

Defence Minister Ehud Barak voted against the plan, saying it would reward settlers living in parts of the West Bank where Palestinians have lately come under attack, such as a village where parts of a mosque was torched at the weekend.

Justifying Iraq war?

Today we're looking at the surprise admission by former British prime minister tony Blair, that he would have gone to war against Iraq even if he knew there were no weapons of mass destruction. Yet at the time it was the WMDs which justified the action. So what does this mean for the public inquiry into the war? And can Tony Blair now be prosecuted for war crimes?

Confusion over Livni arrest warrant

A court in the UK has issued - and then cancelled - an arrest warrant against Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni.

According to the Guardian newspaper, the warrant was issued at the request of lawyers representing pro-Palestinian activists and sought Livni's arrest on suspicion of war crimes related to last year's War on Gaza.

Uighurs From Guantanamo to Palau

For the six Uighurs temporarily settled in Palau following their release from Guantanamo, it is far from paradise. Trapped there, they wait anxiously for the worlds superpowers to determine their fate.

Caught up in the post-9/11 round-up of suspected terrorists, these six men were wrongfully captured by bounty hunters, and sent to Guantanamo. The life in Guantanamo was one of the darkest chapters in our lives. Officially cleared of terrorism charges, they are still forbidden to make phone calls. 

Gates, EU Leaders Say Iran To Face New Sanctions

By Adam Entous  |  KIRKUK, Dec 12, 09  |  Reuters -

- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Friday he expected the international community to impose significant additional sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme.

A senior U.S. official said the United States and its allies would decide early next year whether to pursue more sanctions.

Gates also told U.S. troops in northern Iraq that military action against Iran would only delay its nuclear progress and instead urged a package of "incentives and disincentives" to convince leaders in Tehran to meet western demands.

At least 65 drone strikes, since August 2008, have killed around 625 people

Since August 2008, at least 65 such strikes have killed around 625 people, although it is difficult to confirm the precise identity of many of those who die given that the remote region is largely closed to outsiders.

A missile strike from a US drone aircraft killed three suspected militants in Pakistan's lawless northwest tribal belt early Tuesday, security and intelligence officials said.

Prisoners exchange, Jewish settlements & the peace process.

The Israelis are not freezing their illegal settlements,There are talks of prisoners exchange. Israel's prisoner exchange with HAMAS will release much of the Palestinian political leadership.

Muslim's Holocausts and Genocide Remembrance Day

By Syed Soharwardy, Muslims Against Terrorism (M.A.T.) - edited version.

In the history of mankind it never happened before that so many human beings suffered and continuously struggled to survive for more than a century without any help from outside. In the past, whenever a calamity came upon a certain community either they were completely wiped out from the face of this earth or someone from outside came and helped them in getting out of calamity or they themselves struggled so hard that they defeated the cause of calamities, hence ending the period of calamity. Moreover, it never happened that at one time so many communities remained under calamities for such a long period. Please look around and see what is going on in this world? Muslims in various parts of the world have been under siege and there seems to be no way out for them. But the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said that all Muslims are like a body. If a part of the body suffers the entire body suffers. I am sure what Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) have said can not be wrong but there is a possibility that we may not be that kind of Muslims which Prophet (Peace be upon him) meant in this Hadith.