USA

NOVANEWS US approves settlement construction in East Jerusalem Haaretz Eldar's take on the Netanyahu Biden spat: The statement issued by Netanyahu's bureau said that in light of the ongoing dispute between Israel and the United States over construction in East Jerusalem, the plans for new housing in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood should not have been approved this particular week. It also said the premier had ordered Yishai to draft procedures that would prevent a recurrence. In other words, Yishai is welcome to submit more plans for Jewish construction in East Jerusalem next week, when U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will no longer be here. Based on Biden's reaction, it seems that he (and, presumably, his boss) has decided that it is better to leave with a few sour grapes than to quarrel ...

NOVANEWS USA aid to the Zionist regime  money, Somalia would have become a global power.

"Harvard professor Stephen M. Walt commented, “What if a prominent academic at Harvard declared that the United States had to make food scarcer for Hispanics so that they would have fewer children? Or what if someone at a prominent think tank noted that black Americans have higher crime rates than some other groups, and therefore it made good sense to put an end to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and other welfare programs, because that would discourage African Americans from reproducing and thus constitute an effective anti-crime program?” Had Mr. Kramer’s comments been directed at any other marginalized or minority groups—leaving aside the enormous challenge faced by Palestinians living in the impoverished enclosure of Gaza—we believe that the Weatherhead Center would not ...

NOVANEWS By John F. Bowman, Maryam Monalisa Gharavi, and Abdelnasser A. Rashid We address this op-ed to Beth Simmons (Director, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs), Jeffry Frieden and James Robinson (Acting Directors, WCIA), and Drew Faust (President, Harvard University). We write as gravely concerned students and student group leaders representing over 16 groups throughout Harvard University. Our entire constituency can be viewed online. We are disturbed by the racist and inhumane comments of Martin Kramer, Visiting Scholar at the National Security Studies Program at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. We have become even more alarmed that rather than taking a dissociating or even strictly neutral stance against such extremist and hateful statements, the Weatherhea...

NOVANEWS Seven Muslims Detained in Nevada for Praying Outside The Council on American-Islamic Relations has filed a misconduct complaint against police officers in the Nevada city of Henderson after seven Muslim men were detained for praying in public. The men had stopped at a shopping center at sunset to pray in the parking lot. One of the men used his cell phone to videotape the police officer explaining why they were being detained. Muslim Man: “You, knowing that we’re just Muslims here praying…” Police Officer: “But I don’t know that.” Muslim Man: “Well, we are praying. You know there’s a Muslim prayer. Is that enough for you to say that it’s a suspicious activity?” Police Officer: “Well, that’s why I’m checking it out.” Muslim Man: “So you think it is?” Police Officer: “Do I think it...

NOVANEWS Today’s Show Headlines 7 Years After Killing, Family of Slain US Peace Activist Rachel Corrie Heads to Israel for Wrongful Death Suit Against Israeli Gov’t  RECENT SHOWS Tuesday, March 09, 2010 Headlines 105,000 Tattoos: Iraqi Artist Wafaa Bilal Turns His Own Body into a Canvas to Commemorate Dead Iraqis & Americans The Real Climategate: Conservation Groups Align with World’s Worst Polluters Monday, March 08, 2010 Headlines Bloody Sunday: Thousands Mark Anniversary of 1965 Selma-Montgomery March During Oscar Acceptance Speech, Mo’Nique Cites Hattie McDaniel, First African American Academy Award Winner International Women’s Day Marked Around the World Iranian Nobel Peace Prize Winner Shirin Ebadi Presses Iran on Human Rights and Warns Against International S...

NOVANEWS Posted: 09 Mar 2010  Bit by bit, now in a piece on the "pro-Israel lobby," Andrew Sullivan works his way toward the crucial understanding of the Israel lobby’s role in nullifying American policy in Israel/Palestine. There is simply no way to explain the policy nullification, with respect to settlements, over 7 or 8 US presidencies, without talking about a special interest. And you cannot then talk about the special interest without talking about its lopsided size in the American political process. No one in Washington – apart from a few Likudniks and Palinite end-timers – actually supports more settlements or any settlements in the West Bank. At the same time, Washington exercizes a UN veto to protect Israel from international law, funnels a vast amount of foreign and military ai...

NOVANEWS Haaretz Tuesday   http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1155131.html  By Akiva Eldar  [This is a portion of Eldar’s report today.  For the remainder, follow the link.]  U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who arrived in Israel yesterday, didn't look for camels among the cars on the road from Ben-Gurion International Airport to Jerusalem. In a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing held two years ago for the United States Ambassador to Israel, James Cunningham, Biden heard that the Israelis even know how to ride bulldozers. Then a senator from Delaware, who chaired the committee, Biden asked for a detailed report on the affair of American peace activist Rachel Corrie, who was run over and killed by the treads of an Israeli bulldozer.  If Biden schedules a meeting with Corrie's parents...

Haaretz Tuesday, March 09, 2010  NOVANEWS  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1155116.html  By Haaretz Editorial   Scandar Copti, co-director of the film "Ajami" that was nominated for an Oscar, declared in Los Angeles that he does not represent Israel. "I cannot represent a country that does not represent me," Copti said, sparking a predictable chorus of shallow responses from the right. Culture Minister Limor Livnat accused him of being an ingrate because his film received financing from the state. Other politicians demanded that from now on, government support be conditioned on a declaration of loyalty.  But the director's words deserve a more serious response: They ought to prompt deep soul-searching among all Israelis who care about the future of the state. Copti is not a devotee of ...

NOVANEWS by Philip Weiss on March 8, 2010 Tomorrow in a Haifa court, a trial will commence of the Corrie family’s civil suit against the Israeli government in the killing of Rachel Corrie seven years ago this month in Rafah, Gaza. Rachel’s parents Craig and Cindy (left) have sent out an appeal for support during this challenging time: The lawsuit is one piece of our family’s seven-year effort to pursue justice for our daughter and sister. We hope this trial will illustrate the need for accountability for thousands of lives lost, or indelibly injured, by occupation—in a besieged and beleaguered Gaza and throughout Palestine/Israel; bring attention to the assault on nonviolent human rights activists (Palestinian, Israeli, and international); and underscore the fact that so many Palestin...