- 15 jan 2011
'Dangerous' political websites blocked from viewing at Israel's airport
Barred sites include leftist organizations Breaking the Silence, Machsom Watch, Peace Now and Taayush and the rightist Legal Forum for the Land of Israel and World Headquarters to Save the People and Land of Israel.
Internet sites of political organizations, both left-wing and right-wing, have been barred from viewing at Ben-Gurion Airport, Haaretz has learned.
They are blocked by an information filtering company that classifies them as "dangerous."
Barred sites include leftist organizations Breaking the Silence, Machsom Watch, Peace Now and Taayush and the rightist Legal Forum for the Land of Israel and World Headquarters to Save the People and Land of Israel.
Sites operated by parties and other groups with political affiliations were easily accessed.
The Airport Authority provides wireless Internet services to passengers at Ben-Gurion International Airport through the 012 Internet provider.
Asked whether any site could be accessed from the terminal, an 012 official admitted that some sites may have been blocked.
The "error" notice appearing on the political groups' sites directs surfers to the Fortinet information protection company's web-filtering system.
Netanel Davidi, CEO of the Altal information security company, said the filtering system "can trace sites with offensive content and block access to them, after users worldwide mark and categorize them. The system also blacklists hostile sites and prevents access to them."
"The general instructions to 012 is to allow free surfing to all except bandwidth-heavy sites that stream video, music and the like. This is to enable most passengers to surf uninterruptedly. Porn and gambling sites have also been blocked, as is customary," IAA said.
It added that 012 is using a technological filtering device that "categorizes controversial sites."
The IAA said it would examine the goings on and make changes if necessary.
012 refused to comment due to customer confidentiality.
"The IAA is responsible for what takes place within its boundaries and cannot shift responsibility onto some provider," said Breaking the Silence director Dana Golan.
"This is an extremely absurd and stupid policy, because whoever wants to block Internet access to people at an airport will ultimately have to consider preventing them from traveling abroad," Golan added.
Peace Now secretary general Yariv Oppenheimer said "it's regrettable that people leaving Israel should be made to feel as though they were leaving China or North Korea. Only backward countries bar Internet sites expressing political opinions."
http://bit.ly/flrbpp 9 jan 2012, 13:25 , Respect -
Maria 17 jan 2011
Facebook in Gaza
by Karma Nabulsi
Last weekend the Observer http://bit.ly/dJ9KNm carried a dramatic account of The Gaza Youth Manifesto, written in English by a handful of young people in Gaza and posted on Facebook http://on.fb.me/fnkrPS . Given the thousands of people in the West who have said they like it on Facebook or posted positive comments, the manifesto is said to herald a new movement for change in occupied Palestine.
Because of Palestinians lengthy predicament of expulsion, dispossession and military occupation, there is a rich tradition of Palestinian manifestos and declarations: hundreds of them have been written since 1948. Bayan Harakatina (Our Movement's Statement, 1959) played an important role in recruiting the first wave of young people to the Palestinian National Liberation Movement-Fateh, and in unifying their political consciousness.
It was distributed clandestinely, entrusting its readers with the key ideas of the new movement. Later documents, such as the founding manifesto of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (1967), were distributed more openly. These manifestos were written by organised Palestinian youth as mobilising documents, exclusively for young Palestinians.
Manifestos have been written by everyone: Workers of Palestine Unite was issued by the General Provisional Committee of the Workers of Palestine in 1962; the Unified National Command of the Intifada released 46 communiqués between 1988 and 1990; The Palestinian Civil Society Call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel was published on 9 July 2005; The Palestine Manifesto was published last year by the National Committee for the Defence of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People; dozens of statements have been issued by right of return committees in the refugee camps since 1998; Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails, from all parties, released the now famous National Reconciliation Document in 2006.
Palestinian manifestos and declarations tend to do four things:
1. engage critically with the current situation and its historical context;
2. outline a response, clearly stating the principles that should underpin it;
3. announce the emergence of an organised group to carry out that response; and
4. call on Palestinian youth to join the movement. The wording is careful and has usually been negotiated at length between a variety of people and organisations. In short, the manifestos are purposive and geared towards some form of collective action.
