Palestine papers reveal MI6 drew up plan for crackdown on Hamas
British intelligence helped draw up a secret plan for a wide-ranging crackdown on the Islamist movement Hamas which became a security blueprint for the Palestinian Authority, leaked documents reveal. The plan asked for the internment of leaders and activists, the closure of radio stations and the replacement of imams in mosques.
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The bulk of the British plan has since been carried out by the West Bank-based PA security apparatus which is increasingly criticised for authoritarian rule and human rights abuses, including detention without trial and torture.
Read more @ The Guardian
The Palestine Papers
There has been a leak tonight of around 1,600 documents from the Palestinian side covering their negotiations with Israel.
The documents show how the Palestinian negotiation were increasingly desperate team offered far more concessions than the public could or would accept, but even then, Israel was not ready for peace.
[Let's Talk Show] Foreign Affairs - The Muslim World
A discussion on the world, and what impacts Muslims.
Presenters: Zahid Maqbool, Sajid Iqbal
Guests: Doctor Jhangir
Broadcast Date: 19 August 2010
Duration: 1hr 43min
The Revival Feast: Musakhan
In Palestine, a favourite dish made by the locals is Musakhkhan, a dish that is usually eaten using the hands and which literally means something of which is heated.
The dish is seasoned with sumac, a spice made from the ground dried berries and is sold in Middle Eastern shops, it has a slightly sour and tangy taste.
Musakhkhan is made by cooking chicken until tender and succulent with plenty of onions. You can use more spices, such as allspice or saffron, and garnish the top with fried pine nuts. Once the chicken is cooked, it is wrapped in shrak or marquq which is a type of thin Arabic bread.
1. Cut the chicken into up into two breasts, two thighs, two legs, and two wings. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
2. In a large pan heat ¼ cup of olive oil then lightly brown the chicken on all sides over a medium heat, this will take about 20 minutes.
Remove and set aside. Add the remaining ¼ cup of olive oil to the pan and cook the onions until translucent, stirring occasionally, this will take about 30 minutes. Add the sumac to the onions and mix well while cooking for 2 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 177C. Cover a 9 x 12-inch baking dish with two overlapping halves of the Arabic bread or 2 sheets of marquq bread.
Spoon half the onions over the 2 pieces of bread, then arrange the chicken on top. Cover the chicken with the remaining onions and the juices from the pan. Then cover with the two remaining half leaves of bread or sheets of marquq bread, tucking in the sides crusty side up and spray with water.
4. Bake until the chicken is very tender and almost falling off the bone, this should take around 1 ½ hours. If the top cover of bread begins to burn while in the oven, spray it with water again or cover with foil.
Gaza - The Unfinished Story
If there is one problem that unites the Muslim world in its sympathy it is the Palestinian issue. Forget the republics trying to break away from Russia and the Uighurs of China. They can be ignored just like the Kurds in Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria and the Palestinians who reside still as refugees in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt.
Forget the many African conflicts such as Darfur, southern Sudan or Somalia. The one problem that will unite Muslims all across the world is the one of Israel and the Palestinians.
Netanyahu Admitting to subverting the Oslo peace process?
Apparently there was a recording released recently of Netanyahu talking to some settlers in 2001 telling his side of the story and mentioning how he had subverted the peace process amongst other things.
To me atleast it shows how his policy was deliberate and well, kind of exactly what I and many many others had suspected.
“I know what America is,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a group of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, apparently not knowing his words were being recorded. “America is a thing you can move very easily, move it in the right direction. They won't get in their way,” he said in Hebrew.
At one point on the tape, Netanyahu also threatens a “broad attack” against the Palestinian Authority. “The main thing, first of all, is to hit them. Not just one blow, but blows that are so painful that the price will be too heavy to be borne,” Netanyahu said. “A broad attack on the Palestinian Authority.”
Read more @ Hurriyet Daily News
Palestinian homes bulldozed as Israeli freeze on demolitions appears to end
Authorities said homes were built without planning permission, which Palestinians say is almost impossible to obtain
sraeli bulldozers destroyed at least three Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem yesterday, breaking an unofficial moratorium on such demolitions since the end of 2009.
At least one of the homes was occupied by a family of seven, who removed their belongings shortly before it was razed.
Read more @ The Guardian
Aid to Gaza
With the increasing tensions in the middle East and an increase in Israeli military activity. It is unlikely that the international community will break the blockade of Gaza. What is likely, is the increased aid from mainstream NGO's and the UN to the people of Gaza.
I was wondering what this forum's thoughts were for sending aid to Gaza through an already established and respected charity instead of handing aid over to Hamas.
Hamas has declared that it is their mission to kill all Jews, not just Israelis! It has taken the book "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" and endorsed it within their charter, an anti-Semitic fabrication produced by Christian and czarist extremists and adopted by the Nazis to support their agenda.
So, would you provide food and medicane to such an organisation, helping to augment their power. Or would you send this aid to another group that is not racist or rooted in extremist ideology?