JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel is to approve 1,400 new settler homes in east Jerusalem, media and the local council said on Sunday, defying pressure to halt settlement building that has stalled peace talks with the Palestinians. The massive construction project will add homes to the annexed east Jerusalem settlement neighbourhood of Gilo and is expected to receive final approval from … Read More
COMMONDREAMS– The Middle East policies of US President Barack Obama may well prove the most detrimental in history so far, surpassing even the rightwing policies of President George W. Bush. Even those who warned against the overt optimism which accompanied Obama’s arrival to the White House must now be stunned to see how low the US president will go to … Read More
RAW STORY– Fewer than one in 10 Afghans are aware of the 9/11 attacks and their precipitation of the war in Afghanistan, says a study from an international think tank. A report (PDF) from the International Council on Security and Development (ICOS) shows that 92 percent of those surveyed had never heard of the coordinated multiple attacks on US soil … Read More
HAARTEZ– Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday rejected a Palestinian demand that direct negotiations be based on a statement by the Quartet confirming its position that the future Palestinian state will be based on the 1967 borders. Meeting in Jerusalem with U.S. envoy George Mitchell, Netanyahu repeated his demand for the renewal of direct talks without preconditions. Mitchell briefed Netanyahu on … Read More
Hundreds of protestors from more than 30 cities gathered on Sunday in solidarity to participate in “International Sakineh Mohammedie Ashtiani Day.” Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 43 year old mother of two, was recently sentenced to death by stoning for adultery by an Iranian court.Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani was convicted of having an ‘illicit relationship’ with two men in 2006. In addition … Read More