The Gaza Youth Breaks Out manifesto does not belong to this tradition: it does not put forth any clear analysis of the current historical situation, or outline a response to it. It does not declare the existence of an organised group, or invite anyone to join anything. Its tone is denunciatory rather than analytical. Its language is apolitical: the terminology of resistance common to Palestinian manifestos is replaced here by use of the f-word.
And it lacks any mobilisational dimension. It's unsurprising, then, that it has received little attention in the Arab world. The most extensive report on it appeared in Al Akhbar in Lebanon, which more or less reprinted the piece from the Observer.
If this manifesto does not belong to the Palestinian tradition of declarations, then what tradition does it belong to? Clearly it captures the despair and horror of life in Gaza today, and the young people behind it have every right to post their appeals and complaints on Facebook or wherever they like.
But without being rooted in any particular or collective vision of change, the three demands articulated in the manifesto We want to be free. We want to be able to live a normal life. We want peace are meaningless. Perhaps this is why it is so attractive to those who have read it on Facebook, and the European and American media who have taken it up.
It caters to western tastes and desires, especially to the fantasy of a digitally connected youth emerging from cyberspace as agents of transformative change in the real world http://bit.ly/g592DY . In the case of Palestine, this fantasy does a number of things besides soothing guilty consciences. It reframes the issue of justice for Palestine in vacuous and unthreatening terms, casts the method by which change may occur into virtual space, and empties the Palestinian body politic of the thoughtfully articulated demands of its millions of citizens.
First published on the London Review Blog. http://bit.ly/gB68pH
http://bit.ly/fk5ZdK 9 jan 2012, 13:25 , Respect -
Maria 18 jan 2011
Hackers deface Facebook page of Barak's new Atzmaut party
Hacked logo of the new Atzmaut party.
The breakaway faction of the Labor party, Atzmaut, was quick to create a presence on the web, but it was just as quickly attacked by angry hackers.
The web presence of Ehud Barak's new political party Atzmaut went online as soon as the party's existence was announced to the press on Monday, but the party's Facebook page was defaced almost immediately by computer hackers, upset by their decision to form a new faction in the Knesset.
Barak announced on Monday his departure from his long-time home in the Labor party, a controversial move which has angered many on the Left. He was joined in his move by an additional four members of Knesset that left the Labor party.
It soon became obvious that his resignation and formation of a new party was well planned, as a public relations campaign, complete with the new Facebook page, was rolled out almost immediately after the announcement.
Graphic designers, apparently angered by the announcement of the move, defaced the Atzmaut Facebook page by scrawling graffiti over the logo of the new party.
So far, a few hundred people have clicked on the "Like" button of the party's Facebook page, but many of them likely wanted to enter the site in order to have a good laugh at Atzmaut.
The first post to the Facebook page has already received several dozen responses, most of which have been insults hurled at the party and its public relations campaign.
http://bit.ly/dTPiC7
Authors of Gaza youth manifesto speak to EI
Rami Almeghari writing from occupied Gaza Strip, Live from Palestine.
On Saturday, I missed a call on my mobile and when I called the number back, someone calling himself Abu Yazan answered and introduced himself as a member of the group Gaza Youth Breaks Out (GYBO).
The next day five members of the eight-member group -- Abu Yazan, Abu George, Abu Awn, Edward and Jamila -- gathered in Gaza City for an interview with The Electronic Intifada. The group, which includes three women, are all university graduates. Their "Manifesto for Change" published on Facebook circulated widely on the Internet and was covered by international publications such as The Guardian and The New York Times.
Members of GYBO, who come mostly from different refugee camps around Gaza, use pseudonyms to keep their identities confidential from fear they could get in trouble with the authorities. The group also refused to be photographed for The Electronic Intifada.
"We, the youth in Gaza, are so fed up with Israel, Hamas, the occupation, the violations of human rights and the indifference of the international community!" the manifesto states after opening with some strong, attention-grabbing expletives. "We want to scream and break this wall of silence, injustice and indifference like the Israeli F16s breaking the wall of sound."
