Maan on strike - Zelekha to step down - IDF kills Two

Update: Maan ist wieder online.

Mit folgendem Text stelle die palästinensische Nachrichtenagentur Maan vorerst ihren Betrieb ein:

Palestinian security arrests Mu'taz Al-Kurdi, member of Ma'an's board of directors and director of Al-Amal TV in Hebron +++ Ma'an News Agency expresses its deep disappointment and indignation at arrests of journalists. Al-Amal TV suspended it's broadcast on Friday in protest of the detention of their director. Ma'an also announces the suspension of its work in protest. Several of Ma'an's local partners in TV and radio will also halt their broadcasts today in protest and solidarity with our colleague Mu'taz Al-Kurdi and Al-Amal TV.

Hier ein Bericht dazu: A major Palestinian news service stopped broadcasting on Friday to protest the arrest of one of its top editors by Palestinian police after his station broadcast a speech by a Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip. Executives from the Maan agency said Mu’taz al-Kurdi, a member of its board and director of Hebron’s al-Amal television station, was arrested on Thursday for airing a speech by Ismail Haniyeh, who serves as prime minister of a Hamas-led government dismissed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Die Affaire um Ramon Zelekha scheint durch seinen angekündigten Rücktritt ein Ende zu finden. Es darf vermutet werden das ihm state comptroller Lindenstrauss diesen Schritt nahe gelegt hat.

Am Grenzstreifen zu Gaza erschießen IDF-Soldaten zwei Palästinenser die "apparently" eine Bombe legen wollten. Am 09.11. erinnert uns das schwer an gewisse Schießbefehle an anderen Grenzen. Im Norden schießen IDFler auf zwei unbewaffnete Schmuggler und verletzten einen davon. Während dessen geht die einmischung der USA in den libanesischen Wahlkampf unvermindert weiter: A U.S. State Department official said Thursday that Syria or its supporters may use violence to interfere in Lebanon's upcoming presidential elections in an attempt to manipulate the outcome. "Interference or intimidation in the electoral process is unacceptable to the United States and to the international community," David Welch, the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, told senators. Über die Gaza-Front erscheint folgende spekulation: Israel has informed PA authorities in Ramallah of its intention to send the IDF into the Gaza Strip in order to regain control of the Philadelphi Corridor and put an end to Hamas smuggling of weapons and cash through tunnels from the Egyptian side of the border, the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported Friday morning. According to the report, Israel has told a number of Arab states that after the November 26 Annapolis conference it intends to embark on an extensive operation in the Strip. Neben einem preemtiven strike gegen Syrien und kommend dem Iran empfiehlt der Dr: Maj.-Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky, who left his job as deputy chief of staff two months ago, said recently that a preemptive strike against Hizbullah was possible if other measures did not succeed in curbing it. "If nothing changes in the situation in Lebanon, somebody will have to change the situation," Kaplinsky said at an event hosted by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "I include preemptive strikes." Denn aller guten pre-emptive strikes sind wie bekannt ja drei.

Jessica Balaban: "All in Favor": With so many Jewish and other Israeli issues needing to be addressed, why should world Jewry rally to the aid of Israeli Arabs? The answer is two-fold. First, our tradition teaches that all who reside within the Jewish state should be accorded dignity, respect and equality. Second, the security of the Jewish state requires that it normalize the situation of, and its relationship with, its Arab citizens. Islamic extremism is sweeping across the Middle East. The thought of an Israeli Arab population that is inspired by and pledges allegiance to religious groups like Hamas or Hezbollah should be enough to make the need for change clear within Israel. Israeli Arabs, if accorded full civil rights, can be a positive bridge between Israel and her neighbors. It is not only the right thing to do, it is a thing we believe Israel must do. Israel's future depends on it.

Yoel Marcus, "A journey to la-la-land": The Annapolis summit, let us not forget, will be taking place under the shadow of Israel's tarnished reputation.

Bericht der "Pysicans for Human Rigths-Israel" vom Erez crossing.