Jerusalem Post, July 29th, 2009, by Abe Selig.

<

Photo: Smoke over Gaza during Israeli army bombardment.

At a recently opened eco-friendly bar in Tel Aviv, customers can enjoy vegan delicacies, politic with left-wing activists or indulge in green-colored beer.

But wearing green may get them thrown out.

The Rogatka Bar – the word means “slingshot” in Russian and was used colloquially to describe slingshots used by Palestinian youth during the first intifada – has found itself at the heart of a fiery debate, after Army Radio reported earlier this week that the vegan eatery does not allow entry to IDF soldiers in uniform.

(more…)

featuring celebrated Palestinian hip-hop ensemble DAM with Iraqi rapper Narcicyst

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 28th, 20h00
$10 in advance | $15 at door
purchase tickets admission.com
Café Campus
57 rue Prince-Arthur Est
Montreal, Quebec

(more…)

Report from Bil’in, July 24, 2009.

Photo: ActiveStills. Israeli army launches tear gas over Bil’in, Palestine.

Immediately after Friday prayers today, Bil’in citizens, International supporters, and Israeli activists went out in a demonstration, raising Palestinian flags and banners condemning the occupation policies of building the wall, land confiscation, building settlements, roads closures, the siege of cities, killing civilians, house raids, and the arresting of children.

Palestinian Minister of Affairs Related to the Apartheid Wall, Mr. Maher Ghuneim, also participated in the demonstration, and listened to a comprehensive explanation from the Popular Committee for Resistance Against the Wall about the experiences of the Bil’in community and its most recent developments. The Minister affirmed the government’s support for the popular resistance, pointing to the fact that there are no current negotiations on the question of the presence of settlements and the wall.

(more…)

Daily Star Monday, July 27, 2009.

Photo: Photo: Zoriah (c). Beirut’s south suburbs bombed by Israel in 2006.

BEIRUT: Israel is preparing for another war on Lebanon between the end of year and next spring, Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said during a private meeting with Lebanese emigrants, New TV reported on Saturday. Nasrallah said the “new formula for the balance of power with Israel placed the southern suburbs opposite to Tel Aviv.”

“Israel cannot be trusted,” he said, but added he was not trying to “frighten the people” and asked the Lebanese to “enjoy a quiet summer.”

(more…)

Philippa Hawker, The Age, July 18, 2009

Photo: Matthew Cassel. Gaza, Palestinian refugees displaced in Israeli bombardment.

English filmmaker Ken Loach has withdrawn his film Looking for Eric from the Melbourne International Film Festival because the festival receives funding from the Israeli Government.

Loach told the festival if it did not reconsider the sponsorship, he would not allow the festival to screen his film.

In a letter to festival executive director Richard Moore, he said that “Palestinians, including artists and academics, have called for a boycott of events supported by Israel”. He cited “illegal occupation of Palestinian land, destruction of homes and livelihoods” and “the massacres in Gaza” as reasons for the boycott. It was, he said, aimed “not at independent Israeli films or filmmakers”, but at “the Israeli state”.

(more…)

July 8th, 2009 report from www.forward.com

Photo: Gueorgui Tcherednitchenko. Cameras cover Israel’s wall in occupied Palestine.

The expulsion of an Israeli journalists’ union from the International Federation of Journalists is mired in a murky cocktail of politics and money.

The Israeli group –— the National Federation of Israel Journalists — was ousted June 7 in a unanimous vote of the international union’s executive committee. The vote immediately raised the specter of another effort by international unions to boycott Israel for political reasons; recently, a number of academic unions around the world have voted to boycott Israeli professors.

(more…)

Hour July 16th, 2009, by Stefan Christoff.

Photo: ActiveStills: Israeli night invasion into Bil’in village.

Palestinian activists from Bil’in village say the Israeli military has raided their village almost daily this week. They claim the early morning raids are linked to a recent lawsuit filed by the village in the Quebec Superior Court.

Last month Bil’in launched the lawsuit against two Montreal-based companies, Green Park International and Green Mount International, claiming they played a role in building Israeli-only settlements on Palestinian lands in Bil’in, an act they say is illegal under international law and under Canada’s Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act, established in 2000.

(more…)

Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), statement, 16 July 2009.

Photo: Restrictions on freedom of the press in Palestine.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns the decision issued by Dr. Salam Fayad, the Palestinian Prime Minister and Acting Minster of Information in Ramallah, suspending the Al-Jazeera Satellite Channel’s (JSC) work in Palestine and preventing its personnel from carrying out any activities in Palestine pending a final judicial ruling in this regard. PCHR asserts that this decision constitutes a flagrant violation of the right to freedom of expression, and calls upon the Government in Ramallah to cancel it and allow the JSC and its personnel to work freely.

(more…)

Report: Friday July 10 2009: Two kidnapped and dozens suffering tear gas inhalation.

Photo: ActiveStills. Protests in Bil’in confront Israeli apartheid wall.

Two kidnapped and dozens suffered from gas inhalation when Israeli troops attacked the weekly protest in Bil’in village near the central West Bank city of Ramallah on Friday.

International and Israeli supporters joined the villagers of Bil’in and marched from the village center after the Friday midday prayers. The protesters demanded the halt of Israeli illegal settlements and construction of the wall.

(more…)

for immediate release: Thursday July 9th, 2009.

Photo: ActiveStills. Israeli occupation soldiers at popular protest in Bil’in, Palestine.

Military raids launched by Israeli forces in Palestine in parallel to court case in Quebec

Israeli army forces are launching night-time military raids on Bil’in village in Palestine.

Bil’in recently made headlines in Canada after the village launched a lawsuit in Montreal against two Quebec registered companies constructing Israeli settlements on the village’s land.

(more…)