The document expresses their rejection of the Israeli occupation, holding Israel responsible for the Palestinian people's plight and calling for an end to the occupation, a change to the internal situation and an end to the political split between the two opposing sides in the Palestinian political spectrum -- Fatah and Hamas -- and calling for the youth of Gaza take the lead.
The manifesto criticizes the ruling Hamas party for shutting down the Sharek Youth Forum, a youth organization, in Gaza last November.
The young members of the group were eager to discuss their motivation, background and vision.
"We have one message," a member of the group told The Electronic Intifada. "We, the youth of Gaza, who make up sixty percent of Gaza's 1.6 million residents, have increasingly felt repressed in many aspects, starting from the long-standing Israeli occupation of our lands -- particularly the four-year-old Israeli blockade of Gaza -- through the injustice inflicted everywhere by the rulers of Gaza, who we elected four years ago."
Abu Yazan clarified "If you are a follower of Hamas, Fatah watches over you, if you are a follower of Fatah, Hamas's security personnel watch over you. If you are granted a fellowship abroad, Israel denies you exit out of the besieged Gaza Strip. In Internet cafes, we sometimes feel watched by Hamas's secret agents who are spread everywhere; we increasingly feel we are silenced and never allowed to speak up."
The Hamas government in Gaza and the Western-supported Fatah party in the occupied West Bank have been at loggerheads for the past four years. Since then, both parties have accused each other of cracking down on each other's members, and both parties have alleged that their members have been arrested, harassed and even tortured.
When asked by The Electronic Intifada why they chose to issue their manifesto in English, a GYBO member explained, "Our target is the international audience and we believe that Israel must be blamed for the ongoing hard circumstances in Gaza, particularly the siege, which continues to prevent our basic right to travel abroad and resume study, for example."
The eight-member group also believe that fighting the Israeli occupation can be waged through the media and other peaceful means like in the occupied West Bank village of Bilin where Palestinians, internationals and Israelis are engaged in nonviolent resistance against Israel's wall and occupation.
"Our message is simply a message of peace and we believe that there needs to be a real change that would keep our image as defenseless people under a ruthless Israeli occupation. Youth are the means for change in every society and we do hope to forge that change," Edward said.
The eight youth are all friends of a similar age, and the idea for their initiative first emerged in casual discussions.
"Our move came voluntarily and abruptly while me and some other friends were sitting in a coffee shop," Abu Yazan recalled. "I asked my friend, 'What do you want?' He answered, 'I want to get a job and get married.' I replied, 'This seems to be a dream under such a situation.'"
Abu Yazan added, "We are not affiliated with the government here, we don't have the money to get married and for how long can this situation continue? We should not keep silent, we should speak up!"
Twenty-six-year-old Jamila is married and a mother of three. A graduate in engineering from a local university, she talked about about her frustration trying to get a job.
Asked by The Electronic Intifada whether she had attempted to find a job, even a temporary one, through youth community service initiatives launched by the Hamas government last year, Jamila replied with a sarcastic laugh. http://bit.ly/fDgpew
"What job might I find here?" she asked. "I got in touch with the engineering syndicate, which had some openings for graduates like myself. But a colleague of mine was denied a job after an official asked her, 'What [political] affiliation do you have?' When she answered that she was nonpartisan she was told, 'Sorry, that won't work.'"
Jamila, who covers her hair and dresses in the conservative style that is prevalent in Gaza, is eloquent in both English and Arabic like her peers Abu George and Abu Awn.
As Jamila spoke, Abu Awn interjected, "We want peace, only peace and freedom." He explained that he had been barred from traveling outside of Gaza to Europe three times, preventing him from taking up post-graduate studies. "Why are we not allowed to live normally like other young people around the world?" Abu Awn asked.
The Gaza Youth Break Out group seemed concerned about dispelling any notion that they are out of step with Gaza society or that their attitudes reflect what some might view as inappropriate external influences.
"Maybe some people would consider us to be Westernized, but I can tell you we are not," Abu Awn said. "I pray five times a day and I am aware of many things about my Islamic religion, especially things about how important youth are in a given society. Yet what we notice here is total injustice against youth."
