Mid-East News

Palestinian imprisoned for clicking ‘like’ on anti-PA facebook page

West Bank man sentenced to 6 months in prison for clicking “like” on a Facebook page that criticized a Palestinian Authority official.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

A Palestinian man who clicked “Like” on a Facebook status criticizing a Palestinian Authority official has been sentenced to six months in prison.

Anas Ismail, 29, of Salfit, near Nablus, was found guilty of “libel and slander.”

Facebook – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

Ismail is the second Palestinian to be imprisoned for Facebook activities in the past few days.

He was sentenced to prison on the same day another PA court in Bethlehem sentenced Palestinian journalist to one year in prison for sharing a photo on Facebook that compared PA President Mahmoud Abbas to a villain and the spy of French colonial authorities in a Syrian drama. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Facebook, Palestinian Authority, prison

israelandstuffcom | March 30, 2013

Marmara victims’ families: Don’t stop legal proceedings

Attorney representing families of the 9 Turks killed by IDF on Gaza-bound flotilla says ‘it’s out of the question’ for gov’t to stop trial in absentia of 4 Israeli ex-military chiefs by Istanbul court.

PM Erdogan: Compensation talks to commence April 12.

AFP

Turkish and Israeli officials will meet on April 12 for breakthrough talks over compensation for a deadly 2010 flotilla raid, for which the Jewish state apologized last week, the Turkish prime minister said Friday.

כרזות באנקרה עם תודה לארדואן ש"ניצח" את ישראל (צילום: EPA)

Ankara poster thanks Erdogan for ‘defeating’ Israel – Photo: EPA

Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc had initially said the negotiations for compensation of the victims’ families would start next week, in remarks carried by the private NTV broadcaster. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: apology, Courts, Israel Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan

israelandstuffcom | March 29, 2013

Foreigners prepare Gazans ‘provocation’ against Israeli blockade

Gazans will attempt to operate their boats beyond the Israeli limit of 3 miles off shore.

“We’ve moved away from sailing into Gaza with aid. We now focus on sailing trade out,” says a foreign organizer.

By Israel Hayom Staff

A pro-Palestinian group says its activists will soon stage a provocation aimed at ending the Israeli naval blockade on the Gaza Strip. But unlike past attempts in which activists tried to enter the Gaza Strip from international waters, this time activists will try to draw attention to the Palestinian cause by defying Israeli restrictions which prevent Gazans from fishing more than 3 nautical miles off the Gazan shore.

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Gaza blockade, Palestinian activists

israelandstuffcom | March 29, 2013

Report: France backs adding Hezbollah militiamen on terrorists’ blacklist

Earlier this week, Bahrain declared the Lebanese group a terrorist organization and called on other Persian Gulf nations to follow suit.

By JTA

PARIS– The French government supports adding the armed wing of Hezbollah to the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations, an Arabic daily reported.

Hezbollah supporters – Photo by EPA

The London-based Al Hayat daily reported on Friday that French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius informed U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry of Paris’ decision at a meeting on Wednesday.

According to the report, the French government endorsed the designation following the finding by Bulgarian authorities that Hezbollah was responsible for the terrorist attack last summer on a busload of Israeli tourists in the Black Sea resort town of Burgas, Bulgaria, and because of the support Hezbollah is providing to the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Bahrain, EU, France, Hezbollah

Palestinian journalist jailed for a year for ‘insulting’ Abbas

Arab Journalist sentenced to a year in prison by Palestinian Authority court after posting photo comparing Abbas’s face to a fictional villain on a Syrian TV show.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

Palestinian journalist Mamdouh Hamamreh from Bethlehem was sentenced on Thursday to one year in prison for “insulting” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Facebook.

The photo that landed Palestinian journalist Mamdouh Hamamreh in jail. – Photo: Courtesy

He is the second Palestinian to be sentenced to prison for one year on the same charges since the beginning of the year.

Hamamreh, who works for the Palestinian Al-Quds TV station, was found guilty of sharing a photo on Facebook that compared Abbas with a villain who played the role of a French spy in a popular Syrian TV series.

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Courts, journalist, Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Authority

Cyprus jails Hezbollah terrorist for plotting attack on Israelis

Hossam Taleb Yaacoub sentenced to 4 years in prison for plotting to attack Israeli interests in Cyprus.

US says Yaacoub’s guilty verdict demonstrates need for EU to take severe measures against Hezbollah threat.

By Reuters

A Cyprus court sentenced a member of Lebanon’s Shiite Muslim Hezbollah movement to four years in jail on Thursday on charges of plotting to attack Israeli interests on the island.

Hossam Taleb Yaacoub – Photo: AP

In a case bearing similarities to a deadly bus bombing in Bulgaria targeting Israelis last year, the Cypriot court convicted Hossam Taleb Yaccoub on five counts of participating in a criminal organization and agreeing to commit a crime. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Burgas Bulgaria, Cyprus, EU, Hezbollah

Israel establishes ‘field hospital’ to treat the injured Syrians

Officials confirm that due to growing number of injured Syrians arriving at Israel’s border, a ‘military field hospital’ was built on an IDF outpost in the Golan Heights.

