Tutu says West complicit in Palestinian suffering
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- Written by Stephanie Nebehay, Reuters Stephanie Nebehay, Reuters
- Published: 19 September 2008 19 September 2008
- Hits: 4261 4261
GENEVA: South African Nobel Peace laureate Desmond Tutu on Thursday accused the West of complicity in Palestinian suffering by its silence, suggesting it did not want to criticise Israel because of the Holocaust.
Archbishop Tutu spoke after delivering a report to the United Nations about Israel's deadly shelling of the town of Beit Hanoun in Gaza in November 2006, which he said may constitute a war crime.
He criticised the international community for failing to speak out against the suffering in Gaza, home to 1.5 million Palestinians, under an Israeli blockade.
"This silence begets complicity," he told the U.N. Human Rights Council.
Tutu later told a news conference: "I think the West, quite rightly, is feeling contrite, penitent, for its awful connivance with the Holocaust."
"The penance is being paid by the Palestinians. I just hope again that ordinary citizens in the West will wake up and say 'we refuse to be part of this'," he said.
Read more: Tutu says West complicit in Palestinian suffering
Oregon Senator Gordon Smith feeds from the pro-Israel trough
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- Written by AUPHR AUPHR
- Published: 19 September 2008 19 September 2008
- Hits: 3023 3023
According to Opensecrets.org, Oregon Senator Gordon Smith has raised $122,650 from pro-Israel sources during the current election cycle. In 2002 he raised $127,339. His career total $263,239.
See www.opensecrets.org/races/indus.php?id=ORS1&cycle=2008
While Smith has certainly done his part to carry Israel's water, during this election cycle so far the pro-Israel lobby gave well over $6 million to all candidates of which a whopping 62% went to Democrats. Clearly, Smith is reaching across the aisle!
See www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=Q05
With Opensecrets.org, you too can investigate your own candidates!
Gordon Smith sponsored a resolution to support the building of Israel's Apartheid wall, and condemn the International Court of Justice for opposing it.
See: thomas.loc.gov
Settlers burn Palestinian olive groves, crops in several West Bank areas
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- Written by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News
- Published: 19 September 2008 19 September 2008
- Hits: 4091 4091
According to Israeli sources, a number of incidents of violence by
Israeli settlers took place in different parts of the West Bank on
Wednesday after the removal of some settlers from the outpost of Yad
Yair.
Israeli settlers, living illegally on stolen Palestinian land in the West Bank, burned a number of olive groves belonging to Palestinian families in the villages of Madameh, Burin and Asira al-Kabaliya. In addition, settlers burned a field of crops near the Israeli settlement of Yitzhar, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
Read more: Settlers burn Palestinian olive groves, crops in several West Bank areas
But it still stinks: Biden, AIPAC clear the air
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- Written by Jewish Telegraph Agency (JTA) Jewish Telegraph Agency (JTA)
- Published: 19 September 2008 19 September 2008
- Hits: 3886 3886
Joe Biden spoke with the AIPAC leadership to clear up any misunderstandings.
The Democratic vice-presidential candidate had a friendly 20-minute
conference call Thursday afternoon with the board of the American
Israel Public Affairs Committee, AIPAC spokesman Josh Block said.
Biden, a longtime U.S. senator from Delaware, had lashed out at AIPAC
earlier this month in a conference call with Jewish media, sparked by
Republican Jewish Coalition ads attacking Biden for not always voting
the AIPAC line.
AIPAC has praised Biden during the election campaign, and in the
earlier call Biden made it clear that his differences with the group
are tactical and not on substance, and that he remains a strong Israel
supporter. Thursday's call was expansive and replete with declarations
of mutual admiration.
"We had a very warm conversation with Senator Biden today, as we have
many times throughout the years, about the importance of the U.S-Israel
relationship, and we look forward to continuing to work with him in the
future," Block said. "We had an opportunity to express our appreciation
for his strong leadership in support of the U.S.-Israel relationship,
and we were pleased to hear Senator Biden reaffirm his desire to
maintain his close relationship with AIPAC as we work together to
strengthen the special friendship between the two democracies over many
years to come."
An adviser to the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) agreed that the conversation was a success.
"Sen. Biden expressed his appreciation for AIPAC's important work supporting Israel's security and the U.S.-Israel relationship, and that he looks forward to continuing to work with them as partners on these issues in the future as he has in the past," said the adviser.
Livni prepares to form Israeli government after narrow win
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- Written by Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem
- Published: 19 September 2008 19 September 2008
- Hits: 4297 4297
Tzipi Livni, Israel's foreign minister and new head of the ruling Kadima party, began preparing yesterday to put together a coalition government that would allow her to take over as prime minister.
At dawn final results were released showing how narrowly she won the Kadima leadership primary, defeating her closest challenger, Shaul Mofaz, the hawkish transport minister, by 431 votes. Livni took 43.1% of the vote, against 42% for Mofaz. Exit polls had predicted a clear win for Livni, but proved wide of the mark.
Livni, 50, a former agent in the Mossad secret service and a lawyer, has six weeks to put together a coalition government around her party. If she succeeds she will be prime minister, the first woman in the job since 1974. If she fails general elections will be held by early next year.
After a sleepless night waiting for final results, Livni emerged from her Tel Aviv home early yesterday to say she wanted to quickly form a coalition.
Already some of the smaller parties that might expect to be in the coalition began laying out their demands, notably among them Shas, which represents ultra-Orthodox voters. Shas, which has 12 seats in the Knesset, or parliament, is adamantly opposed to any division of Jerusalem, which might complicate Livni's commitment to negotiate a two-state peace agreement with the Palestinians. One of the core issues of any agreement is the future of Jerusalem, which both Israel and the Palestinians claim as a future capital.
"If it becomes clear that Jerusalem is on the negotiating table ... then we won't be part of the coalition," Shas spokesman Roi Lachmanovitch said yesterday.
Kadima has 29 seats in the 120-seat Knesset and will need Labour's 19 seats, as well as other smaller parties, probably including Shas. Livni has also proposed reaching out to the left-wing Meretz party, which has five seats.
Prime minister Ehud Olmert, the former Kadima leader who is facing several corruption investigations, is expected to notify the cabinet on Sunday that he will resign but will continue as a caretaker leader until Livni forms her coalition.
The result of the Kadima vote raises awkward questions about Israel's leading polling organisations, which in the weeks before the election and in exit polls 15 minutes before voting ended on Wednesday predicted Livni would win easily. "There is a problem and we have to identify it," said pollster Mina Tzemach, director of the Dahaf Research Institute.