The biggest single new initiative in the State Department’s $51.6 billion budget proposal for next year was a Middle East Incentive Fund – $770 million in mostly new money to help State respond to the Arab Spring by supporting emerging democracies and their civil societies. But the House of Representatives declined to fund it in their version of the appropriations bill. The House Appropriations Subcommittee for State and Foreign Ops didn’t give any money to fund the initiative in their fiscal 2013 appropriations mark, released last month . The leaders of that subcommittee claim that State failed to give them enough detail about the program to justify the new outlay of funds. Now, the State Department is depending on its allies in the Senate to save the program when the Senate Appropriations Committee marks up its bill next week. The episode is an example of the disconnect between State and Congress over how to respond to the Arab Spring as well as the difficulty of securing new money for diplomatic initiatives in this tight budget environment.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) — Surrounded by aides, including one whose only task seems to be light his cigarettes, Mahmoud Abbas sits in a vast presidential office and speaks of his ambition to create a Palestinian state. But outside his sprawling compound on the hills of the West Bank town of Ramallah reality on the ground is different — his dream is being built over by ever-expanding Jewish settlements.

Worst abusers of the planet–and the least

Rob sent me this: ”You quoted from the WWF report that listed Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE as the world’s three greediest resource users (US is number 5), but missed an important corollary: the lowest resource user per capita is… “

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2012/05/worst-abusers-of-planet-and-least.html Rob sent me this: ”You quoted from the WWF report that listed Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE as the world’s three greediest resource users (US is number 5), but missed an important corollary: the lowest resource user per capita is… “ Occupied Palestinian Territory “. (For the original graphs see pages 44 and 45 of the full WWF report

Ultra-Orthodox Jews to Hold Big Meeting on Internet Risks Citi Field, home of the Mets, is sold out for Sunday evening — but not for a baseball game. More than 40,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews plan to pack the stadium to hear about what the event’s organizers call the dangers of the Internet and how to use it in a religiously responsible way. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/18/nyregion/ultra-orthodox-jews-will-meet-at-citi-field-to-discuss-internet-dangers.html

Analysis / Op-ed Israeli Practices Perpetuate Palestinian Inequality

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released its annual report on Israel last month, praising the strength of the Israeli economy while condemning a rate of inequality that has risen steadily over the last 20 years. The report designated Israel as one of the three IMF members with the worst inequality, and warned of the risk to Israel’s economic integrity posed by the growing disparity between the country’s rich and poor. In a widely publicized interview with Haaretz, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explained that, “if you deduct the Arabs and ultra-Orthodox from inequality indexes, we’re in great shape.”

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/israeli-practices-perpetuate-palestinian-inequality?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AlAkhbarEnglish+%28Al+Akhbar+English%29

More than ever, Israel finds itself under siege. The British Guardian newspaper published a long article naming the apartheid walls built or being built by our enemy to separate the Zionist elite from the rest of the world. Their latest achievement in this vein is an almost completed wall between the Sinai and Naqab deserts on the Egyptian-Palestinian borders, costing almost half a billion dollars.

Watch this brief video clip of J Street’s Ben-Ami debating Bill Kristol Tuesday night in New York. Ben-Ami makes the point that there are two choices, either come up with a border or give everyone equal rights. Kristol “totally disagrees”

Kristol: Lieberman will be Secretary of State in Romney Administration, Maidhc Ó Cathail If Kristol’s latest prediction comes true, a Romney presidency would put U.S. foreign policy even more firmly under the control of a foreign power.

New US demographics make Israel’s demographic fears seem all the more prehistoric, Philip Weiss It was a big story the other day when demographers reading the census data reported that today in the U.S., births of ethnic and racial minorities have surpassed white American births. I think the trend has clear implications for US support for Israel, whose advocates routinely speak about a demographic “threat” — too many non-Jewish births.

The political earthquake that shook Israel last week went, at first, almost completely unreported in America. I can put forward some explanations why it wasn’t reported – in a nutshell, because the story is a lethal combination of confusing and embarrassing. By yesterday, however, the initial stench and general sense of disgust at the surprise “unity government” deal have apparently faded away as the news traveled the Atlantic – and Israeli PM Netanyahu (hereafter, “Bibi”), the deal’s apparent winner, landed on a Times Magazine cover crowning him as “KING BIBI”, no less.

