Israeli Navy Braced for Criticism

July 12th, 2010 • Action, News
Tags: al jazeera, attack, commandos, death, flotilla, gaza, haaretz, israel, jerusalem post, mavi marmara, navy, turkish

AJE report:

‘Very critical’

Nine were killed when Israeli commandos raided the Mavi Marmara

Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported on Monday that “witnesses and various other people who have spoken to Eiland say that his report will be very critical of the army’s conduct in the affair”.

The daily said the navy is to be “the main target of Eiland’s critique of the operation, although his assessment will apparently be tempered by consideration for the navy’s success in several operations in recent years under Major-General Eliezer Marom”.

The Israeli media reports said that the military commission’s report pointed to “flaws” in the preparations for the raid.

The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said that their were problems with the “battle guidelines” issued to commandoes and the intelligence gathered prior to the military boarding the Mavi Marmara.

The Jerusalem Post said that the report focused “on the relationship between the military and political echelons as well as the apparent intelligence failure, under which the navy commandos boarded the ship without knowing that a group of passengers, apparently mercenaries, had laid an ambush”.

Read the full report at Al Jazeera…

The EU’s role in the Middle East

March 16th, 2010 • Film & Documentary, News
Tags: al jazeera, EU, inside story, israel, middle east, palestine

from Al Jazeera’s Inside Story:

Striving to make the European Union relevant to the Middle East peace process, Catherine Ashton, the new EU foreign policy chief, visits the region.

Beginning her trip in Egypt on Monday, she is scheduled to visit Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the Palestinian territories over the course of the week.

It underscores the European Union’s efforts to better engage in the Middle East.

With an ambitious plan to meet key players in six countries, can the Europeans succeed in what the Americans have failed to achieve over decades? Will the current tension between the US and Israel help or hinder a real European role in Middle East peace process?

Inside Story is joined by Mustafa Barghouti, the general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, Richard Youngs, the director general of Fride, a think tank focusing on EU policy. He was previously an analyst at the UK Foreign Office.

Also joining the programme is David Mack, a scholar at the Middle East Institute and a former US ambassador to the UAE.

Don’t forget to join the recent action over the EU and Israel…

Gaza: War on Words

December 29th, 2009 • Awareness, Film & Documentary, News
Tags: al jazeera, gaza, media, war, words

UPDATE It looks like AJE removed the video from YouTube, here’s the promo until it returns…

from AJE…

A year on from Israel’s offensive in Gaza, another battle is still being played out. The war of words between Israel and opponents of last year’s war continues, with the latest flare up centred on the UN’s Goldstone report. But while everyone is busy apportioning blame, there is little chance of developments to the peace process and hopes for justice are fading. Gaza: The War of Words explores the various claims and counter-claims against Israel and Hamas that have been made in the past year and looks at the international community’s rol in that war of words.

Ramallah – The Arab Street

December 15th, 2009 • Awareness
Tags: al jazeera, arab street, documentary, film, ramallah, west bank

From Al Jazeera’s The Arab Street:

The Arab Street goes to the heart of the city to find out, bypassing the politicians and pundits to get the views of ordinary men and women. In this episode we visit Ramallah, home to 125,000 people, as well as the Palestinian Authority.

Penned in by Israel’s separation wall and with freedom to travel limited by road blocks, what is everyday life like for Ramallah’s citizens? Like most of occupied Palestine, Ramallah struggles economically. Its people enjoy the moral support of the wider Arab world, but do other Middle Eastern governments provide sufficient financial support?

What is life like behind Israel’s wall and will a freeze on Jewish settlements lead to peace?

The Battle for Jerusalem

December 7th, 2009 • News
Tags: al jazeera, demographics, EU, jerusalem

From Al Jazeera’s Inside Story:

EU foreign ministers are hoping Europe can “forge a high-profile role” in resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Twenty-seven foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels this week to discuss a Swedish proposal to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of both Israel and Palestine, the future of the region and how Europe can aid the ‘peace process’.

Last week, the EU issued a previously classified report on Jerusalem. It accuses the Israeli government of working deliberately to change the city’s demographic balance by issuing Palestinians with substantially fewer building permits than they require. An Israeli human rights group has said that over 4,500 Arabs had their residency rights removed last year alone - that is about half of the total number since Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967.

Can the EU play a role in peace making after being marginalised for so long? Or is the battle for Jerusalem already over?