Despite the image some may have of the group because of the repeated expletives in thee group's statement, Abu Yazan said "We had received membership requests from many girls who are said to be non-conservative, but we turned down their requests for they do not fit. We are in a conservative society and born to conservative families and bear some religious orientation and all we want is to live in peace and freedom" said Abu Yazan.
"Almost all of us voted for Hamas and now we want those who we voted for to pay attention to us, let us take the lead and allow us to speak up ... we are confident we have lots of energy to give," said Abu George who wears the trim beard commonly associated with religiously-observant people.
Responding to the announcement by Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh that 2011 will be the "year of youth," Abu George said "What is being said in the media is different from the reality on the ground. Who are the youth they are talking about? Do they mean the youth who belong to a certain party and not another? Everything here is politicized."
According to the group of youth, local reactions to their manifesto to have been confined to thousands of expressions of support on Facebook. They have only received few opposing comments to the manifesto, they say. The group has issued a follow up statement on their blog that they call Gaza Manifesto 2.0 and which responds to some of the reactions they received ("GYBO - Manifesto 2.0"). http://bit.ly/fvK9ZK
Members of the group were keen to stress that they consider it their right to decry the entire situation in the Gaza Strip, but they do not compare what they consider as a corruption within some political parties including the ruling Hamas movement, with the Israeli occupation's actions against the Palestinian people. For them the root-cause of Palestinian problems is the Israeli occupation and this occupation must come to an end once and for all.
The group also said it had contacted some rights groups and academics regarding their manifesto and that they will later start contacting some officials within the government in order to legalize their upcoming steps, which are yet to be revealed, according to Abu Yazan.
The group has been encouraged by the messages of support they received from people inside and outside Gaza and plan to issue more statements soon. Their next step may be to present themselves to the public in larger numbers by holding a press conference. What is clear is that they refuse to be silenced and have proven that they can and will be heard.
Rami Almeghari is a journalist and university lecturer based in the Gaza Strip.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11734.shtml...Read more 9 jan 2012, 13:25 , Respect -
Maria 20 jan 2011
CNN interview with Gaza youth breaks out team!
(3:10) CNN interview with Gaza youth breaks out team! 9 jan 2012, 13:25 , Respect -
Maria 20 jan 2011
Haneyya's page removed from Facebook
GAZA, (PIC)-- The fan page of Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haneyya has been removed from Facebook.
More than 10,000 people liked the site.
Fans wrote to Facebook administration requesting the page's return and the protection of pages Arabs use to express admiration for resistance leaders in Palestine and the Arab world.
Israel was suspected to be behind the move.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrullah's page was removed from the Facebook social network earlier.
http://bit.ly/ff6Ej7 9 jan 2012, 13:25 , Respect -
Maria 22 jan 2011
Court date set for Palestinian charged for insulting president by Facebook image
A Palestinian reporter tagged in a Facebook image that mocked the president says he's been accused of insulting a public figure.
Mamdouh Hamamreh of al-Quds TV said Saturday that his prosecutors have set his first court date for next month.
He was detained for a few weeks by security just hours after the image allegedly ridiculing President Mahmoud Abbas appeared on his Facebook page in September.
His TV station is sympathetic to the militant Islamic group Hamas, the chief rival to Abbas' Palestinian Authority.
The incident highlights how Abbas' forces are using social networks to crack down on dissent.
A Palestinian government spokesman maintains residents have "lots" of free speech.
http://bit.ly/fj7NN5
Palestinian charged with insulting leader online
A Palestinian reporter tagged in a Facebook image that mocked President Mahmoud Abbas says he's been accused of insulting a public figure.
Mamdouh Hamamreh of al-Quds TV said Saturday that his prosecutors have set his first court date for next month.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4017180,00.html 9 jan 2012, 15:30 , Respect -
Maria 9 jan 2012, 15:31 , Respect -
Maria 4 febr 2011
Facebook fails to ignite protests in Syria
DAMASCUS (AFP) -- Rain, not protesters, flooded the streets of Damascus on Friday after Muslim prayers when a "day of anger" had been promoted by online activists in an echo of Egypt's popular uprising.
