Book Review: “An Israeli In Palestine Resisting Dispossession, Redeeming Israel”
Electronic Intifada - 17 Mar 2008
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rJeff Halper’s new book is, in part, the story of the evolution of a “white moderate” peace campaigner to a radical Israeli campaigner for justice for the Palestinians. En route, he maps his development from “ethnic Jew to Jewish national to Israeli,” disregarding his grandmother’s warning that “Israel is no place for a Jewish boy!” Raymond Deane reviews for EI.

Palestinian PSS storms Ramattan Press Agency in Ramallah
Electronic Intifada - 17 Mar 2008
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rPCHR is deeply concerned over storming the headquarters of Ramattan Press Agency in Ramallah by members of the Palestinian Preventive Security Service (PSS) and the arrest of a Palestinian journalist on Wednesday, 12 March 2008. PCHR believes that this attack constitutes an assault on press freedoms and the right to freedom of expression, and stresses that the rights to freedom of expression and to receive and impart information are ensured by the Palestinian Basic Law and international human rights instruments.

Palestinians in Gaza lose their livelihoods
Electronic Intifada - 17 Mar 2008
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rThe Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) continues its tight siege and prevents movement of people and goods in and out of the Gaza Strip. This includes patients who are close to dying due to denied access to hospitals abroad. Sources from the Palestinian Ministry of Health have indicated that more than 100 patients have died since mid-June 2007.

Time to engage with Iran
Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII) - 17 Mar 2008
Summary: Iran-US meeting over IraqThe west?s confrontational policy towards Iran is both wrong and impractical, argues EER?s editor-in-chief Karel Beckman. Iran is what it is today largely as a result of historical wrongs committed by the west against Iran ? wrongs that are ignored in today?s discussions about the country and compounded by the west?s continuing policy of confrontation. The only way to effect positive changes in Iran, increase stability in the Middle East and improve oil and gas supplies, is to end all source: European Energy Reviewread more

Two decades on, war victims of Saddam Hussein’s gas attacks draw their last breath
Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII) - 17 Mar 2008
Summary: Hadi Khosorojerdi lies on his bed in a Tehran hospital, a drip in his arm. In a weak, breathless voice the former Revolutionary Guard recalls the day in August 1987 that he was hit by shrapnel on Majnoon island during the Iran-Iraq War. As he lay unconscious on the ground, the Iraqis unleashed mustard gas. source: Times on lineread more

1968, Forty Years Later: My Lai Massacre Remembered by Survivors, Victims’ Families and US War Vets
Democracy Now - 17 Mar 2008
This weekend marked the fortieth anniversary of the My Lai Massacre, when US troops killed more than 500 men, women and children in Vietnam. We speak with investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, who won a Pulitzer Prize for exposing the killings and the cover-up. [includes rush transcript]

Winter Soldier: US Vets, Active-Duty Soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan Testify About the Horrors of War
Democracy Now - 17 Mar 2008
US veterans gathered in Maryland this past weekend to testify at Winter Soldier, an eyewitness indictment of atrocities committed by US troops during the ongoing occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Soldiers spoke of free-fire zones, the shootings and beatings of innocent civilians, racism at the highest levels of the military, sexual harassment and assault within the military, and the torturing of prisoners. While the corporate media ignored the story, we broadcast their voices. [includes rush transcript]

Headlines for March 17, 2008
Democracy Now - 17 Mar 2008
Global Economy Shaken by Fall of Bear Stearns, Bush on the Economy: I Am An “Optimistic Fellow”, Food Prices Continue To Rise, 80 Feared Dead In Tibet; China Cracks Down On Protest, McCain & Cheney Visit Iraq, Poll: Two-Thirds of Iraqis Say U.S. Should Leave, Bush “A Little Envious” of U.S. Troops in Afghanistan, House Rejects Telecom Immunity, U.S. Admits Afghan Held in Secret CIA Prison, Fifth Anniversary Of Death of Rachel Corrie, 24 Arrested At Chevron Protest

Meet the Lebanese Press: US military “tourism”
Electronic Intifada - 17 Mar 2008
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rSupporters of Lebanon’s March 14 movement tend to complain about the damage to tourism caused by the current status quo in Lebanon. Many of them cheered recently when the wheels of fortune seemed to swing their way as the US destroyer USS Cole approached Lebanese shores.

Activists to Waldorf-Astoria: Cancel Friends of IDF fundraiser
Electronic Intifada - 17 Mar 2008
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rAs 13 organizations working for human rights, social justice, and peace, we demand that The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan rescind its agreement to host the 18 March fundraiser for Friends of the Israel Defense Forces. The Israeli military has historically been a flagrant violator of human rights and international law as demonstrated by the recent attacks on Gaza that killed over 100 Palestinians, the 2006 attack on Lebanon, and the 60-year assault on and dispossession of the Palestinian people.

Iraq Vets: ‘Racism Endemic; Comes from the Top of Command Chain’ (VIDEO)
AlterNet: War on Iraq - 17 Mar 2008
Vets from Iraq and Afghanistan tell their stories. (With a guide to AlterNet’s comprehensive Winter Soldier coverage.)

How to Destroy a Country in Five Years
AlterNet: War on Iraq - 17 Mar 2008
This the fifth of Iraq’s blood-sodden anniversaries since Bush invaded, and the country is now utterly ruined.

Veterans Decry Institutional Sexism in Military
AlterNet: War on Iraq - 17 Mar 2008
Gender panel at Winter Soldier conference suggests pattern of condescending to outright sexist behavior in the armed forces.