Gaza

NOVANEWS Former teacher accused of letting cats starve in Boca Raton takes the stand. After three days of trial, Allison Dinsmore took the stand Wednesday and tried to explain how she could abandon her apartment and let her two cats starve to death. "I didn't realize that I was gone that long," she told a Palm Beach County jury. "How could you not realize?" asked her attorney, Jordan Lewin. "Now, I'm able to see that my life was consumed with school; with fear," she responded, sobbing. "I didn't realize it." Dinsmore, 27, is charged with two counts of felony animal cruelty in the deaths of her two cats, Gizzy and Speedo. The former Congress Middle School teacher faces up to 20 years in prison on the charges. 'What about the starvation of the people of gaza ' ? The facts in the case are gen...

NOVANEWS Between March 1 and March 5, 2010, the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt was open, and 4427 people passed through the crossing, including 461 students. Of these students, 100 were returned to Gaza by the Zionist Mu-Barak regime. According to the latest information, 502 students are presently seeking to leave the Gaza Strip in order to realize their dreams and study in universities abroad. Yet why do students in Gaza aspire to study outside the Strip? Among the reasons is the fact that in Gaza it is not possible to study certain fields, such as dentistry, occupational therapy, veterinary studies, environment preservation and democracy and human rights. In contrast, degrees in all these areas are available in the West Bank. Nevertheless, to the best of our knowledge, the ...

NOVANEWS Here we have now an all-too-typical encapsulation of why the Israelis and Palestinians both badly need the civilized world to come in and help clean up their joint mess. Mr. Bahour has no complaint whatever against anything the Palestinians have done. Mr. Bayer has no complaint whatever against anything the Israelis have done. Of course, both cannot be right, and the civilized world has long realized that in many ways both are wrong. But not in the same way. Bahour's humane appeal does not call for Israel to exist only under impossible preconditions, as Bayer's more negative statement insists upon for a Palestinian state. Replace "Hamas" in Bayer's regurgitated propaganda rant with "Stern Gang" and you could have argued against Israel ever becoming a state. Neither one-sided posit...

NOVANEWS By Sam Bahour In 2010, Jews in Israel and around the world will celebrate Passover beginning on March 30th. Passover is the seven-day holiday of the Feast of Unleavened Bread commemorating the ancient Hebrews' escape from enslavement in Egypt. (In Israel, March 30th is also Land Day: the day when Palestinians commemorate and protest the confiscation of their lands by the Israeli government; but that’s another story.) As I’m learning, the Passover holiday begins with the Seder, a traditional ceremonial meal. Its centerpiece is a special Seder plate containing six symbolic foods. Each has its own significance in the retelling of the story of the Hebrews’ exodus from Egypt. The stack of three matzos, or unleavened bread, a kind of cracker made of plain white flour and water, has its ...

NOVANEWS By Neve Gordon Although it is still unclear what the future holds for Israelis and Palestinians, a few things can be said about the processes that enabled Hamas to win a landslide victory in the January 25 democratic elections and how the organization’s triumph will likely affect the local political arena. Founded in Gaza at the beginning of the first Intifada (December 1987) by Sheik Ahmad Yassin, Hamas is a direct extension of the Muslim Brotherhood. Although in the media Hamas tends to be identified with its military arm, Izzeddin al-Qassam, which is well known for its suicide attacks against Israeli targets, the organization’s popularity in the Occupied Territories actually stems from its being seen as the voice of Palestinian dignity and the symbol of the defense of Pales...

NOVANEWS Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported that a 5-year-old child died on Saturday at a local hospital due to the ongoing illegal Zio=Nazi siege on the coastal region. The child, Fuad Swerih, 5, suffered respiratory issues, and Zio=Nazi's prevented his transfer to hospitals outside the besieged and war- torn Gaza Strip. Swerih is from Al Nusseirat refugee camp, in central Gaza. The doctors were trying to transfer him to an Israeli hospital but Nazi's rejected all applications. There are hundreds of patients who are facing the same fate while Zio=Nazi is refusing to allow them medical treatment in Israeli hospital or elsewhere. With the death of Swerih, the number of patients who died due to the siege arrive to 502. The ongoing Nazi siege on Gaza and the war left the h...

NOVANEWS Thanks to Sol Salbe for informing me of this article. Lt. Col. (res.) Ron Ben Yishai, Defense columnist for Yediot Achronot (and serving in the paratroopers), provides a primer in Ynetnews on the Zio=Nazi's uses of artillery and why it is the least effective and most liable to error in situations like the one faced in Beit Hanun. If you read the following closely (paying special attention to the italicized passages) you will find that, whether he intended to or not, Yishai is laying out the strongest case that can possibly be made for the ultimate failure of the entire Gaza counter-insurgency operation. And lest anyone doubt the utter horror of this heinous massacre, Please note that this is not the dovish raving of a peacenik (though many erroneously accuse me of being one here)....

NOVANEWS The UN Human Rights Council urged Tel Aviv on Wednesday to pay reparations to the Palestinian people for the loss and damage it inflicted on them during last year's bloody invasion of the Gaza Strip. Pakistan tabled the motion, which also suggested that the Red Cross should investigate Israel's use of incendiary white phosphorus weapons during Operation Cast Lead. It passed by a majority of 29 to five at the UNHRC heaquarters in Geneva, with 11 abstentions. The resolution was opposed by the US, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands and Slovakia. Britain, Belgium and France were among the countries that abstained. The council approved four other resolutions on the conflict on Wednesday. It voted nearly unanimously in favour of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, wi...

NOVANEWS "Hamas has demonstrated a will and a capacity to think and act pragmatically when it believes it useful or necessary. There’s no better example of this than its governance of Gaza. Yes, it continues to play the role of peace-process spoiler when that role suits its interests. But Hamas has also demonstrated a serious capacity to exercise responsibility and restraint when that role suits its purposes. It has demonstrated its ability to control Gaza effectively, to both enforce a long-term cessation of hostilities and to withstand the combined efforts of the United States, Israel, and Egypt to bring it to its knees." See: www.tnr.com

NOVANEWS Norman Finkelstein spoke at Harvard Law School last night. My friends who were there said he was fabulous. Here are their telegraphic notes: Nancy: Points worth making: i) His two reasons for the Gaza war: a) Hamas becoming too reasonable, and b) an effort to restore Israeli "credibility" after the defeat in Lebanon 2006 ii) His very impressive and classy refusal to get into his personal issues with Dersh iii) Total calm command of the facts iv) Standing ovation v) His endorsement of the the Amnesty International report recommending an arms embargo vi) Audience respectful, a sea change from our appearance in the adjacent building 2002. Molly Potter: I think Nancy has summed it up. I would only add that Finkelstein discussed the Goldstone report and its reception by the Israelis in...