Antony Loewenstein

Here.

Strong Guardian editorial that peels back the two-state delusion constantly pushed by the political elites in the West:

Interesting and necessary:

Some Fatah leaders are likely to accuse al-Jazeera of having an anti-PA agenda by publishing the leaked documents, which they believe will benefit their Hamas rivals, backed by Iran — as shown in critical comments about the TV station in the documents themselves.

Relations between al-Jazeera, the most widely watched TV channel in the Middle East, and the PA leadership have often been strained after it has run reports regarded by the administration as hostile – as is the case with regimes throughout the region.

The documents have been redacted to remove details such as email addresses, phone numbers or other information that could identify those who leaked them.

Rashid Khalidi on Democracy Now! talking the Palestine Papers:

Land of the free?

Earlier today Jane Hamsher and David House visited the Quantico Marine Corps Base to visit accused WikiLeaks leaker Bradley Manning and deliver a petition protesting the conditions of his confinement. David House is on Quantico’s visitation list, and both he and Jane have been there before. Before today’s visit, Jane called the base to let them know she was coming.

Big mistake.

Apparently even thinking about Bradley Manning in a positive way is enough to bring US authorities down on you.

Er:

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was named “un-Australian of the Year” by a men’s magazine on Monday for publishing thousands of leaked US diplomatic cables on his whistleblowing site.

Australian-born Assange edged out God, Denmark’s Princess Mary and Prime Minister Julia Gillard to take Australian lads’ title Zoo Weekly’s dubious award for promising to dump 250,000 secret memos on WikiLeaks.

“Dress it up any way you like but the WikiLeaks founder broke that famous rule ‘What goes in the memo stays in the memo’,” Zoo wrote.

“Don’t expect any buck’s night invites anytime soon Jules.”

Sigh:

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has dismissed the documents released by Al Jazeera that show private offers by PA officials to Israelis on contested issues than previously revealed as “a bunch of lies”.

In an appearance on Al Jazeera shortly after the documents were released on Sunday, Erakat said the Palestinian leadership had “nothing to hide” and dismissed most of the report as lies.

He said that the information shown contained mistakes and inaccuracies and that his words were taken out of context and he was misquoted.

“I have always said that east Jerusalem is part of Palestine.

“No body has given up anything, I have shown Jerusalem Map on Al Jazeera a year ago. The land exchange principle was discussed before,” Erakat said.

He said that all documents were shared in advance with the Arab league and several Arab countries, including Egypt, Jordan, and Qatar.

“We have not gone back on our position. If we had given ground on the refugees and made such concessions, why hasn’t Israel agreed to sign a peace accord?” he asked.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, told Egyptian newspapers editors in Cairo that he kept the Arab League updated on all details of the negotiations with Israel, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

“I don’t know from where al Jazeera came with secret things.

“There is nothing we hide from our brothers, the Arabs,” Abbas said.

The chief Palestinian negotiator in the 2008 talks, Ahmed Qureia, told The Associated Press that “many parts of the documents were fabricated, as part of the incitement against the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian leadership.”

Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior Hamas offcial in Gaza told Al Jazeera that the Palestinian authority officials should be ashamed of themselves.

Palestinian doctor Izzeldin Abuelaish is a disarming figure. Born in Gaza and living for years in Israel – he’s now in Canada with his children – his recent tour to United States unleashed a tirade of abuse by The Angry Arab (“he is not very bright” etc).

After spending time with the Dr yesterday here in Jaipur, India at the international literature festival as well as conducting a formal in-conversation with him, it’s hard not to be impressed with his determination and passion. And he’s no apologist for the Zionist state.

He regularly speaks in platitudes, against hatred and violence and in support of peace. During our public talk, I pushed him on some key points. He appeared ambivalent about boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) as a way for Israelis to recognise they had to “change” their behaviour (he neither supported it nor directly opposed it). He seemed to have no problem with a one-state solution though his ideal would be a two-state equation. He didn’t believe in talking about “them” and “us” but “we”, a joint existence between Israelis and Palestinians. Such thinking makes a two-state solution hard to imagine. He talked strongly about the reality of occupation in Gaza and the West Bank. He dislikes the major Palestinian parties though says both the PA and Hamas are from the people.

