In a bid to legitimize Israel’s violence in Gaza, Washington continues a disturbing pattern of baselessly blaming Hamas A beleaguered-looking President Barack Obama appeared before the Washington press corps on August 1 to lash into Hamas for supposedly violating the 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire that his Secretary of State John Kerry and the United Nations had labored so tirelessly to secure. “I have unequivocally condemned Hamas and the Palestinian factions that were responsible for killing two Israeli soldiers and abducting a third minutes after a ceasefire was announced,” Obama said. But evidence supporting Obama’s claim of Hamas responsibility has been difficult to come by. Indeed, even the Israeli Army news desk was unable to provide Mondoweiss with a clear narrative or substantial evidence regarding the incident in question. Moreover, accounts published in Arabic by Hamas’s military wing along with details provided by the PLO indicate that the killing of two Israeli soldiers...

US President Barack Obama arrived in Ramallah by helicopter yesterday and gave yet another insipid speech. The Palestinian Authority’s security forces, collaborating with US forces, designated a huge security perimeter with the PA compound — the Muqataa — in the middle. Some of the city’s busiest streets were closed off and inaccessible to those not living there. As helicopters filled the skies from the morning up until late afternoon, I was stuck at home working during the nine-hour lockdown, all too aware of the soldiers stationed on the rooftops around my building. Protestors tried to march from Manara Square in the city center to the Muqataa yet again yesterday morning, but were stopped by hundreds of policemen and riot guards. The speech Obama gave at the compound was not littered with Arabic phrases (a speech he delivered the previous day was littered with Hebrew phrases) and gave the usual empty and irrational rhetoric of the US supporting an independent sovereign Palestinia...

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- US President Barack Obama on Thursday downplayed continued Israeli settlement building as an obstacle to the peace process, and he called on the Palestinians to resume talks. In a joint news conference in Ramallah, Obama said both sides should overcome their respective concerns about one another's commitment to the peace process. "That's not to say settlements aren't important, that's to say if we resolve the (main) problems, then settlements will be resolved," Obama said, referring to the Palestinians' refusal to negotiate while Israel continues to build on Palestinian land. "If to begin the conversation we have to get everything right from the outset ... then we're never going to get to the broader issue, which is how do you structure a state of Palestine," Obama said. President Mahmoud Abbas, speaking directly after Obama, responded defiantly that the Palestinian position on settlements had not changed. ...

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – Palestinian protesters on Wednesday torched photos of US President Barack Obama and US flags in front of office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Gaza City. The protest started as dozens marched from the Unknown Soldier statue toward the UN office waving Palestinian flags. Representatives of nationalist and Islamic factions joined the rally. The protesters chanted slogans against Obama’s visit to the region. “We are out here today to say enough to the ongoing pressure on the Palestinian people and the leadership of the Palestinian Authority seeking to impose a unilateral settlement, and US preconditions forcing the PA to make more concessions,” said senior leader of the Islamic Jihad movement Khalid al-Batsh. Obama’s visit, he added, does not serve the Palestinian people’s interests, but rather support the idea of a Jewish state, and maintains Israel’s military superiority. more

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Hamas would not oppose a visit by US President Barack Obama to the Gaza Strip, a party leader said Wednesday. "Hamas refuses to negotiate with Israel, but wouldn’t oppose Obama visiting Gaza with the hope that the US attitude to reality will change," said Aziz Dweik, the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council. Obama is expected to visit Israel and the West Bank in March. According to Dweik, the purpose of Obama's trip is to strengthen Washington's friendship with Israel. "We are used to America viewing our cause from one angle," the Hamas leader told Ma'an TV. Hamas spokesman Salah al-Bardawil said Wednesday that the intransigence of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would prevent Obama bringing any new initiatives on his visit. Obama's trip is "a political maneuver to buy time and to calm the situation," al-Bardawil told Ma'an. "We hope Obama is serious and will exert pressur...

President Obama called Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas Sunday, asking him to back off a Palestinian push for statehood at the United Nations. "In his discussion with President Abbas, President Obama reaffirmed his commitment to Middle East peace and his strong support for direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians with the objective of two states living side by side in peace and security. He also reiterated the United States' opposition to unilateral efforts at the United Nations," the White House said in a statement. Palestinian leaders have been pushing for recognition as an observer state member at the United Nations since 2011. more

(JTA) -- The owner and publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times has resigned and is seeking a buyer in the wake of a column he wrote speculating that Israel would consider assassinating President Obama. Andrew Adler, in an email obtained by JTA, announced Monday that he is "relinquishing all day-to-day activities effective immediately" following the publishing of his opinion piece saying that Obama's assassination was among Israel's options in heading off a nuclear Iran. Adler named staff writer John McCurdy as interim managing editor until a replacement can be found. Adler said he would publish an apology in his next edition and that reaction from readers had been overwhelmingly negative. The Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta said earlier Monday that it would suspend its relationship with the Atlanta Jewish Times until Adler removed himself from the newspaper's operations. The federation also called on Adler to sell the weekly. "While we acknowledge his publ...