What forestry teaches us about ethnic cleansing, Philip Weiss I struggle with something that Israel supporters say: Well you did it to the Native Americans, who are you to tell us not to do it? Some of these hasbarists even show up wearing Indian headdresses and war paint to try and rub it in– you’re as racist as we are. Recently a liberal American-Israeli Zionist even made the dig personally, saying, You live on ethnically-cleansed land. And it’s true, I look out my window and see a hickory tree whose nuts Native Americans made liquor from. But they’re not here anymore. And my awareness of the ethnic cleansing here sometimes stops me.

Interview: Launch of Leila Khaled biography by EI contributor canceled after Zionist pressure

The cancelation of the Manchester launch of Leila Khaled: Icon of Palestinian Liberation has only brought the book broader publicity, says author and Electronic Intifada contributor Sarah Irving. The cancelation of the Manchester launch of Leila Khaled: Icon of Palestinian Liberation has only brought the book broader publicity, says author and Electronic Intifada contributor Sarah Irving.

Amidst Fragmentation and Dispossession: Which Palestine?, Fida Jiryis Throughout contemporary history, movement of people outside their own countries for long or short intervals has occurred for various reasons: education, work, marriage, family ties, fleeing hardships, and so on. Foreigners exist in every country in the world, forming their own sub-societies and clinging with varying degrees to their own cultures as they integrate into the new ones. Sometimes, the second or third generations that arise after this movement experience the drive to return to their home countries, find their roots and re-integrate into their societies of origin. http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=19307

Global Appeal for Stories of Palestinian Displacement

BADIL is delighted to announce the launch of the new ‘Ongoing Nakba Education Center’ (ONEC) website -

http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=19304 BADIL is delighted to announce the launch of the new ‘Ongoing Nakba Education Center’ (ONEC) website - www.ongoingnakba.org. The participatory website uses multi-media tools to build a significant advocacy resource relating to the historic and ongoing displacement of the Palestinian people. The website is already online in both English and Arabic, although it is constantly being updated and developed with new tools. In this regard, BADIL is launching an international call to Palestinians everywhere, and to non-Palestinians working to support the dissemination of stories of Palestinian displacement. Peacemaking Without Mediators, Nicola Nasser

A surplus of mediators have been around all the time, including the heavy weight Quartet of the UN, U.S., EU and Russia, as well as heaps of terms of reference of UNSC resolutions, bilateral signed accords and “roadmaps,” in addition to marathon bilateral talks that have left no stone unearthed, international as well as regional conferences were never on demand to facilitate the “peace process,” which has been lavishly financed to keep moving. However the Palestinian – Israeli peace-making is still elusive as ever as Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” has been, without a glimpse of light at the end of the endless tunnel of Israeli military occupation of Palestinian territory and people. Palestinian – Israeli peace-making has been for all practical reasons on hold since 2000, and bilateral peace contacts have been dormant since Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu came to power in 2009 except for a failed five-round “exploratory” talks hosted by Jordan last January.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/05/18/peacemaking-without-mediators/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=peacemaking-without-mediators You Dare Call This Arab Feminism

Some Arab “feminist” writers out there are telling us that for the ‘real’ revolution to begin all Arab women and the Muslim ones in particular must realize that the real war is on them. I speak of propagandist journalists or cultural producers who write in the name of feminism. By presenting themselves as human rights activists, as women who are Arab, sometimes Muslim ( sometimes previously veiled but then seen as “closer to the truth” about women’s lives), they have played a large role in legitimizing wars in the region. I speak of the new face of this age-old propaganda in the name of “liberating oppressed women” which now justifies and poisonously legitimizes a cultural and ideological war on the revolution.

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/you-dare-call-arab-feminism?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AlAkhbarEnglish+%28Al+Akhbar+English%29 The Arab Spring is Part of the General Strike of the South

Vijay Prashad’s new book, Arab Spring, Libyan Winter (AK Press, 2012) captures the complexity of the Arab revolts – by bringing out the history and historical forces behind them. The book exposes the West’s imperial anxieties and their fear of the organic – the mass character of these uprisings. It demonstrates the resoluteness of the “rebels from below”, that they will not allow the Arab lands to “be the same again”, that they are dissatisfied with the Present and they want something more than the “21st century delusions” that neoliberalism delivers. Most importantly, Prashad’s book reconfirms that “the rebellion from below has its own radical imagination.” The following discussion with the author is an attempt to read the book with him to understand the implications of his analysis of the Arab revolts.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/05/18/the-arab-spring-is-part-of-the-general-strike-of-the-south/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-arab-spring-is-part-of-the-general-strike-of-the-south

Jowan Safadi: Breaking The Mold

The Palestinian musician continues to defy convention, gathering admirers and enemies in droves along the way. The Palestinian musician continues to defy convention, gathering admirers and enemies in droves along the way.