For a week, Facebook activists had touted Friday as the day they would mark a peaceful "2011 Syrian revolution" to "end corruption and tyranny."
The group's page had amassed over 12,000 'likes' on the social networking platform by early Friday.
But while the protesters in Egypt were rocking the streets of their cities for an 11th straight day calling for President Hosni's Mubarak resignation, their revolutionary chants had no audible reverberations in Damascus.
The streets within the walled Old City were quiet on Friday afternoon without a protester in sight. Only security agents had showed up in higher than usual numbers to monitor the capital's main arteries, an AFP reporter said.
"Syrian dissidents, including Kurds, did not respond to this call because they are convinced protests would be inefficient under the current conditions," said Abdel Karim Rihawi, president of the Syrian League for the Defence of Human Rights.
Calls to stage a sit-in Thursday in front of the parliament in Damascus to show "solidarity with students, workers and penniless pensioners" also rung hollow after a zero-turnout.
US-based rights group Human Rights Watch reported that a gang of 20 people in civilian clothes had beaten and dispersed 15 demonstrators holding a candlelight vigil in the Christian part of the Old City on Wednesday.
In a statement issued in New York on Friday, it called for the Syrian authorities to "respect" the right of its people to protest.
It said it was told by one of the organisers of the protests that the Syrian security services showed up at each event, filmed the participants and checked their identity papers.
Suheir Atassi, one of the main organisers, was quoted as saying that the security services contacted her family last week and urged them to pressure her to cease her activities.
She told Human Rights Watch that she was insulted, slapped and threatened by police, who accused her of "working for Israel".
"President Bashar al-Assad seems to have taken a page out of the rulebook of his Egyptian counterpart," HRW said.
"His security services are no longer content with simply banning protests. They seem to be encouraging thugs to attack peaceful demonstrators," it said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=357056
Thousands support 'day of rage' against Hamas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ymgm2sqqHmk
(Video) Facebook group ' Revolution of Honor' urges Gaza's residents to take to streets. Fatah lauds initiative, Hamas says not aware of any protest plans.
Inspired by the recent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, a Facebook group called "The Revolution of Honor Gaza" has called for a "day of rage" next Friday to protest against the Hamas government which rules the coastal enclave.
The group has grown to some 10,000 members just three days after it was launched.
The group's Facebook page features hate slogans directed against Hamas and its leader Ismail Haniyeh, a photo Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas beside another photo of Che Guevara, as well as detailed instructions on how to promote the 'day of rage' using YouTube, Twitter, emails and banners.
Tawfiq Tirawi, a former intelligence chief in the Palestinian Authority and a current member of Fatah's Central Committee, supported the group's cause. "We are a nation which fights with all means at its disposal to gain freedom and independence from the Israeli occupation, so how can we accept Hamas' despotic regime?" he said.
Senior Hamas figure Salah Bardawil said, "Tirawi's statements do not concern us; Gaza is the address for every revolution in the Arab world," adding that he was not aware of any plans for a "day of rage" in Gaza.
The Facebook page - 752 'Likes' so far
The Facebook page mysteriously vanished Thursday evening, but its initiators quickly set up a new one and said they would not back down from their plan to encourage Gaza's residents to take to the streets.
Hamas allowed about a thousand Palestinians to hold a demonstration against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. "Mubarak, you must leave," the protestors chanted.
However, police dispersed those protestors who called for Mubarak's resignation and arrested four of them.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4023806,00.html 9 jan 2012, 15:31 , Respect -
Maria 6 febr 2011
Palestinian hackers attack Israeli site
A Palestinian hacker team has broken into the Israeli website of Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI), posting the photo of a Palestinian child beside an Israeli tank on its website.
The Gaza Hackers Team on Friday also eliminated some of the materials the website had issued in the last several months, Avinoam Bar Yosef, the founding director of JPPI, told the Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
%u201CThe working papers posted this week on the website concern several of the most important issues for the leadership of the Jewish people,%u201D Yosef said.
JPPI was founded in 2002 and is funded by private donations and the Jewish Agency for Israel.
