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Palestine Today 01 26 2011

IMEMC Audio Dept | 26.01.2011 17:17 | Other Press | Palestine | World

Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for Wednesday, January 26 2011

Following the arrests of Karim Saleh al-Tamimi and, his brother, Islam, the leader of the Popular Commitee Against The Wall & Settlements in Nabi Saleh, Bassam Tamimi has been arrested, on Wednesday, along with two fifteen year old boys.

According to eye an witness account, Tamimi was taken from his village at Midday, only to be released one hour later. During the arrest, and in the ensuing period, Tamimi was beaten by the Israeli military.

The whereabouts of the two fifteen year old children are, as yet, unknown.

On Tuesday, the Irish government announced it's decision to upgrade the status of the Palestinian mission to the country, the official Palestinian representative office, to the level of an official embassy. This follows similar actions from Spain and France.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry, in Tel Aviv issued a statement expressing regret over the Irish decision, and claimed that such a move “does not help boost the peace process”.

Following the release of the so-called “Palestine Papers” by the al-Jazeera Network the Hamas movement in Gaza stated that Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, does not represent the Palestinian people, and is no longer authorized to negotiate with Israel on behalf of the Palestinians.

Khalil al-Hayya, a leader within the movement, stated that the Palestinian people should, “people must remove “all leaders who are abandoning the Palestinian legitimate rights”.

Israeli daily, Haaretz, has reported that Yona Avrushmi will be released from prison. Avrushmi was convicted in 1983 of throwing a grenade into an assembled group during a protest, resulting in the death of Peace Now activist Emil Grunzweig, and injuring nine others.

Avrushmi was sentanced to life in prison, but the sentance was commuted to 27 years. Israeli state prosecution appealed the decision, but the Israeli High Court upheld the decision, deeming that Avrushmi posed no threat to the public.

That sums up our news for today, thank you for joining us from occupied Bethlehem, you have been listening to Palestine Today, from International Middle East Media Center. For more updates, please visit our website at www.imemc.org. This report has been brought to you by Husam Qassis and Circarre Parrhesia.

IMEMC Audio Dept
- e-mail: info@imemc.org

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Erekat: 'Iran is playing games, using Hamas as a card'

27.01.2011 06:13

Erekat: 'Iran is playing games, using Hamas as a card'
By JPOST.COM STAFF
01/27/2011 08:03

According to leaked "Palestine Papers" Abbas asked Palestinian businessman to donate millions to Iranian opposition radio station; says two-state solution necessary for promoting moderation and fighting extremists in the region.

Palestinian Authority Negotiator Saeb Erekat said that a two-state solution was necessary for a wider strategy of promoting moderation and fighting extremists in the Middle East, UK newspaper the Guardian reported on Wednesday.

"If there wasn't an Israeli embassy in Cairo," he said, "Bin Laden would be there and if there wasn't one in Amman [Bin Laden's deputy] Zawahiri would set up shop too."

According to leaked "Palestine Papers," in October 2009 the PA negotiator told US Middle East envoy George Mitchell, "Ahmadinejad is in Gaza and Lebanon. Pakistan is going failed. The Arab states are doing nothing."

Erekat stated that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas tried to persuade a Palestinian businessman to contribute $50 million to a radio station for the Iranian opposition after the country's tumultuous elections in 2009, reported the Guardian.

He cited this request as evidence of the Palestinian Authority's support for US strategic goals in the region.

According to the Guardian report, earlier the same year, in a meeting with staff at the PA negotiations support unit in May, Erekat said, "We are breaking the Arab behavior of going to America and telling him [sic] what we need."

He explained that, "Instead we are telling Obama that we can help ... in Pakistan, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq etc. And Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan all need to tell Obama how they can help him.

"If other countries think they can use Hamas as a card we will do the same with them. We are not running a charity. Iran is playing games, they are using Hamas as a card."

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