The Irish Times – Saturday, July 17, 2010
HARRIET SHERWOOD in Johar a-Deek

A MOTHER of five was killed by Israeli artillery fire when she went to fetch her two-year-old son from outside her village home close to the “buffer zone” created by Israel along its border with Gaza.

Three of her relatives were wounded in the shelling earlier this week, but Red Crescent ambulances were not permitted to reach the family for several hours.

According to the woman’s husband, Nasser Abu Said (37) the attack began without warning at about 8.30pm on Tuesday with two shells being fired as the family of 17 sat outside their house in the village of Johar a-Deek. Apart from Nasser and his 65-year-old father, the entire group was women and children.

[Read the report]

h/t: Gaza TV News

Israel to propose ending Gaza blockade with EU-led aid plan
MARK WEISS in Jerusalem and ARTHUR BEESLEY in Brussels
The Irish Times – 17 July 2010

ISRAELI FOREIGN minister Avigdor Lieberman intends to present European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton with radical proposals next week designed to end Gaza’s dependence on Israel.

Gaza TV News

Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Sami Abu Zuhri, rejected the Israeli plan, saying Gaza remained part of the occupied Palestinian territories. “The plan to declare Gaza an independent entity, which the Israeli occupation is talking about from time to time, is a Zionist attempt to escape from the Jewish state responsibilities as an occupier,” he said

IRmep
12 July 2010

On July 7, 2010 IRmep’s “Mordechai Vanunu Open Nuclear Dialogue Initiative” hosted a panel discussion at the International Spy Museum in downtown Washington, DC.  The following MP3 audio files are now available online:

Jeffrey Blankfort reviews US positioning toward the NPT review conference call for a Middle East free of nuclear weapons. He recounts first hand experiences with an ADL/Apartheid South Africa intelligence agent targeting US activists. (MP3 3.6 MB) http://www.irmep.org/MP3/07072010blankfort.mp3

Grant F. Smith explores how collaborating in Israeli  “strategic ambiguity” undermines rule of law and governance in the United States. He reviews the NUMEC nuclear diversion case and a new Senate attempt to exonerate those involved. (MP3 6.2 MB) http://www.irmep.org/MP3/07072010smith.mp3

Sasha-Polakow Suransky reviews Apartheid South African sales of yellow-cake uranium to Israel’s military establishment and argues that AIPAC contributed to US policymaking. (MP3 5.9 MB) http://www.irmep.org/MP3/07072010polakow.mp3

John J. Mearsheimer discusses why Israel acquired a nuclear arsenal and the dangers it presents to US interests. (MP3 6.2 MB) http://www.irmep.org/MP3/07072010mearsheimer.mp3