Politics

In a new attempt to tighten the siege on the Gaza Strip, the Israeli Occupation Forces have imposed a sea border at 3 nautical miles away from Gaza’s seashore by placing large floats with big lights signs in order to restrict fishermen’s work and ban them from crossing this border as well as imposing a new buffer zone similar to the one along Gaza’s eastern and northern border

Despite predictions that liberal, leftist and secular forces would be the main rivals to the FJP (Freedom and Justice Party), a combination of factors led to a disappointing performance.

Cairo – Morocco’s legislative elections, that took place a year early following constitutional changes as part of the kingdom’s response to the Arab Spring, resulted in a triumphant victory for the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD). It gained 107 of 395 seats, just over 27%, making it by far the largest party in parliament.

Paris – The Palestinian flag was raised for the first time at the Paris headquarters of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as the agency marked Palestine’s admission as a full member.

Reporters Without Borders roundly condemns the two-year jail sentence that the supreme military court of appeals in Cairo imposed today on Maikel Nabil Sanad, a blogger who has been held since March on a charge of insulting the military in a blog entry.

The Israeli prison service announced on Wednesday the names of the
detainees who will be released in the second phase of the swap deal which is
planned to be concluded next Sunday.

The first phase was implemented on Oct 18, and witnessed the release
of 447 Palestinian prisoners in exchange of the former captured Israeli soldier Gila’ad Shalit.

Dr Ibrahim Nahel Othman (alias Khaled Al-Hakim, member of Damas Doctors coordination committee), was killed last Saturday by security forces of Bachar Al-Assad in a northern village of Syria. He was helping the wounded activists protesting each day against the Syrian regime.
(from «la Mort en Vienne», Ossama Mohamed syrian filmmaker, Vienna
international film festival 2011)

A Palestinian man and his daughter were injured on Sunday after an Israeli airstrike hit Gaza Strip. Palestinian medics said. A local source added that the two were hurt in their home after a raid targeted a close building in Al-Zaitoon neighborhood south of Gaza City.
The source confirmed that at least two missiles hit the building and
caused a total destruction for it.

Razan Zeitouneh talks with peace activist Ossama Nassar from Darayaa about the chances of the Syrian revolution to remain peaceful.
The trained eye cannot miss a recent change in the general mood in Syria under the pressure of the regime’s crackdown on the opposition and the lack, to date, of any change in the balance of power that could favour the revolution.

The Kimberly Process (KP) Certification Scheme applies to rough diamonds, with stakeholding firms and countries producing certificates that allowing processed rough diamonds to freely enter the retail market regardless that revenue from that added-value processing funds State’s war crimes and human rights abuses against local populations.