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Palestinian officials and analysts were left disappointed by US President Barack Obama's speech to the United Nations on Wednesday, viewing the address as a clear indication of support for Israeli interests. President Obama rejected Palestinian plans to seek a UN blessing for statehood and urged a return to peace talks with Israel. Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the Palestinian presidential spokesman, responded to Obama's speech by saying the Palestinians are ready for negotiations with Israel as long as it halts illegal settlement building and agrees to 1967 borders. Ahmed Yousef, a deputy in the Hamas Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that Obama is trying to avoid the UN bid and his statements offered nothing new. He told Ma'an that the speech showed clear bias towards Israel and was an attempt to run away from the UN bid in an effort to avoid embarrassment for the United States. There is no use in continuing with negotiations if the US can not put enough pressu...

Only one in three Palestinians (34 percent) accepts two states for two peoples as the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to an intensive, face-to-face survey in Arabic of 1,010 Palestinian adults in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip completed this week by American pollster Stanley Greenberg . The poll, which has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, was conducted in partnership with the Beit Sahour-based Palestinian Center for Public Opinion and sponsored by the Israel Project, an international nonprofit organization that provides journalists and leaders with information about the Middle East. The Israel Project is trying to reach out to the Arab world to promote “people-to-people peace.” The poll appears to indicate that the organization has a difficult task ahead. Respondents were asked about US President Barack Obama’s statement that “there should be two states: Palestine as the homeland for the Palestinian people and Israel as the homeland for the Jewish...

From Al Manar Susan Rice, the American ambassador to the UN, said there was "no greater threat" to US support and funding of the UN than the prospect of Palestinian statehood being endorsed by member states. Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian authority, plans to ask the UN general assembly, which comprises all 192 members, to vote on recognition at its annual meeting in New York in September. The US and Israel are pressing Abbas to drop his plans. Obama has strongly opposed the move, raising the prospect of a veto in the UN Security Council, which is expected to vote on a Palestinian statehood proposal in July. However, Palestinian officials have spoken of their determination to a circumvent a US veto by deploying a rarely used Cold War mechanism known as "Uniting for Peace" under which a two-thirds majority in the General Assembly can override the Security Council. Speaking at an event in Washington, Rice said the Obama administration was devoting "ex...

From Fox News : The Obama administration on Friday stepped up pressure on American activists planning to challenge Israel's sea blockade of the Gaza Strip, formally warning they face action from Israeli authorities and may be violating U.S. law. The warning was the latest in a series from the State Department this week urging Americans not to join a flotilla planned to commemorate a similar effort to challenge the blockade last year. That voyage ended in a deadly clash with the Israeli navy in which an American citizen was killed. The warnings came after 36 Americans said they will sail a U.S.-flagged vessel in the flotilla and come at a delicate point in U.S. diplomatic efforts to get Israel and the Palestinians to resume stalled peace talks. American participation, which Israel has vowed to thwart, could embarrass the administration as the ship the group intends to use is named "The Audacity of Hope," which takes its name from the title of President Barack Obama's b...

US Boat to Gaza press release: Athens, June 24, 2011 - U.S. peace activists preparing to set sail on the U.S. Boat to Gaza, The Audacity of Hope, expressed profound disappointment over a statement issued by the U.S. State Department on Wednesday, June 22, 2011. Instead of calling on the Israeli government to let a flotilla of unarmed civilians sail to Gaza, the United States government is pressuring its own citizens to refrain from legal acts. On Wednesday, the State Department sent out a "travel advisory" urging Americans not to participate in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. According to the statement, U.S. citizens are advised against traveling to Gaza by any means, including via sea, noting that previous attempts to enter Gaza by sea "have been stopped by Israeli naval vessels and resulted in the injury, death, arrest, and deportation of U.S. citizens." "Apparently, the State Department subscribes to the view that Israel's anticipated violence against unarme...

