Israel suspends MP for opposing Gaza blockade
Haneen ZoabiJerusalem — The Israeli parliament has temporarily suspended an Israeli-Arab politician who participated in the Gaza-bound flotilla last year that was intercepted by Israel in a bungled assault that left nine pro-Palestinian activists dead.Civil rights groups condemned the controversial sanction against Haneen Zoabi, an MP...Poet jailed in protests claims she was beaten by Bahraini royal
MANAMA — A female member of the al-Khalifa royal family in Bahrain has been accused of repeatedly beating the 20-year-old student poet Ayat al-Gormezi when she was in prison, accused of reciting a poem at a pro-democracy protest rally criticizing the monarchy.In an interview with The Independent, Ms. Gormezi, who became a symbol of...
Jewish settlers terrorizing Palestinians, says Israeli general
July 23rd, 20110 Jerusalem — A senior Israeli army commander has warned that unchecked "Jewish terror" against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank threatens to plunge the territory into another conflict.In unusually outspoken comments, Major General Avi Mizrahi took aim at extremist Israeli settlers, and said the yeshiva, or religious seminary, in...
Hizbullah says it will overcome STL conspiracy
July 23rd, 20110 BEIRUT — Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah said on Tuesday that Hizbullah would overcome the conspiracy of the Special Tribunal on Lebanon (STL) and emerge stronger than before. Nasrallah also declared his support for the dialogue initiative launched by President Michel Sleiman, and denied claims that Hizbullah was not...Hundreds of Palestinian minors jailed for throwing stones
JERUSALEM — One out of more than 800 Palestinian children charged with throwing stones in the West Bank over a six-year period was acquitted, according to the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem.Ninety-three percent of the 834 under-18s who were convicted were given prison sentences by the Israeli military courts, including 19 children...Israeli and Palestinian activists march in step for peace
OCCUPIED EAST JERUSALEM (IPS) — For the first time in over 20 years, thousands of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists marched peacefully together on Friday to support the Palestinian drive for statehood expected to be endorsed at the UN General Assembly in September."Only a declaration of Palestinian statehood can prevent...Damascus warns U.S., French envoys, apologizes to Qatar
DAMASCUS — Syria launched a diplomatic offensive Wednesday, warning French and U.S. ambassadors they risked expulsion if they breached a travel ban on leaving Damascus, while issuing an apology to Qatar for an attack by demonstrators on its embassy that prompted it to suspend work in the country.Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem...New state senator Kowall to run for Congress
WHITE LAKE — Mike Kowall (R-White Lake), who was elected to the state Senate last November, will run for Congress in 2012 in a bid to replace U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter of Livonia.McCotter is giving up his seat in the 11th Congressional District, which was recently re-drawn, in a bid to seek the Republican nomination for U.S....
U.S. hardens tone against Assad
July 16th, 20110 Neo-con hawks, Israel allies pressure Obama for a regime change in DamascusWASHINGTON (IPS) - Escalating its rhetoric against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the White House declared last week that the Syrian president had "lost his legitimacy" but declined to call explicitly for his resignation or removal.The statement, which echoed...
How the Arab world lost southern Sudan
July 16th, 20110 Both pan-Arabist and Islamist governments have failed to embrace diversity and pluralism — to their own detriment.The division of Sudan into two states is a dangerous precedent. The Arab world has to draw the right lessons from if it wants to avoid the break-up of other Arab states into ethnic and sectarian enclaves.The birth of South...Estonians abducted in Lebanon freed, in good health
BEIRUT — The seven Estonian men abducted four months ago in east Lebanon were released in the Bekaa Valley last Thursday and are in good health.After midday, Lebanese Interior Minister Marwan Charbel visited the French Embassy to check on the wellbeing of Estonians.Lebanon’s foreign minister, Adnan Mansour, confirmed the release,...
Lebanon: Hizbullah, Hariri exchange tough rhetoric
July 16th, 20110 - Hizbullah: Indictment is not worth the ink with which it was written- Hariri vows to topple government, lashes out at Nasrallah BEIRUT - The head of Hizbullah’s parliamentary bloc dismissed a U.N.-backed court’s indictment into former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s 2005 assassination as worthless, in the latest exchange of...Arabs to seek full Palestinian upgrade at U.N.
