The Hamas movement’s military wing Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades Saturday evening released a statement confirming that the Tunisian aviation engineer Muhammad al-Zawahri who was allegedly assassinated on Thursday in Tunisia was one its leaders and manufactured drones for the movement. The statement described al-Zawahri, 45, as a “martyr of Palestine, Tunisia, and the Arab and Islamic nations,” adding that the slain official, who is believed to have been assassinated by the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, was a leader of Hamas’ military wing. Hamas directly accused Israel of the assassination, saying that “the coward Zionist hands assassinated the al-Qassam Brigades leader,” and called al-Zawahri the “pioneer of the Arab Spring and the sponsor of the Palestinian revolution and resistance.” The statement highlighted that the Ababil drones, the Iranian-developed drone reportedly manufactured by al-Zawahri, played a major role in the resistance during the 2014 Israeli mili...

TUNIS, (PIC)-- Head of Tunisia's al-Nahda party Rashid al-Ghannoushi revealed on Monday night that Egypt has refused to receive a Tunisian plane bound for Gaza loaded with medicines and medical supplies. Al-Ghannoushi told Al-Jazeera TV network that the Egyptian authorities had refused to allow the plane to land at the airport nearest to the Gaza Strip, pointing out that it was carrying medical supplies badly needed in the beleaguered Strip. The plane was supposed to fly back injured people who sustained serious wounds during the ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza to receive treatment in Tunisia, he explained. Tunisian president Moncef Marzouki had declared a week ago his country's intention to send a plane carrying medicines and medical supplies for Gaza Strip. Along the same line, the Egyptian authorities continued to prevent a team of European specialized surgeons from having access to Gaza despite possessing the needed papers for that. more

TUNIS (Reuters) -- Tunisia's foreign minister will visit Gaza on Saturday as part of a delegation to offer support to Hamas and increase Arab pressure on Israel. "An official Tunisian high-level delegation led by the minister of foreign affairs (Rafik Abdesslem) and the director of the presidential cabinet will go to Gaza tomorrow in confirmation of its initial position to provide all political support for Gaza," the spokesman for the Tunisian president, Moncef Marzouki, said in a statement on Friday. Egypt's prime minister, Hisham Kandil, visited Gaza on Friday to show support for the Palestinian people after two days of attacks by Israeli warplanes. more

GAZA, (PIC)-- A delegation of martyrs’ and prisoners' children in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip leaves on Wednesday to Tunisia to attend several official and popular events under an official invitation of the President of the Republic Moncef Marzouki in a several-day visit. The head of the delegation Amer Gussain, the General Director of the Palestinian Prisoners Ministry, said that the delegation, including twenty prisoners and martyrs' children, will leave Gaza on Wednesday to attend popular and official events in Tunisia in a several-day visit. He explained that the delegation includes the sons of prisoners and martyrs from various factions of the Palestinian people. The children, aged between 15 to 18 years old, will represent the sons of prisoners and martyrs in the first visit to the capital of Tunisia, he added. more

(pic: Salah Bardaweel of Hamas) Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, denied media reports regarding its claimed intentions to move its main office from Damascus to Tunisia due to the current situation in Syria. Member of the Political Bureau of Hamas, Salah Bardaweel, stated Saturday that the movement did not hold talks with any Arab country regarding moving its office out of Syria. His statements came after several media outlets claimed that Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyya, currently visiting Tunisia, discussed with the Tunisian leadership the possibility of moving the Hamas bureau to the country due to the situation in Syria. more

Members of the Al Karama “Dignity” Tunisian Aid Convoy managed to enter the Gaza Strip on Saturday afternoon through the Rafah Border Terminal between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. The convoy carries aid supplies and a number of Tunisian activists. It left Tunis via air ten days ago heading to Egypt. The Al- Karama left the Carthage airport in Tunisia heading to Cairo on Saturday September 10th, heading to Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip. The Egyptian Authorities refused to allow the convoy into Gaza, but on Saturday, September 24, Egypt allowed convoy members to enter the Gaza Strip while the donated cars and supplies will have to wait to more days before being transported to Gaza. Sources in Gaza reported that convoy members will remain in Gaza for a few days and will leave after handing the donated vehicles and supplies to the designated humanitarian organizations. more

TUNISIA, (PIC)-- The Tunisian aid convoy Karama (dignity) left Carthage airport for Cairo on Saturday afternoon to deliver symbolic humanitarian assistance to the besieged Gaza Strip. The Tunisian official media said the convoy would enter Gaza through Rafah border crossing carrying medical supplies unavailable in the Strip. Massive crowds waving Palestinian and Tunisian flags bid farewell to five Tunisian young people and two jurists, members of this aid convoy, on Saturday. The crowds chanted slogans against the Israeli occupation and its crimes against the Palestinian people especially the blockade on Gaza. more

John Lennon's song applied mainly to the 2011 Arab Uprisings...