Yoav Zitun, AFP

In light of the steady increase in the number of wounded Syrians Israel has been treating, the IDF has set up a “military field hospital” at army outpost 105 in the Golan Heights, AFP reported Thursday.

Netanyahu looks at Syrian patient IDF field hospital. – Photo: KOBI GIDEON/GPO

Israeli officials confirmed that the hospital was set up to treat injured Syrians near the border fence and avoid having to evacuate them to hospitals inside the country. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Golan Heights, humanitarian aid, IDF, Israel Syria, Syrian unrest

Bulgaria: Any EU gov’t could request blacklisting Hezbollah

Bulgaria’s interim PM says he will “provide needed evidence” to place Hezbollah on EU’s terror blacklist following their Burgas terrorist bombing.

By REUTERS

BRUSSELS – Bulgaria will provide more evidence Hezbollah planned an attack that killed five Israelis last year, in a move it said on Wednesday should convince European Union countries to put the Islamist group on its terrorist list.

ZAKA man examines damage in Burgas – Photo: Avigdor Shatran

Bulgaria accused the Lebanese militant movement on Feb. 5 of carrying out a bomb attack on a bus in the Black Sea city of Burgas that killed the Israelis and their Bulgarian driver last July.

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Burgas Bulgaria, EU, Hezbollah terrorism

UNSC: Both Syria & rebels must ensure safety of UN in Golan

UN Security Council calls on Syrian gov’t & rebel leaders to ensure the safety of all UN peacekeeping force monitoring ceasefire line on Syria-Israel border in the Golan Heights.

Associated Press

Also Wednesday, the UN Security Council called on the Syrian government and rebel fighters to ensure the safety and freedom of movement of the UN peacekeeping force that has monitored a cease-fire line between Israel and Syria for nearly four decades.

UN peacekeepers kidnapped by rebels – Photo: AFP/Youtube

Council members underscored the increased risk the conflict poses to UN personnel, highlighted by the recent hostage-taking of 21 peacekeepers by armed opposition elements. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Golan Heights, Syrian unrest, UNSC

Saudi Arabia May Ban WhatsApp, Skype & Viber

Saudi Arabia may ban WhatsApp Viber and Skype, if the software firms don’t give the gov’t with a way to monitor user communications.

By Chana Ya’ar

Saudi Arabia may ban Skype, WhatsApp and Viber if the software firms don’t provide the government with a way to monitor user communications.

Skype on Computer – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

The kingdom’s Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) is threatening to block audio-visual communication programs and applications because they use encrypted connections, according to an Arabic daily newspaper quoted by Gulf in the Media.

Two sources employed at local telecommunications firms allegedly told the daily that heads of telecom companies and the CITC have been debating the issue over the past three weeks. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Internet, Saudi Arabia, Skype

Assad Appeals to Int’l Economic Forum to Help ‘dry sources of terrorism’ in Syria

Assad’s appeal to non-Islamic countries, India, China, Brazil, Russia, & South Africa comes a day after the Arab League endorsed Syria’s Western-backed opposition coalition, delivering another blow to the regime in Damascus.

By Jack Khoury and The Associated Press

Syria’s increasingly isolated President Bashar Assad on Wednesday appealed to the leaders of a five-nation economic forum meeting in South Africa to help end his country’s two-year conflict.

Syrian President Bashar Assad - Photo by AP

Syrian President Bashar Assad – Photo: AP

Assad’s appeal came a day after the Arab League endorsed Syria‘s Western-backed opposition coalition, delivering another blow to the regime in Damascus.

Assad sent a letter urging the leaders of the five nation BRICS forum – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – to “work for an immediate cessation of violence that would guarantee the success of the political solution” in Syria. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Bashar Assad, Syria, Syrian unrest

Palestinian Authority Against Turkish PM’s visit to Gaza

Senior official in the PA says that since Gaza is not an independent Palestinian state & Hamas is not the legitimate representative of the Palestinians, diplomatic visits should be via Ramallah.

By KHALED ABBU TOAMEH

The Palestinian Authority is opposed to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s intention to visit the Gaza Strip, a senior PA official in Ramallah said Wednesday.

Mashaal and Erdogan meet in Ankara – Photo: REUTERS

“The Palestinian Authority leadership has informed the Turkish government that we are opposed to such a visit because it would deepen divisions among the Palestinians,” the PA official said. “The Gaza Strip is not an independent Palestinian state and Hamas is not the legitimate representative of the Palestinians.” Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: hamas, Palestinian Authority, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey Gaza

Turkey Expects ‘Tens of Millions’ from Israel in Compensation

In a meeting with Turkish officials, Minister Livni discussed Israel’s willingness to compensate the families of those killed on the Marmara.

By David Lev

Justice Minister Tzippy Livni on Sunday spoke with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, discussing the possibility that Israel would pay reparations to the families of nine Turkish supporters of Hamas who were killed in 2010 aboard the Mavi Marmara, after they attempted to attack and murder IDF soldiers as part of the Gaza flotilla.

Turkey’s vice-premier, Bulenbt Arink, told Turkish media Sunday that a meeting and discussion in compensation had taken place, but gave no details. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: apology, Mavi Marmara, Turkey

israelandstuffcom | March 26, 2013