Annexation – that’s what tens of thousands of protesters in the Middle East are calling new Arab union plans. It comes after Saudi Arabia said it wants to form an alliance with Bahrain.

Bahraini police attack Shahrakan demo

Bahraini regime forces have attacked anti-regime demonstrators in the western village of Shahrakan. Bahraini regime forces have attacked anti-regime demonstrators in the western village of Shahrakan.

Egypt’s revolution fails to benefit slum dwellers

Across Egypt there are millions of people living in slums. Last year’s revolution focused on Egyptians demanding their rights in Tahrir Square – but have the country’s slum-dwellers gained anything from the uprising? With just a few days to go before the Presidential election, Al Jazeera’s Jamal Elshayyal went to find out. Across Egypt there are millions of people living in slums. Last year’s revolution focused on Egyptians demanding their rights in Tahrir Square – but have the country’s slum-dwellers gained anything from the uprising? With just a few days to go before the Presidential election, Al Jazeera’s Jamal Elshayyal went to find out.

Wife of lawyer detained in Saudi may take case to international court

The wife of Ahmed al-Gizawy, a lawyer and activist imprisoned by Saudi Arabian authorities, said she is considering taking his case to an international court if the matter is not soon resolved. “I’m concerned about my husband’s future,” Shahenda Fathy told Al-Masry Al-Youm on Thursday. “I need him to have a fair trial. But I have not decided yet.” Gizawy was arrested last month after allegedly bringing into the Gulf kingdom 21,380 Xanax tablets, which are banned there except for use by psychiatric institutions and under close supervision. Fathy criticized Ahmed Rashed, the Saudi lawyer defending her husband, for spending his time talking to the media rather than working on the case.

http://www.egyptindependent.com/node/846756 The wife of Ahmed al-Gizawy, a lawyer and activist imprisoned by Saudi Arabian authorities, said she is considering taking his case to an international court if the matter is not soon resolved. “I’m concerned about my husband’s future,” Shahenda Fathy told Al-Masry Al-Youm on Thursday. “I need him to have a fair trial. But I have not decided yet.” Gizawy was arrested last month after allegedly bringing into the Gulf kingdom 21,380 Xanax tablets, which are banned there except for use by psychiatric institutions and under close supervision. Fathy criticized Ahmed Rashed, the Saudi lawyer defending her husband, for spending his time talking to the media rather than working on the case. Egypt: Owner of belly dancing TV station arrested

Egypt’s vice police on Thursday arrested the owner of a belly dancing TV station on suspicion of operating without a license, inciting licentiousness and facilitating prostitution, a security official said.

http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-owner-belly-dancing-tv-station-arrested-174406283.html Egypt’s Presidential Election: Meet the Contenders

Egypt’s first presidential election after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak is scheduled to take place on 23 and 24 May 2012, with a possible run-off race on 16 and 17 June 2012. The following guide to the presidential candidates is based on a series of articles published by Egypt Independent. For more information on prominent presidential candidates, click on any of the names below.

http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/5604/egypts-presidential-election_meet-the-contenders

Khaled Ali: Second revolution inevitable in Egypt Presidential hopeful Khaled Ali said that a second revolution was inevitable in Egypt in spite of who is elected president because the people want to achieve the objectives of the revolution. He said that this struggle will continue even after the new president is elected, and that while the success of a revolutionary candidate could delay the second revolution, it is still unavoidable. Ali said in an interview with the London-based newspaper Asharq al-Awsat on Friday that he feared elections-rigging more than Islamists or former figures reaching power. He added that he would accept the results of the election even if a Mubarak regime figure won the race. http://www.egyptindependent.com/node/848536

