George Bisharat, San Francisco Chronicle October 1st, 2009.

Photo: US President Barack Obama.

US President Barack Obama has placed restoration of the stature of the United States among his primary foreign policy goals. He has already achieved substantial progress in Europe, where polls indicate that he is widely admired. The president’s June Cairo University speech also won praise in the Arab and Muslim worlds. Yet many across the globe still await the substantive policy changes implied by his inspiring words.

President Obama can solidify broader global respect by supporting the recommendations of the just-released Goldstone report in the United Nations Human Rights Council. Richard Goldstone, an eminent South African jurist, led a mission to investigate allegations of war crimes in Gaza last winter.

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Haaretz 28/09/2009

Photo: Public train passing in Cairo, Egypt.

The London-based Arabic-language daily A Sharq al Awsat reported Monday that the board of directors of the powerful Egyptian media group Al-Ahram had decided to boycott Israel and Israelis of all positions.

The Al-Ahram group is considered the most powerful media body in Egypt. Al-Ahram publishes newspapers considered to be the official mouthpiece of the Egyptian government.

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Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler, Inter Press Service, 29 September 2009.

Photo: Palestinians walking in East Jerusalem.

Almost a year ago a barely noticed event took place in Sawarha, a Palestinian neighborhood in the Israeli-occupied part of the city.

On that November day, Israeli Jerusalemites were voting in a new mayor and a new city council.

On that same day, in this neighborhood home to 25,000, people were ignoring the Israeli-run elections. Instead, they were focused on electing their own local council.

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To: The Member States of the United Nations General Assembly:

Photo: Tahrir, 17; Ikram, 15; Samar, 12; Dina eight; and Jawaher, four, killed by Israel.

Upon the culmination of the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly, the Palestinian human rights community would like to take the opportunity to raise its collective voice in reasserting the significance of the role of the UN in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT) and to call upon the General Assembly in particular to take a more proactive role in ensuring a just resolution to the conflict.

Despite few conflicts having received as much international attention as that between Israel and the Palestinians, hopes for peace have been repeatedly dashed in the light of Israel’s refusal to end 42 years of military occupation. Israel’s ongoing denial of Palestinian rights and political freedoms, including the basic right of Palestinians to self-determination continues unabated.

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concert occurring within the Quebec Social Forum

SATURDAY OCTOBER 10th 20h00
suggested donation 5-10$
Cégep du Vieux Montréal
255 rue Ontario east
room 4.82 A
métro Berri-UQAM

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Dissident Voice by Neve Gordon / September 28th, 2009

Photo: ActiveStills. Israeli anarchist Kobi Snitz in an Israeli prison.

Sometime in 1846, Henry David Thoreau spent a night in jail because he refused to pay his taxes. This was his way of opposing the Mexican-American War as well as the institution of slavery. A few years later he published the essay “Civil Disobedience,” which has since been read by millions of people, including many Israelis and Palestinians.

Kobi Snitz read the book. He is an Israeli anarchist who is currently serving a 20 day sentence for refusing to pay a 2,000 shekel fine.

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Canadian Association of University Teachers CAUT September 28, 2009.

Photo: Antoine Rouleau, satellites to the world in Montreal, Quebec.

(Ottawa, September 28, 2009) Minister Gary Goodyear’s office threatened to withhold federal budget funding for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) over its decision to fund a controversial academic conference, according to an email obtained by CAUT through Access to Information.

CAUT first learned in June that Minister Goodyear had telephoned SSHRC president Chad Gaffield to insist on reconsideration of a peer-reviewed decision to fund an academic conference called “Israel/Palestine: Mapping Models of Statehood and Paths to Peace” held at York University later that month.

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September 23, 2009. Dear President Obama.

Photo: Zoriah (c) Destroyed Palestinian building in Gaza Strip.

Our wounds in Gaza are still open, our justice still denied. Israel’s 23 day offensive (28 December 2008- 19 January 2009) has left our children afraid to return to school, and feeling unsafe in their beds. The war, and the continued closure of the Gaza Strip, has undermined the capacity of mothers and fathers to act as protectors and providers. As a community, we will struggle for decades to live with the consequences.

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Activists and Combatants | Palestinian Perspectives 5th édition

October 21 to 30 2009
Cinémathèque québécoise
www.cinematheque.qc.ca
335, boul. de Maisonneuve est
Métro Berri-UQAM
7$ | 6$ for students and elders
4$ for children 6-15 years

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Interview with Rawi Hage, by Rima Hammoudi.

Photo: Tanya Traboulsi Sky over sea, Beirut, Lebanon.

As we made ourselves comfortable on a terrace at a nearby café, Rawi Hage began scanning the neighboring tables for an ashtray. “Do you mind if I smoke?” I didn’t, and reached over behind me and snagged the seemingly last ashtray that had yet to be claimed. Not lighting up right away, Hage began maneuvering a small, tightly packed cigar between his fingers as he began telling me about his travel plans for the summer: Europe, Australia and all of Canada. There is so much to see, we agreed, and any city, town or far off countryside is as good as any to start with.

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