France Votes to Keep Troops On in Libya

By Aurelien Girard
Jul 12, 2011

PARIS—The French Parliament authorized the continued intervention of French forces in Libya on Tuesday, after four months of bombing Moammar Gadhafi’s positions. 



According to the French Constitution, no military operation can last longer than four months without being approved by Parliament.



Voices of Communist representatives, who were strongly opposed to the ongoing military strikes in Libya, were defeated in a 27 to 482 vote—in favor of continued military intervention. 



The Socialist Party approved the government proposal, but asked for a new vote in September, if Gadhafi had not been ousted by then.



Defense Minister Alain Juppe announced during an interview on France Info radio, that Gadhafi may be ready to leave. 



Speaking to members of Parliament, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said, “Gadhafi's back is against the wall. The breaking point has not yet been reached but we must now stand stronger than ever.”



"Everywhere, free Libyans are gaining ground and the trap is now closing in on Gaddafi," Fillon added.



“Over 2,500 military targets have been hit in the last four months,” said Fillon, including 850 logistical sites, 160 command centers, 450 tanks, 220 vehicles, and 140 heavy artillery.



Sending Weapons to Libyan Rebels



The French government has recently been criticized for admitting that it sent weapons to Libyans rebels.



Fillon argued that the decision was made “in a very particular context and in view of severe and imminent threats faced by [Libyan] people in Djebel Nefoussa.”



“What were we to do when we saw that civil populations were soon to be bombed?”



The Socialist Party decried the French government’s actions saying that it acted against the United Nations’ resolution mandate by indirectly providing weapons to al-Qaeda militants.



Bernard Cazeneuve, secretary of the Parliament Defense Commission, pointed to the high costs of the Libyan military operations, which were confirmed by the French budget minister to have hit almost $224 million.



Cazeneuve also spoke about the protracted length of time and costs involved in the air strikes, which shows how much the French government underestimated the difficulties of trying to overthrow Gadhafi.



“The regional context indeed has played a role in our decision. Without the Tunisian and Egyptian revolution, we may not have acted,” confirmed Fillon.



“A political solution in Libya is more than ever indispensable and one is beginning to take shape, Fillon said.



Conditions for an end to military operations, Fillon said, were a real and verifiable ceasefire with Gaddafi's forces back in their barracks; the end of actions against civilians; free access for humanitarian aid, and the withdrawal of Gadhafi from power.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/france-votes-to-keep-troops-on-in-libya-59032.html.

Palestinians Won't Learn Israeli Lessons

By Jillian Kestler-D’Amours

EAST JERUSALEM, Jul 12, 2011 (IPS) - Widespread strikes across Palestinian civil society could be in store for East Jerusalem at the start of the next school year, as the municipality moves ahead with its current plan to implement an Israeli curriculum in Palestinian schools.

"I expect that the beginning of the new school year will not be a normal one. There will be lots of problems. There will be lots of demands, strikes," Samir Jibril, director of the East Jerusalem Education Bureau told IPS. "All (the Palestinian) institutions are going to stand hand-in-hand against this implementation. Even civil society is demanding to stop this plan by the Israelis."

In March of this year, the Jerusalem municipality sent a letter to private schools in East Jerusalem that receive allocations from the Israeli authorities. The letter stated that at the start of the 2011-2012 academic year, the schools would be obliged to purchase and only use textbooks prepared by the Jerusalem Education Administration (JEA), a joint body of the municipality and the Israeli Ministry of Education.

These textbooks are already in use in East Jerusalem schools managed by the JEA. According to Jibril, however, Palestinians in East Jerusalem have at all levels rejected the plan to use them in private schools, since it is viewed as being politically motivated.

"The real reason behind all this story of curriculum is actually political. We’re talking about a radical (Israeli) government that is trying to impose its own identity on the Palestinians in East Jerusalem. Knowing that Israel doesn’t recognize Palestinian identity, it is a political reflection rather than (for) any kind of educational or pedagogical (reason)," Jibril said.

The move to introduce the Israeli curriculum came after Israeli parliament (Knesset) member Alex Miller from the far-right Israel Beiteinu party, who heads the Knesset’s Education Committee, stated during a meeting about unauthorized curricula in the education system that, in East Jerusalem, "the whole curriculum should and must be Israeli."

After Israel illegally annexed East Jerusalem in 1967, Palestinians in the city followed the Jordanian educational system. Then, shortly after the signing of the Oslo II agreement, schools in East Jerusalem began using the curriculum of the Palestinian Authority.

Today, four different authorities govern the education system in East Jerusalem: the JEA, the Islamic Waqf, the private sector, and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian refugees.

