Avigdor Lieberman

By Gregg Carlstrom in Middle East on January 25th, 2011

Here's an unintended consequence of Al Jazeera's release of The Palestine Papers: Israeli media are reporting today (in Hebrew) that Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman has invited Tzipi Livni, the head of the Kadima party, to a coalition meeting.

The invitation came in response to our story yesterday about Livni's proposal (made while she was foreign minister) to "transfer" Arab Israeli villages into a future Palestinian state. It's reminiscent of a similar plan proposed by Lieberman several years back.

So Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu party invited Livni to present her views at a meeting.

By Gregg Carlstrom in Middle East on January 24th, 2011

We've just posted the second batch of stories and documents from The Palestine Papers, Al Jazeera's months-long investigation into thousands of confidential documents from Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

Our coverage today hits on a few main themes:

Population "swaps." Israeli negotiators, including foreign minister Tzipi Livni, proposed a plan to transfer several Arab Israeli villages - including Baqa al-Gharbiyya and Barta'a - a future Palestinian state. The proposal is reminiscent of the "Lieberman plan," the proposal named after Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman that's been denounced as racist by many left-wing Israeli commentators.

By Laila Al-Arian in Middle East on January 24th, 2011
Photo by EPA

Al Jazeera’s release on Sunday of the Palestine Papers, a trove of documents related to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, has led to reaction throughout the world.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has gone on the offensive, with President Mahmoud Abbas calling the release “shameful,” and his adviser Yasser Abed Rabbo accusing Al Jazeera of launching a "smear campaign".

Former Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei said "many parts of the documents were fabricated, as part of the incitement against the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian leadership".

Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, said the documents reveal the PA's "close collaboration with [Israel], and reflects its role in trying to kill off the Palestinian cause".

On the Israeli side,

By Nour Odeh in Middle East on December 20th, 2010
Photo by AFP

Our destination was Jub Al-Dib in the Bethlehem area. We located it on the map but getting there by car was a different story.

That’s because the West Bank is very spread out, despite its small area. There are hundreds of sometimes tiny communities strewn across the hills and valleys.

By Imran Garda in Americas on December 4th, 2010
Photo by AFP

You shouldn't be reading this but...

We seem to have an innate fascination with secrets.

By Mike Hanna in Middle East on September 29th, 2010
Photo: Reuters

There have been some strange events at podiums in the United Nations: Khrushchev banging his shoe, Yasser Arafat appearing with a gun on his waist, Muammar Gaddafi brandishing the UN charter and throwing it contemptuously aside.

The latest in line is an Israeli foreign minister outlining the policy of his domestic political party, one completely at odds with the government he represents.

Avigdor Lieberman is an oddity as foreign minister. His political views are regarded as hard-line even by Israeli standards. Not only does he chose to live on a settlement in the occupied West Bank, but he is also the most vocal advocate of the settler cause.

By Gregg Carlstrom in Middle East on August 3rd, 2010
Lebanese soldiers look across the border. (Photo: AFP)

At least three Lebanese soldiers and one Israeli soldier have been killed during a skirmish along the border between the two countries.

We'll be live-blogging the latest developments from both Israel and Lebanon throughout the day. (All times are GMT, except where noted.)

--------

9:00pm: That's all for the live-blogging this evening! But we'll obviously continue to follow this story on the main Al Jazeera Web site in the hours and days to come.

8:15pm: A few other odds and ends we missed earlier today.

First, Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, echoed what we've heard from other Israeli officials (including foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman).

By Gregg Carlstrom in Middle East on May 31st, 2010
Protesters in Istanbul wave Palestinian flags after the raid (Photo: AFP)

Early Monday morning, Israel attacked a flotilla of aid ships bound for the Gaza Strip; up to 10 people were killed in the pre-dawn raid, according to organisers and media sources.

We'll be live-blogging the aftermath of this incident throughout the day; keep checking back for international reaction, news from our correspondents on the ground, photos and video. (All times are GMT, except where noted.)

Tags: Ahmet Davutoglu, Algeria, Ali al-Shami, AM CDT, Amman, Amr El-Kahky, Amr Moussa, Angela Merkel, Arab League, Arab socialist party, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Australia, Avigdor Lieberman, Avital Leibovich, Ayman Mohyeldin, Baghdad, Ban Ki-Moon, Barack Obama, Beijing, Belgium, Bill Burton, Binyamin Netanyahu, Cairo, Canada, Catherine Ashton, Chicago, China, Congress, Egypt, Ehud Barak, European Parliament, European Union, Facebook, Fatah, Filippo Grandi, Gabi Ashkenazi, Gaza, George Washington University, Germany, Greece, Greek government, Greta Berlin, Guido Westerwelle, Ha'aretz, Haifa, Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, Hamas, Hillary Clinton, IDF, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Israeli army, Israeli consulate, Israeli consulate in Istanbul, Israeli embassy in Amman, Israeli government, Israeli military, Israeli navy, Israeli police, Istanbul, James Jones, Jerusalem, Jerzy Buzek, Jordan, Kamel Khatib, Kampala, Kuwait, Lebanon, London, Mahmoud Abu Attar, Malaysia, Malcolm Smart, Marc Lynch, Mohammad Dahlan, Moqtada al-Sadr, Nabil al-Sharif, Nablus, navy, New York, Norway, Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, Palestine, Palestinian Authority, Paris, Physicians for Human Rights, Raed Salah, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Robert Serry, Ron Ben Yishai, Saad Hariri, Saeb Erekat, Salam Fayyad, Serbia, South Africa, Stephen Harper, Sweden, Tel Aviv, The Los Angeles Times, Turkey, Turkish consulate in Istanbul, Twitter, Uganda, Umm, Umm al-Fahm, UN security council, United Kingdom, United Nations, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, United Nations Security Council, United States, Washington, White House, William Hague, Yang Tao
By Nour Odeh in Middle East on March 20th, 2010

boy-arrested.jpg 

A friend of mine asked me the other day how long it had been since I was allowed into Jerusalem.

"Almost ten years," I replied - save for a two-hour trip to the US consulate to collect a visa three years ago.

"It's been eight for me," he said.

Then we realised that most of the children and "youths" we report about during the recent clashes across the West Bank, which have centered on Israeli measures in the occupied City, have most likely never seen it!

Because most unmarried men under the ago of 35 can mostly only dream of obtaining an Israeli permit to visit occupied East Jerusalem, which Israeli authorities have also physically severed from the rest of its Palestinian surrounding with a sereis of walls and checkpoints.

Collective memory

By Marwan Bishara in Imperium on February 23rd, 2010

avigepa2565.jpg

Al Jazeera Live

What's Hot


Recent Comments

This work is licensed under Creative Commons. Please read our attribution policy.