DOHA — The Arab League will ask the United Nations to upgrade the Palestinians to full member status, a draft statement from a league meeting in Qatar said on Thursday.“It was decided to go to the United Nations to request the recognition of the state of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital and to move ahead and request...Saudi authorities foil regime overthrow plot
JEDDAH — Saudi authorities have dismantled an Al-Qaeda-linked group of 16 people plotting to overthrow the regime, the Saudi-funded Asharq Alawsat daily reported last Wednesday.The "secret organization" aimed to "gain power with the aid of foreign intelligence services," Asharq Alawsat quoted a spokesman for the justice ministry as...Livonia Congressman McCotter kicks off presidential run
WHITMORE LAKE – Thaddeus McCotter, a Republican congressman from Livonia, announced his bid to run for U.S. President in 2012 at the WAAM Freedom Fest on July 2. About 600 people attended the event, which was sponsored by a local conservative radio channel. McCotter has said he is against "big government" and in favor of tax......
Recall effort against Gov. Snyder hits halfway mark
An effort to recall Gov. Rick Snyder needing 800,000 petition signatures passed the halfway point last week of its 90-day timetable. Organizers have not yet revealed how many names they have collected. The recall organizing began at a fairly large rally at the state capitol on May 21. Organizers have said that more than 180,000...
Lebanon’s new beginning: Mikati’s cabinet wins confidence vote in Parliament
July 8th, 20110 Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati (top row, L) is congratulated by Hizbullah deputy members after he won 68 out of 128 votes in a vote of confidence on the third day of the parliamentary session in Beirut July 7, 2011. REUTERS/ Mohamed AzakirBEIRUT — Prime Minister Najib Mikati's government won a vote of confidence in Lebanon's......
UN mission warns of Yemen humanitarian crisis
SANAA — Yemen needs urgent international aid to head off a humanitarian crisis, a UN mission visiting the impoverished country said on Wednesday, warning of "collective punishment" against civilians."We call on the international community to quickly provide humanitarian aid to Yemen during this difficult time," said a statement at the...Palestine’s ‘last village’ faces the bulldozers
Lifta will belatedly suffer same fate as hundreds of villages destroyed by Israel decades ago, make way for Jewish vacation homes.LIFTA — On a rocky slope dropping steeply away from the busy main road at the entrance to West Jerusalem is to be found a scattering of ancient stone houses, empty and clinging precariously to...Independents mull ‘third way’ for solving Syrian crisis
DAMASCUS - Some 100 Syrian independent figures met in the capital last Sunday to discuss a "third way" for the country, which has been rocked by anti-regime and pro Assad protests for three months, as newswire services reported from there.It was the second such meeting of its kind in a week, after critics of Syria's President Bashar...Ben Ali gets 15 years in jail over drugs, weapons charges
TUNIS - A Tunis court on Monday sentenced ousted Tunisian president Zine el Abidine Ben Ali in his absence to 15 years in jail for possession of arms, drugs and archaeological artifacts.In his second trial since fleeing to Saudi Arabia following a popular uprising in January, Ben Ali was also given a fine of 54,000 euros (78,500......
Skepticism clouds national dialogue in Bahrain
July 8th, 20110 WASHINGTON — As Bahrain's government launches its much-touted "national dialogue" with members of civil society, experts here are expressing skepticism that it will defuse growing tensions in the strategically located Gulf kingdom, let alone promote genuine reform.Strongly supported by the administration of President Barack Obama,...Iraqi children bear brunt of wars, international sanctions
BAGHDAD — Decades of war and international sanctions have turned Iraq into one of the worst places for children in the Middle East and North Africa, with around 3.5 million living in poverty, 1.5 million under the age of five undernourished and 100 infants dying every day, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) warns.The government can and......
Syrian opposition bitterly divided on engagement with Assad regime
July 8th, 20110 WASHINGTON (IPS) — Despite countless attempts by the Bashar al-Assad regime to subdue the sporadic protests that have appeared across Syria since February, the demonstrations have consistently grown in both size and intensity.Last week, a march in the town of Hama may have attracted over 100,000 protesters, quite likely the largest...
Nasrallah: Justice in Hariri case key to sustained stability
July 8th, 20110 BEIRUT — Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Tuesday that serving justice into the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was the way to stability in Lebanon, reiterating Hizbullah’s rejection of accusations that some of its members was involved in the killing. “We do not accept abandoning justice for......