From the BBC "Palestinians are feeling emboldened and inspired": "We will fight and fight until the Israelis leave this land. It belongs to us and we will liberate it," cried a Palestinian boy in his teens in the West Bank town of Ramallah on Sunday. Palestinians are feeling emboldened and inspired. "The Israelis are on the back foot. The Arab Spring has given us momentum," says Husam Zomlot, a senior official with the Palestinian Fatah Party. Tens of thousands of Palestinians demonstrated over the weekend from Gaza to the Golan Heights. They were marking the Nakba. In Arabic it means "Catastrophe" - the moment, 63 years ago, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians lost their homes amid the fighting after the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. Counting their descendents, the United Nations says there now around five million Palestinians classed as refugees. These were the biggest Nakba day demonstrations for years. In Ramallah, I watche...

Cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder, Reagan’s ambassador to Austria who heads the World Jewish Congress, recently demanded that Israel be admitted to membership in NATO. This proposal has been raised over the past decade in academic and in political circles but the rapidly changing situation in the Arab world, and in the Middle East, gives it a sense of urgency for Zionists around the world seeking protection for the “Jewish State”... ...Writing in an editorial published Tuesday in the major daily Die Welt, Lauder said current events in Egypt, Tunisia and other Muslim countries show both the forces of "freedom, democracy and economic participation" at work as well as "how unpredictable developments in the Middle East are. If NATO is to continue upholding "our basic principles and our Western way of life," then Israel, "the only democracy in the Middle East," deserves guarantees for its peace and security that membership in NATO would help provide, Lauder wr...

Sa'adat salutes Egyptian revolution and calls for Palestinians to overthrow occupation and division February 20, 2011 Ahmad Sa'adat, the imprisoned Palestinian national leader, Palestinian Legislative Council member and General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, released a message saluting the Egyptian revolution and its achievements, and the triumph of the Egyptian people over the corrupt Egyptian regime. Sa'adat issued the message through an attorney from the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, who visited him on February 20, 2011. Sa'adat is currently in isolation in Nafha prison and has little opportunity to communicate with the outside world, and is often denied access to books and media as well as access to other prisoners and family visits. He was eager to express his celebration of the Egyptian revolution, said the Prisoners Club. Sa'adat said that the Egyptian revolution is a triumph of the determination and will of the Egyptian pe...

Victory to the Tunisian revolution. The more despots that are overthrown the better for the struggle for Palestinian liberation. Looking good in Algeria as well. Let's hope the movement spreads to Egypt too. Uprisings are shaking the authoritarian regimes of Tunisia and Algeria in North Africa. Protests have raged for more than three weeks in Tunisia. High youth unemployment, poverty and a rising cost of living—combined with the obscene wealth of the elite and corruption—has led to fury. President Ben Ali has lost much of his credibility—protesters have burnt the offices of the ruling party. His government’s response has been vicious. more Also, see Lina Ben Mhenni's blog .

George Galloway's office in London has responded to the Guardian's article but not to the substance of Hossam el-Hamalawy's original posting at 3arabawy . This is how Rob Hoveman, an ex-comrade of mine, puts it: We are currently negotiating entry into Egypt and passage through to Gaza. The Egyptian authorities are doing everything they can to assist the process and we are in their hands, as we have been with all the other governments whose countries we have crossed in order to take these vital supplies into Gaza. We wish the convoy well and continue to support the endeavours of all those involved and applaud their commitment, but at the same time continue to worry that any meetings with Mubarak's NDP can only be used by the regime. And is it the case that the opposition is turning its back on the convoy? Also, will George be meeting with the hated steel boss Ahmed Ezz? To repeat what we have said many times about this journey across the Maghreb: the convoy is engaged i...

