be just

Bullying the Palestinians - Opinion - Al Jazeera English : "It appears that US dealings with the Palestinians have entered a new phase: Bullying. On Thursday, President Barack Obama telephoned Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, to urge him to block a UN Security Council resolution condemning settlements. Obama pressed very hard during the 50 minute call, so hard that Abbas felt constrained to agree to take Obama’s request to the PLO executive committee (which, not surprisingly, agreed that Abbas should not accede to Obama’s request). But what a request it is! For Palestinians, Israeli settlements are the very crux of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. After all, it is the gobbling up of the land by settlements that is likely to prevent a Palestinian state from ever coming into being. Asking the Palestinian leader to agree to oppose a resolution condemning them is like asking the Israeli prime minister to agree to drop Israel’s claim to the Israeli parts of Jerusalem. - Sent

ei: The moderate obstacle : "This past Friday, US President Barack Obama's speech celebrating the morality and commitment to justice of the Egyptian protesters was inadvertently humorous to those with a penchant for irony. Just days before, the White House was still supporting Mubarak's dictatorial regime. US envoy Frank Wisner argued that Mubarak should remain in office so as to enact the changes he had proposed, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton backed Mubarak's plan to stay in power until September. At every step, the Obama administration stressed gradual reform and remained committed to the status quo, a hypocritical and amnesiac stance that insults the proud history of the civil rights movement in the US. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

PressTV - 4 Kurdish protesters killed in N Iraq : "A peaceful protest in northern Iraq against the local government of Iraqi Kurdistan President Masud Barzani has ended in violence with 4 dead and over 50 injured. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

PressTV - US-led airstrike kills 37 Afghan civilians : "NATO has confirmed the incident, claiming that they were targeting “a prominent Taliban militant,” a Press TV correspondent reported. Several women and children were among those killed in the attack on Kunar province. Local residents say the airstrike targeted homes in the area and all those killed were civilians. NATO, however, claims that 30 militants died in the attack. Similar attacks have claimed the lives of hundreds of Afghan civilians over the past year. More than 2,400 civilians lost their lives in 2010 -- making it the deadliest year since the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

Libya unrest death toll 'tops 200' - Africa - Al Jazeera English : "Hundreds have been killed in Libya since protests broke out across the North African nation six days ago, according to rights watchdogs and eyewitnesses across the country. Residents told Al Jazeera that at least 200 people had died in the eastern city of Benghazi alone, while the New York-based Human Rights Watch on Sunday put the countrywide death toll at 104. The rights group said the figure was 'conservative'. Protests have also reportedly broken out in other cities, including Bayda, Derna, Tobruk and Misrata. In the capital, Tripoli, supporters of the government took to the streets in large numbers, and security forces prevented large demonstrations against Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year reign. Benghazi 'a war zone' Moftah, a resident of Benghazi - Libya's second largest city - who requested Al Jazeera use only his first name, said the city had become a 'war zone' in recent