Palestine July 14

[News For Palestine]

Land Theft and Destruction
Download Repression allowed, resistance denied: Israel’s suppression of the popular movement against the Apartheid Wall here
http://www.stopthewall.org/downloads/pdf/repress.pdf

This Wall is still illegal
This weekend saw demonstrations in Palestine and across the globe to mark the fifth anniversary of the International Court of Justice’s advisory verdict on the construction of the Apartheid Wall.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2020.shtml

Forced out and knocked down: house demolitions to hit the West Bank
A wave of house demolition orders has been distributed across the West Bank. The houses threatened are being issued the orders on the pretext that they are in Area C, in which Palestinians are not allowed to build. Inhabited and under-construction homes, storage structures and other infrastructure face destruction in the districts of Salfit, Hebron and Qalqilya.
http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/2021.shtml

Israeli bulldozers raze Palestinian farmland near Nablus
Nablus – Ma’an – Israeli military bulldozers razed more than 18,000 square meters of farm land belonging to the village of Urif, south of the West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday, according to Ghassan Daghlas, the Palestinian Authority official monitoring settler activity in the northern West Bank.  Daghlas told Ma’an via telephone, “Since this morning, Israeli bulldozers razed 8,000 square meters in Khallat Az-Zeit south of Urif, and 10,000 more west of the village in Maris Asira.”  The village lies near the illegal Israeli settlement of Yizhar.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39236

Citizen’s refusal to sell his house ends with its demolition in Silwan
The IOA bulldozed the house of a Palestinian citizen in Silwan town after he had refused to sell his house to Zionist settlement societies.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7gVJyEV4ogxqo9Y7gsE2CqQDHYD2Msx275xPa%2fJJQsoN9cbtioA48nWlhJz5o4mNrXNL%2bSvz2mC8Pnp%2fwapNQLqeD9675Q8IxTS63vIcegb4%3d

Israeli bulldozers raze orchards northern Gaza
Gaza, July 14, 2009 (Ramattan) – The Israeli army, on Tuesday, moved into the eastern tip of Bait Hanoun city in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian security sources said.
http://english.ramattan.net/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=40557

Violence and Aggression
Hebron youth wounded in settler assault
Ma’an News Agency - 14-year-old Hebron resident Jamil Abu Haykal was wounded in a settler rampage. At the village of Urif, south of Nablus, Israeli military bulldozers razed more than 18,000 square meters of farm land - acting on behalf of settlers from the nearby Yizhar, who did not need to show up in person.

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39237

Detainees
The Israeli military kidnaps 3 civilians during invasions targeting northern West Bank
The Israeli military kidnapped three Palestinian civilians on Monday during pre dawn invasions targeting northern West Bank communities.
http://www.imemc.org/article/61102

The Israeli military kidnaps 12 Palestinian civilians from the West Bank
The Israelis military kidnapped on Tuesday 12 Palestinian civilians during invasions targeting a number of west Bank communities.
http://www.imemc.org/article/61111

IOF troops detain 10 Palestinians
Israeli occupation forces rounded up ten Palestinians on Monday night in various West Bank areas in line with their daily raids and arrests of Palestinian citizens.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7nrhyyQURQ4BPstxeEyyEcfnLaI6ce%2fEkT9X0B97XVms%2f9tslUv0dfiq59hKes0Zpg8rhxtMWZZq1v3oRn1970kwo11S3w2gtyVR022W2V0w%3d

PA allegedly arrests four Hamas members
Bethlehem – Ma’an – The Hamas movement said Fatah-allied Palestinian Authority (PA) forces arrested four members of the Islamic movement in the West Bank on Tuesday.  The movement said in a statement that the members were arrested in Ramallah and Qalqiliya.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39228

PA seeking release of sick prisoners from Israel's jails
Ramallah – Ma’an – The Palestinian Ministry of Prisoners affairs said on Monday that it plans to launch an international campaign for the release of ill Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39221