RAMALLAH ( Ma'an ) -- "People do not negotiate their right to statehood. Rather, this is an inherent right," a PLO official lashed out Wednesday in the wake of US and German statements demanding Palestinian officials abort plans to seek UN recognition of statehood. "Far from acting unilaterally, Palestinians are bringing their case for statehood before the United Nations, the world’s preeminent multilateral body. Self-determination and respect for the sovereignty of nations are principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter, making the UN a natural forum to resolve this issue," Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's Executive Committee said in a statement. The day before, US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke out at a news conference, saying they agreed that Palestinians should not seek recognition of a state at the UN in September, calling the move "unilateral." Ashrawi's sharp stat...

No one has yet explained why peaceful activists delivering humanitarian aid to a beleagured people should be seen as 'provocative', while the killing of eight Turkish citizens and one US is seen by the sttae department as 'self defence'? The Obama administration has warned Turkey against its planned flotilla to Gaza. In a press briefing yesterday, State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said that a planned flotilla would be irresponsible and provocative. "We’ve raised our concerns with the Turkish government as well, and we’ve also met and said publicly as well as privately, meeting with some of these NGOs, about the risk of attempting to break this blockade," said Toner. "We have made clear through the past year that groups and individuals who seek to break Israel’s maritime blockade of Gaza are taking irresponsible and provocative actions that entail a risk to their safety. I think I’ve talked about this specifically." more

Sign the petition and get updated news about the Freedom Flotilla II - Stay Human: http://bit.ly/stayhuman We are writing to ask for your support for the Gaza Freedom Flotilla scheduled to set sail in the second half of June to the besieged Gaza strip. At least ten ships with dignitaries, doctors, professors, artists, journalists, and activists, as well as construction supplies and humanitarian aid, will sail from ports in Europe to Gaza in an act of non-violent civil disobedience to persuade the international community to fulfill its obligations towards the Palestinian people and end Israel's four-year illegal blockade of Gaza. This is the second, large-scale citizen-to-citizen flotilla to be launched by international grassroots groups. Organized by 14 national groups and international coalitions, the flotilla will carry approximately 1,000 passengers. It includes a US boat named The Audacity of Hope, which will have aboard dozens of dedicated social justice activists (visit: http...

Obama makes it clear where the US stands on the September vote on recognition of Palestinian state: A unilateral United Nations recognition of an independent Palestinian would be a meaningless empty gesture, U.S. President Barack Obama told the BBC on Sunday, adding that Hamas and Fatah must consolidate to form a clear stance on Israel before peace talks could resume. more Obama also addressed the annual gathering of AIPAC (American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee) to reassure them that US guarantee of Israeli security was 'ironclad'. US an honest broker? Don't think so. US president goes before Jewish lobby in DC, says US commitment to Israel's security 'ironclad,' Washington won't stand for Israel's isolation in international arena. President further reassures: Israel, PA, to negotiate border different than 1967's more

From US Washington politics site The Hill Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is sure to grab the lion’s share of the spotlight with speeches scheduled at a joint session of Congress and at AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) and a meeting with President Barack Obama. But in the world beyond the Beltway, Netanyahu is seen as the main stumbling block to peace, and his expected media blitz won’t help him spin his vision of a greater Israel dominating most of the land and resources between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River, with a Palestinian statelet under its control. Nor will the pre-visit announcement that Israel is planning to construct even more illegal settler homes in occupied East Jerusalem. It’s just as well that President Obama did not present a detailed vision for Middle East peace in his State Department speech today. He has lost considerable credibility given his inability to secure a settlement freeze, let alone a withdrawal of Israeli soldiers a...

Gaza City: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's rejection of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders shows the "absurdity" of talks with Israel, according to Hamas. "The announcement from Netanyahu that there would be no retreat from the borders of the Occupied Territories proves the absurdity of negotiations and the pointlessness of continuing to run after the mirage of a compromise...," spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said yesterday. "We call for the adoption of an Arab and Palestinian strategy based on resistance and the preservation of our rights in the face of this Israeli arrogance," he added. "We in Hamas confirm our response to these declarations that we do not recognise the legitimacy of the (Israeli) occupation of an inch of the land of Palestine," he said. more Hamas is calling for a strategy of resisitance: Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Netanyahu's remarks showed that "negotiations with Israel were useless an...

Leading Palestinian human rights activist and BDS advocate Omar Barghouti: "The US continues to oppose Palestinian basic rights, Arabs will make their own democracy." But Obama's speech was still too much for Netanyahu : he won't accept 1967 borders or return of refugees.

Obama basically gave the green light for these settlements yesterday. TEL AVIV (Ma’an) -- The Planning and Building Committee for the Jerusalem municipality will discuss Thursday plans to build 1,500 new Jewish-only housing units in illegal settlements of Har Homa and Pisgat Ze'ev. Both settlements are built on lands occupied by Israel in 1967, and are at least partially constructed on privately owned Palestinian property. more