Monday 9 August 2010

Another Day in the Life of.....Israel

Gaza's Lone Power Plant Shuts Down
Palestinian authorities in Gaza have shut down the territory's only power plant after running out of fuel in the middle of a heatwave.
Engineers in Gaza warn the blackout could last days without emergency fuel shipments.
Fuel for the plant comes from the rival Palestinian government in the West Bank, which accused officials in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip of failing to make scheduled payments.
The Reuters news agency said Saturday that the power outage was affecting hospitals and water wells. It also said the blackout cut power to the territory's sewage treatment plant, which was allowing waste to spill into the Mediterranean. As a result, Gazans hoping to get relief from the heat were banned from swimming in the sea.
The Gaza power plant supplies the territory with about one-third of its electricity. The rest comes from Israel and Egypt.

Suspected Torturer Gets Key Police Job in Jerusalem
A police officer known as “Major George” [whose real name is Doron Zahavi], accused of torturing Arab prisoners in his previous role as chief interrogator in a secret military jail has been appointed to oversee relations with Jerusalem’s Palestinian population, it has emerged.
The decision has been greeted with stunned disbelief from human rights groups, who say unresolved allegations against Major George that he brutally abused Arab prisoners for many years should disqualify him from such a sensitive post.


Israel rattles saber in south Lebanon
BEIRUT: Israel continued to conduct mock air raids in the skies over Lebanon on Friday as the world awaited the findings of a United Nations investigation into the clash that killed four people along the Blue Line.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said that while results from a preliminary probe into Tuesday’s shootout between Lebanese and Israeli Army troops had been collected, its investigation was yet to ascertain which side was responsible for the pair’s bloodiest clash since 2006.

Israeli army confirms firing at Lebanese fishing boat
The Israeli army confirmed Sunday that a naval vessel opened fire at a Lebanese fishing boat over the weekend, Israeli media reported.
On Saturday, the Lebanese army issued a statement saying an Israeli gunboat “fired several bursts toward Lebanese territorial waters” off Lebanon’s southern coast at 4a.m..

Wiesenthal Center opposes NYC mosque, supports museum on Palestinian graveyard
The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a human rights organization devoted to fighting anti-Semitism, has been accused of hypocrisy for joining the ADL in opposing the Ground Zero mosque, while funding the construction of a "Museum of Tolerance" on top of Palestinian grave sites.

Ongoing Shalala humiliation extends to Florida
You might think that former [US] Secretary of Health & Human Services (HHS) Donna Shalala would be furious after being detained at Tel Aviv airport for the sole infraction of being an Arab-American.
On the contrary, back in Miami she defended the Israeli policy of ethnic profiling -- followed by humiliation applied to such security threats as post-60 year old former cabinet officials and university presidents.
So I checked with my friend who knows the scene at the University of Florida. "Are you crazy? If Shalala hinted at criticizing Israel, millions of dollars the university is counting on would dry up instantly. She can't say a word or the university will have to put all its expansion plans on a shelf forever, not to mention the scholarships that will disappear."

Official: Israel lowers water supply to Nablus villages
A Nablus village's local council has accused Israeli authorities of cutting several villages' water supply by 50 percent, as the global heatwave continues.
Rujeib council head Ahmad Dweikat said the water pumped to his village had been lowered from 5,000 cubic meters to 2,500 cubic meters without prior notice three weeks ago
[Do you think the nearby Jewish settlements are getting the same treatment? RP]

What collapsing empire looks like
As we enter our ninth year of the War in Afghanistan with an escalated force, and continue to occupy Iraq indefinitely, and feed an endlessly growing Surveillance State, reports are emerging of the Deficit Commission hard at work planning how to cut Social Security, Medicare, and now even to freeze military pay.
[Meanwhile $3billion per year to Israel is 'No Problem' - RP]

Masked settlers attack international peace activists in Hebron
Al-Buwayra, HEBRON - This morning, in a second day of violence in the village of Al-Buwayra, near Hebron, two international peace activists were attacked by three Israeli settlers wearing black masks.
Both were left seriously injured and have been hospitalized following the unprovoked attack.

Yet another weekend in Israel.

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