Last year, another Palestinian group, calling itself the "Palestinian Mujaheeds," hacked the London-based Israeli website of the Jewish Chronicle newspaper -- the world's longest running Jewish paper -- protesting against Israel's 4-year blockade on the Gaza Strip.
The hackers posted an image of the Palestinian flag alongside messages in English and Turkish.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/163907.html
9 jan 2012, 15:31 , Respect -
Maria 9 febr 2011
Israel enlists hackers for cyber attacks
Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Brigadier General Avi Benayahu
A senior Israeli military official says the army is going to enlist 120 technicians to use computer networks to hack into databases for espionage.
Speaking at a panel on the subject of "the digital medium as strategic weapon" in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, the Israeli military spokesman, Brigadier General Avi Benayahu, said the Israeli army was searching for 120 "hackers who were born and raised online," Ynet news reported.
The Israeli spokesperson added that the military screens them with special care and trains them to serve Israel.
Benayahu further noted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has personally expressed support for the project, and has supplied a budget of NIS 6 million (USD 1.63 million) for its realization.
Israel, along with France, the United States and a couple of other nations, is a leader in cyber-war planning.
Since the 2006 war against Lebanon, Israel has attached growing importance to cyber-tactics.
Cyber-warfare teams are integrated within Israel's espionage agencies, which have rich experience in sabotage techniques.
Israeli computer experts exploit computer networks by infiltrating and damaging databases.
They are actively involved in covert and sometimes overt operations and carry out sabotage with malicious software.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/164389.html 9 jan 2012, 15:31 , Respect -
Maria 10 febr 2011
Internet groups launch campaign against Abbas's regime in W. Bank
RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Many Palestinian bloggers have launched lately online forums and pages, especially through Facebook service, aimed at rallying West Bankers against de facto president Mahmoud Abbas and his repressive authority in Ramallah city.
Any internet surfer can notice the increasing number of online groups who invite people of different ages, especially the young men to join them and react with their calls for protesting against Abbas's regime.
These pages condemn the suppression of freedoms, political arrests and corruption in the West Bank and call for civil disobedience against the regime there.
Some internet groups such as "Palestine wants to topple Abbas" and "the campaign of overthrowing the Palestinian authority" called recently for boycotting the local elections to be held by Salam Fayyad's de facto government.
Internet links to such Facebook groups can be found in an "Arabic" report about this issue posted on the multilingual Palestinian information center (PIC) website.
In another context, the five Palestinian detainees from Al-Khalil city who were kidnapped by the Israeli occupation troops following their release from the Palestinian authority jails on January 7, 2011 accused the PA of conspiring against them to punish them for not quitting their hunger strike in its prisons.
In a letter leaked from the Israeli prison of Ofer near Ramallah city, the five detainees held Abbas and his authority fully responsible for their detention by Israel.
They said that Israeli officers told them that their PA interrogators were providing Israel on a regular basis with information about them, adding they heard the same questions they used to be asked in PA interrogation rooms from these Israeli officers.
The five detainees, who had gone on hunger strike for more than three weeks in PA jails in protest at maltreatment, were released early last month after huge pressures from local and international parties, but the PA disposed of these pressures and coordinated with the Israeli side to lock them up in its jails after their release.
In a separate incident, PA security militias kidnapped Wednesday evening Hamas-affiliated member of Nablus municipal council Sheikh Fayyad Al-Agbar after raiding his home in the city.
Sheikh Agbar is one of the most noted reformers in Nablus city and an elected member of the municipal council there. He was detained before this time in PA jails and was exposed to physical abuse.
http://bit.ly/en39AF 9 jan 2012, 15:31 , Respect -
Maria 13 febr 2011
Multilingual PIC back online after cyber attack by Fatah
RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- The technical support team of the Palestinian information center (PIC) has managed to address the cyber attack that blocked after midnight Saturday the website's access to online users temporarily.
In a statement issued by the PIC on Sunday, the news outlet accused cyber saboteurs hired by Fatah faction and its authority in Ramallah city of attacking its website in a desperate attempt to silence the free patriotic voice that resists the occupation and its collaborators.
