“Museum of Tolerance” to be built over Muslim cemetery
On Oct. 29, two years after mediation began in Israeli courts, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s "Museum of Tolerance" could build on a Muslim cemetery, called Mamilla, in Jerusalem. A rendering of the Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance. The Mufti of Jerusalem Sheikh Mohammad Hussein called...Lebanese waiting for death penalty verdict
BEIRUT (IPS) — The Lebanese government will use television to gain maximum attention for its plan to abolish the death penalty, giving one station the first right to question Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar about the details of an abolition bill which will be eventually presented to parliament. Lebanese peacefully protest the...
No Thanksgiving in Gaza
November 22nd, 20080 On top of humanitarian disaster, a news blackout RAMALLAH (IPS) — Israel has imposed a virtual news blackout on the Gaza Strip. For the last ten days no foreign journalists have been able to enter the besieged territory to report on the escalating humanitarian crisis caused by Israel's complete closure of Gaza's borders for the last...Palestinian split deepens
CAIRO (IPS) — Palestinian resistance factions were roundly blamed in the mainstream media for their last-minute decision to boycott last week's Egypt-sponsored "comprehensive dialogue" summit, ostensibly aimed at Palestinian national reconciliation. But some independent commentators say the move, led by Gaza-based resistance faction...
Obama pressured to back off Iraq withdrawal
November 15th, 20080 WASHINGTON (IPS) — The promotion of Robert M. Gates as President-elect Barack Obama's secretary of defense appears to be the key element in a broad campaign by military officials and their supporters in the political elite and the news media to pressure Obama into dropping his plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq in as little as 16...Corporate vows tested in West Bank
UNITED NATIONS (IPS) — A company that is a member of the U.N. Global Compact for corporate social responsibility has ties to production in an Israeli settlement on the West Bank considered illegal by the United Nations. A spokesperson for the company, Vileda, an international household products firm, said he was unaware of the...Bush’s “Freedom Agenda” stumbles in Syria
WASHINGTON (IPS) — With media and diplomatic attention focused on the international incident ignited by a U.S. cross-border raid from Iraq into Syrian territory two weekends ago, the Syrian government quietly handed down 30-month prison terms to a group of democracy activists on Wednesday. Palestinians living in Syria take...Rare Saudi Arabia protest tests limits of political speech
Forty Saudis plan a hunger strike this week to bring attention to the prolonged detention of 11 political activists. Riyadh — As hunger strikes go, the 48-hour fast that Fowzan Mohsin al-Harbi and 39 other Saudis plan to stage this week is not likely to have a dramatic outcome. Rather, says the mechanical engineer, the rare...
For peace, the U.S. will have to change
November 8th, 20080 RAMALLAH (IPS) — Barack Obama has been elected U.S. President at a time when the number of extremists has risen dramatically since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, going by the resistance to Western forces in the region. The U.S.-led "war on terror" has itself now become a threat to peace. A Palestinian holds a newspaper...Analysts question timing of Syria raid
WASHINGTON (IPS) — A cross-border raid into Syria by U.S. forces in Iraq, and a subsequent stonewalling by U.S. officials unwilling to divulge details, has led to rampant speculation among U.S. analysts about the origins and meaning of the attack. Syrian villagers stand near and mourn for the bodies before a mass funeral for...Egypt’s ruling party in free fall
CAIRO (IPS) — A high-ranking member of Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) is facing trial on charges of arranging the murder of a Lebanese pop singer. The case, along with a host of other public grievances, has badly tarnished the NDP's reputation ahead of an upcoming party conference. Egyptian textile workers...Yemen holding more than 1,000 political prisoners
Yemen holding more than 1,000 political prisoners By Zainab Mineeia WASHINGTON (IPS) — A new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) urges Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to launch an independent commission to investigate arbitrary arrests and disappearances and to hold those responsible to account. In the 50-page report...Israel targets Palestinian students
GAZA CITY (IPS) - The letter of acceptance that 28-year-old Hazem Hussain got for a business graduate program in a Californian university once brought joy. Now he does not know what to do with it. He has admission, and a visa to the U.S., but the Israelis will not let him leave. "I have tried to get out through every means possible...Two Palestinian girls detained in Israel without trial for months
On the night of June 5, someone knocked on the door of the Salah house in Khader, near Bethlehem. Had it not been 2 a.m., nobody in the family would even have been suspicious. Nevertheless, said Siham Salah, her eldest daughter, Salwa, opened the door. "Soldiers and a officer entered," Siham related. "They sat down calmly and began...Syria establishes full diplomatic relations with Lebanon
BEIRUT — Syrian President Bashar Assad issued a presidential decree on Tuesday ordering the establishment of diplomatic relations between Syria and Lebanon and announcing the opening of an embassy-level diplomatic mission in Beirut, according to the official Syrian Arab News Agency. Presidential Decree Number 358 declared that......
Extremist West Bank settlers help stir Acre violence
Acre, a mixed city of approximately 52,000 people in northern Israel, recently witnessed four days of violent clashes between Palestinian citizens of Israel and Israeli Jewish residents. Israeli soldiers inspect a damaged Palestinian car after an assault by Jewish settlers during olive harvest in the West Bank village of Izmut...Iraqi officials to probe attacks on Christians
MOSUL (Reuters) — Iraq's government pledged this week to send senior officials to northern Iraq to tackle violence against Christians which has led thousands to flee their homes fearing for their lives. "The cabinet stressed the need to move quickly to support the security effort with intensive military operations to restore security...Anger approaches boiling point
CAIRO (IPS) — Public disaffection with the government appears to have reached an all-time high. "There's no denying that popular anger towards the government is rising across the board," Nabil Abdel-Fattah, assistant director at the semi-official Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies told IPS. "The political friction...As violence drops, Iraqi tribes begin to make amends
Baghdad (TCSM) — Tears rarely roll down Iraqi farmer Hassan Mohammed Hamoud's proud, sun-creased face. But as this Shi'a father describes his losses to war, the impact overwhelms him: a brother, two sons, two nephews, all killed by Sunni militant neighbors during the peak of sectarian violence in 2006. A boy cries beside......
Lebanon in an uneasy alliance with Syria
BEIRUT (IPS) — Small countries right next to one another, Syria and Lebanon seem light years apart. The two countries have shared a rocky relationship for decades, characterized mainly by Syrian dominance. Once again this relationship appears to be put to the test as reports of Syrian deployment on Lebanon's borders abound....Torture ‘routine’ in Jordanian prisons
WASHINGTON (IPS) — A new report released Wednesday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) accuses the Jordanian authorities of routine and widespread torture of prisoners throughout the country, and calls for an end to the abuses. According to the 95-page report, based on interviews with 110 random prisoners in several locations in 2007 and......
Palestine: Where water leaves a bitter taste
BARCELONA (IPS) — Palestinian villagers drink unsafe agricultural water rather than trusting water provided by an Israeli company, says Buthaina Mizyed, who has worked in Arraneh village near the conflict-laden West Bank city of Jenin. A Palestinian villager of the Nawajah clan draws water from a well close to the West Bank...U.S. urged to share more of refugee burden
WASHINGTON (IPS) — Despite a marked increase in the number of Iraqi refugees admitted into the United States, experts on Iraq and human rights and refugee organizations are calling on Washington to open the door wider amid fears that returning home remains dangerous for many displaced Iraqis. The U.S. government has met its target......