Detained Journalists
Palestinian TV crew detained at checkpoint
Ramallah – Ma’an – Israeli soldiers detained five members of a Watan TV crew at a military checkpoint near the West Bank city of Surda, outside of Ramallah on Tuesday.  The Watan Media center said that Israeli soldiers held the crew (Nizar Habash, Nadyah Sarsour, Ibrahim Badwan, Khaled Melhem and Soliman Abu Srouer) at the checkpoint, confiscating their camera equipment and forcing them to sit on the ground.  Hundreds of cars were also forced to wait at the checkpoint and Palestinians were prevented from leaving and entering Ramallah.  [end]
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39234

Palestine Media Forum: Israel must release eight imprisoned journalists
Gaza - Ma’an - The Palestinian Media Forum and human rights and media organizations called for the immediate intervention on the continued detainment of eight journalists in Israeli prisons in a statement Tuesday.  The journalists have been in prison for terms ranging up to nine months; some have been subject to solitary confinement and others have long since finished the sentences imposed on them following their detention, the report said.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39233

Humanitarian Issues
School of tires and mud: CNN's Ben Wedeman reports on a project that uses recycled materials to build a school for Palestinian Bedouin children
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2009/07/12/wedeman.mideast.recycled.school.cnn

UNRWA receives US$34 million from Kuwait for Gaza refugees
Gaza, 13 July 2009 - UNRWA has received a payment of US$34 million from Kuwait to help support refugees in Gaza still reeling from the December-January Israeli onslaught and continuing blockade.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/EGUA-7TWMKJ?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P

Lack of funds delays renewal for Gaza force     
Israel's war on Gaza ended six months ago, but Gaza's security forces are nowhere near up to strength.  Hundreds of police officers were killed during the war, and Gaza's security infrastructure was left in ruins.  Despite promises of aid from the international community, the man responsible for rebuilding the force says he has yet to see a penny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jbmydf_s6o

UNDP begins removal of 420 tons of rubble in Gaza
Gaza – Ma’an – Palestinian bulldozers and construction vehicles began removing the rubble of the “Saraya” security compound in Gaza on Monday, more than six months after Israeli warplanes leveled it. The compound was destroyed by Israeli missiles on 28 December 2008, the second day of Israel’s assault on Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39220

World Bank donates 33.5 million USD for Gaza reconstruction, other projects
Ramallah – Ma’an – The World Bank signed contracts with the Palestinian Authority on Tuesday to pay 33.5 million US dollars for development projects, including reconstruction in war-torn Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39238

Egyptian Collaboration
Viva Palestina convoy from US to Gaza stopped in Egypt
Saed Bannoura/ Katherine Orwell - IMEMC News/International Middle East Media Center - "We complied with all the Egyptian bureaucratic procedures and there should be no further reasons delaying transportation of hundreds of thousands of dollars of medicine, which are time-sensitive and perishable and which need to reach the children of Gaza" said British Parliamentarian George Galloway.

http://www.imemc.org/article/61107

Viva Palestina: Navigating Egypt’s Obstacle Course
The Viva Palestina U.S. convoy has been facing barrier after barrier in recent days despite having initially hoped to cross into the Gaza Strip this morning. The Egyptian government, collaborator in Israel’s severe blockade for the past 2 years, has set up a course of administrative obstacles which will delay the group’s entry into Gaza.
http://www.vivapalestina-us.org/2009/07/viva-palestina-navigating-egypt%E2%80%99s-obstacle-course/

Arab source: 2 IDF ships crossed Suez Canal
Two Israel Navy ships reportedly cross canal from Mediterranean to Red Sea. Drill yet another indication of growing cooperation between Egypt, Israel in region.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3746446,00.html

Towels for Israel
"The company, which is located in Mahalla's Qualified Industrial Zone, produces towels and bathroom ropes for exports to the US, Israel, South Korea, according to Hamdi Hussein, the director of Afaq Center, a labor rights group. It neighbors an intersection of four major highways that run in the Nile Delta province. The company includes three factories on its compound, employing more than 8,000 workers according to striker Alaa Gameel. By 3:30pm, the workers' patience in the biggest of the three of factories ran out so they started chanting inside the factory gates. In half an hour, "the young women started it all," said Gameel. "They came from the other factories, and cut the highway and stopped the buses and cars. We were embarrassed, and couldn't leave them alone, so the men were encouraged to break the gate and join the women's protest."  [end]
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/07/towels-for-israel.html