[UPDATE - 12.05 GMT - A welcoming reception for the convoy at the Libyan border. On the road to Tripoli - the desert awaits!about 1 hour ago from web - twitter.com/georgegalloway] On Friday the Viva Palestina convoy was reported to be on the Libyan border following a rapturous reception from the people of Tunisia. But the police don't seem to have over come their paranoia. This from Farid Arada posted at vivapalestina.org : The police are having a job on their hands trying to contain the jubilation and excitement of the crowds and are even thinking of moving the convoy to the border crossing point of Ras Ajdir about 30km away (18 miles). And that is indeed what they did with the convoy volunteers having to spend the night in their vehicles before crossing the border. It seems, not surprisingly, that the convoy leaders have had to tread a delicate path in their journey through north Africa - something of a balancing act between securing safe passage and rousing the local populations...

It appears the Tunisian police were caught off guard by the local support the convoy received and being in the habit of making journalists and human rights workers 'disappear' thought they might they try the same trick with the convoy. The powers higher up in Tunisia had the good sense to realise that they risked creating not only a massive diplomatic incident but of enraging their own population. According to the Viva Palestina website the government was organising a support rally and further assistance to the convoy as it moves on to cross the Libyan border. But Greg Cullen, a convoy driver told Wales Online that the rally was cancelled and the convoy is being prevented from interacting with the population. Visit Greg's blog From Wales Online A TRUCK driver taking aid to Gaza has been subjected to a frightening arrest ordeal as his convoy passed through Tunisia. Greg Cullen, 54, of Cardiff, said he was stopped and ordered to remain in the cab of his vehicle for 10 hou...

Confusion still surrounds the reported detention of seven convoy members in Tunisia. According to the Viva Palestina website all is now well. Two vehicles had become 'detached' from the convoy and 'the two women and the men who were also in the two vehicles are now in Libya'. Muslim News concurs, reporting on Thursday that the convoy volunteers are now safe and in Libya. Muslim News also points out that the convoy organisers have not lodged a protest with the Tunisian authorities which fits with the statement on the Viva Palestina website: 'we hope that this incident has now been resolved...that the convoy would like to stay out of any local politics and just highlight the plight of the Palestinian people'. On Thursday the British Foreign Office told Muslim News they did not know about the incident but later confirmed with Gaza Solidarity that seven British citizens were being detained and consular assistance was being provided. The Tunisian Embassy today deni...

Gaza Solidarity has heard from the Foreign Office. Seven British citizens are being detained by the Tunisian authorities. As yet they have not been charged. The FO has not protested to the Tunisian government but is 'seeking immediate access' to the detained. Normal consular assistance is being provided but the FO is not releasing the names of the detained. The seven are being held at Sfax and the rest of the convoy has continued on to Gabes. The Foreign Office spokewoman did not appear to be very well briefed on the situation in Tunisia. Firstly she spoke of 'several' persons being detained and only after further questioning did she reveal the number to be seven. When asked where the seven were being detained she replied: "good question" and after a few moments was able to provide the location. Unfortunately there is no information on the Viva Palestina website about the arrests and George Galloway has not communicated through his Twitter feed. Still haven...

What the hell is the Tunisian state up to? Protest to the Tunisian Embassy: 29 Prince’s Gate, London, SW7 1QG. Tel: 020 7584 8117 And why has there been no protest from the British government over the roadside arrest of 300 British citizens? UPDATE: Gaza Solidarity has spoken to both the Tunisian Embassy and the Foreign Office concerning the reported arrests. Mohamed at the Tunisian Embassy in London said: "I have no information and will check" while the spokesman at the Foreign Office knows about the convoy but "is not aware of the details" we imparted to him concerning the roadside arrests and the disturbing disappearance of the two women. Both the embassy and the Foreign Office are trying to get more information and promise to get back to us. More as soon as we get it. From Press TV The Gaza-bound aid convoy 'Viva Palestina', which was stopped by the police in Tunisia, is granted permission to continue its journey. The aid convoy was stopped upon arrival...

From Press TV Tunisian police have stopped 'Viva Palestina', a Gaza-bound humanitarian aid convoy, arresting two human rights activists without charges. The incident came upon the aid convoy's arrival in Tunisia from Algeria on late Wednesday, said Press TV's Yvonne Ridley who is accompanying 'Viva Palestina' on its journey to Gaza.

George G is not doing much twittering at the moment but here is the latest From vivapalestina Also see Gaza Convoy Convoy Update 22 .00 (GMT) Wednesday 25th February 2009 SAFELY INTO TUNISIA Early this evening the convoy crossed into Tunisia to the tears and cheers of the massive Algerian crowds who waived them off at the border crossing. The Algerian consul as well as some officials wished them all the best for the remainder of their long journey. by Farid Arada video of convoy in Algeria