According to 2010-2011 statistics provided by the East Jerusalem Education Directorate, the JEA runs 50 schools in East Jerusalem, which are attended by 38,785 students, or 48 percent of the total number of Palestinian students in the city. An additional 22,500 Palestinian students attend 68 different private schools in East Jerusalem.

"They are actually pushing towards implementing the Israeli curricula because this will politically mean that East Jerusalem is not an occupied territory and it is just like the 1948 area, Israeli land," Jibril said.

"If Israel succeeds in this step, there will be other successive steps, and they will target all the remaining schools," he added. Israeli authorities have tried to exert added influence in East Jerusalem schools under their control earlier, he said, by willfully omitting certain passages in textbooks and removing the Palestinian logo on book covers, among other measures.

In February of this year, the Israeli Supreme Court gave the Education Ministry and Jerusalem municipality five years to improve the level of state education in East Jerusalem, since recent studies have shown that among other unresolved problems, approximately 1,000 classrooms are missing and more than 4,000 Palestinian children are not enrolled in school at all.

This is despite the fact that East Jerusalem – considered occupied territory under international law – is protected by the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states that "the Occupying Power shall, with the cooperation of the national and local authorities, facilitate the proper working of all institutions devoted to the care and education of children."

Article 13 of the International Convention on Economic and Social Rights also specifies that states must "undertake to have respect for the liberty of parents...to choose for their children schools…(and) ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions."

On Jun. 6, Israeli NGO Ir Amim sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denouncing the government's plan for Palestinian private schools.

"The right of the children of East Jerusalem to an education by their culture and national identity is also consistent with the basic right to education recognized in Israeli law and their right to equality in education, freedom and defense of their identity. Israel is obligated not only to avoid violating those rights but also has the positive obligation to support their realization," the letter stated.

Ultimately, Samir Jibril said, Israel's attempt to introduce its own curriculum against the will of Palestinian residents in East Jerusalem reflects the larger goal of using education to control Palestinian Jerusalemites and harm Palestinian culture and identity.

"Israel keeps on attacking the Palestinians and trying to impose a new kind of education which will serve Israeli ideas, culture and points of view concerning the question of identity and cultural and educational background. There are many indicators that show that Israel is interfering in a very negative (way) and has a very bad impact on education (in order) to keep the Palestinian Jerusalemites down, without education.

"But we believe that it is our right to have our own curriculum that serves our national philosophy and national identity and that will preserve our culture. We are going to defend it until the end."

Source: Inter-Press Service (IPS).
Link: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56442.

French Ship Carries Freedom Flotilla's "Dignity" to Gaza

By Begoña Astigarraga

ATHENS, Jul 12, 2011 (IPS) - The French vessel Dignité-Al Karama is the only boat from the Freedom Flotilla II actually sailing for Gaza in an attempt to break the Israeli blockade imposed in 2006. At the same time, six Spanish members of the humanitarian aid mission went on hunger strike in the Greek capital.

The hunger strikers, who have occupied the Spanish embassy in Athens since Jul. 5, were traveling on the Spanish ship Gernika (Guernica) that was part of the flotilla carrying 500 activists from 45 different countries, and 5,000 tonnes of aid, bound for the Gaza Strip.

Nearly all the ships have been confined to port in Greece for the last 10 days, except for the Dignité-Al Karama which sailed from the French island of Corsica Jun. 25, evaded the Greek blockade on more than one occasion and remains the only vessel of the flotilla still sailing freely.

With 10 representatives of several delegations of the humanitarian coalition on board, the Dignité received permission Jul. 9 to sail for the island of Rhodes, Manolis Plionis, a member of the Greek delegation of the Freedom Flotilla II - "Stay Human", confirmed to IPS.

From on board the Dignité, French Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Nicole Kiil-Nielsen told IPS that after having been stopped last week in Ormos Kouremenos, in Crete, they were taken to Sitia by the Greek coast guard and eventually allowed to sail from there.

"We had to stop in Crete to refuel, as we did not have enough fuel to reach Gaza," Kiil-Nielsen said. "Now, the Dignité is free and we are organizing another group of passengers, probably international, to go on to Gaza."

Manuel Tapial, coordinator of Rumbo a Gaza (Sailing to Gaza) Spain, told IPS that "the Dignité-Al Karama is heading for Gaza on its own, representing the dignity of the flotilla, and carrying representatives of the international coalition delegations."

In addition to the crew and MEP Kiil-Nielsen, passengers include Vangelis Pissias, the coordinator of the Greek delegation, Swedish-Israeli musician Dror Feiler and actor Guillermo "Willy" Toledo, representing the Spanish delegation.