NDAA Authorizes War Against Iran; Kucinich: ‘We’re getting ready for war against Iran’, Rep. Dennis Kucinich The Former Chief of Staff of Secretary of State Colin Powell has stated that this resolution “reads like the same sheet of music that got us into the Iraq war.” http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31360.htm

US strike plan on Iran ‘ready’

The US has plans in place to attack Iran if other measures fail to stop it developing nuclear weapons, Washington’s envoy to Israel says.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18110191#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa The US has plans in place to attack Iran if other measures fail to stop it developing nuclear weapons, Washington’s envoy to Israel says. Senior Israeli Official: Leadership’s Made Decision for War Against Iran, Richard Silverstein

Reuters is reporting that several well-placed Israeli sources are confirming both that the senior government leadership has gone into “lockdown” mode regarding Iran indicating that something is afoot; and that the decision to attack Iran has already been made and that the strike will come before the U.S. elections. From an independent source, I’ve learned that one of the informants for this article is the regular source of my Israeli national security scoops. So I take the comments in this article with even more seriousness than I normally would.

http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2012/05/17/senior-israeli-official-leaderships-made-decision-for-war-against-iran/ Iran Will Require Assurances: An Interview with Hossein Mousavian

Hossein Mousavian has served as visiting research scholar at Princeton University’s Program on Science and Global Security from 2009 to the present. Prior to this position, he held numerous positions in the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including director-general of its West Europe department and ambassador to Germany from 1990 to 1997. Ambassador Mousavian was also head of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran during both terms of Mohammad Khatami’s presidency (1997-2005). In this capacity, he served as spokesman of the Iranian nuclear negotiations team from 2003 to 2005. When that team was replaced following the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Mousavian served for two years (2005-2007) as foreign policy adviser to Ali Larijani, who was secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and the chief nuclear negotiator in the Ahmadinejad administration. The ambassador was arrested in 2007 for allegedly passing confidential information to the British Embassy and others, but was eventually cleared of the charges. As part of those proceedings, he was suspended from serving in diplomatic posts for five years, due to his criticism of the nuclear negotiating strategy adopted by the Ahmadinejad administration. He left Iran in 2009 and his work at Princeton has included the preparation of the forthcoming book Iranian Nuclear Crisis: A Memoir, to be published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in June. Asli Bali interviewed Ambassador Mousavian at his office in Princeton, New Jersey on April 26.

http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/5603/iran-will-require-assurances_an-interview-with-hos

Did Obama take the military option against Iran off the table?

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, whose relationship with President Obama dates back to Obama’s days in the Senate, made headlines this week with his statement, in an address to Israel’s bar association, that America’s military option against Iran is “not just available,” but “ready.



We note that, even though he is leaving the U.S. Congress in just a few months, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) continues to fight the good fight on Iran-related issues. Last week, Paul was one of the few to speak out, clearly and forthrightly, against the latest congressional resolution “expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the importance of preventing the Government of Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability.” Dr. Paul’s statement bears reading, see Hopefully he won’t flip flop, like he did with Palestine: Ron Paul and America’s “Military Option” against Iran We note that, even though he is leaving the U.S. Congress in just a few months, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) continues to fight the good fight on Iran-related issues. Last week, Paul was one of the few to speak out, clearly and forthrightly, against the latest congressional resolution “expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the importance of preventing the Government of Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability.” Dr. Paul’s statement bears reading, see here

Iran Hawks in Congress in Some Disarray, Jim Lobe

Hopes by Iran hawks here to get the U.S. Congress to wield the threat of a U.S. military attack on the Islamic Republic on the eve of next week’s critical negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program appear to have fallen unexpectedly short.

http://original.antiwar.com/lobe/2012/05/18/iran-hawks-in-congress-in-some-disarray/ Hopes by Iran hawks here to get the U.S. Congress to wield the threat of a U.S. military attack on the Islamic Republic on the eve of next week’s critical negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program appear to have fallen unexpectedly short. Iraq Iraq: Mass Arrests, Incommunicado Detentions

Iraq’s government has been carrying out mass arrests and unlawfully detaining people in the notorious Camp Honor prison facility in Baghdad’s Green Zone, based on numerous interviews with victims, witnesses, family members, and government officials. The government had claimed a year ago that it had closed the prison, where Human Rights Watch had documented rampant torture.

http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/05/15/iraq-mass-arrests-incommunicado-detentions