Political Developments
Palestine's land Islamic endowment can never be dropped:Hamas minister
GAZA, July 13 (Xinhua) -- The Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, can never give up any feet of Palestinian land "because it is an Islamic endowment," a Hamas hard-liner minister said on Monday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-07/14/content_11703515.htm

Barhoum: Meeting next Saturday to evaluate Fatah's commitment
Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, has said that a meeting in Cairo next Saturday would evaluate the commitment of Fatah faction to previously approved understandings.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7EYwDiIve43a4jLCHb9dJKr9%2fE78QbLQG7nIynCY%2bnpOVJD4vcBOzWSPaiANBvKqaGLPAmF5CgEvajp1D890coo%2fyuHv6yd0yHiFDePaLP78%3d

Interview: Jihad agrees to join PLO, but not any elections: leader
GAZA, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Leader of the less-influential pro-Iran Islamic Jihad (Holy War) movement said on Tuesday its group wants to be a member in Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), but rejected to join the upcoming elections if rival Fatah and Hamas groups agree on holding it on a specific date.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-07/14/content_11708587.htm

Netanyahu: Palestinian refugees must never return to their homes
Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Palestinians to give up the right of return to their homes in what is now Israel as a precondition for a future peace deal.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39217

Netanyahu: Palestinians could achieve more if they cooperated
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with the Quartet's Middle East envoy Tony Blair on Monday to discuss ways to improve the Palestinian economy. Netanyahu told Blair that the Palestinian residents of the West Bank could reach greater achievements if only they were to increase their cooperation with Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1099873.html

EU foreign policy chief upsets Israel with Palestinian comments
JERUSALEM, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Israel is unhappy with the remarks made by the European Union's top foreign policy diplomat Javier Solana. During a speech in London over the weekend, the EU high representative called on the United Nations to recognize a Palestinian state by a deadline to be determined, even if the two parties have failed to reach an agreement.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-07/14/content_11703550.htm

Barack Obama meets Jewish leaders over 'tough line' on Israel
President Barack Obama has called a meeting with leaders of American Jewish groups who are concerned at his new tough line on Israel and perceived softness on Iran.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/5820206/Barack-Obama-meets-Jewish-leaders-over-tough-line-on-Israel.html

Other News
Israeli army: Car accident not caused by stone-throwing
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israel’s army announced a West Bank car accident that left three Israeli settlers injured was not caused by Palestinian stone-throwing as earlier reports claimed.  An Israei driver lost control of his vehicle near the village of Kfal Haris, ouside Nablus, late on Monday night, according to the website of the Israeli daily Haaretz.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39224

Palestinians offered cash to spy for Israel
Tulkarem – Ma’an – Intelligence agents have been offering young Palestinians cash bribes as incentive to spy for Israel during interrogation at military checkpoints near the West Bank city of Tulkarem.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39219

Tensions soar between Israeli UN delegation, Al-Jazeera bureau
The ongoing tension between the Israeli delegation to the UN and the Al Jazeera bureau at the international organization headquarters has reached new heights recently.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1099878.html

Hamas: Israel distributes libido-increasing gum in Gaza
Islamist group claims Israeli intelligence operatives transfer merchandise to Gaza dealers that increases sex drive, even encourage them to distribute them free of charge in order 'to destroy' young generation. Affair exposed after young girl chews gum, complains of bizarre side effects.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3746017,00.html

German pro-Israel group labeled 'Mossad front'
Renate Künast, the head of one of Germany's main political parties, the Green Party, recently attacked the nonpartisan Stop the Bomb group as a front for Israeli intelligence, according to a member of the German-Israeli friendship society of Berlin-Potsdam (DIG).
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443779016&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment
Gaza authorities: Galloway convoy expected by Wednesday
Gaza – Ma’an – A convoy led by firebrand British MP George Galloway is expected to arrive in Gaza through the Rafah crossing by Wednesday morning, an official Commission for foreign delegations said on Monday.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39223

