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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

House Demolished, Trees Uprooted in Anata


25.10.11 - 23:03
PNN 

On Tuesday, Israeli forces demolished a 120-square foot house in the village of Anata, northeast of Jerusalem, as well as uprooted trees and removed barbed wires placed on village land.

Image
(PNN Archive)
 
 
A group of Israeli soldiers entered the village from the northeast and imposed a military blockade of the village before it began demolitions. According to Palestinian official news wire Wafa, the Israeli forces claimed that the Palestinian buildings were illegally constructed in an Israeli area.

Unconfirmed sources reported limited confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli forces, who allegedly used excessive force.


http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10800&Itemid=64

Israel plans building 4000 new housing units south of occupied Jerusalem



[ 25/10/2011 - 09:27 AM ]
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– The Israeli government has recently endorsed the building of a new Jewish suburb south of occupied Jerusalem that envisages the construction of 4000 housing units, Hebrew press reported on Monday.
Yediot Ahronot said on its website on Monday that the construction and planning committee has endorsed the first stage, which includes the building of 2610 housing units, of the three-stage project.
It added the committee would meet again early next December to endorse the second and third stages of the project, which on completion would be the biggest since the establishment of Jabal Abu Ghuneim suburb.
The report noted that the project would complete the isolation of the southern part of eastern Jerusalem from the West Bank.

Hamas official: Shalit was not beaten while in captivity


  • Published 15:05 26.10.11
  • Latest update 15:05 26.10.11


Senior Hamas official in Damascus tells Israel Radio that Shalit was allowed to watch television and listen to the radio and at times would even talk and 'laugh' with his captors.By DPA

Gilad Shalit, the Israel Defense Forces soldier held hostage in the Gaza Strip for more than five years, did not face violence while in captivity, an official from the Palestinian Hamas movement said Wednesday.
For most the period of his captivity, the conditions under which Shalit was held were good, Salah al-Arouri, a senior member of the radical Islamist movement's Damascus-based leadership in exile, told Israel Radio.
Gilad Shalit on phone to family - IDF spokesman - October 18 2011
Gilad Shalit phoning his family moments after being returned to Israeli hands, October 18, 2011.
Photo by: IDF Spokesman



He said he was allowed to watch television and listen to the radio for most of the period, and at times would even talk and "laugh" with his captors.
Al-Arouri is one of the four Hamas members who negotiated Shalit's release.
The telephone interview was the first of a Hamas politburo member in Damascus with an Israeli media outlet.
Jailed in Israel in the past for orchestrating armed attacks against Israelis, he spoke in almost fluent Hebrew, but with a heavy Arabic accent.
Hamas' political leadership, aware of the asset the soldier was for the Islamist movement ruling Gaza, had instructed Shalit's captors not to harm him.
"The situation, for most of the period it was good," al-Aurori said.
"Nobody hit him," he said.
Asked why Shalit emerged malnourished, pale and weak, he said it was because of the mental stress of his captivity, being allowed no visits or contacts with his family or the outside world.
Shalit had coped mentally with ups and downs, al-Aurori said.
"Sometimes he would think of his family," he said. "That is a difficult situation."
Shalit was released last week in exchange for 477 Palestinian militants. Another 550 Palestinians jailed in Israel are to be released in about two months, under the deal mediated by Egypt.
Shalit himself has as revealed little about his captivity, saying only that conditions were tough at first and then gradually improved, especially during the final years.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/hamas-official-shalit-was-not-beaten-while-in-captivity-1.392139

Netanyahu posts his own 'Bibi-bomb' on Facebook


  • Published 17:18 26.10.11
  • Latest update 17:18 26.10.11

PM responds with humor to a wave of photoshopped images showing him looking on to various historical events and smiling; own 'Bibi-bomb' includes speech bubble, saying 'Doogri, you made me laugh'.

By Haaretz
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded with humor on Wednesday to the "Bibi-bomb" images being circulated on Facebook, by posting a similar image on his own Facebook page.
The image includes a photo of Netanyahu addressing the 66th UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters this year, upon which lies a superimposed image of the smiling prime minister. A speech bubble emerges from Netanyahu's smiling mouth saying, "Doogri, you made me laugh." The word "Doogri" means "honestly", or "straightforward".

Netanyahu photoshop image on UN speech - 26.10.11
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's own version of the 'Bibi-bomb'.



The superimposed image was taken from the iconic photo in which Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit embraces his father, Noam, as the two are reunited upon the soldier's return from more than five years in captivity.
The image of the smiling prime minister served as a perfect photo opportunity for the prime minister's office, as it emphasized the fact that Netanyahu was the leader that decided to bring the soldier home, but it also inspired a wave of cynicism and photoshopped images that flooded Facebook.
The figure of the smiling prime minister turned into a kind of “Forrest Gump,” that was cut from the image and pasted into photographs of key moments in history. These images – coined the "Bibi-bomb" – include Maccabi Tel Aviv’s 1977 European Cup win, the signing of Israel’s Declaration of Independence in 1948 and the signing of the peace treaty with Egypt in 1979, and the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton – now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Not only did Netanyahu's own version of the "Bibi-bomb" play on the images circulating online, but it also expressed self-humor at his use of the word "doogri" in his UN speech. "Let's talk "doogri". That means straightforward, I'll tell you my needs and concerns. You'll tell me yours. And with God's help, we'll find the common ground of peace," the prime minister had said in his speech, addressing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.







http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/netanyahu-posts-his-own-bibi-bomb-on-facebook-1.392146

Former Shin Bet chief: Abbas is against terror, but not because he loves Israel


  • Published 13:28 26.10.11
  • Latest update 13:28 26.10.11

Yuval Diskin says Israel is losing international support by not conducting peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

By Gidi Weitz and Yanir Yagna
Former Shin Bet security service director Yuval Diskin defended Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday, saying that Abbas is against terrorism.
"[Abbas] is against terrorism, although not because he loves us," Diskin told a student conference in southern Israel.
On Monday, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman severely criticized the Palestinian president, telling reporters that Abbas was the "greatest obstacle" to regional order and it would be a "blessing" if Abbas were to resign.
"Since 2007, [the Palestinian Authority] in the West Bank has made great efforts to fight terrorism," Diskin said on Wednesday. " As someone who was involved for many years in what was happening there, from 1993, I don't remember a time during which the Palestinians have fought terrorism as seriously as they are today."
Diskin said that Abbas is "not inherently a leader, but rather a statesman."
Yuval Diskin Oct. 26, 2011 (Ilan Assayeg)
Yuval Diskin, Oct. 26, 2011.
Photo by: Ilan Assayeg
Diskin also said that Israel is losing international support by not conducting peace negotiations with the Palestinians.
Regarding the recent Israel-Hamas prisoner exchange deal that included the release of Gilad Shalit, Diskin said that "it would be better for Israel not to conduct these deals. These deals are not good for Israel"
Diskin said that Hamas "received oxygen" from the Shalit deal but that Hamas was concerned about its international isolation and the unrest in Syria.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/former-shin-bet-chief-abbas-is-against-terror-but-not-because-he-loves-israel-1.392126