Meanwhile, six Rumbo a Gaza activists began a hunger strike at the Spanish embassy in Greece Monday Jul. 11, after medical checks. Two other members of the group participated in the protest from Madrid.

In a communiqué released Monday, the activists said they would fast until "the Spanish government shows some sign that it will intercede (with the Greek authorities) so that the Gernika may sail freely across the Mediterranean."

The six hunger strikers are among a score of activists who occupied the Spanish embassy in Athens with the declared intent of remaining there until their country's Foreign Ministry responded to their demands, and until their ship, held by the Greek authorities in Kolymbari, Crete, was released and allowed to go to a safe port or return to Spain.

However, the activists say they have only received an official statement from the Foreign Ministry announcing its decision "not to make any public commitment to the release of the Gernika," which prompted them to take stronger measures in pursuit of their demands.

In an open letter sent Monday, Tapial upbraided the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party's (PSOE) prime ministerial candidate Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba: "The government you represent has forsaken us, and our only remaining option is protest action to rescue the Gernika, by right and with dignity.

"Mister Rubalcaba, as leader and candidate of the PSOE, speak out and call for the release of the Gernika, a ship bought with the money of thousands of people throughout Spain who believe that a project like this one is necessary to show effective support for the besieged people of Gaza.

"Listen, commit yourself and take action," the Rumbo a Gaza coordinator demanded.

The Gernika is still confined to port in Greece, in spite of having resubmitted to the authorities all the necessary documentation for permission to set sail, said Elvira Souto, one of the hunger strikers.

Eight other vessels, including two cargo ships, are still blocked in various Greek ports, while an Irish ship is in a Turkish port undergoing repairs for alleged sabotage suffered two weeks ago.

The crew of the Canadian vessel Tahrir has decided to give up plans to sail to Gaza for the moment; the U.S. ship Audacity of Hope is still in custody in Athens; and the other French boat, the Louise Michel, the Italian vessel Stefano Chiarini, the Freedom for All, the Methimus II and the Gernika are regrouping, ready to form a new flotilla, columnist Eric Verlo wrote in his blog at www.notmytribe.com.

In a move to exert further pressure, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman telephoned Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma and persuaded him to withdraw his country's flag from the Swedish/Greek/Norwegian vessel Juliano, giving the Greek coast guard the opportunity to block the ship in Heraklion.

Greece and Israel are currently carrying out joint military maneuvers, the sixth held in a short space of time.

Israeli ambassador to Spain Raphael Schutz said there is "no humanitarian crisis" or shortage of food and medicine in Gaza. The Freedom Flotilla should be seen "for what it is: a propaganda event intended to build solidarity with a terrorist group that wants to wipe Israel off the map and kill the greatest possible number of Jews and Israelis," he argued.

Source: Inter-Press Service (IPS).
Link: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56455.

Two-headed snake on display in Ukraine zoo

July 13, 2011 — KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — A two-headed snake has gone on display at a zoo in southern Ukraine.

The "Skazka" (Fairy tale) zoo in the Crimean city of Yalta on the Black Sea said Wednesday that the albino California Kingsnake has two heads that think, react and eat separately, though one is more passive than the other.

Dmytro Tkachov, a zoo worker taking care of the snake, said he puts a barrier between the heads when feeding the snake lest one eats the other. The snake will be on display at the zoo until mid-September. The zoo would not provide further details.

Egyptian Deputy PM Resigns

2011-07-13

Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister Yehia el-Gamal resigned, state Nile TV reported on Tuesday evening.

Gamal was appointed the post in late February. He has just ended his tour to the Republic of South Sudan to celebrate the latter's independence.

The resignation of Gamal has been one of the demands of many protestors in Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo over the past few days.

Source: CRIEnglish.
Link: http://english.cri.cn/6966/2011/07/13/1461s648061.htm.

Tunisia job program helps rural youth

2011-07-12

Tunisia on Monday (July 11th) partnered with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to create farming jobs and agricultural micro-enterprises for vulnerable youth, TAP reported. Under the agreement signed in Tunis, the FAO will provide "emergency assistance" funds to set up the employment and training initiative.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/07/12/newsbrief-07.

Voter registration begins in Tunisia

2011-07-12

Tunisia on Monday (July 11th) began voter registration for the October 23rd constitutional assembly elections, TAP reported. More than 2,000 people were trained to assist in the registration process, electoral panel chief Kamel Jendoubi said. The overall number of voters is expected to reach 7.9 million. Tunisians residing abroad will also have the opportunity to vote, Jendoubi said.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/07/12/newsbrief-05.