Ireland: 'Tent City' in the Bog
Dozens of anti-war activists from throughout the North West converged on Free Derry Corner yesterday to create their very own 'Tent City'.  The Derry action was just one of dozens of similar events held simultaneously in New York, Washington, Chicago, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, France, Spain, London, and Egypt on International Day against House Demolitions in Palestine.
http://www.derryjournal.com/journal/39Tent-City39-in-the-Bog.5454279.jp

Chicago activists drop 88 banners across city protesting Israeli eviction and demolition of Palestinian
Monday, July 13th 2009, 5am: In perhaps the largest campaign of its kind in Chicago’s history, over a dozen activists dropped 88 banners across Chicagoland this morning decrying Israel’s policies of evicting or destroying Palestinian homes. Each banner represents one of 88 Palestinian homes in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan that have received demolition orders from Israeli authorities.
http://palsolidarity.org/2009/07/7629

Medea Benjamin to talk about her 3 visits to Gaza, in NY tom'w night
This is a video of Medea Benjamin at the border in Gaza last month, talking about Hamas and about women's rights in Palestine. I showed my wife and her friend this video and asked them their impression. "Sincere," was the first word out of both of their mouths. Benjamin grew up on Long Island in a family that supported Israel, and at 18 she changed her first name to Medea and began a life of travel and activism, culminating in her co-founding the antiwar group Code Pink. I hung out with Benjamin in Gaza and found her warm, funny, lowkey, effective. And like Greta Garbo in Ninotchka, she carries her own bags. It was her third trip to the territory since the slaughter of Dec-Jan. Benjamin doesn't do things halfway. She will be talking about her Gaza experience tomorrow night in New York at the Brecht Forum-- along with Norman Finkelstein, Felice Gelman, Sammer Aboelela, and myself-- at 6 p.m. 435 West Street, between Bank and Bethune.
http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/07/medea-benjamin-to-talk-about-her-3-visits-to-gaza-in-ny-tomw-night.html

Aux Supermarchés, Citoyens!: The BDS movement takes to the shops
On July 4th, dozens of activists took part in actions at an outlet of the retailing giant Carrefour in the Parisian suburb of Evry II. The demonstration aimed at promoting a boycott of Israeli goods. Demonstrators marched around the shopping centre, seizing Israeli products and chanting, before proceeding to hold a brief sit-in, discussing the reasons for the boycott and trying to raise awareness among fellow customers. The protest was met with a mixture of bafflement from some and spontaneous applause from others.
http://stopthewall.org/worldwideactivism/2023.shtml

Goodbye, Moto!: New Yorkers picket Motorola and call for a boycott
Dozens of protestors took to the streets of New York yesterday in the second summer action of the New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel’s (NYCBI) city-wide boycott of Motorola. Activists distributed flyers, waved Palestinian flags and carried signs calling on passers-by not to buy from the firm. They also held a small-scale concert on the pavement with speeches and music.
http://stopthewall.org/worldwideactivism/2022.shtml

Al-Rowwad Theatre: July 2009 US Tour Presents Blame the Wolf, A play adapted for the theatre and directed by Abdelfattah Abusrour.
http://www.alrowwadusa.bbnow.org/

Analysis/Op-ed
Is Israel guilty of piracy?
When the Israeli navy seized the Spirit of Humanity and its 21 passengers on 30 June, did the commandos commit acts of piracy under international law? Civil rights attorney Radhika Sainath argues that the laws of piracy should not be selectively applied to poor Africans who hijack huge tankers belonging to rich corporations, but enforced against Israel as well.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10657.shtml