In his book, I Shall Not Hate, he includes a photo with himself and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak over a decade ago. These days, he can’t even get the Israelis to apologise for killing his kids. “They sent me a letter saying my children were ‘collateral damage’. They were not objects but human beings. This is not acceptable.” He is now suing Israel “because I have no choice, what else can I do?”

Abuelaish cried throughout our session when talking about his children, their loss and how he avoids hating those who murdered them. His Muslim faith helps him. The audience – hundreds of people, mainly Indians and foreigners – were visibly moved and many sobbed with him. I had to hold back tears.

But the Dr is clearly seen as a threat to the Israeli image. Once welcomed into the Zionist state, allowed to work there and move amongst Jews, these days he seems to feel more pity for them. “Even when I was working in Israel, I met very few people who really wanted to understand what us Palestinians were going through.”

I spoke to an Israeli here last night about the session and she said she had felt almost frustration with his performance. But when we discussed why, she revealed that it was simply because she found it hard to understand how he didn’t have more anger towards Israel than he appeared to have. We wondered if he was almost exploiting his children by constantly travelling the world and speaking about their deaths. But we agreed not; for him, it seems to a message that Israelis and Palestinians can live together, if only the politicians left the equation.

I asked the Dr what happens if Israel continues on its current fascist path and increases the pressure on civil society and Palestinians. What happens if more Israeli Jews just don’t care about their Arab brothers and sisters. Surely then, I argued, BDS is really the only way forward. He agreed.

He welcomed the warm response he is receiving across the US during his current book tour. He said that the Jewish Diaspora had to stop the “blindness” towards Israel and “open their hearts”. He believed that many American Jews were doing just that.

Although Elie Wiesel endorses his book – a curious choice of a man who has spent a lifetime caring about many human rights abuses except Israeli oppression – Abuelaish sends a powerful message. Not because I completely agree with everything he says – personally, I don’t see how Israel will ever shift unless it feels serious economic and psychological pain – but hearing an intelligent and articulate Palestinian remains all too rare in the Zionist defending Western media.

The Palestine Papers.

Just how many mainstream publications act illegally to get the next scoop?

Britain’s tabloid newspapers are now facing a major crisis after being drawn into the News of the World phone-hacking scandal.

Twenty-four hours after Andy Coulson, the prime minister’s communications chief and former News of the World editor, was forced to resign, a lawyer confirmed other newspapers were facing legal claims.

Mark Lewis, who acted for Gordon Taylor of the Professional Footballers’ Association in a damages claim against the NoW, confirmed to the Observer that he was now representing four people who believe they were targeted by other newspapers.

Lewis said that none of the four had been hacked by News Group Newspapers, owner of the News of the World and the Sun. “Lots of people were doing it,” Lewis said. “It was such a widespread practice.”

He added that he had been preparing the cases since Christmas. “We are at an initial stage in our investigations made with police forces and phone companies. But we believe there is a prima facie case that information has been obtained unlawfully.

“This was almost kids’ playtime. It was such a widespread practice. Although it is a crime, people were regarding it as though it was driving at 35mph in a 30mph zone, that you just sort of do it and hope you don’t get caught.”

Speculation about further law suits, and the prospect of fresh evidence in the form of emails and audio tapes stretching back over years, has heaped pressure on News Group over the past few weeks. It emerged earlier this month that News of the World executive Ian Edmondson had been suspended as a result of claims in a case brought by actress Sienna Miller.

Police subsequently wrote to the newspaper asking for any new evidence staff had on the case.

The allegations have come at a critical time for News Group’s parent company, News Corp, which is trying to win regulatory approval for its bid to take full control of BSkyB, the pay TV company. The culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, is likely to decide early next month whether to refer its bid to the Competition Commission.

There is speculation that News Corp executives were keen to see Coulson quit, amid fears that his continued presence inside No 10 was damaging the company’s commercial interests.

Last week executives, including the editors of Murdoch’s four British papers, held a three-day meeting at Babington House in Somerset about the future of the company, aware that Murdoch is flying into London this week at a crucial time. “I’d be amazed if they didn’t discuss Coulson,” said a source with some knowledge of the meeting. Coulson still has close links with the company and enjoys friendly relations with key executives.

Here.