Cyprus-Forum.com

[Get Real!]

Lebanese army fires on Israeli warplanes: military

BEIRUT (AFP) – Lebanese anti-aircraft guns opened fire on two Israeli warplanes that were violating its airspace at medium altitude on Sunday, the military said.

"The army's anti-aircraft guns fired at two Israeli warplanes overflying Hasbaya" in southeastern Lebanon, an army statement said.

The incident came amid rising regional tension and heightened concern in Lebanon over recent Israeli threats against Shiite militant party Hezbollah and its backers Syria and Iran.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100321/wl ... elmilitary

[Get Real!]

In Gaza, UN chief calls Israel siege 'unsustainable and wrong'

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday urged Israel to end a three-year blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip and called on Palestinians to heal their political rifts.

Ban's visit to the blockaded territory follows a trip made by the European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, who entered the coastal enclave last week.

"The Palestinian people are living under very difficult circumstances where normal lives are restricted by closures, security checks and road blocks," Ban said.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1157872.html

[Get Real!]

Avi Shlaim: Cut off the cash and Israel might behave

Israelis are not renowned for their good manners, but their treatment of Vice-President Joe Biden during his recent visit to their country went beyond chutzpah. Biden is one of Israel's staunchest supporters in Washington, and the purpose of his visit was to prepare the ground for the resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. An official announcement that Israel planned to build 1,600 new Jewish settler homes in East Jerusalem scuppered the talks, alienated the Palestinians, and infuriated Biden. It was a colossal blunder that is likely to have far-reaching consequences for the special relationship between the two countries.

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/co ... 24650.html

[Free Spirit]

In Gaza, UN chief calls Israel siege 'unsustainable and wrong'

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday urged Israel to end a three-year blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip and called on Palestinians to heal their political rifts.

Ban's visit to the blockaded territory follows a trip made by the European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, who entered the coastal enclave last week.

"The Palestinian people are living under very difficult circumstances where normal lives are restricted by closures, security checks and road blocks," Ban said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1157872.html

Yet they still manage to get munitions in without any trouble

[Free Spirit]

Free Gaza:

with every four gallons

[Get Real!]

'I was stabbed in the back,' says soldier who used human shield in Gaza

The trial began on Wednesday for two Israel Defense Forces soldiers suspected of using Gazan children as human shields during Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip in 2008, according to Channel 10.

The soldiers, who breached the army's rule against using civilians as human shields during war, are tried for violating IDF authority and for inappropriate conduct.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1158678.html

[Get Real!]

Top Ten Reasons East Jerusalem does not belong to Jewish-Israelis

http://www.juancole.com/2010/03/top-ten ... s-not.html

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Israeli soldiers on trial for misconduct in Gaza war

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Two Israeli soldiers went on trial in a military court on Wednesday, accused of using a nine-year-old Palestinian boy to check for booby-traps during last year's war in Gaza, army radio reported.

The two, both staff sergeants in the Givati infantry brigade, are charged with acting "in breach of military norms" for forcing the child at gunpoint to open bags they believed might be rigged with explosives.

The child, identified as Majd R., said he feared for his life.

"I thought they would kill me. I became very scared and wet my pants," he said in an affidavit to Geneva-based children's group, Defence for Children International.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100324/wl ... itarytrial

[Get Real!]

UN Human Rights Council passes 3 resolutions condemning Israel

The United Nations Human Rights Council passed three resolutions on Wednesday condemning Israel over its policies related to what it called Palestinian and Syrian territories, but the United States voted against them all.

A further resolution, calling for a fund to compensate Palestinians who suffered losses during Israel's offensive in Gaza 14 months ago, is expected to be passed on Thursday.

One resolution on "grave human rights violations" by Israel Defense Forces soldiers in the Palestinian territories - which was passed by 31 votes to 9, with 7 abstentions in the 47-member Council - demanded that Israel end its occupation of Palestinian land occupied since 1967.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1158708.html

[Linichka]

Yes, of course he wet his pants....blaming Israel rather than his own cowardice. But then what else can one expect.