Yes, Zionist hoodlums: Joseph Massad got tenure
Yes, Zionist hoodlums. Joseph Massad received tenure, and you are besides yourselves. You are really freaking out and it is showing. So if that really bothers you, write it down and recite it seven times a day: that Joseph received tenure. But some of alumni of Columbia are threatening to stop donating to Columbia. You think that will bother me? In fact, please withhold your donations to Columbia and feel free to donate instead to Palestinian charities. In fact, feel free to use your money to donate to the cause of discrediting and combating Zionism everywhere. Look at this dude here: ""I will not make any contributions to Columbia," said Herbert London, class of 1960, who is president of the Hudson Institute. "I used to give money to the school's athletic program, but I no longer have any desire to do so. This is the end of the line."" His feelings are hurt. Oh. Is that not touching?   [end]
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/07/yes-zionist-hoodlums-joseph-massad-got.html

American Jewish C'tee enjoys slagging off critics, then refusing them a platform to respond
Yesterday John Mearsheimer wrote that David Harris of the American Jewish Committee was refusing his offer to debate him, after Harris had accused Mearsheimer of running from debate. I wrote to Harris's aide, Ben Cohen, today, but have heard nothing. It seems this is not the only case of the AJC liking to slag its critics without granting them a platform.
http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/07/ajc-slags-author-ben-white-and-refuses-him-the-right-to-respond.html

Hoenlein: No daylight between US and Israel. Obama: I disagree
The Times has a report on Obama's meeting with big Jews. Jeremy Ben-Ami of J Street, justifiably proud of being in the room, says Obama said there's a narrow window for the two-state solution, and I'm going for it.
http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/07/hoenlein-no-daylight-between-us-and-israel-obama-i-disagree.html

My piece on the decline of the Israeli peace movement, by Helena Cobban
I found it a really tragic article to work on. I have admired the Israeli peace movement since its inception. I still think its finest hour was when it mobilized hundreds of thousands of Israelis to take to the streets of their cities in September 1982, to protest the role Defense Minister Sharon and the IDF had played in orchestrating the massacres in Beirut's Sabra and Shatila refugee camps.
http://justworldnews.org/archives/003672.html

Younger Israeli peaceniks: Dov Kheinin
One Israeli/American friend commented on my BR piece that it seemed I interviewed mainly Israeli peace movement people who are over 65. He suggested--and I agreed-- that it would have been excellent to interview, among others, Hadash (Communist Party) MK Dov Kheinin.  Another friend then pointed to this very informative interview in English with Kheinin, that was published in February 12. Two days after the Israeli election, if memory serves me well.
http://justworldnews.org/archives/003674.html

`Settlements aren`t Obama`s problem`
The Peace Now movement launched a new campaign on Tuesday, calling on Israelis to push for a freeze on settlement construction. "The Israeli public has been brainwashed that settlement building is in the national interest. We want to remind the Israeli public that settlements are a fundamental obstacle to reaching a two-state solution."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443805405&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Music, The New York Times and the politics of a Palestinian state
"Just as it is apparently impossible for the President of the United States to visit the Middle East without a corresponding visit to Buchenwald, it is apparently also impossible to have a news article on Palestinian humanity without a corresponding reminder that Arabs do not understand the Holocaust." So writes Belén Fernández in a comment on how The New York Times covers the work of Palestinian musicians.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10658.shtml

Ashkelon Speaks: The Story of the Middle East Conflict
The modern Israeli city of Ashkelon, 20 kilometers north of the Gaza border, presents a picturesque setting along the Mediterranean coast. Sparkling white beaches matched by white-faced apartment buildings, green lawns and several wide boulevards depict a tranquil and content city. Ashkelon, the city with the biblical name, is not peaceful. Grad rockets from Gaza have struck the city on several occasions. By arguments of war, the damage has not been extensive, but no damage can be ignored; one fatality and dozens wounded. With the damage repaired, nothing out of the ordinary mars the senses in the Ashkelon of June 2009.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=15274