"The Palestinian information center was under fierce attack after midnight on Saturday in a bid to distort the free national opinion of the center and the resistance media's unwavering position towards the Palestinian cause's constants," the statement said.
The statement noted that the PIC technicians are still embarking on making sure that the website is functioning properly and all problems have been eliminated.
The PIC concluded its statement by pledging to stay steadfast in its stands and support for the Palestinian resistance and the national constants and to continue to expose all conspiracies against the Palestinian cause.
http://bit.ly/g09jzB 9 jan 2012, 15:31 , Respect -
Maria 15 febr 2011
Israel behind virtual reality website that Judaizes Jerusalem
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Israel has worked out a plan to promote tourism in Jerusalem with a false Jewish vision, the Muslim-Christian Association in Palestine said Tuesday.
The occupational mayor has started a website about Jerusalem meant to offer services and incentives for tourists and ensure free tours of the Old City, the associations secretary-general Mohammed Khater said. That is through virtual reality technology that would aid in forging the reality of Jerusalem and the holy sites.
He added that the project is set to increase the number of tourists from three million in 2010 to ten million in 2020.
[Israeli] authorities tend strongly to invest communication technologies and contemporary media to promote lies and claims about Jerusalem and the holy lands, Khater said.
Israel is trying to create fear and concern among international tourists because of current events in the Arab world and guide them towards Jerusalem on grounds that the occupational state is the safe and stable oasis in the region.
http://bit.ly/hsbTnA 9 jan 2012, 15:31 , Respect -
Maria p 9 jan 2012, 15:31 , Respect -
Maria 1 mrt 2011
Palestinians try to create 'Facebook revolution'
Success of Facebook in recent revolution in Egypt leads Palestinians to seek own cyber revolution. But will unique situation, intertwined problems stop revolution before it starts? 'Everybody is sick of situation. We want work; we want right to speak freely. We want freedom,' says one activist.
The mass demonstrations sweeping the Middle East are touching the Palestinian territories, where West Bank and Gaza Strip activists are trying to organize their own "Facebook revolutions."
The Palestinian activists are inspired by the calls for democracy that toppled autocratic leaders in Egypt and Tunisia and threaten longtime rulers in Libya and Bahrain.
In recent weeks, activists using Facebook have brought hundreds of people onto streets of the West Bank, waving Palestinian flags and calling for change. Smaller gatherings have taken place in Gaza. The protesters hope to stage a massive demonstration in both areas on March 15.
Whether they can succeed is far from certain because of the unique situation of the Palestinians. In contrast to countries where crowds have rallied against a single, despised leader, the Palestinians face a series of intertwined problems, making it harder to rally around a common cause.
Palestinians seek an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza, areas wedged on different sides of Israel and ruled by rival governments. The Western-backed Palestinian Authority governs in the West Bank, where Israel's military still retains overall control. The militant Islamic group Hamas has ruled Gaza since 2007.
The Palestinian split has crippled efforts to negotiate an independent state from Israel. Repeated efforts to reconcile, including a Palestinian Authority proposal to hold new elections, have foundered.
The Facebook activists have divisions of their own. Some want the rival Palestinian governments to reconcile. Others demand they resign. Still others want to demonstrate against Israel's occupation.
Activist Hasan Farahat, 22, said there was enough common ground. "Everybody is sick of the situation. We want work; we want the right to speak freely. We want freedom," he said.
The governments see even the smallest demonstrations as a challenge to their rule.
On Monday, Hamas moved swiftly to break up a small demonstration in Gaza City where people called for Palestinian reconciliation. Hamas police arrested a protest organizer, seizing a tape from a German TV crew showing a security official slapping the man.
In previous protest attempts, Hamas security arrested activists and seized their phones and computers, according to the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights.
The West Bank has seen about a dozen demonstrations, including two in Ramallah, where some 2,000 Palestinians demanded reconciliation. Others urged leaders to revoke interim peace agreements with Israel.
Palestinian Authority security forces initially broke up protests by beating participants. Now, organizers are threatened and sometimes arrested, they said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4036267,00.html