by Ali Abunimah, New York Times August 28, 2010

Photo Palestinian boy peers around a corner looking for Israeli occupation soldier.

George J. Mitchell, the United States Middle East envoy, tried to counter low expectations for renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations by harking back to his experience as a mediator in Northern Ireland.

At an Aug. 20 news conference with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, announcing the talks that will begin this week, Mr. Mitchell reminded journalists that during difficult negotiations in Northern Ireland, “We had about 700 days of failure and one day of success” — the day in 1998 that the Belfast Agreement instituting power-sharing between pro-British unionists and Irish nationalists was signed.

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September 9, 2010. Detroit HipHop news

Photo Matthew Cassel Shadia Mansour at Chicago concert.

British-born Palestinian Hip Hop artist, Shadia Mansour was surrounded by airport security and “intelligence officers” armed with guns on Saturday, September 4, 2010, in Ben Gurion Airport, Israel.

Ms. Mansour was told to return to her luggage after a usual baggage xray and multiple searches, when eight agents ran towards her, weapons drawn and pointed, they aggressively kicked away her bags and surrounded her.

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Rami Almeghari, Electronic Intifada 27 August 2010

Photo ActiveStills Anne Paq Bassam Dardouna stands in the abandoned apartment that he and his family are living in.

“We are not here to steal or take over something which is not our own. We are not criminals or thieves. We are humans who seek a safe shelter after we have lost hope that our houses will be rebuilt,” said Bassam Dardouna, 46, head of a 15-member household, as he stood in the middle of an unfinished apartment.

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Jonathan Cook The National. August 17 2010

Photo: Palestinian refugees displaced via Israel in 1948.

History may be written by the victors, as Winston Churchill is said to have observed, but the opening up of archives can threaten a nation every bit as much as the unearthing of mass graves.

That danger explains a decision quietly taken last month by Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, to extend by an additional 20 years the country’s 50-year rule for the release of sensitive documents.

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U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. July 2010. download report

Photo: Palestinians surviving in terrible living conditions under Israeli occupation.

In recent weeks, around 550 people have lost their homes or sources of livelihood as a result of demolitions carried out by Israeli authorities in East Jerusalem and Area C. These recent developments represent a significant increase in demolitions and forced displacement in the West Bank, raising a number of serious humanitarian concerns.

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Green Left by Raul Connolly, Sunday, August 8, 2010

Photo Palestinian clears rubble from building destroyed in Israeli air-strike in Gaza

A growing number of unions across Australia have backed the international boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign targeting Israel. The campaign demands that Israel ends its apartheid-like policies towards Palestinians.

The National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA) said in a July 20 statement that it would “continue to add its voice to the call for an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestine and condemning all acts of terrorism”.

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Lorraine Guay, Juillet 2010

Photo MaanImages Thaeer al-Hassany: Jeunes Palestiniens renferment des chandelles à d’une manifestation pacifique, dans la ville de Gaza.

Dans un récent reportage à TV5, un habitant d’une colonie de peuplement juif, installée illégalement en plein cœur du territoire palestinien, traitait de « terroristes » de jeunes palestiniens faisant du porte-à-porte auprès de leurs concitoyens pour leur demander de boycotter les produits fabriqués dans cette colonie en guise de résistance pacifique à l’occupation/colonisation dont ils sont victimes depuis plus de cinq décennies.

Ces jeunes marquaient à leur manière le 5e anniversaire de l’appel lancé en juillet 2005 par plus de 170 organisations de la société civile palestinienne invitant les sociétés civiles du monde entier à initier des campagnes de Boycott, Désinvestissement et Sanction contre les politiques israéliennes, comme celles appliquées à l’Afrique du Sud à l’époque de l’apartheid. Des personnalités aussi peu « terroristes » que Mgr Tutu et l’ex-président Carter n’hésitent pas d’ailleurs à qualifier la situation globale qui prévaut en Palestine de véritable apartheid.

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Max Blumenthal, Electronic Intifada, vendredi 30 juillet 2010

Photo Oren Ziv ActiveStills Haneen Zoabi.

La décision est une mesure de rétorsion pour la participation de Zoabi à la « Flottille de La liberté » pour Gaza. Comme l’a rapporté le quotidien israélien Haaretz, au cours du débat qui a fait rage, un député de la Knesset, Anasatassia Michaeli, s’est précipité vers Zoabi et lui remit une copie d’un passeport iranien avec la photo de Zoabi.

« Mme Zoabi, je prends votre fidélité à l’Iran au sérieux et je vous suggère de communiquer avec Ahmadinejad et de lui demander de vous donner un passeport diplomatique iranien qui vous aidera dans toutes vos tournées diplomatiques, parce que votre passeport israélien sera révoqué ce soir », a dit Michaeli, qui est un membre du parti ouvertement anti-arabe Israel Beitenou du ministre des Affaires étrangères Avigdor Lieberman (« La Knesset révoque les privilèges de la député arabe Zuabi suite à la flottille de Gaza, Haaretz, 13 Juillet 2010 »).

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July 2010 by Mohannad El-Khairy download pdf

Photo Palestinian worker at stone quarry in Gaza Strip.

Charles C. Boycott seems to have become a household word because of his strong sense of duty to his employer. An Englishman and former British soldier, Boycott was the estate agent of the Earl of Erne in County Mayo, Ireland. The earl was one of the absentee landowners who as a group held most of the land in Ireland. Boycott was chosen in the fall of 1880 to be the test case for a new policy advocated by Charles Parnell, an Irish politician who wanted land reform.

Any landlord who would not charge lower rents or any tenant who took over the farm of an evicted tenant would be given the complete cold shoulder by Parnell’s supporters. Boycott refused to charge lower rents and ejected his tenants. At this point members of Parnell’s Irish Land League stepped in, and Boycott and his family found themselves isolated without servants, farmhands, service in stores, or mail delivery.

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download report by Richard Lightbown June 2010

Photo Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to an Israeli navy base.

An international flotilla comprising the cruise ship Mavi Marmara, a cargo ship and four smaller craft sailing to Gaza with humanitarian aid was attacked in international waters by a large Israeli naval force on 31 May 2010. Nine passengers were killed and many injured by live fire. The legality of the raid is considered according the San Remo Manual and the Fourth Geneva Convention. The report concludes that the International Committee of the Red Cross declaration of a ‘dire situation’ in the Gaza Strip renders the raid unlawful.

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