Reckless' to Sail in International Waters
I thought I would share this with you.  Britain's foreign secretary David Miliband - or rather, someone on his behalf – has written to me about the government’s response to Israel's hijacking of the mercy ship Spirit of Humanity on the high seas and the outrageous treatment of six peace-loving British citizens (including the skipper), en route to Gaza not Israel, who had their gear stolen or damaged and were thrown into Israeli jails. The letter contains the usual wet and meaningless expressions like deplore and press and raise the issue, which are the familiar hallmark of Foreign Office mentality.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=15277

Selective Reporting from Lebanon and Palestine
Bias and selective reporting in favor of Israel is nothing new. We have come to expect sins of omission and commission from the media, and recent weeks proved to be no exception.  On 19 December, 18 Israeli soldiers crossed into Lebanese territory and abducted two middle-aged men harvesting olives near the village of Blida. They were taken into Israel where they were interrogated, beaten and tortured. The men were repeatedly bitten by dogs and questioned about a possible connection to Hizballah. They were released the next day around 3am. While the event was widely reported in the Lebanese media, it did not register a blip in mainstream Western outlets. The only significant Western report on this incident appeared on the Agence France-Presse news service and did not attract significant attention.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=15275

The Goldstone Commission on Gaza
When the most recent Goldstone Commission, appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council, announced its intentions to probe human rights violations and the possibility of war crimes during Israel’s 22-day invasion of Gaza, it did not exactly set the media on fire.  Nor did its lukewarm response in Israeli and Palestinian circles help much either, with Goldstone being described as a “passing cloud” by an Israeli spokesman, and Israel predictably refusing to recognize the commission.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=15278

Israeli Dr. Strangelove Taunts 'Goyim'
Dr. Uzi 'Strangeglovitch' Arad mocked proponents of a Palestinian state and taunted advocates of an Israeli/Palestinian peace process this week in a revealing interview published (1) on Friday, July 10 in the Israeli daily, Ha'aretz. Dr. Arad also made provocative remarks about blockading Iran and retaining much of the Golan Heights.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=15279

Lebanon
Opposition to Hariri: We Want Active Participation in Gov't
Sixteen days have passed since MP Saad Hariri was appointed to head a "true partnership" government in which he would join the loyalty and the opposition…   Sixteen days have passed since Hariri launched his "intensive consultations" to reach a "formula" that might "satisfy" the so-called allies and at the same time "attract" the so-called rivals…   Yet, no breakthrough seems to have been achieved at the time the national opposition continues to call for "true partnership" that could be guaranteed by the "proportional representation," a major condition for participation as stated by the head of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc MP Michel Aoun.
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=94606&language=en

Suspected Hezbollah arms depot in Lebanon explodes (AFP)
AFP - An arms cache exploded in a village in southern Lebanon on Tuesday in an area considered to be a Hezbollah stronghold, an army spokesman told AFP, adding that no casualties were reported.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090714/wl_mideast_afp/lebanonblasthezbollah

Israel wary of second front against Hezbollah
Last Wednesday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert convened an urgent ad-hoc meeting of is security cabinet, to receive an updated assessment of Hezbollah's rearmament status. It coincided with the second year anniversary of the July 2006 Lebanon War. The military intelligence briefing was far from encouraging. Damascus is rearming Hezbollah at a rapid pace, which is ample proof that the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, passed to stop the Second Lebanon War, is on the verge of collapse. In fact it has never really matured into a functioning measure and was virtually ignored by all concerned.
http://www.tayyar.org/Tayyar/News/PoliticalNews/en-US/128919606069604001.htm

Unjustly jailed Palestinian declares Sleiman a 'hero'
Released prisoner Youssef Shaaban described President Michel Sleiman as a "hero" Monday for ordering his release after 15 years in prison. Lebanon's president on Friday ordered the release of the innocent Palestinian who spent 15 years in prison after he was convicted of assassinating a Jordanian diplomat, Omran al-Maayta in Beirut.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=104173

Youssef Shaaban Finally Released after Sixteen Years in Jail
13/07/2009 Finally, and after sixteen years in jail, Palestinian innocent prisoner Youssef Shaaban was transferred Monday from a prison in Jbeil to the directorate general of the general security in Beirut in preparation for his release.
http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=94467&language=en

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